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1 – 10 of over 6000
Article
Publication date: 14 May 2018

Joey F. George, Kevin Scheibe, Anthony M. Townsend and Brian Mennecke

This paper aims to investigate the extent to which newly agile organizations followed 2001’s Agile Manifesto, especially in terms of the 12 principles of the agile approach, as…

2305

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the extent to which newly agile organizations followed 2001’s Agile Manifesto, especially in terms of the 12 principles of the agile approach, as included in the Manifesto.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted in-depth case studies of groups in three large business organizations that had recently adopted agile. Two researchers spent one day at each site, attending daily standups and conducting interviews with managers, developers and customers.

Findings

Across the three organizations, developers were faithful to two agile principles: the primacy of delivering valuable software continually and regular reflections on the process with an eye toward improvement. The developers were uniformly unfaithful to the principle that requires face-to-face communication. Each organization varied in their adherence to the remaining nine principles. Obstacles to faithful adoption included the experience of the organization with agile, the extent to which the industry was regulated and the extent to which developers and customers were physically dispersed.

Originality/value

While past research on agile development is extensive, this paper examines perspectives on the method and its adoption through the lens of the original Agile Manifesto and its 12 principles. The principles were grouped into three broader categories – software delivery, people and process – to provide additional insights and to sharpen the analysis.

Details

Journal of Systems and Information Technology, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1328-7265

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 October 2021

Alexander Kristiansen and Roger Schweizer

In the mainstream international business literature on multinational corporations (MNCs), an authoritative central headquarter (HQ) that transfers standardised practices to its…

2057

Abstract

Purpose

In the mainstream international business literature on multinational corporations (MNCs), an authoritative central headquarter (HQ) that transfers standardised practices to its subsidiaries remains the norm. This study aims to explore how MNCs coordinate their management practices through principles.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on empirical findings from a qualitative in-depth single case study based on evidence-rich qualitative data including observations from how a high-tech MNC headquartered in Sweden coordinates its development practices.

Findings

An alternative informal coordination approach (i.e. coordination by principles) is identified. Additionally, antecedents and implications of the approach are presented.

Practical implications

Coordination by Principles may facilitate the internalisation of practices and be a feasible compromise between context adaptation and traditional standardisation, particularly for MNCs with highly heterogeneous research and development operations.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the importance of acknowledging that firm practices often are based on management ideas that HQs adopt to prevent loss of legitimacy. As such, this study contributes to the scarce literature that critically questions the assumption that HQs solely transfer practices to subsidiaries to improve subsidiary efficiency and performance.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 18 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 September 2016

Stephen Denning

By learning how to overcome implementation challenges, the Agile methodology can enable organizations to cope with the 21st Century marketplace and deliver what customers expect…

5097

Abstract

Purpose

By learning how to overcome implementation challenges, the Agile methodology can enable organizations to cope with the 21st Century marketplace and deliver what customers expect and demand: easy, quick, convenient, personalized responsiveness at scale.”

Design/methodology/approach

The 10 major implementation challenges are addressed.

Findings

Agile offers a methodology that can improve the chances of building a new product or service that people will actually buy, use and like.

Practical implications

A key Agile principle – doing work in small iterative cycles with customer feedback at the end of each cycle – is a transformative idea.

Originality/value

The author has recently made on-site visits to leading corporations that have adopted Agile. The “Agile” managers he met recognize that the future of their firm depends on inspiring those doing the work to accelerate innovation and add genuine value to customer, that enhancing that capacity depends on giving autonomy to self-organizing teams within broad parameters of control.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 44 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2023

Mieszko Olszewski

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how agile project management can foster creativity in project teams.

1582

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how agile project management can foster creativity in project teams.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on an extensive literature review of agile project management and team creativity and is matching these two to answer the following research questions: (1) how agile project management approach can foster creativity in project teams? and (2) which principles and practices promoted by the most popular agile methodologies enhance creativity in project teams?

Findings

Five creativity-conducive spaces in agile project management were identified and integrated into a conceptual framework, namely, a space for generative social interactions, a space for learning, a space for change and adaptation, a space for exploration and a space promoting team members' well-being. In the next step, based on a thorough analysis of seven widespread agile project management methods, a large number of agile principles and practices were mapped into each of the five conceptual spaces.

Originality/value

This study provides new insights into how agile project management can foster creativity in project teams. The conceptual framework developed in this paper might be utilized to enhance creativity in agile teams, it can also serve as a starting point for future research.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2016

Stephen Denning

With Agile’s success in accelerating software products and services that customers valued and with the increasing importance of software in general business strategy, business…

5671

Abstract

Purpose

With Agile’s success in accelerating software products and services that customers valued and with the increasing importance of software in general business strategy, business leaders are increasingly turning to Agile for every aspect of their operations.

Design/methodology/approach

There are more than 70 different Agile practices. The author advises traditional managers on how to make sense of such a bewildering assortment of ideas.

Findings

His research found thatrganizations that have embraced Agile practice three core principles–The Law of the Small Team; The Law of the Customer; The Law of the Network.

Practical implications

The first and almost universal characteristic of Agile organizations is that practitioners share a mindset that work should be done in small autonomous cross-functional teams working in short cycles on relatively small tasks that deliver value to customers and getting continuous feedback from the ultimate customers or end users.

Originality/value

As a network, the organization becomes a growing, learning, adapting organism that is in constant flux to exploit new opportunities and add new value for customers. The future of Agile is ultimately about implementing the third principle: the whole organization operating as an interactive network. In the rapidly evolving “Connected Economy” the power of the network is increasing geometrically.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 44 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 January 2021

Anna Schmitt and Sabrina Hörner

Numerous approaches from the field of economics already exist for the improvement of business processes. In the field of software development, work has been done on improving…

2321

Abstract

Purpose

Numerous approaches from the field of economics already exist for the improvement of business processes. In the field of software development, work has been done on improving development processes. For years, the focus here has been on agile approaches. Although various approaches for improving business processes exist, it is becoming increasingly difficult to adapt business processes to the fast-moving conditions of the market and the business environment. Agile approaches address this issue. Thus, not only software development processes, but also business processes should benefit from agile approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

To this end, values and principles of the Agile Manifesto, agile methods such as Scrum, and various agile practices such as the Kanban board should be applied in business processes. This paper examines the work already done on this topic. With the help of a systematic literature review (SLR), literature studies dealing with the implementation of the agile approach in business processes are identified.

Findings

This paper presents, investigates and contrasts 12 primary sources dealing with agile and business processes and shows how they are different/ equal regarding three research questions.

Originality/value

We provide an overview of existing approaches handling the combination of agile and business processes to improve business processes.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Management for Scientists
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-203-9

Book part
Publication date: 7 December 2023

Lysander Weiss, Lucas Vergin and Dominik K. Kanbach

Achieving continuous innovation performance still poses a major challenge to established companies as it requires high flexibility and adaptability in usually efficiently…

Abstract

Achieving continuous innovation performance still poses a major challenge to established companies as it requires high flexibility and adaptability in usually efficiently structured organisations. One way to tackle this challenge lies in establishing effective behaviours to successfully establish and apply innovation leadership mechanisms in an organisation. The emerging agile leadership style could provide such effective behaviours, as it addresses the demand for flexibility and adaptability on the organisational level. Despite these clear parallels research on the link between agile leadership and innovation leadership, and their possible combined contribution to drive continuous innovation performance is still in its infancy. Accordingly, the present study examines the behaviours of agile leaders to promote continuous innovation in established companies. It applies a discovery-driven research process of agile leaders to derive and categorise their behaviours. The subsequent comparison of the identified agile leadership behaviours with innovation leadership mechanisms from existing literature leads to eight specific, combined agile leadership principles within the three categories empowerment, performance enhancement, and support for continuous innovation. Eventually, this basis allows the conceptualisation of a first exploratory framework with the identified behaviours as possible enablers, and innovation leadership mechanisms as possible mediators for the continuous innovation performance, subject to test. These findings enhance existing theory by clarifying a possible link between agile leadership and continuous innovation. That way, practitioners can profit from concrete principles for agile leaders to inspire and enable continuous innovation in individuals and teams.

Details

Innovation Leadership in Practice: How Leaders Turn Ideas into Value in a Changing World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-397-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 August 2021

Tarek Kaddoumi and Mohamed Watfa

The application of agility principles and methodologies on Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a promising field. This paper aims to provide an in-depth study of the Agile Enterprise…

Abstract

Purpose

The application of agility principles and methodologies on Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a promising field. This paper aims to provide an in-depth study of the Agile Enterprise Architecture (AEA) by studying EA practitioners’ perspectives to propose a foundational framework for AEA.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors formulate a foundational framework that defines the AEA motivators, enablers and blockers using the agile manifesto as one of the AEA enablers where a total of 156 EA stakeholders with at least one year of experience in enterprise architecture were surveyed, and a set of hypotheses was analyzed and tested based on the proposed framework. The authors also develop a quantitative method to evaluate the agility index of the EA based on the introduced framework.

Findings

The research results show with significance that enterprise architects perceive positively the application of the agility methodologies on the enterprise architecture. This perception is primarily affected by the enterprise size, the EA dependency and the agile methodologies awareness. The findings also indicate that AEA is primarily motivated by the Business and IT Change Ready and Responsive EA. Finally, an EA Agility Index (EAAI) was designed to assess the agility application of the EA based on the three forces, i.e. motivators, enablers and blockers.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach and the sample size, the research results may lack generalizability. Also, EAAI designed was not thoroughly tested.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the design and development of an EA Agility Index, and the need to increase the awareness of the agility methodologies to overcome the blocker of the unfamiliarity with the agile methodologies implying that the current business models in enterprise must be more aligned with the agile methodologies.

Originality/value

While there are efforts to develop AEA frameworks, one of the major findings of the literature review conducted is that there is evident research gap in the literature on the perception and associated factors of the EA stakeholders on having an agile enterprise architecture. This paper attempts to fill this gap.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 February 2021

Alexander Kristiansen and Roger Schweizer

This paper aims to contribute to the multinational company (MNC) literature by studying the diffusion of a management idea within an MNC and its interaction with the MNC’s…

2007

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to contribute to the multinational company (MNC) literature by studying the diffusion of a management idea within an MNC and its interaction with the MNC’s corporate immune system (CIS).

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative single case study draws on evidence of how a management idea augments within an MNC and changes its development practice.

Findings

The study identifies four phases of the diffusion process and presents the interaction between the management idea and the CIS in each phase.

Practical implications

The more subsidiaries within an MNC that take the initiative to adopt a management idea, the harder will it become for the headquarters (HQ) to reject it. Thus, to ensure that changes in management practices are based on informed and, ideally, deliberate decisions, managers should critically evaluate management ideas immediately at inception.

Originality/value

The study breaks new ground by explaining how the CIS reacts to the diffusion of management ideas in MNCs.

Details

Review of International Business and Strategy, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-6014

Keywords

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