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Exploring the facilitators and mediators of workforce agility: an empirical study

Ashutosh Muduli (School of Petroleum Management, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar, India)

Management Research Review

ISSN: 2040-8269

Article publication date: 12 December 2016

3130

Abstract

Purpose

Recognizing that very less number of research has been conducted on workforce agility, the current research aimed to examine the impact of organizational practices in the form of organizational learning and training, compensation, involvement, team work and information system (IS) on workforce agility. Influenced by the “Black Box” approach, the study also examined the role of psychological empowerment as a mechanism mediating the relationship between organizational practices and workforce agility.

Design/methodology/approach

The study has been conducted in selective Indian industries, representing manufacturing and service sector across public and private sectors. Quantitative and qualitative data have been collected from both executives and non-executives through reliable instruments validated in Indian context. Data have been analyzed using descriptive analysis, canonical correlation analysis and multiple regression.

Findings

Findings that organizational practices significantly related to workforce agility prove that organizational practices are capable of improving the agile attributes and behavior of the workforce. In detail, team work has the greatest influence on workforce agility, followed by Reward system, employee involvement, organizational learning and training and ISs. Further, the study result also proved the mediating role of psychological empowerment between organizational practices and workforce agility.

Practical implications

Organizations are to design practices related to organizational learning and training, compensation, involvement, team work and IS and implement them efficiently and effectively to enable agility within the workforce, as an agile workforce can only respond proactively to a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous business environment. Further, the result also suggests that managers should design the organizational practices capable of enhancing psychological empowerment, as the combination can deliver better workforce agility.

Originality/value

The research is useful considering very less number of research on workforce agility.

Keywords

Citation

Muduli, A. (2016), "Exploring the facilitators and mediators of workforce agility: an empirical study", Management Research Review, Vol. 39 No. 12, pp. 1567-1586. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-10-2015-0236

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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