Agility and Resilience in Information Systems Research

Abstract

This research analyzes how the concepts of agility and resilience are treated in IS literature. While agility has been an object of study in IS research for many decades, resilience is a fairly new topic. Both are gaining strategic importance in a firm’s sustainability and growth, especially given the remarkable changes in the landscape that the firm operates in. It is thus important to understand what agility and resilience mean in IS research. Our paper is a first attempt to study IS literature and provide a thematic analysis of facets of each concept. In doing so, we identify aspects that are common to both agility and resilience and those that are unique to each. The results of this study can be used for an empirical examination of the two constructs and a validation of how they can be measured in firms. IS researchers and industrial practitioners can benefit from a deeper understanding of agility and resilience.