Structural Flexibility and Corporate Responsiveness in the Business Environment: A Theoretical Review

Abstract

The diverse nature of modern business operations and environment has made it a strategic necessity for organization to have a proper understanding of the spontaneous activities in their business environment. It was based on this notion that this study theoretically reviewed literature on the role of structural flexibility on corporate responsiveness to business environment, x-rayed the three basic measures of corporate responsiveness. Consequently, the study found that structural flexibility plays inestimable role in the facilitating of corporate responsiveness in reacting to changes in business environment. Given these findings, we conclude that in the organization, structural flexibility predicts corporate responsiveness. Finally, the study recommended thus: that management of organization should emphasize the need for the effective reconfiguration of its system to ensure the development of capabilities that fosters flexibility and seamless operations and that organizations should provide the necessary leadership that will motivate employees to develop and sustain skills that facilitates responsive actions.
 
 JEL: D01; D20; D23 
 
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The Role of Resource Acquisition in Achieving Sustainable Competitive Performance for SMEs in an Emerging Market: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

“…A prior study has reported that SF plays an important role in organizational performance because it is an actionable and manifest organizational approach in the market [40]. Further, SF facilitates the firm's ability to maneuver its capacity and exhibit market-driving behaviors that promote its ability to stay ahead of its competitors by being the first to develop innovative products and services [29].…”

“…Structural flexibility (SF) denotes the managerial abilities or competencies necessary to adapt a firm's strategy to changes in the external business environment [29]. When a firm is structurally flexible, its management can adjust the roles, responsibilities, and working processes of its employees to meet the changing needs of the business [39].…”

“…When a firm is structurally flexible, its management can adjust the roles, responsibilities, and working processes of its employees to meet the changing needs of the business [39]. Accordingly, decision-making is modified to allow for the contribution and utilization of relevant information from all employees and team members, hence enhancing bottom-up and decreasing top-down information flow [29]. A prior study has reported that SF plays an important role in organizational performance because it is an actionable and manifest organizational approach in the market [40].…”

“…Such uncertainty would not only require firms to have sufficient resources but also to possess adequate flexibility [26,27] to achieve sustainable competitive performance, particularly in the case of SMEs. Furthermore, resource acquisition is an enabler of structural flexibility and helps firms to obtain resources from both internal and external environments [28,29].…”

Core Technological Competence and Competitive Advantage: A Study on Chinese High-Tech SMEs

“…Significantly, structural flexibility plays an incalculable role in facilitating corporate functions. Organizations enjoy favorable market positions due to changes in their structure ( Georgewill, 2021 ). Therefore, firms should focus on reconfiguring structural flexibilities to increase their responsiveness.…”