ORGANIZATIONAL AGILITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY

Abstract

In today’s volatile and uncertain business environment, organizations face unprecedented disruptions that challenge their ability to maintain continuity and performance. This study investigates the impact of organizational agility on organizational resilience, with crisis management capability as a mediating mechanism, grounded in Dynamic Capability Theory. Using a cross-sectional research design, data were collected from 250 senior and mid-level managers across large, medium, and SME organizations in Pakistan. The study employed validated 7-point Likert scales to measure organizational agility, crisis management capability, and organizational resilience, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the proposed relationships. The results indicate that organizational agility positively influences both organizational resilience and crisis management capability. Crisis management capability also positively affects organizational resilience and partially mediates the relationship between agility and resilience. These findings demonstrate that while agility enables organizations to sense and respond to environmental changes, its translation into resilience is strengthened through structured crisis preparedness and response mechanisms. The model explains 41% of the variance in organizational resilience, highlighting the substantial role of dynamic capabilities in fostering adaptive performance. Theoretically, this study extends Dynamic Capability Theory by identifying crisis management capability as a key mechanism that links agility to resilience, providing insights into the microfoundations of organizational adaptability. Practically, the study suggests that managers should integrate agile practices with robust crisis management systems to enhance resilience, particularly in SMEs and turbulent environments. Policy interventions can further support organizations by providing frameworks, resources, and training to strengthen both agility and crisis management capabilities.

Keywords: Organizational Agility, Organizational Resilience, Crisis Management Capability, Dynamic Capability Theory, PLS-SEM.