Research digested: The agile advantage – leading through agility, Menzies

About this research

This survey of 500 senior business leaders (including CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, COOs, CMOs, managing directors and directors) in medium-sized firms and above (50+ employees) explores business agility and decision making. The fieldwork was carried out in June 2025.

Key findings

  • Slow decision-making is causing missed opportunities, with 18% of leaders saying their organisation has missed a major opportunity in the past year due to slow decision-making. The research suggests that organisational complexity and decision bottlenecks can directly affect growth by preventing firms from responding quickly to opportunities
  • Internal leadership and collaboration issues are significant barriers – 28% of leaders cite short-termism, leadership misalignment or poor collaboration as barriers to agility
  • Financial constraints remain the biggest obstacle to agility – 36% of businesses say budgeting and cash flow difficulties are a major barrier to agility
  • Many mid-sized firms lack a structured strategic plan – 45% of mid-sized firms maintain a long-term strategy that is regularly reviewed, while 15% operate reactively with no formal planning process
  • Leadership alignment is widely seen as critical to agility – 35% of business leaders say having a clearer long-term roadmap and plan would boost agility
  • Technology and AI are seen as major enablers of agility – when asked which capabilities would improve agility, 44% of leaders identified AI-powered insights as the biggest enabler, followed by predictive analytics and data visualisation (38%). However, 23% of businesses say they have scaled back investment in AI and digital tools in the past year, often due to economic pressures
  • Crisis conditions and lack of preparation reduce organisational agility – 20% of businesses say too many crises are undermining their ability to remain agile, yet only 38% use scenario modelling or ‘war-gaming’ to test strategies against external threats
  • People and culture issues are the most common agility barriers – eight of the top ten barriers to agility identified by respondents are people-related. Specific challenges include risk aversion, lack of diverse viewpoints and slow decision approvals, with more than 18% saying ongoing crisis conditions have drained leadership and team energy
  • Agility responsibilities often fall too heavily on the CEO – 54% of organisations say the CEO is primarily responsible for ensuring business strategy remains responsive to opportunities. Outside the CEO, 38% cite the COO, 29% the CFO, and 24% both the CTO and CMO as playing key roles in driving organisational agility

What to act on

Organisations should treat agility primarily as a leadership and governance challenge rather than a technology problem. The research shows that leadership misalignment, poor collaboration and slow decision-making frequently prevent organisations from responding quickly to opportunities.

Businesses should also invest in stronger strategic planning and organisational alignment. With only 45% of firms maintaining regularly reviewed long-term strategies, many organisations are operating reactively. Establishing clear strategic roadmaps and ensuring leadership teams are aligned around priorities can improve the speed and consistency of decision-making.

Organisations should strengthen financial and operational visibility to enable faster decisions. Budgeting and cash flow challenges remain the most widely reported barrier to agility (36%), highlighting the importance of stronger forecasting, working capital management and financial reporting systems.

Finally, companies should focus on building an organisational culture that distributes agility across leadership teams and the wider workforce. The report shows that agility responsibilities often fall heavily on CEOs (54%) while many barriers to agility are people-related. Empowering senior leaders across functions, reducing decision bottlenecks and encouraging experimentation can help embed agility across the organisation rather than concentrating it in one role.

Read the report https://www.menzies.co.uk/the-agile-advantage/