APPLICATION OF AGILE MANAGEMENT APPROACHES IN SELECTED AUTOMOTIVE COMPANIES IN LIBEREC AND CENTRAL BOHEMIAN REGIONS

Dramatic changes caused by the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have emphasized the strategic importance of business agility. Companies around the globe are accelerating their agile transformation to succeed within the contemporary dynamic and complex business environment. This includes both instrumental and cultural changes. It is becoming increasingly clear that agile principles and approaches are no longer exclusively used by IT companies; it is spreading across other business functions and industries. Secondary data analysis confirms a strong ambition of companies towards becoming agile. This paper examines the extent, benefits, and concerns of using agile methodologies by selected automotive companies in the Liberec and Central Bohemian regions of the Czech Republic. The in-depth interviews provide a better understanding of the lower agile maturity of the surveyed companies compared to global statistics. None of the surveyed automotive manufacturers assessed their agile maturity at a high level, nor did they consider agile transformation an urgent strategic priority. Research and Development, Program and Project management stood out as the most agile business functions. At the same time, respondents are clearly aware of the need to increase flexibility and the ability to respond quickly to market changes. Some of the surveyed companies have already successfully incorporated Lean, Kanban and Scrum into their operating models, which are the basics of agile. The primary research findings, combined with secondary data analysis, enable recommendations for those pursuing agile transformation. The paper means to stimulate further in-depth research on the agile management approaches in the manufacturing environment.