BRIDGING EMPLOYEE AGILITY AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF DYNAMIC CAPABILITY IN SME
Main Article Content
Surya Nugraha
Anak Agung Ratih Wijayanti
Helena Ni Gusti Ayu Putu Pusparini
Ni Made Ernila Junipisa
This study examines the impact of employee agility on firm performance mediated by dynamic capability in SMEs in Bali. It aims to clarify how individual adaptability translates into improved organizational outcomes through dynamic capabilities encompassing sensing, seizing, and resource reconfiguration. Using a quantitative method, data from 122 SME managers were analyzed via structural equation modelling with partial least squares to test relationships among employee agility, dynamic capability, and firm performance. Results reveal that employee agility directly enhances firm performance and significantly fosters dynamic capabilities, which in turn positively affect performance and partially mediate the agility-performance link. This research bridges the gap between micro-level employee agility and macro-level dynamic capability, offering novel empirical evidence on their combined role in sustaining competitive advantage in SMEs. The findings underscore the importance for SME leaders and policymakers to develop agile employees alongside dynamic capabilities to succeed in uncertain, resource-limited markets. The study advances the dynamic capabilities framework by identifying employee agility as a critical micro-foundation driving organizational performance, providing strategic insights for SMEs targeting resilience and sustainable growth amid market volatility.
Abbas, J., Raza, S., Nurunnabi, M., Minai, M. S., & Bano, S. (2019). The impact of entrepreneurial business networks on firms’ performance through a mediating role of dynamic capabilities. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113006
Abdalla, R. A., Ramayah, T., Sankar, J. P., Hidaytalla, L. A., & John, J. A. (2024). Enhancing Efficiency: The Impact of Cloud Computing Adoption on Small and Medium Enterprises Performance. Emerging Science Journal, 8(6), 2431–2448. https://doi.org/10.28991/ESJ-2024-08-06-017
Aboobaker, N., Edward, M., & K.A., Z. (2020). Workplace Spirituality and Employee Loyalty: An Empirical Investigation Among Millennials in India. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 14(2), 211–225. https://doi.org/10.1108/jabs-03-2018-0089
Akkaya, B. (2022). Building Trust in Managers Through Agile Practices in a Dynamic Environment. Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Management, Business and Economics Conference, 243–251. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-026-8_28
Al-Tit, A. A. (2020). The Impact of AMO-HR Systems on Proactive Employee Behavior: The Mediating Contribution of Leader-Member and Team-Member Exchange. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 12, 184797902094723. https://doi.org/10.1177/1847979020947236
Ali, I., Arslan, A., Chowdhury, M., Khan, Z., & Tarba, S. Y. (2022). Reimagining global food value chains through effective resilience to COVID-19 shocks and similar future events: A dynamic capability perspective. Journal of Business Research, 141, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.12.006
Almohtaseb, A., Aldehayyat, J., Khattab, A. A., & Alabaddi, Z. (2024). The role of supply chain management in improving performance of Jordanian small and medium enterprises. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 22(1), 218–230. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.22(1).2024.19
Amoa-Gyarteng, K., & Dhliwayo, S. (2024). Cultivating success: organizational culture’s influence on innovation and performance in SMEs. Cogent Business and Management, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2397070
Atobishi, T., Moh’d Abu Bakir, S., & Nosratabadi, S. (2024). How Do Digital Capabilities Affect Organizational Performance in the Public Sector? The Mediating Role of the Organizational Agility. Administrative Sciences, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14020037
Bai, B., Um, K., & Lee, H. (2022). The Strategic Role of Firm Agility in the Relationship Between IT Capability and Firm Performance Under the COVID-19 Outbreak. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 38(5), 1041–1054. https://doi.org/10.1108/jbim-08-2021-0406
Batra, D. (2022). Antecedents of Organizational Agility During Business Uncertainty in Noninformation Technology Sectors. Journal of Database Management, 33(1). https://doi.org/10.4018/JDM.309433
Bouguerra, A., Golgeci, I., Gligor, D. M., Khan, Z., Arslan, A., & Tatoglu, E. (2024). Strategic Agility and Product Development in Emerging Markets: The Role of Employee Resilience and Self-Efficacy as Microfoundations. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 71, 1598–1612. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2023.3333218
Bronzo, M., Barbosa, M. W., de Sousa, P. R., Torres Junior, N., & Valadares de Oliveira, M. P. (2024). Leveraging Supply Chain Reaction Time: The Effects of Big Data Analytics Capabilities on Organizational Resilience Enhancement in the Auto-Parts Industry. Administrative Sciences, 14(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14080181
Bwabo, M H, Zhiqiang, M., & Mingxing, L. (2023). Unobserved heterogeneity of dynamic capability and sustainable performance of dairy microfirms. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 26(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v26i1.4970
Bwabo, Maulid H, Ma, Z., & Li, M. (2024). Conceptualizing a Nexus Between Agility, Unobserved Differences of Dynamic Capability, and Sustainable Performance of Microfirms. Sustain. Econ., 2(4), 263. https://doi.org/10.62617/se263
Clauß, T., Abebe, M., Tangpong, C., & Hock, M. (2021). Strategic Agility, Business Model Innovation, and Firm Performance: An Empirical Investigation. Ieee Transactions on Engineering Management, 68(3), 767–784. https://doi.org/10.1109/tem.2019.2910381
Das, K. P., Mukhopadhyay, S., & Suar, D. (2023). Enablers of Workforce Agility, Firm Performance, and Corporate Reputation. Asia Pacific Management Review, 28(1), 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmrv.2022.01.006
Do, Q. N., Mishra, N., Wulandhari, N. B. I., Ramudhin, A., Sivarajah, U., & Milligan, G. (2021). Supply chain agility responding to unprecedented changes: empirical evidence from the UK food supply chain during COVID-19 crisis. Supply Chain Management, 26(6), 737–752. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-09-2020-0470
Dubey, R., Gunasekaran, A., Childe, S. J., Bryde, D. J., Giannakis, M., Foropon, C., Roubaud, D., & Hazen, B. T. (2020). Big data analytics and artificial intelligence pathway to operational performance under the effects of entrepreneurial orientation and environmental dynamism: A study of manufacturing organisations. International Journal of Production Economics, 226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2019.107599
Ernest, E. E., & Vincent, E. (2025). Employee Commitment and Organizational Performance of SMES in Delta State. International Research Journal of Multidisciplinary Scope, 6(1), 472–481. https://doi.org/10.47857/irjms.2025.v06i01.02233
Ferreira, J., Coelho, A., & Moutinho, L. (2020). Dynamic capabilities, creativity and innovation capability and their impact on competitive advantage and firm performance: The moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation. Technovation, 92–93(November), 0–1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2018.11.004
Fischer, C., & Neumann, O. (2024). Introduction to the Special Issue ‘Towards a Multi-Level Understanding of Agile in Government: Macro, Meso and Micro Perspectives.’ Information Polity, 29(2), 123–136. https://doi.org/10.3233/ip-249007
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.
Guo, H., Yang, Z., Huang, R., & Guo, A. (2020). The digitalization and public crisis responses of small and medium enterprises: Implications from a COVID-19 survey. Frontiers of Business Research in China, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s11782-020-00087-1
Hair, J. F. J., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage Publication, California, 390.
Hanu, C., Amegbe, H., Yawson, M. D. T. A., & Mensah, P. O. (2022). Differential Impact of Work-Based Learning on Employee Agility, Ambidexterity and Proactive Goal Generation. Journal of Workplace Learning, 35(1), 92–111. https://doi.org/10.1108/jwl-01-2022-0005
Heidt, L., Gauger, F., & Pfnür, A. (2022). Work From Home Success: Agile Work Characteristics and the Mediating Effect of Supportive HRM. Review of Managerial Science, 17(6), 2139–2164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-022-00545-5
Huang, W., & Ichikohji, T. (2024). How dynamic capabilities enable Chinese SMEs to survive and thrive during COVID-19: Exploring the mediating role of business model innovation. PLoS ONE, 19(5 May). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304471
Ilmudeen, A. (2021). Leveraging IT-enabled Dynamic Capabilities to Shape Business Process Agility and Firm Innovative Capability: Moderating Role of Turbulent Environment. Review of Managerial Science, 16(8), 2341–2379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-021-00501-9
Johansson, J., Malmström, M., & Wincent, J. (2021). Sustainable Investments in Responsible SMEs: That’s What’s Distinguish Government VCs from Private VCs. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14010025
Junker, T. L., Bakker, A. B., Gorgievski, M. J., & Derks, D. (2021). Agile Work Practices and Employee Proactivity: A Multilevel Study. Human Relations, 75(12), 2189–2217. https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267211030101
Kiranantawat, B., & Ahmad, S. Z. (2022). Conceptualising the Relationship Between Green Dynamic Capability and SME Sustainability Performance: The Role of Green Innovation, Organisational Creativity and Agility. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 31(7), 3157–3178. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijoa-04-2022-3246
Kock, N. (2020). WarpPLS User Manual Version 7.0. ScriptWarp Systems, 141.
Kusumawijaya, I. K., & Astuti, P. D. (2023). The effect of human capital on innovation: The mediation role of knowledge creation and knowledge sharing in small companies. Knowledge and Performance Management, 7(1), 64–75. https://doi.org/10.21511/kpm.07(1).2023.05
Kusumawijaya, I. K., & Astuti, P. D. (2024). The Impact of Human Capital and Knowledge Creation on Sustaining Competitive Advantage and Innovation in Medium-Sized Companies in Bali. International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning, 19(6), 2193–2204.
Lai, H, Pitafi, A. H., Hasany, N., & Islam, T. (2021). Enhancing Employee Agility Through Information Technology Competency: An Empirical Study of China. SAGE Open, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211006687
Lai, Han, Pitafi, A. H., Hasany, N., & Islam, T. (2021). Enhancing Employee Agility Through Information Technology Competency: An Empirical Study of China. Sage Open, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211006687
Li, G. (2022). Research on the Relationships between Knowledge-Based Dynamic Capabilities, Organizational Agility, and Firm Performance. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 15(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15120606
Mai, B. T., Nguyen, P. V, Ton, U. N. H., & Ahmed, Z. U. (2024). Government policy, IT capabilities, digital transformation, and innovativeness in Post-Covid context: case of Vietnamese SMEs. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 32(2), 333–356. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-11-2022-3480
Marjerison, R. K., Andrews, M., & Kuan, G. (2022). Creating Sustainable Organizations through Knowledge Sharing and Organizational Agility: Empirical Evidence from China. Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084531
Martins, A. (2022). Dynamic Capabilities and SME Performance in the COVID-19 Era: The Moderating Effect of Digitalization. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, 15(2), 188–202. https://doi.org/10.1108/apjba-08-2021-0370
Monferrer, D., Moliner, M. Á., Irún, B., & Estrada, M. (2021). Network market and entrepreneurial orientations as facilitators of international performance in born globals. The mediating role of ambidextrous dynamic capabilities. Journal of Business Research, 137(December), 430–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.058
Motwani, J., & Katatria, A. (2024). Organization Agility: A Literature Review and Research Agenda. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 73(9), 2709–2754. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm-07-2023-0383
Mueller, E. F., & Jungwirth, C. (2020). Are Cooperative Firms More Agile? A Contingency Perspective on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Agglomerations and Peripheral Areas. Small Business Economics, 58(1), 281–302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-020-00410-3
Mukherjee, S., Baral, M. M., Chittipaka, V., Nagariya, R., & Patel, B. S. (2024). Achieving organizational performance by integrating industrial Internet of things in the SMEs: a developing country perspective. TQM Journal, 36(1), 265–287. https://doi.org/10.1108/TQM-07-2022-0221
Pertheban, T. R. (2023). The Impact of Proactive Resilience Strategies on Organizational Performance: Role of Ambidextrous and Dynamic Capabilities of SMEs in Manufacturing Sector. Sustainability, 15(16), 12665. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612665
Pigola, A., & da Costa, P. R. (2024). Relational Capabilities into Small- and Middle-Sized Firms: a Mind-Blowing Strategic Asset. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 15(2), 6201–6225. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01350-5
Piriyakul, I., Sirijai, B., Piriyakul, R., & Chiranunthadej, N. (2024). Human agility management in Thai SMEs: A catalyst for enhancing employee value proposition. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, 8(11). https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v8i11.7478
Pitafi, A. H., & Ren, M. (2021). Predicting the factors of employee agility using enterprise social media: moderating effects of enterprise social media-related strain. Internet Research, 31(5), 1963–1990. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-11-2019-0469
Sidabutar, A., & Siswanto, J. (2024). The Impact of Digital Transformation in Food and Beverage Sector SMES: The Role of Leadership and Organizational Agility. E3s Web of Conferences, 484, 1017. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202448401017
Small & Medium Enterprise Cooperative Service in Bali Province. (2025). Data on Bali’s SME Performance in 2025. Small & Medium Enterprise Cooperative Service in Bali Province, 1.
Syhachack, M., Siriyota, K., & Thangchan, W. (2024). The Power of Dynamic Marketing Capability in Lao SMEs: The Roles of Innovation and Entrepreneurial Capability. Revista de Gestao Social e Ambiental, 18(9). https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v18n9-066
Taghizadeh, S. K., Nikbin, D., Alam, M. M. D., Rahman, S. A., & Nadarajah, G. (2020). Technological capabilities, open innovation and perceived operational performance in SMEs: the moderating role of environmental dynamism. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(6), 1486–1507. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-05-2020-0352
Udin, U. (2024). Agile Leadership and Employee Outcomes: A Bibliometric Analysis for Future Research Agenda. Human Systems Management, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3233/hsm-240093
Wamba, S. F. (2022). Impact of Artificial Intelligence Assimilation on Firm Performance: The Mediating Effects of Organizational Agility and Customer Agility. International Journal of Information Management, 67, 102544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102544
Wang, M., & Prajogo, D. (2024). The effect of supply chain digitalisation on a firm’s performance. Industrial Management and Data Systems, 124(5), 1725–1745. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-09-2023-0629
Wilson, C. D., Balasundaram, S., & Mathew, J. (2024). A Conceptual Framework for Agile as HR Operational Strategy. Prabandhan: Indian Journal of Management, 17(8), 23–39. https://doi.org/10.17010/pijom/2024/v17i8/173774
Zahoor, N., & Lew, Y. K. (2021). Sustaining Superior International Performance: Strategic Orientations and Dynamic Capability of Environmentally Concerned Small‐ and Medium‐sized Enterprises. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(3), 1002–1017. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2931
Zhang, H., Ding, H., & Xiao, J. (2023). How Organizational Agility Promotes Digital Transformation: An Empirical Study. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(14). https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411304
Zhang, Y., Gu, M., & Huo, B. (2022). Antecedents and Consequences of Supply Chain Agility: A Competence-Capability-Performance Paradigm. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 38(5), 1087–1100. https://doi.org/10.1108/jbim-05-2021-0262