Business and academia agree on the significance of agile values, principles and practices. Agility enables organisations to respond to dynamic demands effectively, ensuring resilience and innovation in the contemporary business environment of rapid technological and social change. In this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment, organisations must innovate to meet customer demands and remain resilient against disruptions. Hence, agility is a highly contemporary issue. Digitalisation impacts Swiss SMEs, requiring enhanced agility for success. However, implementing agile practices is challenging, given a misunderstanding of concepts in practice and limited guidance from literature. Existing research highlights that communication can weaken because of larger teams and strict role separation in expanding organisations.

Drawing on design science research (DSR), this master thesis develops a conceptual model as an artefact. Following the DSR cycles, the model is iteratively developed and improved after interviews with various business stakeholders of the selected target group and agile experts. The artefact illustrates a continuous cycle allowing for the sequential implementation of agility. It also outlines roles for agile teams, providing a unique approach that complements existing organisational structures. These insights highlight the model’s distinctive approach and value for research as it complements existing organisational structures rather than suggesting complete changes. For practitioners, the conceptual model and the corresponding guide address the limited knowledge and lack of guidance from the literature to effectively promote agility in manufacturing SMEs.

As a result, studies have primarily focused on adapting agile practices to the enterprise level by introducing new forms of organisational design. Consequently, there is a gap in existing concepts that enhance agility because they disregard established companies and how they can sequentially enhance their agility while maintaining their existing structure.