AGILITY ASSESSMENT IN THE WOODWORKING COMPANY

Authors

  • Katarína Marcineková Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia
  • Andrea Janakova Sujova Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia
  • Martin Halász Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia

Keywords:

agile maturity model; agility evaluation; woodworking company; enterprise agility; change management.

Abstract

Agility has become a strategic priority for organizations striving to succeed in dynamic and unpredictable environments. This study is aimed at evaluating the agility of a Slovak woodworking company based on the application of a proposed assessment framework by authors to find out the agility level, the main gaps in its agility practices, and how these gaps can be addressed to improve agility. The custom-designed agility maturity model, structured interviews, questionnaires, and diagnostic tests are used in the research to examine 35 key agility elements and seven dimensions, including organization, processes, change culture, human resources, customer engagement, and innovation. The findings reveal significant gaps in process management, technology integration, and customer orientation, where agile practices are partially recognized but still need to be fully implemented. Actionable recommendations are proposed to enhance operational flexibility, foster innovation, and improve customer-centricity. This study demonstrates the critical role of agility in maintaining competitiveness and provides a roadmap for its systematic enhancement in small and medium-sized enterprises.

References

Alqudah, M., Razali, R., 2016. A Review of Scaling Agile Methods in Large Software Development. International Journal on Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology 6, 828-837. https://doi.org/10.18517/IJASEIT.6.6.1374

Alzoubi, H., Elrehail, H., Hanaysha, J., Al-Gasaymeh, A., Al-Adaileh, R., 2022. The Role of Supply Chain Integration and Agile Practices in Improving Lead Time During the COVID-19 Crisis. Int. J. Serv. Sci. Manag. Eng. Technol., 13, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJSSMET.290348

Arteta, B., & Giachetti, R., 2004. A measure of agility as the complexity of the enterprise system. Robotics and Computer-integrated Manufacturing, 20, 495-503. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.RCIM.2004.05.008

Ashrafi, A., Ravasan, A., Trkman, P., Afshari, S., 2019. The role of business analytics capabilities in bolstering firms' agility and performance. Int. J. Inf. Manag., 47, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJINFOMGT.2018.12.005

Azizi, A., 2015. Evaluation Improvement of Production Productivity Performance using Statistical Process Control, Overall Equipment Efficiency, and Autonomous Maintenance. Procedia Manufacturing, 2, 186-190. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PROMFG.2015.07.032

Badakhshan, P., Conboy, K., Grisold, T., Brocke, J., 2019. Agile business process management: A systematic literature review and an integrated framework. Bus. Process. Manag. J., 26, 1505-1523. https://doi.org/10.1108/bpmj-12-2018-0347

Beck, K., Beedle, M., van Bennekum, A., Cockburn, A., Cunningham, W., Fowler, M., Grenning, J., Highsmith, J., Hunt, A., Jeffries, R., Kern, J., Marick, B., Martin, R., C., Mellor, S., Schwaber, K., Sutherland, J., Thomas, D., 2001. The Agile Manifesto. Agile Alliance. http://agilemanifesto.org/

Beraldin, A., Danese, P., Romano, P., 2020. Employee involvement for continuous improvement and production repetitiveness: a contingency perspective for achieving organisational outcomes. Production Planning & Control, 33, 323 - 339. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2020.1823024

Berthot, B., 2023. Agile Supply Chain Management Theories, Empirical Data, and Future Directions. InSITE, 15 p. https://doi.org/10.28945/5153

Bottani, E., 2009. On the assessment of enterprise agility: issues from two case studies. International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, 12, 213 - 230. https://doi.org/10.1080/13675560802395160

Carvalho, A., Sampaio, P., Rebentisch, E., 2019. On Agile Metrics for Operations Management: Measuring and Aligning Agility with Operational Excellence. 2019 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM), 1601-1605. https://doi.org/10.1109/IEEM44572.2019.8978806

Chacko, E., Suresh, M., 2021. Assessment of Start-Up Agility Using Multi-grade Fuzzy and Importance Performance Analysis. In: Kumaresan, G., Shanmugam, N.S., Dhinakaran, V. (eds) Advances in Materials Research. ICAMR 2019. Springer Proceedings in Materials, vol 5. Springer, Singapore, 685-694. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8319-3_68

Chakravarty, K., Singh, J. A., 2024. dissection of agile software development in changing scenario and the sustainable path ahead. Int J Syst Assur Eng Manag 15, 2606–2622. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13198-024-02283-1

Christopher, M., 2000. The agile supply chain: Competing in volatile markets. Industrial Marketing Management, 29(1), 37-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0019-8501(99)00110-8

Couto, E., Lopes, M., Sousa, R., 2015. Can IS/IT Governance Contribute for Business Agility?. , 1099-1106. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PROCS.2015.08.565

DeGroote, S., Marx, T., 2013. The impact of IT on supply chain agility and firm performance: An empirical investigation. Int. J. Inf. Manag., 33, 909-916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2013.09.001

Diego, S. S., Ghezzi, A., Barbosa de Aguiar, R., Marcelo, N. C., Schwengber, C., 2020. Lean startup, agile methodologies and customer development for business model innovation: A systematic review and research agenda. [Business Model Innovation] International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research 26(4), 595-628. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-07-2019-0425

Edison, H., Wang, X., Conboy, K., 2022. Comparing Methods for Large-Scale Agile Software Development: A Systematic Literature Review. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 48, 2709-2731. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2021.3069039

Fertalj, K., Matejas, M., 2015. Using Agility in Building Business Process Management Solutions. International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering 9, 3826-3832.

Ganguly, A., Nilchiani, R., Farr, J., 2009. Evaluating agility in corporate enterprises. International Journal of Production Economics 118, 410-423. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJPE.2008.12.009

Gergin, Z., Çolak, E., Kayalar, M., Yavaşoğlu, C., 2022. A New Organizational Agility Assessment Approach Applied in the Logistics Industry. Journal of Business Research – Turk 14(2), 1129-1147. https://doi.org/10.20491/isarder.2022.1431

Girod, S. J. G., Birkinshaw, J., Prange, C., 2023. Business agility: Key themes and future directions. California Management Review, 65(5), 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/00081256231186641

Gren, L., Torkar, R., Feldt, R., 2015. The prospects of a quantitative measurement of agility: A validation study on an agile maturity model. Journal of Systems and Software 107, 38-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2015.05.008

Imgrund, F., Janiesch, C., 2019. Understanding the Need for New Perspectives on BPM in the Digital Age: An Empirical Analysis. Di Francescomarino, C., Dijkman, R., Zdun, U. (eds) Business Process Management Workshops. BPM 2019. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 362. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37453-2_24

Kallio, H., Pietilä, A., Johnson, M., Kangasniemi, M., 2016. Systematic methodological review: developing a framework for a qualitative semi-structured interview guide. Journal of advanced nursing, 72 12, 2954-2965. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13031

Kock, A., Gemünden, H., 2016. Antecedents to decision-making quality and agility in innovation portfolio management. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 33, 670-686. https://doi.org/10.1111/JPIM.12336

Kumar, A. K. R., Dhas, J. E. R., 2023. Improving supplier performance and strategic sourcing decisions by integrating jobshop scheduling, inventory management and agile new product development. Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing 16(2), 456-491. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGOSS-06-2022-0047

Larson, D., 2019. A Review and Future Direction of Business Analytics Project Delivery. In: Anandarajan, M., Harrison, T. (eds) Aligning Business Strategies and Analytics. Advances in Analytics and Data Science, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93299-6_7

Leroux, K., Wright, N., 2010. Does Performance Measurement Improve Strategic Decision Making? Findings From a National Survey of Nonprofit Social Service Agencies. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly - NONPROFIT VOLUNT SECT Q. 39. 571-587. 10.1177/0899764009359942

Looks, H., Fangmann, J., Thomaschewski, J., Cuaresma, M., Schön, E., 2021. Towards a Standardized Questionnaire for Measuring Agility at Team Level. , 71-85. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78098-2_5

Looks, H., Fangmann, J., Thomaschewski, J., Cuaresma, M., Schön, E., 2021. Towards a Standardized Questionnaire for Measuring Agility at Team Level. In: Gregory, P., Lassenius, C., Wang, X., Kruchten, P. (eds) Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming. XP 2021. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 419. Springer, Cham., 71-85. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78098-2_5

Mahapatra, M. S., Shenoy, D., 2021. Lean maintenance index: A measure of leanness in maintenance organizations. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering 28(4), 791-809. https://doi.org/10.1108/jqme-08-2020-0083

Milenković, M., Lalic, B., Pavlovic, K., Beric, I., Šobajić, V., 2019. Comparison of traditional and agile approach to manage product development projects. In: Proceedings of the 5th IPMA SENET Project Management Conference. https://doi.org/10.2991/senet-19.2019.8

Moe, N., Mikalsen, M., 2020. Large-Scale Agile Transformation: A Case Study of Transforming Business, Development and Operations. Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming 383, 115 - 131. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49392-9_8

Narasimhan, R., Swink, M., Kim, S., 2006. Disentangling leanness and agility: An empirical investigation. Journal of Operations Management 24, 440-457. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JOM.2005.11.011

Oosterhout, M., Waarts, E., Hillegersberg, J., 2006. Change factors requiring agility and implications for IT. European Journal of Information Systems, 15, 132-145. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000601

Papadopoulos, G., 2015. Moving from traditional to agile software development methodologies also on large, distributed projects. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 175, 455-463. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SBSPRO.2015.01.1223

Perides, M. P. N., Barrote, E. B., Sbragia, R., 2021. The competencies of project managers working with agile and traditional approaches: a comparative study. Revista De Gestão E Projetos 12(1), 11–38. https://doi.org/10.5585/gep.v12i1.17534

Plater, Q., Frazier, M., Talbert, P., Davis, V., Talbert, P., 2022. Human Resources Strategies & Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Literature Review. Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, 10, 330 - 342. https://doi.org/10.2478/mdke-2022-0021

Rathod, G., Puranik, V., Hiremath, V., 2019. Developing agility system in supply chains. International Journal of Business and Systems Research 13(2), 15. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBSR.2019.10018715

Rdiouat, Y., Bahsani, S., Lakhdissi, M., Semma, A., 2021. Measuring and improving information systems agility through the balanced scorecard approach. International Journal of Computer Science Issues (IJCSI) 12(5), 58. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2109.07281

Schmitt, A., Theobald, S., Diebold, P., 2019. Comparison of Agile Maturity Models. In: Franch, X., Männistö, T., Martínez-Fernández, S. (eds) Product-Focused Software Process Improvement. PROFES 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 11915. Springer, Cham., 661-671. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35333-9_52

Schuh, G., Prote, J., Busam, T., Lorenz, R., Netland, T., 2019. Using Prescriptive Analytics to Support the Continuous Improvement Process. In: IFIP International Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems, book series, 46-53. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30000-5_6

Shafiabady, N., Hadjinicolaou, N., Din, F., Bhandari, B., Wu, R., Vakilian, J., 2023. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict organizational agility. PLOS ONE 18(5), e0283066. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283066

Shpak, Y., Ilnytskyi, V., Andrukhiv, I., 2023. Comparative characteristics of lean- and agile-methodology of supply chain management under uncertainty. Scientific opinion: Economics and Management 3(83), 64-71. https://doi.org/10.32782/2521-666x/2023-83-9

Srivastava, A., Yadav, M., Yadav, R., Singh, B., Dewasiri, N., 2023. Exploring Digital Agility and Digital Transformation Leadership. Journal of Global Information Management. https://doi.org/10.4018/jgim.332861

Tamtam, F., Tourabi, A., 2019. Agile capabilities in Moroccan companies: Criteria and practices. 2019 4th World Conference on Complex Systems (WCCS), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICoCS.2019.8930721

Tseng, Y., Lin, C., 2011. Enhancing enterprise agility by deploying agile drivers, capabilities and providers. Inf. Sci., 181, 3693-3708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2011.04.034

Vasanthan, P., Suresh, M., 2021. Assessment of organizational agility in response to disruptive innovation: a case of an engineering services firm. International Journal of Organizational Analysis 30(6), 1465-1475. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-09-2020-2431

Walter, A., 2020. Organizational agility: ill-defined and somewhat confusing? A systematic literature review and conceptualization. Management Review Quarterly 71, 343-391. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-020-00186-6

Wang, L., Keshavarzmanesh, S., Feng, H. Y., 2010. A function block based approach for increasing adaptability of assembly planning and control. International Journal of Production Research 49(16), 4903–4924. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2010.501827

Wendler, R., 2014. Development of the organizational agility maturity model. 2014 Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems, 1197-1206. https://doi.org/10.15439/2014F79

Wongsomboon, C., Maneerat, N., Thudthong, J., Sukasem, S., Luangpol, A., 2023. Cycle Time Reduction for Productivity Improvement in an Engine Assembly Industry. 2023 9th International Conference on Engineering, Applied Sciences, and Technology (ICEAST), 89-92. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEAST58324.2023.10157291

Yu, L., Heng, Z., 2006. Measuring Agility of Enterprise Using Analytic Hierarchy Process and Bayesian Belief Networks. 2006 International Conference on Management Science and Engineering, 551-556. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMSE.2006.313954

Downloads

Published

2024-12-11

How to Cite

Marcineková, K., Janakova Sujova, A., & Halász, M. (2024). AGILITY ASSESSMENT IN THE WOODWORKING COMPANY. Acta Facultatis Xylologiae Zvolen, 66(2), 155–171. Retrieved from https://ojs.tuzvo.sk/index.php/AFXZ/article/view/119