Managing the requirements flow from strategy to release in large-scale agile development: a case study at Ericsson

Software development projects have undergone remarkable changes with the arrival of agile development approaches. Although intended for small, self-managing teams, these approaches are used today for large development programs. A major challenge of such programs is coordinating many teams. This case study describes the coordination of knowledge work in a large-scale agile development program with 12 teams. The findings highlight coordination modes based on feedback, the use of a number of mechanisms, and how coordination practices change over time. The findings can improve the outcomes of large knowledge-based development programs by tailoring coordination practices to needs over time.

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Exploring the Product Owner Role Within SAFe Implementation in a Multinational Enterprise

Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming – Workshops - Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-58858-8_10 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 92-100

Author(s):

Daniel Remta ◽

Michal Doležel ◽

Alena Buchalcevová

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Single Case ◽

Multinational Enterprise ◽

Agile Development ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Research Papers ◽

The Right ◽

Development Methods ◽

Initial Results

Abstract [Context] Agile development methods are highly popular across software organizations. To leverage benefits in larger enterprises, Agile development methods have to be scaled. Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is the most commonly used scaling framework. Performing of the Product Owner role has been identified as crucial in project success in large-scale environments. Staffing the right Product Owner is one of the challenges of adopting SAFe. [Motivation] Research papers focused on Product Owner in SAFe are scarce. Our study outcomes help enterprises to understand the Product Owner role in SAFe and therefore contribute to the removal of challenges with finding the right Product Owners. Additionally, we aim to improve the research community’s understanding of the Product Owner role within the context of SAFe. [Method] Qualitative data were collected through three semi-structured interviews and analyzed using deductive content analysis. [Results] This paper presents the initial results of a single case study. We found out that many activities identified for Product Owners in previous research are not carried out by Product Owners in this particular SAFe implementation.

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Coordination Strategies: Managing Inter-team Coordination Challenges in Large-Scale Agile

Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing - Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-78098-2_9 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 140-156

Author(s):

Marthe Berntzen ◽

Viktoria Stray ◽

Nils Brede Moe

Keyword(s):

Software Development ◽

Large Scale ◽

Development Program ◽

Coordination Mechanisms ◽

Agile Development ◽

Team Coordination ◽

Coordination Strategies ◽

Development Teams ◽

Development Methods

AbstractInter-team coordination in large-scale software development can be challenging when relying on agile development methods that emphasize iterative and frequent delivery in autonomous teams. Previous research has introduced the concept of coordination strategies, which refer to a set of coordination mechanisms to manage dependencies. We report on a case study in a large-scale agile development program with 16 development teams. Through interviews, meeting observations, and supplemental document analyses, we explore the challenges to inter-team coordination and how dependencies are managed. We found four coordination strategies: 1) aligning autonomous teams, 2) maintaining overview in the large-scale setting, 3) managing prioritizations, and 4) managing architecture and technical dependencies. This study extends previous research on coordination strategies within teams to the inter-team level. We propose that large-scale organizations can use coordination strategies to understand how they coordinate across teams and manage their unique coordination situation.

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Transitioning from a First Generation to Second Generation Large-Scale Agile Development Method: Towards Understanding Implications for Coordination

Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming – Workshops - Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-58858-8_9 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 84-91

Author(s):

Finn Olav Bjørnson ◽

Torgeir Dingsøyr

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

First Generation ◽

Second Generation ◽

Development Project ◽

Agile Development ◽

Public Organization ◽

Longitudinal Case Study ◽

Development Method ◽

Development Methodology

Abstract This paper reports our initial findings from a longitudinal case study within a large development project in a public organization in Scandinavia. We focus on changes in coordination practices as the development project moved from a 1st to a 2nd generation large-scale agile development methodology. Building on four theories of coordination from different fields, we investigate how each theory illuminates our case and what insight they might provide. We find that two of the theories are well suited to characterizing each phase, providing answer to how coordination was done. While two other theories can provide answers to why these changes occurred.

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An architecture governance approach for Agile development by tailoring the Spotify model

AI & Society ◽

10.1007/s00146-021-01240-x ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Abdallah Salameh ◽

Julian M. Bass

Keyword(s):

Software Architecture ◽

Large Scale ◽

Agile Development ◽

The Novel ◽

Software Product ◽

Open Coding ◽

Architectural Decision ◽

Architectural Knowledge ◽

Embedded Case Study

AbstractThe role of software architecture in large-scale Agile development is important because several teams need to work together to release a single software product while helping to maximise teams’ autonomy. Governing and aligning Agile architecture across autonomous squads (i.e., teams), when using the Spotify model, is a challenge because the Spotify model lacks practices for addressing Agile architecture governance. To explore how software architecture can be governed and aligned by scaling the Spotify model, we conducted a longitudinal embedded case study in a multinational FinTech organisation. Then, we developed and evaluated an approach for architectural governance by conducting an embedded case study. The collected data was analysed using Thematic Analysis and informed by selected Grounded Theory techniques such as memoing, open coding, constant comparison, and sorting. Our approach for architectural governance comprises an organisational structure change and an architecture change management process. The benefits reported by the practitioners include devolving architectural decision-making to the operational level (i.e., Architecture Owners), enhancing architectural knowledge sharing among squads, minimising wasted effort in architectural refactoring, and other benefits. The practitioners in our case study realised an improved squad autonomy by the ability to govern and align architectural decisions. We provide two key contributions in this paper. First, we present the characteristics of our proposed architectural governance approach, its evaluation, benefits, and challenges. Second, we present how the novel Heterogeneous Tailoring model was enhanced to accommodate our architectural governance approach.

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Inter-team Coordination in Large-Scale Agile Development: A Case Study of Three Enabling Mechanisms

Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing - Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-91602-6_15 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 216-231 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Finn Olav Bjørnson ◽

Julia Wijnmaalen ◽

Christoph Johann Stettina ◽

Torgeir Dingsøyr

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Agile Development ◽

Team Coordination

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A Family With Autosomal-Dominant Progressive Sensorineural Hearing Loss

American Journal of Audiology ◽

10.1044/1059-0889.0501.23 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 23-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Chris Halpin ◽

Barbara Herrmann ◽

Margaret Whearty

Keyword(s):

Speech Production ◽

Hearing Aids ◽

Role Models ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Large Scale ◽

Speech Language Pathology ◽

The Family ◽

Patient Will ◽

Language Pathology

The family described in this article provides an unusual opportunity to relate findings from genetic, histological, electrophysiological, psychophysical, and rehabilitative investigation. Although the total number evaluated is large (49), the known, living affected population is smaller (14), and these are spread from age 20 to age 59. As a result, the findings described above are those of a large-scale case study. Clearly, more data will be available through longitudinal study of the individuals documented in the course of this investigation but, given the slow nature of the progression in this disease, such studies will be undertaken after an interval of several years. The general picture presented to the audiologist who must rehabilitate these cases is that of a progressive cochlear degeneration that affects only thresholds at first, and then rapidly diminishes speech intelligibility. The expected result is that, after normal language development, the patient may accept hearing aids well, encouraged by the support of the family. Performance and satisfaction with the hearing aids is good, until the onset of the speech intelligibility loss, at which time the patient will encounter serious difficulties and may reject hearing aids as unhelpful. As the histological and electrophysiological results indicate, however, the eighth nerve remains viable, especially in the younger affected members, and success with cochlear implantation may be expected. Audiologic counseling efforts are aided by the presence of role models and support from the other affected members of the family. Speech-language pathology services were not considered important by the members of this family since their speech production developed normally and has remained very good. Self-correction of speech was supported by hearing aids and cochlear implants (Case 5’s speech production was documented in Perkell, Lane, Svirsky, & Webster, 1992). These patients received genetic counseling and, due to the high penetrance of the disease, exhibited serious concerns regarding future generations and the hope of a cure.

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