Enterprise Systems and Organizational Agility: A Review of the Literature and Conceptual Framework <s> The Neutral View of IS and Organizational Agility <s> In recent years there has been a shift towards the inclusion of agile processes in the development of manufacturing strategies. This work explores the agility of operations in four SMEs in high‐tech manufacturing and the impact made by information systems to agile performance in those companies. The study demonstrated that information systems are relegated behind other enablers of agility. Although information systems are often used to support agility, information systems in themselves are not sufficient to achieve agility in business processes. Furthermore, the case studies demonstrate that companies rely upon non‐IT attributes to improve the agility of their manufacturing operations. The results of the study suggest that information systems play a more significant role for enhancing agility. <s> BIB001 </s> Enterprise Systems and Organizational Agility: A Review of the Literature and Conceptual Framework <s> The Neutral View of IS and Organizational Agility <s> The full potential of the expected role of Information Technology (IT) in facilitating organizational adaptation has not yet been realized because most of the existing systems do not lend themselves to the levels of flexibility required to support changes in business processes. This problem is accentuated with increase of inter-organizational linkages involving disparate IT systems. Web services have emerged as a disruptive technology, with a real potential of enabling flexible business processes. This paper examines the influence of Web services on business process flexibility and analyses its impact on organizational adaptation. <s> BIB002 </s> Enterprise Systems and Organizational Agility: A Review of the Literature and Conceptual Framework <s> The Neutral View of IS and Organizational Agility <s> The current highly dynamic business environment requires businesses to be agile. Business agility is the ability to swiftly and easily change businesses and business processes beyond the normal level of flexibility to effectively manage unpredictable external and internal changes. This study reports on a cross-industry analysis of change factors requiring agility and assesses agility gaps that companies are facing in four industry sectors in the Netherlands. A framework was constructed to measure the perceived gaps between the current level of business agility and the required level of business agility. The questionnaire and in-depth interviews held reveal that today's businesses perceive to lack the agility required to quickly respond to changes, whose speed and requirements are difficult to predict. The paper presents rankings of generic and sector-specific agility gaps. These show that although some generic change factors requiring agility exist, the change factors requiring agility that cause agility gaps differ across industry sectors. Among the factors that enable or hinder business agility, the existence of inflexible legacy systems is perceived to be a very important disabler in achieving more business agility. A number of basic principles and directions are discussed to transform Information Technology from barrier into key enabler for increased agility in organizations and business networks. <s> BIB003 </s> Enterprise Systems and Organizational Agility: A Review of the Literature and Conceptual Framework <s> The Neutral View of IS and Organizational Agility <s> In turbulent environments, enterprise agility, that is, the ability of firms to sense environmental change and respond readily, is an important determinant of firm success. We define and deconstruct enterprise agility, delineate enterprise agility from similar concepts in the business research literature, explore the underlying capabilities that support enterprise agility, explicate the enabling role of information technology (IT) and digital options, and propose a method for measuring enterprise agility. The concepts in this paper are offered as foundational building blocks for the overall research program on enterprise agility and the enabling role of IT. <s> BIB004
The neutral view maintains that IS can either enable or inhibit OA, depending on the existence of agility gaps that are generated by IS and the nature of IS management in place BIB003 . OA gaps refer to the difference between the level of agility required and achieved. BIB004 point out that, like other organizational resources, IS mismanagement, rather than IS per se, is the main reason that negatively influences OA. Without appropriate IS governance, IS will inhibit instead of enable an organization's agility. Furthermore, BIB001 signify that poor support of information systems to operations does not necessarily determine the level of agility achieved and is not an impediment for developing agility. Companies, especially those in the manufacturing sector, rely on non-IT attributes to improve the agility of their operations. Therefore, IS should be considered secondary or as second-order enablers of agility involving the enhancement of agile business processes. First-order enablers are used during the first phase of the development of agile business processes BIB001 . BIB002 also postulate that flexible business processes are a key determinant of organizational adaptation or organizational agility. The review of research on the impact of IS on OA in Table 2 indicates an inconclusive outcome on the role of IS on OA and the scarcity of empirical evidence on both sides of the arguments. Nevertheless, this existing knowledge provides a general domain for the research on the impact of enterprise system on OA.