EVALUATING AGILE BUSINESS ANALYSIS IN POST-COVID RECOVERY A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON FINANCIAL RESILIENCE

Abstract

This study examines the role of agile business analysis in strengthening financial resilience during the post-COVID recovery period, with a focus on organizational adaptability across different industries, firm sizes, and regional contexts. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, a total of 86 scholarly articles were systematically reviewed, covering both empirical and conceptual contributions. The analysis reveals that agile business analysis enhances resilience through mechanisms such as liquidity preservation, cost efficiency, improved revenue durability, and the integration of financial guardrails into iterative decision-making processes. The findings demonstrate that while small and medium-sized enterprises primarily rely on agile practices to ensure short-term survival and cash preservation, large multinationals employ scaled frameworks to balance global strategies with localized adaptation. Sectoral variations highlight the flexibility of agile analysis, as healthcare, retail, technology, and manufacturing organizations adapted its practices to their specific challenges. Regional comparisons further show that institutional, cultural, and regulatory factors shape the way agile analysis contributes to financial resilience, with significant differences observed between North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The study also underscores the importance of embedding governance, compliance, and risk management within agile practices to balance adaptability with accountability. Collectively, the evidence positions agile business analysis as a strategic capability that extends beyond project delivery to function as a financial resilience framework. By synthesizing insights from 86 reviewed studies, this research contributes to the understanding of how agile practices enable organizations to recover effectively, safeguard financial stability, and sustain performance in environments characterized by volatility and uncertainty.