Leveraging digital transformation and agile slack to integrate team-level I-deals with strategic agility for enhancing international performance

Abstract

Purpose: The article aims to trace how small- and medium-sized export enterprises thrive in international performance by leveraging potential human resources from team-level idiosyncratic employment arrangements (I-deals) and organizational capability from strategic agility through digital transformation and agile slack. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to test the hypotheses based on evidence from 327 teams at 77 export small- and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam. Findings: The findings provide a novel perspective on the critical role of team-level I-deals and strategic agility for thriving small- and medium-sized exporters' international performance via the buffering and transforming firm capabilities, namely digital transformation and agile slack. Originality/value: This study combines the resource-based view and the dynamic capabilities to examine the impact of firm capabilities with team-level ideals and strategic agility on international performance.