Agility for resilience: A qualitative exploration of companies’ strategies in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment

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Abstract

Globalization, digital transformation, talent mobility, and various crises have radically reshaped the competitive landscape, leading to a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. Organizational agility has emerged as a critical response to these profound changes, offering companies the ability to adapt quickly while improving their strategic resilience. This study aims to investigate how Moroccan organizations build resilience by adopting agile strategies to cope with VUCA forces. Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key leaders across various industries. Thematic analysis was applied to the data to identify common trends in agile practices. The findings show that agility enables companies to respond rapidly to market volatility and uncertainty, ensuring not only their survival, but also their ability to thrive in highly dynamic environments. This research contributes to the existing literature by offering empirical insights into the role of organizational agility in fostering resilience in emerging markets. Additionally, the results highlight the importance of agility as a strategic tool that helps companies navigate the complexities of the VUCA environment.

Keywords: Organizational Agility, VUCA, Resilience, Organizational Change

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — C.H.; Methodology — M.A.; Formal Analysis — C.H.; Writing — Original Draft — C.H.; Writing — Review & Editing — M.A.; Supervision — M.A.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: L2, O1, O15, O3

Received: 01.06.2024
Revised: 25.09.2024; 21.10.2024; 28.03.2025
Accepted: 21.04.2025
Published online: 24.04.2025

How to cite this paper: Hamieddine, C., & Akioud, M. (2025). Agility for resilience: A qualitative exploration of companies’ strategies in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment. Corporate & Business Strategy Review, 6(2), 111–119. https://doi.org/10.22495/cbsrv6i2art11