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As the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) impacts the world, software practitioners are collaboratively working remotely from home. The pandemic has disrupted software practitioners’ productivity forcing changes to agile methodology adopted by software practitioners in software organizations. Therefore, this study aims to provide implication on the issues and recommendations for improving software practitioners’ productivity and also examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agile software development.

This paper adopts a narrative literature review to provide early assessment based on secondary data from the literature and available document reports from studies published from 2019 to 2022 to explore software practitioners’ productivity and agile software development during the working from home directive amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 60 sources which met the inclusion criteria were used to provide preliminary evidence grounded on secondary data from the literature. Descriptive analysis was used to provide qualitative findings from the literature.

Findings from this study present the significance of working from home directive on agile software development and software practitioners’ productivity. More importantly, findings from the secondary data shed light on software practitioners’ productivity adopting agile software development amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the findings present virtual collaborative platforms used by software practitioners, technical and social barriers of agile software development during the pandemic and recommendations for remote agile software development.

This study explores the significance of working from home directive on software practitioners’ productivity during COVID-19 pandemic and further investigates how are software practitioners’ productivity adopting agile software development practices amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, this study discusses the challenges software practitioners currently face and offers some strategies to bridge the gaps in agile software development to help software practitioners, system developers, software managers and software organizations adapt to the changes caused by the pandemic.

This study aims to examine the enablers of productivity of enterprise-level Agile development process using modified total interpretative structural modeling (TISM). The two main objectives of the current study are to determine the variables influencing enterprise-level agile development productivity and to develop modified TISM for the corresponding components.

To identify enablers of the productivity of enterprise-level agile software development process a literature review and opinions of domain experts were collected. A hierarchical relationship among variables that show direct and indirect influence is created using the modified TISM (M-TISM) technique with Cross Impact Matrix-Multiplication Applied to Classification analysis. This study examined and analyzed the relationships between the determinants within the enterprise using a M-TISM technique.

With the literature review, the study could identify ten enabling factors of the productivity of Agile development process at the enterprise level. Results depict that program increment (PI) planning and scalable backlog management, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), agile release trains (ART), agile work culture, delivery excellence, lean and DevOps practices, value stream mapping (VMS), team skills and expertise, collaborative culture, agile coaching, customer engagement have an impact on the productivity of enterprise-level Agile development process. The results show that team collaboration, agile ways of working and customer engagement have a greater impact on productivity improvement for enterprise-level Agile development process.

The developed model is useful for organizations employing scaled Agile development processes in software development. This study provides a recommended listing of key enablers, that may enable productivity improvements in the Agile development process at the enterprise level. Strategists should focus on team collaboration and Agile project management. This study offers a modified TISM model to academicians to help them understand the effects of numerous variables on maintaining the productivity of an enterprise-level Agile. The identified characteristics and their hierarchical structure can help project managers during the execution of Agile projects at the enterprise level, more effectively, increasing their success and productivity.

The study addresses the gap in the literature by interpretative relationships between the identified enabling factors. The model validation is carried out by a panel of nine experts from several information technology organizations deploying Agile software development at the enterprise level. This unique method broadens the knowledge base in Agile software development at scale and provides project managers and practitioners with a practical foundation.

The objective of the study is to analyze the impact of the adoption of the Agile Mindset on the productivity of Agile software development teams in IT enterprises during COVID-19.

A web-based survey is performed with voluntary participants working with the Agile software development professionals with a specific focus on IT enterprises around Pune, India. For this the initial exploratory literature review was performed, to explore the team's behaviors and their response to the crises like the Covid-19 pandemic. Data is collected from the targeted population using the random sampling method. A questionnaire is designed with the help of a five-point Likert scale. All the respondents were analyzed based on their behaviors shown and how adopting to Agile mindset has impacted their productivity during the pandemic. Collected data would be then analyzed using the Smart PLS-SEM methodology.

Findings of the study show that Agile software development teams adopting to Agile mindset are better at responding to crisis and quick to adapt to change as teams adopting the Agile mindset is likely to sustain or even improve their productivity during the crises like Covid-19 pandemic. Adapting to an Agile mindset is important for Agile software development teams during a crisis as a response to changes in the working as well as environmental conditions. This study also shows that by adopting an Agile mindset, development teams are better at responding to the crisis eventually improving productivity.

Research limitations for this study-scope of the study could be extended to the larger population across geographies to have improved insights Productivity Factors like- Efforts Efficiency, Backlog-management Index (BMI), and Weighted Average Productivity (VWP) for team members can be included. More behavioral factors for Agile Mindset can be considered.

Agile software development teams are characterized by collaboration and responsibility. Recent enforcement of pandemic precautionary measures has enforced Agile software development teams to work remotely and maintain social distancing while in the office. It was challenging for most of the working people to adjust to the new working conditions (Yang et al., 2021) However, in IT organizations, adopting the Agile mindset has ensured continuous software deliveries, took ownership, and quickly adapted to the volatile situations, ultimately resulting into the growth in the productivity unlike to that of other sectors of the economy.

In this study, we have analyzed the hypotheses with statistical significance in association with constructs that are in sync with the available literature. Adopting the Agile mindset values has positively impacted the team's behavior resulting in productivity improvement even in the distributed working locations in pandemic situations.

The study highlights that adopting to Agile mindset has positively impacted an Agile software development team's productivity during the Covid-19 pandemic. As environmental conditions during Covid-19 were uncertain and ambiguous and teams were working in distributed and disconnected ways, many researchers have believed that it would have affected the overall productivity. This was turned true for most of the sectors of the economy, however, Agile software development teams have shown positive trends in their productivity, as they have adopted the Agile mindset values and principles, during crises.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of organisational culture on productivity and quality in software organisations, with special reference to India.

The empirical study was done in two phases. The first phase adopts qualitative methodology and examines the significant aspects of organisational culture, productivity, and quality and the nature of the relationship organisational culture has with productivity and quality. The second phase makes a quantitative analysis of this relationship.

The study develops a range of insights into the way cultural processes tend to influence productivity and quality in people centric and knowledge intensive work contexts such as software.

This study employed perceptual measures of productivity and quality in the quantitative analysis. Future studies can develop objective criteria, which would facilitate robust quantitative analysis. Future studies should also explore whether the findings of this study have generalisability beyond the Indian context.

The study provides insights into the management of productivity and quality in contexts where work is characterised by high levels of abstraction and invisibility.

There are very few empirical studies on this relationship in dynamic and sophisticated work contexts such as software and this further contributes to the debate concerning the impact of organisational culture on effectiveness.

The research on people and project factors is found extensively in general but not specific to software engineering. Secondly, the existing research has not concentrated on the communication and time complexity of the teams on software economics. The purpose this paper is to develop a model to investigate and quantify the impact of time pressure (TP) on software economics through the communication influence of software team sizes (TS).

A research model and five hypotheses are developed based on the gaps in the literature. The data set from International Software Benchmarking Standards Group repository is used for testing the hypotheses.

Important findings include: smaller TS tends to exert less TP on average; TP is directly proportional to software economics, however; and TP does not affect the productivity required for the software.

The study has the following implications: Selection of an appropriate TS for project completion that ensures minimum pressure on team members; and maximize software outcomes in stress-free environment.

This work is useful for organizations carrying out software projects with teamwork. The project managers can benefit from the results while planning the team factors for achieving the project goals.

The results uphold not to exert pressure on the team as it will not only affect the duly completion of the project but also the well-being of employees.

The paper is the first one where the proposition of TP estimation is done using TS and communication complexity, and empirically evaluating the impact of TP on four major software economics are the major key contributions of this research work.

This study aims to understand how practitioners use their insights in software development models to share experiences within and between organizations.

This is a qualitative study of practitioners in software development projects, in large-, medium- or small-size businesses. It analyzes interview material in three-step iterations to understand reflexive practice when using software development models.

The study shows how work processes are based on team members’ experiences and common views. This study highlights the challenges of organizational learning in system development projects. Current practice is unreflective, habitual and lacks systematic ways to address recurring problems and share information within and between organizations. Learning is episodic and sporadic. Knowledge from previous experience is individual not organizational.

Software development teams and organizations tend to learn about, and adopt, software development models episodically. This research expands understanding of how organizational learning takes place within and between organizations with practitioners who participate in teams. Learnings show the potential for further research to determine how new curriculums might be formed for teaching software development model improvements.

This research had two main objectives: To measure the productivity of companies in the Colombian dairy industry and to identify efficient decision-making units (DMUs) that can be used as work sample in future case studies.

In the measurement of productivity, financial variables were considered for a sample of 19 DMUs. Efficient companies were identified through the data envelopment analysis (DEAs) methodology with the VRS model oriented to inputs and outputs. The input variables analyzed were “current asset,” “property, plant and equipment,” “non-current liability” and “equity,” while the output variables were “revenue” and “profit.”

Findings revealed that seven DMUs are efficient in the input and output orientation and that companies of different sizes and with or without quality certifications are efficient in the sample analyzed. Additionally, the benchmark efficient DMUs were identified for each of the non-efficient DMUs.

The implications for the research include the contribution to the theory, on the one hand, with the analysis of the current state of the literature on the use of DEA in the food sector, and on the other, with the use of DEA to measure the productivity of Colombian dairy industry companies and with the identification of a sample of efficient units that can be analyzed in future case studies.

This article is novel and pioneering because it measures for the first time the productivity of DMUs of the Colombian dairy industry, in addition to including the current state of the literature on the application of the DEA methodology in the food sector. These findings contribute to the consolidation of the theory and also provide inputs for researchers, practitioners, managers, and policy makers.

The study aims to explore the impact of tacit knowledge sharing (TKS) factors and its consequences in the form of technological innovation capabilities (TICs) within Pakistani software small–medium enterprises (SSMEs).

Drawing upon the social exchange theory (SET), the study used a quantitative approach and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test hypotheses with 220 valid data collected from 23 Pakistani software SSMEs.

The peer influence (PI) has positive and significant effect on collaborative culture (CC), willingness to share tacit knowledge (WSTK) and TICs. Organizational trust (OT) has a positive and significant impact on CC and TIC. Whereas, CC possessed positive and significant effect on WSTK and insignificant on TIC. Furthermore, WSTK has positive and significant effect on TIC. Finally, WSTK partially mediates the relationship between PI and TIC whereas WSTK fully mediates the relationship between CC and TIC.

The study enriches the research on knowledge sharing and TIC. This research investigates the precursors of tacit knowledge-sharing willingness and their consequences in software SMEs; future studies need to examine tacit knowledge-seeking willingness and its consequences not only in software enterprises but also in other industrial sectors. Besides, it needs to evaluate types of innovative capabilities in software SMEs.

The study suggested that the practitioners need to strengthen TKS in the form employees’ updated skills and expertise which ultimately fosters software enterprise’s innovative capabilities to attain competitive advantages in a specific industry.

This research is one of the few studies to examine the potential antecedents of WSTK and their final effects within software SMEs in the form of TICs. As currently it is observed, an incredible increase of skills oriented innovations in firms particularly in the software domain and IT industry. Therefore, this study emphasizes how PI, OT and WSTK positively affect TIC of Pakistani software SMEs. However, the study could be considered as a guideline for the academia and practitioners who attempt to strengthen the technological innovations capabilities in software SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to capture and analyze the perception gaps with respect to the current usage and importances of the lean practices from the IT support service practitioners’ perspective.

A questionnaire was developed to capture the perceptions of the IT support service practitioners. The survey data were quantitatively analyzed by using statistical techniques which included testing of the hypotheses.

The analysis of the perception gaps revealed that even though all the gaps are statistically significant but gaps between different practices are not same. The gap analysis would be useful for IT support service organization in prioritizing the lean practices for implementation.

Lean practice applicability and implementation in IT support services is a relatively new domain, where mature empirically based studies are scarce. This study provides a sound basis for further research on lean implementation in IT support service area.

This paper aims to present findings from a study conducted with non-profit organizations (NPOs) in Canada and Australia, focusing on the use of tools and technologies for knowledge management (KM). NPOs of different sizes and operating in different sectors were studied in two large-scale national surveys. The paper is useful to both practitioners in NPOs for understanding tool use for KM activities and to scholars to further develop the KM-NPO domain.

Two nation-wide surveys were conducted with Canadian and Australian NPOs of different sizes (i.e. very small to large-sized organizations) and operating in different sectors (e.g. animal welfare, education and research, culture and arts). An analysis of responses explores the use of tools and technologies by NPOs. Respondents identified the tools and technologies they used from nine pre-determined themes (quantitative data) plus an additional category of “other tools” (qualitative data), which allowed for free text responses. The quantitative data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques and the qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach.

Quantitative data analysis provides key findings including the popularity of physical, print documents across all NPO sizes and sectors. Statistical tests revealed, for example, there is no significant difference for the same-sized organizations in Canadian and Australian NPOs in the use of tools and technologies for KM activities. However, there were differences in the use of tools and technologies across different sizes of NPOs. The qualitative analysis revealed a number of additional tools and technologies and also provided contextual details about the nature of tool use. The paper provides specific examples of the types of tools and technologies NPOs use.

The paper has both practical and academic contributions, including areas for future research. The findings on the use of KM tools and technologies by NPOs contribute to the growing body of literature in the KM domain in general and also build the literature base for the understudied KM-NPO domain. NPOs will also find the paper useful in better understanding tools and technological implementation for KM activities. The study is unique not only in the content focus on KM for NPOs but also for the comparative study of activities in two countries.