Agile project management capability enhances sustainable performance through the sequential mediation of agile leadership and strategic agility

Abstract Organizations face increasing pressure to achieve sustainable performance while remaining competitive in volatile environments. Although agility is widely recognized as being associated with organizational responsiveness, limited research explains how agile project management capability is associated with sustainable performance through leadership and strategic mechanisms. This study addresses this gap by developing and testing a sequential mediation model examining the associations among agile project management capability, agile leadership, strategic agility, and sustainable performance. Using a three-wave time-lagged survey of 302 managers in Pakistan’s information technology sector and analyzing the data through partial least squares structural equation modeling, the findings indicate that agile project management capability is positively associated with agile leadership, which is in turn positively associated with strategic agility, while strategic agility is positively associated with sustainable performance across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The results provide statistical support for the proposed sequential indirect association between agile project management capability and sustainable performance through agile leadership and strategic agility. The study contributes by conceptualizing agility as a layered capability system and offers practical guidance for managers seeking to develop agile routines, leadership adaptability, and strategic responsiveness that may support sustainable performance.