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Top1. Introduction
Among scholars of organizations, agility is defined in a variety of ways. It is the ability to continuously adjust and adapt a company's fundamental business strategy in order to create value (Teece, 2014). Agile is defined as “the capability to efficiently and effectively re-deploy/redirect resources to value-creating and value-protecting (and capturing) higher-yield activities based on internal and external conditions” (Teece, 2014). An organisation is the highest unit that can be digitally agile (Salmela et al., 2022). According to Salamela et al., 2022, digital agility refers to a company's capacity to capitalise on opportunities and threats generated by digital technologies (K et al., 2022; Kraus et al., 2022). In order to be digitally agile, organisations, industries, individuals, and societies must be transformed (Salmela et al., 2022). Digital technologies have a significant impact on an organization's agility (financial performance, product innovation, and process innovation) along with relational capability and innovation capability (Rizomyliotis et al., 2022). Digital agility can impact both individual and organisational outcomes.
According to the department of census and statistics, Sri Lanka reported 34.3 percent computer literacy within past three years. The main reasons for this study to be conducted in Sri Lankan context is that, as a result of digital agility, companies are able to change their business practices rapidly and easily. As an example, new technology might be implemented effectively, or new business objectives might be met (Fernando & Almeida, 2012; Batten et al., 2007).
It is essential to define what a family business is before describing the strategic management process on family businesses. Our definition of family business is based on Chua, Sharma, and Chrisman (1996) as a business that is governed and/or managed on a sustainable, potentially cross generational basis, to shape and perhaps pursue the vision of the business held by members of a family. Research on family businesses is largely descriptive rather than prescriptive. Prescriptive literature has mostly focused on improving family relationships rather than business performance.
Despite the importance of understanding the family-business dyad, there are other objectives that should be pursued such as ongoing economic crisis challenges. Unlike publicly listed companies, family-owned companies are shaped by their owners' values (Leso et al., 2023; Kalaignanam, 2021). A firm's industry, internal and external resources, market leadership, and dominant staff qualities may influence the priority of dimensions, as noted by Austin and Seitanidi (2012), Leso et al. (2023), and Kalaignanam et al. (2021). The ability to manage crises effectively is crucial for family firms, including family SMEs, in order to preserve their socioemotional endowment (Sriyani, 2022). In Sri Lanka, family businesses lack the skills, talents, and expertise necessary to manage digital technologies as a crucial enabler. Using a countrywide cross-sectional survey, multiple experts found various economic and socio-cultural behaviours of small enterprises in Sri Lanka (Batten & Hettihewa, 1999; Batten et al., 2007; Wijewardena et al., 2023) with less studies focusing on the digital agility of family firms in Sri Lanka (Fernando & Almeida, 2012; Batten et al., 2007).