The agility advantage

: redefining Portuguese SME's competitiveness

Abstract

Portugal ranks eighth in the European Union (EU) for the number of SMEs in its economy. Yet, its value-added per SME is the sixth lowest, reflecting serious problems in generating value and competitiveness, which makes a study on this topic relevant. Globalization, digital transformation, and demographic shifts are contributing to a more VUCA world, and the development of organisational agility has become one of the most solid strategies to cope with these challenges. Nevertheless, the impact of agility development on the competitive position of companies, especially SMEs, remains unclear. Therefore, this study seeks to explore how the competitive position of Portuguese SMEs can be impacted by the development of agile capabilities. To do so, a literature review on agility was conducted, and a framework of agility was developed. The framework encompasses the influence of agility drivers in the development of agile capabilities and links them with the variables of competitive position. Subsequently, nine in-depth interviews were conducted with different Portuguese SMEs with more than 10 years of existence. Findings demonstrate that companies reacted to both external and internal changes by developing different agile capabilities. The development of these agile capabilities and their maturity level varies between companies and is influenced by their size and industry. Furthermore, it was concluded that, in general, the development of those capabilities positively impacted the company's competitive position, however registering a higher impact on consumer variables than on financial ones.

Date of Award	11 Jul 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rita Ribeiro (Supervisor)