An agile workforce refers to a workforce that is proactive, flexible and resilient in dealing with non-routine and unpredictable circumstances. Even though past research suggests that agility could have a positive effect on firm performance, there is hardly any empirical evidence on whether agility matters for high-growth firms (HGFs). The purpose of this research is therefore to investigate the extent to which workforce agility increases the likelihood of firms becoming HGFs in the high-tech manufacturing sector of a developing economy, and whether the relationship is mediated by new product innovation.
We develop a theoretical framework that explains how and why a firm that has an agile workforce that is proactive in creating new products, flexible in responding to changing environment, and resilient in turbulent times, is more likely to create innovative products, and thus secure temporary monopoly, which increases the likelihood of the firm becoming a HGF. Then, utilizing firm-level data from high-tech manufacturing sector of a developing country, Iran, we test several hypotheses using logistic regressions. We find that workforce agility significantly increases the probability of high-tech manufacturing firms becoming HGFs, but that this relationship is mediated by new product innovation. Implications are drawn for theory and practice.
AbubakarYAMitraJ (2010) Innovation performance in European regions: comparing manufacturing and services ICT subsectors. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management11(2): 156–177.
2.
AbubakarYAMitraJ (2017) Knowledge spillovers and high-impact growth: comparing local and foreign firms in the UK. Journal of International Entrepreneurship15(2): 145–176.
3.
AbubakarYAHandCSmallboneD, et al. (2019) What specific modes of internationalization influence SME innovation in Sub-Saharan least developed countries (LDCs)?Technovation79: 56–70.
4.
AcsZJ (2003) Innovation and the Growth of Cities. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
5.
AcsZJParsonsWTracyS (2008) High-Impact Firms: Gazelles Revisited. Washington, DC: Small Business Administration, pp. 1–82.
6.
AlmusMNerlingerEA (1999) Growth of new technology-based firms: Which factors matter?Small Business Economics13(2): 141–154.
7.
AlonIMadanogluMShohamA (2017) Strategic agility explanations for managing franchising expansion during economic cycles. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal27(2): 113–131.
8.
BamiatziVCKirchmaierT (2014) Strategies for superior performance under adverse conditions: a focus on small and medium-sized high-growth firms. International Small Business Journal32(3): 259–284.
9.
BaronRMKennyDA (1986) The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology51(6): 1173.
10.
BellEBrymanAHarleyB (2018) Business Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
11.
BlascoASCarrizosaMTLlopisEJ (2016) High-growth firms and innovation in European countries. EKONOMIAZ. Revista vasca de Economía90(02): 194–221.
12.
BreuKHemingwayCJStrathernM, et al. (2002) Workforce agility: the new employee strategy for the knowledge economy. Journal of Information technology17(1): 21–31.
13.
BrymanABellE (2011) Business Research Methods. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
14.
BrymanACramerD (2002) Quantitative Data Analysis with SPSS Release 10 for Windows: A Guide for Social Scientists. Abingdon: Routledge.
15.
ChanATNgaiEWMoonKK (2017) The effects of strategic and manufacturing flexibilities and supply chain agility on firm performance in the fashion industry. European Journal of Operational Research259(2): 486–499.
16.
CoadARaoR (2008) Innovation and firm growth in high-tech sectors: a quantile regression approach. Research policy37(4): 633–648.
17.
CoadADaunfeldtSOHölzlW, et al. (2014) High-growth firms: introduction to the special section. Industrial and Corporate Change23(1): 91–112.
18.
CorsinoMGabrieleR (2011) Product innovation and firm growth: evidence from the integrated circuit industry. Industrial and corporate change20(1): 29–56.
19.
DachsBPetersB (2014) Innovation, employment growth, and foreign ownership of firms: a European perspective. Research Policy43(1): 214–232.
20.
DelmarFDavidssonPGartnerWB (2003) Arriving at the high-growth firm. Journal of business venturing18(2): 189–216.
21.
DyerLShaferR (2003) Dynamic organizations: achieving marketplace and organizational agility with people. In: PetersonRSMannixEA (eds) Leading and Managing People in the Dynamic Organization. Mahwah, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum Associates.
22.
FarashahiMHafsiT (2009) Strategy of firms in unstable institutional environments. Asia Pacific Journal of Management26(4): 643–666.
23.
GoedhuysMSleuwaegenL (2010) High-growth entrepreneurial firms in Africa: a quantile regression approach. Small Business Economics34(1): 31–51.
24.
GoedhuysMSleuwaegenL (2016) High-growth versus declining firms: the differential impact of human capital and R&D. Applied Economics Letters23(5): 369–372.
25.
GriffinBHeskethB (2003) Adaptable behaviours for successful work and career adjustment. Australian Journal of Psychology55(2): 65–73.
26.
GrijalvaDFAyalaVPoncePA, et al. (2018) Does firm innovation lead to high growth? Evidence from Ecuadorian firms. Cuadernos de Economía37(spe75): 697–725.
27.
HallBHVopelK (1996) Innovation, market share, and market value. In International Conference on the Economics and Econometrics of Innovation. Strasbourg, France: The European Parliament.
28.
HallBHLottiFMairesseJ (2008) Employment, innovation, and productivity: evidence from Italian microdata. Industrial and Corporate Change17(4): 813–839.
29.
HintonMHamiltonRT (2013) Characterizing high-growth firms in New Zealand. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation14(1): 39–48.
30.
HölzlWFriesenbichlerK (2010) High-growth firms, innovation and the distance to the frontier. Economics Bulletin30(2): 1016–1024.
JacobsMDrogeCVickerySK, et al. (2011) Product and process modularity’s effects on manufacturing agility and firm growth performance. Journal of Product Innovation Management28(1): 123–137.
33.
KönigHLichtGBuscherH (1995) Employment, investment and innovation at the firm level. In: The OECD Jobs Study—Investment, Productivity and Employment. Paris: OECD, pp. 67–81.
34.
LangJC (2001) Managing in knowledge-based competition. Journal of Organizational Change Management14(6): 538–553.
35.
LeeHWPakJKimS, et al. (2019) Effects of human resource management systems on employee proactivity and group innovation. Journal of Management45(2): 819–846.
36.
NewmanKL (2000) Organizational transformation during institutional upheaval. Academy of Management Review25(3): 602–619.
37.
NiefertM (2005) Patenting behaviour and employment growth in German start-up firms: a Panel Data Analysis. Paper provided byZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung/Center for European Economic Research in its series ZEW Discussion Papers with number 05-03.
38.
NorthDSmallboneD (2000) The innovativeness and growth of rural SMEs during the 1990s. Regional Studies34(2): 145–157.
39.
NorthDC (1990) Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge university press.
40.
OECD (2011) High-Growth Enterprises Rate, in Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2011. Paris: OECD Publishing.
41.
OECD/EC/Eurostat (1997) The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities: Proposed Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Technological Innovation Data: Oslo Manual. Paris: OECD.
42.
PetersBDachsBDünserM (2014) Firm Growth, Innovation and the Business Cycle: Background Report for the 2014 Competitiveness Report. Seibersdorf, Austria: ZEW Gutachten/Forschungsberichte.
43.
PodsakoffPMMacKenzieSBLeeJY, et al. (2003) Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology88(5): 879.
44.
PorterME (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations: With a New Introduction. New York: Free Press.
45.
QinRNembhardDA (2010) Workforce agility for stochastically diffused conditions—a real options perspective. International Journal of Production Economics125(2): 324–334.
46.
RiesE (2011) The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. New York, NY: Crown Books.
47.
SalehzadehRPoolJKMohseniAM, et al. (2017) Factors influencing organisational performance: the role of knowledge sharing and organisational agility. International Journal of Business Excellence11(3): 344–356.
48.
SantoleriP (2020). Innovation and job creation in (high-growth) new firms. Industrial and Corporate Change29(3): 731–756.
49.
SheatsleyPB (1983) Questionnaire construction and item writing. Handbook of Survey Research4(1): 195–230.
50.
SherehiyBKarwowskiWLayerJK (2007) A review of enterprise agility: concepts, frameworks, and attributes. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics37(5): 445–460.
51.
SobelME (1982) Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equation models. Sociological Methodology13: 290–312.
52.
SutcliffeKMVogusTJ (2003) Organizing for resilience. In: CameronKSDuttonJEQuinnRE (eds) Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler, pp. 94–110.
53.
TetherBSStoreyDJ (1998) Smaller firms and Europe’s high technology sectors: a framework for analysis and some statistical evidence. Research Policy26(9): 947–971.
54.
ThwaitesAWynarczykP (1996) The economic performance of innovative small firms in the South East region and elsewhere in the UK. Regional Studies30(2): 135–149.
55.
TourangeauRRipsLJRasinskiK (2000) The Psychology of Survey Response. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
56.
UNCTAD (2016) Science and technology policy review—Islamic Republic of Iran. In: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Geneva, Switzerland, 30 December 1964.
WelterFSmallboneDSlonimskiA, et al. (2012) Enterprising Families in a Hostile Environment for Entrepreneurship (No. 2012-1). Jönköping International Business School.
59.
XingYLiuYBoojihawonDK, et al. (2020) Entrepreneurial team and strategic agility: a conceptual framework and research agenda. Human Resource Management Review30(1): 100696.
60.
YusufYYSarhadiMGunasekaranA (1999) Agile manufacturing: the drivers, concepts and attributes. International Journal of Production Economics62(1–2): 33–43.
