Analysis of Practices to Increase the Workforce Agility and to Develop a Sustainable and Competitive Business

Anca-Ioana Munteanu, Nicolae Bibu, Marian Nastase, Nicoleta Cristache and Cosmin Matis
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Anca-Ioana Munteanu: Management Department, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, 300115 Timisoara, Romania
Nicolae Bibu: Management Department, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, 300115 Timisoara, Romania
Marian Nastase: Management Department, Faculty of Management, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010374 Bucharest, Romania
Nicoleta Cristache: Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, 800008 Galati, Romania
Cosmin Matis: Faculty of European Studies, Babes Bolyai University, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: The current business environment is volatile and complex. Companies must constantly identify creative and environmentally friendly solutions. The emphasis on employees and workforce agility has become an attribute of sustainable and competitive organizations simultaneously. The purpose of our study is to validate the hypothesis that there is a direct positive relationship between ranking as important top position of human resources in a company and the extent to which specific practices to increase workforce agility were adopted. Our survey is based on an original questionnaire, with a 92% response rate. We focused on large, independent decision-making companies from Western Romania, for which the implementation of sustainable principles is more difficult than for multinationals. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS23 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The results indicate an average extent of the adoption of management practices aiming to increase workforce agility (45%) and a ranking of human resources in first place as the most important resource (31.7%). Using the Pearson Chi-Square Test, the hypothesis was confirmed (significance = 0.026). Our main conclusion is that if managers intend to develop a sustainable and competitive business, they should attribute a strategic role to employees and adopt practices to increase their agility.

Keywords: agility; organizational agility; agile workforce; agile practices; human resources; competitive advantage; sustainable development; sustainable business (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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