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1 – 10 of over 12000Ram Shankar Uraon, Rashmi Bharati, Kritika Sahu and Anshu Chauhan
This study aims to examine the impact of two dimensions of agile work practices (i.e. agile taskwork and agile teamwork) on team efficacy and creativity. Further, it examines the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of two dimensions of agile work practices (i.e. agile taskwork and agile teamwork) on team efficacy and creativity. Further, it examines the mediating effect of team efficacy in the relationship between two dimensions of agile work practices and team creativity.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 563 professionals working in 290 information technology (IT) companies in India using a self-reporting structured questionnaire. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypothesized model.
Findings
The results demonstrate that agile taskwork and agile teamwork positively impact team creativity and team efficacy, and team efficacy positively impacts team creativity. Furthermore, team efficacy partially mediates the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team creativity.
Practical implications
This study shows the importance of agile work practices and team efficacy to enhance team creativity. The research offers managers strategies to boost team creativity.
Originality/value
There is a dearth of research examining the distinct effects of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team efficacy and team creativity. Also, this study is one of its kind that examines the mediating mechanisms that explain the effect of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team creativity.
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Ram Shankar Uraon, Anshu Chauhan, Rashmi Bharati and Kritika Sahu
Drawing on goal-setting theory and team effectiveness theory, the study aims to examine the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance. In addition, it…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on goal-setting theory and team effectiveness theory, the study aims to examine the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance. In addition, it investigates the mediating effect of project commitment on the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance. Furthermore, the study also tests the moderating role of career level on the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were collected from 563 employees working in 290 information technology (IT) companies in India using a self-reporting structured questionnaire. Partial least squares path modeling was used to test the hypothesized model, and the Process macro was used to test the moderating effect.
Findings
The results show that agile taskwork and agile teamwork positively affect team performance and project commitment, and project commitment positively impacts team performance. Furthermore, project commitment fully mediates the relationship between agile taskwork and team performance and partially mediates the relationship between agile teamwork and team performance. Furthermore, the career level negatively moderates the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance.
Practical implications
The study shows the importance of agile work practices and project commitment to enhance team performance. Thus, the study provides managers with two strategies to improve their team performance.
Originality/value
There is a scarcity of research examining the distinct effects of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance and the mediating role of project commitment in these relationships. Furthermore, as per the empirical evidence, no previous research has empirically examined the moderating role of career level in the agile taskwork-team performance and agile teamwork-team performance relationships.
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Tina Peeters, Karina Van De Voorde and Jaap Paauwe
This study aims to examine the relationship between the agile way of working and team performance and engagement. Furthermore, psychological safety climate was investigated as a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the relationship between the agile way of working and team performance and engagement. Furthermore, psychological safety climate was investigated as a mediator of this relationship. As organizations are increasingly adopting the agile way of working method beyond the information technology (IT) setting, the authors researched its effects in teams across a variety of functional domains.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data was collected from 97 agile teams working in various functional domains in a multinational bank. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results indicated that the agile way of working is directly and positively related to team engagement and performance. Moreover, psychological safety climate acted as a partial mediator of each of the respective outcomes.
Originality/value
This study illustrated that the agile way of working is beneficial for teams beyond the IT setting, as it is positively associated with psychological safety climate, engagement and performance across functional domains.
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This study aims to create a better understanding of how practitioners implement and work Agile while balancing the tensions arising between stability and change.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to create a better understanding of how practitioners implement and work Agile while balancing the tensions arising between stability and change.
Design/methodology/approach
A grounded theory approach was used to explore what happens in practice when software development teams implement and work Agile. The empirical data consists of twenty semi-structured interviews with practitioners working in fourteen different organizations and in six different Agile roles.
Findings
As a result, a substantive theory was presented of continuously balancing between stability and change in Agile teams. In addition, the study also proposes three guidelines that can help organizations about to change their way of working to Agile.
Research limitations/implications
The inherent limitation of a grounded theory study is that a substantial theory can only explain the specific contexts explored in that study. Thus, this study's contribution is a substantial theory that needs to be further developed and improved.
Practical implications
The proposed guidelines can help organizations about to change their way of working to Agile. They can also assist organizations in switching from “doing Agile” to “being Agile”, thus becoming more successful.
Originality/value
The new perspective that this study contributes is the fact that our discovered categories show that several inherent processes are ongoing at the same time in order to balance the need to have both stability and change.
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Carla A.J. Bastiaansen and Celeste P.M. Wilderom
After deciding to become agile, many information technology (IT) units struggle; they underestimate the needed managerial expertise to alter their current culture toward an agile…
Abstract
Purpose
After deciding to become agile, many information technology (IT) units struggle; they underestimate the needed managerial expertise to alter their current culture toward an agile one, particularly when cross-cultural (f)actors are involved. Given that work values are the key to an organizational culture, the study derived a set of agile work values of culturally diverse IT professionals together with a set of well-known generic work values. Consequently, the authors illustrate that managers in charge of the transition to an effective agile culture must pay serious attention to the specific value constellations of its often highly diverse workforce.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review resulted in an initial list of agile work values. Then, mainly through a Delphi round, 12 agile-specific work values were established. These were survey rated, along with the validated set of 18 generic work values, by 102 British and Indian IT professionals in a digital service and consulting firm that was requested by its client to become agile. The observations made in 14 feedback group-interview-type dialogs enriched the surveyed data further.
Findings
In the current exploratory study, four generic value dimensions were complemented by two agile-specific ones: team communication and shared responsibility. Among the British and Indian (on-site and offshore) workers, only 2 of the 30 current work values were shared while 7 significant value differences were found, explaining the noted employee bitterness, productivity losses and client disengagement. This situation was reflected in the many discrepancies between the professionals' ideal agile way of working and how their unit was currently functioning.
Originality/value
The multi-method study shows an over-optimistic approach to becoming agile in a common cross-cultural context; insights are gained on how to optimize agile ways of organizing IT work when British IT workers collaborate with Indian IT workers. It may benefit many agile practitioners and managers working with(in) cross-culturally mixed and partly remote teams.
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The objective of this chapter is to identify the key characteristics of Global Services businesses that will thrive and achieve success in the future. These factors are integrated…
Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to identify the key characteristics of Global Services businesses that will thrive and achieve success in the future. These factors are integrated into three main pillars, which we refer to as the Triple-Win. The first and most obvious pillar is technology as a tool. The second pillar is the design and sustainability of the business model, without which the previous factor would be merely a cost and not an investment. And last but not the least, there is the purpose which gives meaning to the proposal, focusing on the human being and their environment. The DIDPAGA business model sits at the intersection of these three elements.
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Early research into Agile approaches explored particular practices or quantified improvements in code production. Less well researched is how Agile teams are managed. The project…
Abstract
Purpose
Early research into Agile approaches explored particular practices or quantified improvements in code production. Less well researched is how Agile teams are managed. The project manager (PM) role is traditionally one of “command and control” but Agile methods require a more facilitative approach. How this changing role plays out in practice is not yet clearly understood. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into how adopting Agile techniques shape the working practices of PMs and critically reflect on some of the tensions that arise.
Design/methodology/approach
An ethnographic approach was used to surface a richer understanding of the issues and tensions faced by PMs as Agile methods are introduced. Ethnographic fiction conveys the story to a wider audience.
Findings
Agile approaches shift responsibility and spread expert knowledge seeming to undermine the traditional PM function. However, the findings here show various scenarios that allow PMs to wrest control and become more of a “gate-keeper”. Ethnographic fiction communicates a sense of the PMs frustration with the conflict between the need to control and the desire for teams to take more responsibility.
Originality/value
Stories provide insight and communicate the experiential feel behind issues faced by PMs adopting Agile to surface useful knowledge. The objective is not how to measure knowledge, but how to recognize it. These reflections are valuable to fellow researchers as well as practitioners and contribute to the growing literature on Agile project management.
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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…
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.
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Jan Koch and Carsten C. Schermuly
In times of market volatility and uncertainty, finding effective strategies to attract and retain individuals continues to be a challenge for organizations. Based on the…
Abstract
Purpose
In times of market volatility and uncertainty, finding effective strategies to attract and retain individuals continues to be a challenge for organizations. Based on the psychological empowerment process (Spreitzer, 1996), this paper strives to examine if the application of agile project management could serve as such a strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
In two independent studies, the authors used an experiment with students as potential applicants (N = 121) and a field study with employees (N = 229) to test the predictive quality of agile project management for attracting individuals toward the organization.
Findings
Using structural equation modeling, the authors identified an indirect relationship between agile project management and attraction toward the organization via psychological empowerment. The authors found this relationship for potential applicants as well as employees. Furthermore, individuals high in sensation seeking are found to be more attracted toward organizations that apply agile project management than individuals low in sensation seeking.
Research limitations/implications
The findings contribute to the empowerment literature by establishing agile project management as a work structure that fosters feelings of psychological empowerment.
Practical implications
Taken together, these results suggest that agile project management can attract individuals who seek novel, complex and intense sensations. Where applicable, organizations may highlight their practice of agile project management methodologies as part of their employer brand to attract future specialists for agile projects.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to integrate the research streams on agile project management and attraction toward the organization using quantitative data.
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Michael L. Joroff, William L. Porter, Barbara Feinberg and Chuck Kukla
Workplace agility is emerging as the highest priority for the providers of workplace services and infrastructure. ‘Agility’ means continuously improving work and the…
Abstract
Workplace agility is emerging as the highest priority for the providers of workplace services and infrastructure. ‘Agility’ means continuously improving work and the infrastructure that enables it. An agile workplace is one that is constantly transforming, adjusting and responding to organisational learning. Agility requires a dynamic relationship between work and the workplace and the tools of work. In that relationship the workplace becomes an integral part of work itself ‐ enabling work, shaping it and being shaped by it. This paper focuses on defining workplace agility and discusses the triggers that prompt agile workplace making. Strategies for creating agile workplaces are discussed and the idea of ‘rehearsing’ change is introduced. This paper is excerpted from ‘The Agile Workplace’, which introduces the business and technology forces that drive and enable agile work. The report includes chapters about change management, organisational responsibilities and performance metrics.
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