When does business agility matter to firm strategic performance

Purpose The purpose of this study is the notion of business agility that has occupied a central role in business and management literature in recent years and has been a subject of discussion in the academic and public media. Although existing research establishes that agility improves business performance, emerging theorizing alludes that this may not always be the case. In this regard, scholars have devoted less attention to contingency conditions that may influence the nature and strength of the relationship between agility and performance. Design/methodology/approach By studying organizational factors that moderate the agility-performance relationship and based on contingency theory, this study investigates types of firm for which agility is especially useful. Survey data from firms were used for the empirical analyses. Findings Firms pursuing digital and ambidexterity strategies are in a better position to demonstrate superior performance when implementing agility. Additionally, the agility-performance link is stronger for B2C smaller firms. The findings open the black box of how firms can become more strategically agile and show that agility is not a one-size-fits-all solution since its implementation may be different for firms in different contexts. Originality/value Making novel contributions by proposing a moderation model that theorizes and tests how key organizational and strategic contingencies influence the agility-performance relationship. By adopting a contingency perspective, the research challenges assumptions on agility’s universal effectiveness and instead reveals conditions under which agility yields superior outcomes. These insights advance theoretical understanding of agility as a context-dependent concept and provide practical guidance for developing optimal agility strategies tailored to a firm’s specific profile and strategic priorities. The findings offer actionable implications for both scholars and executives evaluating the implementation of agility in diverse business environments.