Australian Universities’ Review - Agility: a crucial capability for universities in times of disruptive change and innovation

Oct 15, 2026

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Government funding cuts have pushed Australian universities to re-examine their value proposition and corporate focus as competition intensifies. Digital transformation is accelerating innovation and disruption, making it difficult for institutions to keep up with demand and shifting market preferences. The text frames agility as an organizational and operational capability to detect and seize opportunities quickly, outlines research on strategic and operational agility, and links these facets to university transformation and renewal.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Strategic agility

Leadership unity

Operational implications in universities

A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W Agility: a crucial capability for universities in times of disruptive change and innovation Sheila Mukerjee La Trobe University Government funding cuts have provided a new impetus to Australian universities to re-examine their value proposition and corporate focus. While the sector has gone through waves of change in recent times, institutions are now scrambling for their place in a highly competitive market. Institutions explore new revenue opportunities and digital transformation to achieve cost savings and efficiencies. The digital world is driving innovation and continuous change at such a rapid and random rate that universities are struggling to keep up with demand. Introduction The film, music, newspaper and retail industries – among many others – have already experienced the impact of the digital revolution and experienced the need to adaptor perish in the face of such unprecedented change and swing in consumer preferences. White (2013), a former journalist who experienced this impact on the print media first hand, warns of seeing the same warning signs of technology’s impact on the higher education sector and the consequences of ignoring them. Universities have been warned to overhaul or perish (Hare, 2012) . Given the growing take up of online education, views are being expressed about the longevity and viability of higher education institutions (Coy, 2013). It is becoming increasingly clear that business models and corporate focus need to be reframed and renewed to ensure that they are relevant to current and future markets and more 56 Agility: a crucial capability for universities Sheila Mukerjee importantly, will stand the test of time and still exist to meet the ongoing demand and challenges of the times. Over the years, the higher education sector has faceda barrage of disruptions and reforms as a result of government reform, market demand and volatility, economic pressures and technological innovation. Recent innovations to open up education, including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), blended learning, collaborative models and free education with elite universities, have changed the landscape of the education sector (Marques, 2013;Valiathan, 2002; Associated Press, 2013) . These innovations have placed the sector on high alert to the disruptive force of the digital revolution. In Australia, recent government announcements about funding cuts and proposed reforms to the university funding model (Matchett, 2013; Hurst & Tovey, 2013) have compounded the situation. Now, more than ever, business models are needed that have strategic foresight capability vol. 56, no. 1, 2014 A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W underpinned by corporate and business agility to respond and adapt to change with minimum latency. Agility is an increasingly crucial factor for survival in this new throwaway paradigm of innovation upon innovation. What is meant by agility in an organisational and operational sense? Agility encompasses the ability to respond and adapt to change in a timely manner so that change quickly becomes the norm for the organisation. Sambamurthy et al. (2003, p. 238) define agility in the context of business success as‘the ability to detect and seize market opportunities with speed and surprise’. An agile organisation has this sense of opportunistic sensitivity and adaptability embedded in its strategic and operational DNA. Many facets of agility as an organisational capability have been researched and reported. Doz and Kosonen (2010) provide a framework for strategic agility and corresponding leadership actions that accelerate the process of business transformation and renewal. Goodhue et al.(2009) published their findings of the effectiveness of enterprise systems in addressing business agility. Systems and hardware agility are significant players in today’s technology-driven businesses. Sambamurthy et al. (20

FAQs

为什么澳大利亚大学需要重新审视价值主张和公司重点？

政府资助削减为澳大利亚大学提供了重新评估其价值主张与企业关注点的动力。在竞争日益激烈的市场中，机构正努力寻找合适位置并探索新收入机会。

文中如何界定“agility（敏捷性）”？

敏捷性被描述为组织在及时的方式下响应并适应变化，使变化迅速成为常态。它也强调以速度与“惊喜”抓住市场机会的能力。

战略敏捷性包含哪些主要维度？

战略敏捷性包含三项主要维度：战略敏感性、领导统一以及资源流动性。战略敏感性强调预见与试验、企业冒险、拉开距离获得视角、抽象成概念与模型，并通过再框定来生成新的商业模式。

Oct 15, 2026

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