Search results

The purpose of this paper is to use translation theory to develop a framework (called FTRA) that explains how companies adopt agile methods in a discourse of fragmentation and articulation.

A qualitative multiple case study of six firms using the Scrum agile methodology. Data were collected using mixed methods and analyzed using three progressive coding cycles and analytic induction.

In practice, people translate agile methods for local settings by choosing fragments of the method and continuously re-articulating them according to the exact needs of the time and place. The authors coded the fragments as technological rules that share relationships within a framework spanning two dimensions: static-dynamic and actor-artifact.

For consistency, the six cases intentionally represent one instance of agile methodology (Scrum). This limits the confidence that the framework is suitable for other kinds of methodologies.

The FTRA framework and the technological rules are promising for use in practice as a prescriptive or even normative frame for governing methodology adaptation.

Framing agile adaption with translation theory surfaces how the discourse between translocal (global) and local practice yields the social construction of agile methods. This result contrasts the more functionalist engineering perspective and privileges changeability over performance.

The use of translation theory and the FTRA framework to explain how agile adaptation (in particular Scrum) emerges continuously in a process where method fragments are articulated and re-articulated to momentarily suit the local setting. Complete agility that rapidly and elegantly changes its own environment must, as a concomitant, rapidly and elegantly change itself. This understanding also elaborates translation theory by explaining how the articulation and re-articulation of ideas embody the means by which ideas travel in practice.

This chapter explores the increasing use of Scrum, a project management framework used in software development, in libraries. This conceptual piece examines the advantages and disadvantages for a library profession to obtain training and professional certification for implementing Scrum.

Beginning with a brief literature review that surveys the use of Scrum and related frameworks in libraries, this chapter then provides a brief explanation of Scrum, the role of the ScrumMaster, and the certification process. An examination of the difficulties of project management in libraries leads to a discussion of the advantages of ScrumMaster certification for the library organization and the library professional, with caveats and alternatives.

Scrum offers lightweight methods to bring project management expertise to libraries lacking formal project management training. ScrumMaster certification is a quick and easy way to learn and implement the process, while offering professional advantages.

While the library literature has case studies of library professionals using Scrum and related Agile software development methodologies, this chapter looks at the ScrumMaster role in particular, the certification process, and the advantages for the organization and the professional.

Service learning is not comprehensively developed in economics such as the implementation of the 17 sustainability goals of the Agenda 2030 – although this would be beneficial as experiential learning is linked to democratic education goals. Service Learning offers itself as a didactic design for this purpose. The paper aims to discuss how service learning can be used to work critically and reflexively on sustainability issues in a cross-university context.

The cross-university teaching-learning project brought together students of industrial engineering and economics. The idea space “sustainable city” was to be developed together with practice partners with the help of the practice-relevant project management method scrum and methods of sustainability assessment in the sense of service learning. Evaluating the project, a written and a qualitative survey were conducted and analysed by means of descriptive statistics as well as content analysis.

Success factors include the regular feedback by practice partners and lecturers including reflection questions. Student heterogeneity can hinder effective project work. Complexity can deter effective and successful service learning. The use of scrum in service learning contexts cannot be fully recommended. Although scrum contributes to service learning concepts in economics, in complex sustainability projects either the method should be in focus or prior knowledge of scrum should be mandatory.

The paper discusses how service learning can be used to critically and reflexively address social and practical challenges in a cross-university context. The study contributes to the fact that the complexity of education for sustainable development competencies requires the teaching of knowledge- and fact-based fundamentals as well as methodological-research procedures for research-based and at the same time practice-oriented learning.

This paper seeks to define and describe agile project management using the Scrum methodology as a method for more effectively managing and completing projects.

This paper provides a general overview and introduction to the concepts of agile project management and the Scrum methodology in particular.

Agile project management using the Scrum methodology allows project teams to manage digital library projects more effectively by decreasing the amount of overhead dedicated to managing the project. Using an iterative process of continuous review and short‐design time frames, the project team is better able to quickly adapt projects to rapidly evolving environments in which systems will be used.

This paper fills a gap in the digital library project management literature by providing an overview of agile project management methods.

Agile methods are increasingly being applied in the contexts of innovation beyond traditional information technology (IT) and physical product development projects, such as when process improvements are being implemented. Nevertheless, this phenomenon is still recent and little addressed in the literature, with few descriptions of empirical cases. This study aims to address this gap.

This multiple case study aims to present and discuss the application of Agile practices embedded in large companies’ innovation value chains, focusing on improvements of business processes. The following research question is pursued: How are large companies applying elements of Agile methods to their innovation processes when implementing incremental improvements in their operational processes? Based on the idea that the Agile-Stage-Gate model is an alternative to this challenge, this study investigates the application of this hybrid model in two large Brazilian companies by presenting their idiosyncrasies, lessons learned, adaptations, challenges and benefits.

Overall, it was observed that the experience with the application of the Agile-Stage-Gate model is positive for these companies, with better customer engagement, easier project control and increased productivity of the project team.

For those aiming to implement the Agile-Stage-Gate model, this paper identifies the main adaptations made in order to combine the purist approaches and critical success factors for its implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to present an innovative agile methodology that proposes fundamental changes in managing the development of in-house information systems in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and benchmarks it with one of two database technologies enabling these systems to be both efficient and competitive.

The objectives are achieved by presenting an elaborated design of the agile methodology that manages the system development process by addressing three basic components: roles played by system players, process needed to fulfill the system development, and artifacts to document the project. A case study is conducted as a proof of the effectiveness of the proposed methodology and measures whether the selection of the database technology affects the effectiveness of the system development process.

Results show that, compared with traditional methodologies, the proposed methodology reduced the cost of system development and testing by 30 percent and enhanced the IT – business alliance. Further, this work found that the selection of a suitable database technology is strongly related to the complexity and interrelationships between the data used.

Such research did not receive the needed attention (Hunter, 2004) even in the past decade. Successful adoption of IT by companies could be in the form of customized IS which could be expensive for SMEs to adopt due to a lack in technical expertise and financial resources. The proposed methodology has the potential to promote sustainable development through helping SMEs in reducing the time and cost of IT project development.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an applicable method for establishing the dynamic inter-organizational collaborations (DIOCs) based on the scrum methodology.

The scrum methodology embedded within the context of the DIOC project life cycle was used and adapted to being usable with specific characteristics of the project.

In order to succeed in the highly competitive, dynamic and changing business environments, the organizations need to change their view of business practices. The transition from the traditional status of manufacturing to the inter-organizational collaborations can be one of the fundamental changes in the modern business management. The proposed method has the capability to establish DIOCs effectively and efficiently whilst guaranteeing agility, competitiveness, and risk timely management.

Establishing collaborative alliances via association of various experienced and professional organizations and producing the value-added market’s need services is an effective and efficient solution for survival of SMEs in the current competitive, dynamic and changing business environment. So far, different frameworks, reference models/architectures, and many theoretical discussions have been presented for DIOCs context, but these representations are conceptual, empirical and generic. This paper aims to propose an applicable iterative and incremental method for establishing the DIOC which guarantees the agility and risk timely management of the establishment process and promotes competitiveness of partners.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Systems theory is frequently discussed. The aim of the contribution is to elaborate what is to be advised with the idea of closed systems regarding change management.

This paper follows Niklas Luhmann and his so-called “autopoietic turn.” It provides a profound theoretic basis, from which the needs and requirements of the post-heroic management emerge. The implications of this specific approach to change management are demonstrated by means of the contemporary example of scrum. The applied method is literature review.

This contribution seeks to understand the relevance of closed systems within change management. Especially, the meaning of indirect strategies of control as a requirement for change management will be shown. That means Luhmann emphasizes the pessimism of traditional change management. The findings emphasize the meaning of self-organizing systems predicating by means of observation, which configurates corporate agility.

Systems theory often suffers from lack of empirical evidence, as systems are multi-complex. As an alternative, in this study, a literature-based discussion of the contemporary agile project management technique “scrum” is used.

The meaning of power in management shifts from formal to informal or soft power, e.g. the ability to promote self-binding processes. Thus, closed systems emphasize the need to look for alternatives for change management.

Characterizing Luhmann as a hidden champion of contemporary management as modern management tools like hackathons or crowdsourcing also benefit from closed systems.

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.

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.

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.

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