Ambidexterity in Agile software development: a conceptual paper

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carin Lindskog ◽  
Monika Magnusson
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Agile Software Development ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Social Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Task Team ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Agile Software ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to apply the concept of organizational ambidexterity as a conceptual lens to increase the understanding of tensions between exploitation (continuity) and exploration (change) in Agile software development (ASD) project teams, and particularly the balancing (ambidextrous) strategies utilized.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework was constructed from interdisciplinary sources on ambidexterity. A literature review of publications on ambidexterity in ASD was then performed, and the results from the selected publications were classified according to an extension of the conceptual framework.FindingsContextual ambidexterity in ASD is affected by the four basic coherent concepts: time, task, team and transition. The study found that most ambidextrous factors and strategies were task and team-related. In addition, a mixture of hard (performance) strategies and soft (social) strategies is needed in order for people/teams to (be able to) become ambidextrous.Practical implicationsTo provide a better understanding of ASD, it is important to identify a broader set of ambidextrous factors and strategies that can impact ASD project teams. The expanded conceptual framework can serve as a basis for future empirical research and provide insights to practitioners on how to strengthen ambidexterity in ASD projects.Originality/valueThe contribution is of great importance for ASD research and practice, as ASD methods are a popular method for managing projects within ASD and in other nonsoftware organizations. In addition, as more and more organizations struggle to deal with rapidly changing environments, interest in the phenomena of paradoxical tensions and the strategy (ambidexterity) to deal with these tensions increase.

scholarly journals The value propositions of multi-, cross-, and omni-channel retailing

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 1133-1152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mika Yrjölä ◽  
Hannu Saarijärvi ◽  
Henrietta Nummela
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Multiple Channel ◽  
Shopping Motivations ◽  
Value Propositions ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This study examines how retailers leverage multiple-channel strategies in relation to their customer value propositions (CVPs). More specifically, the purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze how multi-, cross- and omni-channel CVPs differ in terms of how they create value and which types of shopping motivations they aim to satisfy. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper presents and synthesizes three theoretical discussions pertaining to consumer shopping motivations, CVPs and multiple-channel retailing strategies into a tentative conceptual framework. Nine case examples are used to illustrate three different channel strategies: multi-channel, cross-channel and omni-channel retailing. Findings A tentative framework for understanding retailers’ channel strategies is suggested. Practical implications Retailers will benefit from a structured and synthesized understanding of the differences between multiple-channel strategies and their links to CVPs. Originality/value This paper introduces and integrates the concept of CVPs with the literature on multi-channel retailing strategies.

Overcoming Blockages In Strategy Execution: Lessons From Agile Managers

2021 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-63
Author(s):  
Robert Ford ◽  
Misty Loughry
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Strategic Plan ◽  
Agile Software Development ◽  
Strategy Implementation ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Strategy Execution ◽  
End User ◽  
Customer Needs ◽  
Agile Software ◽  
Implementation Plans

Managers’ attempts to implement their organization’s strategy often meet with challenges that block the execution as planned and these blockages are not always obvious. This paper presents seven lessons from agile software development that managers can use to avoid and overcome blockages in strategy execution. They are: 1) Define and communicate an agile culture. 2) Define and communicate an end goal with measures and deadlines. 3) Break the end goal into multiple projects with specific objectives and short deadlines and assign them to small teams. 4) Give project teams autonomy, but hold them responsible for achieving their objectives on time. 5) Hold frequent brief meetings to identify problems and coordinate across teams. 6) Frequently consult with the customer or end user. 7) Constantly monitor all teams’ progress and customer needs to look for blockages; pivot quickly when a change is needed to execute the strategic plan. These seven lessons help managers quickly recognize when the path to strategy implementation is blocked and lead their teams to find alternatives and quickly pivot to new implementation plans. The process creates a culture that focuses on results yet empowers teams and employees to use their talents and creativity. As a result, the organization is focused and energized as it implements its strategy.

Agile at IBM: software developers teach a new dance step to management

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Randall
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Agile Software Development ◽  
Software Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future ◽  
Agile Approach ◽  
Development Approach ◽  
Agile Software ◽  
Marketing Teams

Purpose – Explains how companies that are seeking to implement rapid innovation can adopt the Agile software development approach. In Agile, self-organizing teams work in short cycles called “sprints” and develop the features to enable the product to continuously evolve in the light of the experience they gain and through customer feedback. Design/methodology/approach – For insight into how Agile is being implemented at a leading software services firm with clients in hundreds of industries, Strategy & Leadership asked Rob Purdie, Agile Practice Lead for the IBM Design Lab, how Agile software development methods were contributing to the success of IBM's key digital marketing initiatives. Findings – The traditional approach to software development is to define, design, develop and test everything – before delivering anything. With Agile, managers can reduce waste by prioritizing features based on relative business value, evaluating and re-designing as the project proceeds. Practical implications – Agile requires leaders and teams to work and learn through problems, designs and options in an open and transparent environment. It places new demands on technical leaders in terms of negotiation and planning skills. Originality/value – Managers outside the software industry should note that Agile/Scrum is likely to be increasingly essential to the future of product development and manufacturing. Nowadays many products for consumers and businesses include embedded software systems, so developing products in the future will require deeper collaboration across multiple engineering disciplines and marketing teams and familiarity with the Agile approach.

Conceptualizing open agile software development life cycle (OASDLC) model

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 214-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhas C. Misra ◽  
Virender Singh
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Agile Software Development ◽  
Software Project ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Development Life Cycle ◽  
Software Development Life Cycle ◽  
Agile Software

Purpose – Software development life cycle (SDLC) has always been the core methodology for any software engineer that depicts the entire development process which an organization is bound to utilize to achieve successful software. The purpose of this paper is to bring forth a conceptual model after analysing the best practices in SDLC, and extracting the best out of agile methodologies and the open source software, thereby bringing forward an optimised structure. Design/methodology/approach – The OASDLC is hypothesized specifically for “Brihaspati” project and is formulated keeping in mind the gaps and limitations posed by existing SDLC models. OASDLC is further put to test for achieving lower costs and efforts involved. The tests are further substantiated by means of hypothesis validation through execution of a survey based research. Findings – It has been observed that the present conceptual model further optimizes the efforts involved while adopting such a practice. Originality/value – This paper proposes a novel SDLC model so as to achieve a best practice for a software project. On analysing the issues involved such as tight budget and timelines, it led the authors to formulate a newer concept “Open Agile Software Development Life Cycle model” (OASDLC).

Age stereotypes in agile software development – an empirical study of performance expectations

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uta Schloegel ◽  
Sebastian Stegmann ◽  
Alexander Maedche ◽  
Rolf van Dick
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Agile Software Development ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Performance Expectations ◽  
Age Stereotypes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Older Employees ◽  
Agile Software ◽  
Job Role

Purpose Research on agile software development (ASD) has so far primarily focused on processes and tools. Recently, researchers have started to investigate the social dimensions of ASD. The authors contribute to this and examine the largely invisible psychological factor of age stereotypes as one important social dimension of ASD. Driven by demographic change, employees of different age groups will need to work closely together in ASD in the future. However, age stereotypes can hinder many aspects of communication, cooperation and coordination in these self-managed teams. The purpose of this paper is to identify and differentiate age stereotypes in ASD. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey at the individual level was conducted with 464 employees in two software development companies. The authors developed an age stereotype model for ASD and developed two scales to measure performance expectations (PEs) in ASD. Findings Employees in ASD show a bias in general PEs, favoring middle-aged employees over both younger and older employees. The perceived PE of a developer decreases over working life. Furthermore, the data show a complex interplay of age and job role in both the research participants and the group evaluated. Younger developers hold the strongest negative age stereotypes and older developers suffer most from stereotypes. Practical implications Management should enact formal or informal measures against stereotypes when an older or younger employee joins a team of members of other age groups, or when a new team is formed. In addition, the authors propose human resources to create permeable career paths. Originality/value The study extends the stereotype content model by adding additional age groups and including job role as a moderating variable. It identifies obstacles in daily employee interactions in agile development, and proposes ways of incorporating invisible psychological aspects in ASD-specific theories.

ACSESim: Agile and Lean software development in practice

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Andries Maritz ◽  
Fatima Hamdulay
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Agile Software Development ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Development Environment ◽  
Lean Thinking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Software Development Environment ◽  
Agile Software ◽  
The Impact

Subject area Agile software development, Knowledge workers and Lean thinking as a management system Study level/applicability The case lends itself to students of business management, or aspiring consultants, who have been exposed to operations management in general and Lean thinking specifically. It is an advanced case study, assuming prior knowledge in these subjects and approaches the subject matter from an organisational development point of view, rather than a pure operations point of view. It is thus well suited to an elective on operational excellence on an MBA or in executive education courses in Lean thinking Case overview The case starts with Mark, manager of a software development team, hearing that he will have budget for two new developers who will join his team in the coming year. While the extra help could be useful, he was considering what the impact of new people would be on the productivity of the team, which he felt was already stretched. Mark continues to consider the entire development chain and how code changes were implemented to ACSESim’s (the company’s primary product) graphical user interfaces. Having recently been acquired by an American company, he was also under pressure to start to adopt some of the parent company’s systems, which would constitute a fairly disruptive, but necessary, change, particularly for future collaborations with other developers in the parent company. With two new developers, experience taught Mark that development could slow down owing to training efforts. To minimise disruption, he was wondering about how to get the new developers up-to-speed quickly and streamline their operations within a changing corporate environment. The case highlights the different mechanisms that were in place at ACSESim, including the use of issue trackers; Kanban boards; version control software; automated systems; stand-up meetings, etc. Each of these mechanisms is discussed briefly and shows the value they added to the development practices that were in place. This also allows students to understand Agile practices and what Lean thinking might mean in a knowledge work environment and then to consider what the proposed changes might mean and how they could be deployed. Expected learning outcomes To gain an understanding of how Lean and Agile principles can be applied in a software development environment and Lean knowledge work in general To consider the best way to manage new hires so that they can become productive in a Lean or Agile software development environment, whilst dealing with pressures to migrate to new systems. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS: 9: Operations and Logistics.

Investigating the environmental antecedents of organizations’ intention to adopt agile software development

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 869-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung-Chieh Lee ◽  
Chung-Yang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Agile Software Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Stimuli ◽  
Intention To Adopt ◽  
Active Research ◽  
Agile Software

Purpose Agile software development (ASD) has emerged as an active research area due to its enormous growth in popularity. The innovative differences between ASD and traditional development include the use of fundamentally different procedures, organizational structures and people, yet organizations still attempt to embrace ASD. Apparently, the underlying factors arousing organizations’ intent to adopt ASD are not well known and have not been well explained in the extant literature. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap for which the authors propose a conceptual framework based on the business process management (BPM) perspective to identify the environmental stimuli that affect an organization’s ASD adoption. Design/methodology/approach Proposition for a methodology approach is used to construct a theoretical framework based on existing literature and theories in BPM. Findings The framework recognizes external and internal environmental stimuli, including institutional isomorphic forces and interior enablers, such as top management championship, the culture type and resource readiness, which affect organizational ASD adoption decisions. Originality/value This paper consolidates both the internal and external environmental aspects of the stimuli that lead to ASD adoption and offers insight into creating a suitable context for ASD adoption.

scholarly journals Redefining “Employability” as something to be achieved

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Reid
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Feminist Epistemology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Work ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
Five Phases ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute a broader understanding of the complexity in relationships of power and responsibility in employability in higher education contexts and posits a conceptual framework for employability as a process, something to be achieved. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper arises from experience of and research into placement practices and draws upon Joan Tronto’s feminist epistemology (1993, 2012) to argue for a critical understanding of employability. Findings – There is little in the literature that discusses employability as a process involving moral and political work. The conceptual framework offers a process of five phases to provide a foundation for understanding employability that moves beyond a focus on skills and attributes. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual framework enables all employability professionals, including researchers, to think beyond skills and attributes for employment to explore the implications of the relations that shape the need for employability within and outside their sphere. Practical implications – Developing a conceptual framework enables employability professionals to evaluate their practices and assess: if practices are inclusive or excluding; the implications of power and responsibility; the tensions arising from the diverse nature of need in employability work. Originality/value – This paper posits a conceptual framework for understanding the process of employability work as something to be achieved.

scholarly journals A conceptual framework for effective management of conflict risk within Agile software development environments

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mothepane M. Tshabalala ◽  
Lucas T. Khoza
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Effective Interaction ◽  
Agile Software Development ◽  
Development Teams ◽  
Software Development Teams ◽  
Conflict Risk ◽  
Agile Software

Background: Whenever teams obtain together to work towards a common goal, the lingering of an inherent conflict risk is always a possibility. This applies to software development teams as well. Researchers even argue this inherent conflict existence as necessary. Agile development environment is no exception. The main purpose for adopting Agile is to improve the technology adequacy to facilitate organisation competitiveness. Agile manages the achievement of this through its advocacy for change, adaptability and constant satisfaction of market demands. This is because Agile enables organisations to create software of quality standard that allows for quicker response to the continuously changing market needs of todays’ world.Objectives: Henceforth, this article investigates this topic to develop a conceptual framework for effectively managing conflict risk in Agile teams, to improve the organisation technology adequacy.Method: This article employed quantitative methods for data collection and analysis. A structured online questionnaire was used for data collection and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used for data analysis. Pearson’s correlation was used to test the relationships among variables.Results: The findings show affirming results on the existence of conflict risk among Agile software development teams. The results indicate that there is a strong positive significant correlation between effective interaction, discussions and quality software application. Moreover, the findings demonstrate a strong relation between effective conflict management and achievement of set agile project goals.Conclusion: Agile allows companies to address the market requirements while still being adaptive to constant change. However, the literature identifies conflict risk as one of the hindrances to realising this purpose.

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