Agility is a crucial trait in successful businesses and governmental departments, according to a new study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Monash University.

 

The study involved 60 executives from 18 organisations that span the highest profile Australian and New Zealand businesses to government departments covering a broad cross section of industries including mining, retail, health and technology.

 

PwC partner Richard Shackcloth says, "Agility is relevant to all organisations irrespective of size, structure or sector."

 

"It is a multi-dimensional capability that enables organisations to respond quickly to change. It is a "must have" not a "like to have" capability for any business that wants to pre-empt, adapt and survive in the current environment where change is constant."

 

University of Melbourne’s Professor Graham Sewell said that the study showed that organisational development models must be reexamined in light of the new emphasis on agility.

 

“Our research has confirmed that existing models fail to provide an up-to-date roadmap for organisations to be agile in an environment where global and local market conditions are changing almost instantaneously. This is not purely ‘turbulence' it is permanent change occurring to the ecosystems in which organisations are operating,” Professor Sewell said.