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Abstract-The importance of organizational agility in a competitive environment is nowadays widely recognized and accepted. However, despite this awareness, the availability of tools and methods that support an organization in assessing and improving their organizational agility is scarce. Therefore, this study introduces the Organizational Agility Maturity Model in order to provide an easy-to-use yet powerful assessment tool for organizations in the software and IT service industry. Based on a design science research approach with a comprehensive literature review and an empirical investigation utilizing factor analysis, both scientific rigor as well as practical relevance is ensured. The applicability is further demonstrated by a cluster analysis identifying patterns of organizational agility that fit to the maturity model. The Organizational Agility Maturity Model further contributes to the field by providing a theoretically and empirically grounded structure of organizational agility supporting the efforts of developing a common understanding of the concept.

Abstract:Agility has increasingly gained attention in the software and IT services industry over the last years and academia put a heavy emphasis on research about agile software development methods. However, an organization does not only comprise development teams, and research often lacks an organizational perspective on agility. Presently, we have no consensus about what constitutes an "agile organization". Hence, in this study, I identify the structure behind the concept of organizational agility using an exploratory research approach. I conducted a survey among organizations in the software and IT service industry and performed an, exploratory factor analysis and a cluster analysis (based on the variables). The results show that one can describe organizational agility using six interrelated factors that one can further aggregate into the three basic dimensions of "agility prerequisites", "agility of people", and "structures enhancing agility". The identified structure is a first step toward a common understanding of organizational agility and helps to guide further research activities while simultaneously supporting practitioners in assessing the agility of their organizations.

Das Ziel dieses Beitrags war, ein Verständnis über Reifegradmodelle zu erarbeiten und Potenziale sowie Grenzen der Anwendung in betriebswirtschaftlichen Bereichen aufzuzeigen. Dazu wurde der Begriff des Reifegradmodells von drei Perspektiven beleuchtet sowie eine Auswahl von Einsatzgebieten skizziert und mit Beispielen belegt. Im Ergebnis des Beitrags wurde deutlich, dass Reifegradmodelle per se sehr variabel verwendbare Instrumente sind, welche in nahezu allen denkbaren Bereichen im Unternehmen eingesetzt werden können und eine Reihe von Vorteilen mit sich bringen. Es wurde jedoch auch hervorgehoben, dass der Einsatz von Reifegradmodellen überlegt erfolgen muss, um die genannten Vorteile zu erlangen. Maturity models are management tools, which are mainly applied in Information Systems and Informatics. However, their roots are to be found in Business Administration, particularly in Quality Management. Therefore, the following article aims at introducing the concept of maturity models from a linguistic, an application-based, and a structural perspective prior to exemplarily presenting potential application domains in management and business administration. Keywords: supply chain management, qualitätskriterien, linguistische perspektive

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