Strategic Agility and the Global Pandemic: The Agile Organizational Structure, A Theoretical Review

Abstract

Literature has shown that university institutions cannot survive global pandemic shock-like COVID-19 as well as achieve sound outcomes without putting in place an agile or flexible organizational structure. However, most university institutions in Nigeria especially public university institutions recorded poor outcomes in terms of marketing, customer/student satisfaction and operations management. The purpose of this paper was to establish how agile or flexible organizational structure enhances the link between strategic agility and university institutional outcomes. Considering past empirical studies reviewed, the study proposed that strategic agility has a positive influence on organizational outcomes in institutions of higher education; and that flexible or agile organizational structure has a positive mediating influence on the relationship between strategic agility and organizational outcomes. A conceptual model to guide the further investigation in future studies was developed depicting the interaction between strategic agility and organizational outcomes with flexible organizational structure as a mediator. The paper concluded that agile or flexible organizational structure enhances strategic agility and sound outcomes of university institutions. The study recommended that these institutions must be able to think strategically with an agile mindset, understand mistakes, learn lessons quickly, and continuously adjust and readjust their strategic direction in order to develop innovative ways to create value. They must also empower their academic and non-academic staff teams on dynamic and modern marketing approaches to manage unexpected events to enhance marketing performance, student satisfaction and sound operations management.