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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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Brooke Wooley, Steven Bellman, Nicole Hartnett, Amy Rask and Duane Varan
Dynamic advertising, including television and online video ads, demands new theory and tools developed to understand attention to moving stimuli. The purpose of this study is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Dynamic advertising, including television and online video ads, demands new theory and tools developed to understand attention to moving stimuli. The purpose of this study is to empirically test the predictions of a new dynamic attention theory, Dynamic Human-Centred Communication Systems Theory, versus the predictions of salience theory.
Design/methodology/approach
An eye-tracking study used a sample of consumers to measure visual attention to potential areas of interest (AOIs) in a random selection of unfamiliar video ads. An eye-tracking software feature called intelligent bounding boxes (IBBs) was used to track attention to moving AOIs. AOIs were coded for the presence of static salience variables (size, brightness, colour and clutter) and dynamic attention theory dimensions (imminence, motivational relevance, task relevance and stability).
Findings
Static salience variables contributed 90% of explained variance in fixation and 57% in fixation duration. However, the data further supported the three-way interaction uniquely predicted by dynamic attention theory: between imminence (central vs peripheral), relevance (motivational or task relevant vs not) and stability (fleeting vs stable). The findings of this study indicate that viewers treat dynamic stimuli like real life, paying less attention to central, relevant and stable AOIs, which are available across time and space in the environment and so do not need to be memorised.
Research limitations/implications
Despite the limitations of small samples of consumers and video ads, the results of this study demonstrate the potential of two relatively recent innovations, which have received limited emphasis in the marketing literature: dynamic attention theory and IBBs.
Practical implications
This study documents what does and does not attract attention to video advertising. What gets attention according to salience theory (e.g. central location) may not always get attention in dynamic advertising because of the effects of relevance and stability. To better understand how to execute video advertising to direct and retain attention to important AOIs, advertisers and advertising researchers are encouraged to use IBBs.
Originality/value
This study makes two original contributions: to marketing theory, by showing how dynamic attention theory can predict attention to video advertising better than salience theory, and to marketing research, showing the utility of tracking visual attention to moving objects in video advertising with IBBs, which appear underutilised in advertising research.
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Chenhao Wei, Gang Lin, Jun Huang, Lei Song and Howard Smith
Unlike conventional aircraft, birds can glide without a vertical tail. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of dihedral angle spanwise distribution on…
Abstract
Purpose
Unlike conventional aircraft, birds can glide without a vertical tail. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of dihedral angle spanwise distribution on lateral-directional dynamic stability by the simulation, calculation in the development of the bird-inspired aircraft and the flight testing.
Design/methodology/approach
The gliding magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) was selected as the study object. The geometric and mass model of the study object were developed. Stability derivatives and moments of inertia were obtained. The lateral-directional stability was assessed under different spanwise distributions of dihedral angle. A bird-inspired aircraft was developed, and a flight test was carried out to verify the analysed results.
Findings
The results show that spanwise distribution changing of dihedral angle has influence on the lateral-directional mode stability. All of the analysed configurations have convergent Dutch roll mode and rolling mode. The key role of dihedral angle changing is to achieve a convergent spiral mode. Flight test results show that the bird-inspired aircraft has a well-convergent Dutch roll mode.
Practical implications
The theory that birds can achieve its lateral-directional stability by changing its dihedral angle spanwise distribution may explain the stability mechanism of gliding birds.
Originality/value
This paper helps to improve the understanding of bird gliding stability mechanism and provides bio-inspired solutions in aircraft designing.
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This paper considers supply chain management organizations with the aid of 'chaotic systems theory' developed originally in physics and mathematics. Since innovations in supply…
Abstract
This paper considers supply chain management organizations with the aid of 'chaotic systems theory' developed originally in physics and mathematics. Since innovations in supply chain management are vital for organizational survival 'complex systems theory' may assist in fine-tuning managerial philosophies that provide stability in supply chain management because it is on the boundary of chaos that the greatest innovational creativity occurs. Neither 'management by rigid objectives' (MBO) nor 'management by instruction' (MBI) will be suitable for the information society of the twenty-first century because chaotic social systems will no longer be effectively managed. However, the capacity for self-organization will be derived essentially from how supply chain management members accept a shared set of values or principles for action-'management by values' (MBV). Complex systems theory deals with systems that show complex structures in time or space, often hiding simple deterministic rules. This theory holds that once these rules are found, it is possible to make effective predictions and even to control the apparent complexity. The state of chaos that self-organizes is attributable to the appearance of the 'strange attractor' and provides the ideal basis for creativity and innovation in the twenty-first century. In the self-organized state of chaos, social members are not confined to narrow roles and gradually develop their capacity for differentiation and relationships, growing progressively towards their maximum potential contribution to the efficiency of the organization. In this meaning, values act as organizers of 'attractors' of disorder, which, in the theory of chaos, are systems represented by usually regular geometric configurations that predict the long-term behavior of complex systems. In supply chain management organizations (as in all kinds of social systems) the initial principles end up as the final principles in the long term. An attractor is a model representation of the behavioral results of the system. The attractor is not a force of attraction or a goal-oriented presence in the system; it simply depicts where the system is heading based on its rules of motion. In supply chain management organizations that cultivate or shares values of autonomy, responsibility, independence, innovation, creativity, and proactivity, the risk of short-term chaos is mitigated by external complexities that organizations are currently confronting. The strategy is to alter the supply chain management's surroundings so that they can benefit from management by values (MBV).
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Fisayo Fagbemi and Adeyemi Fajingbesi
This study investigates the extent to which, and in what ways and capacities, the incidence of adverse economic conditions burdening the masses, on the macro-level, increases the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the extent to which, and in what ways and capacities, the incidence of adverse economic conditions burdening the masses, on the macro-level, increases the propensity for the generation of political instability/violence.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on data from a cross-section of 25 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries for the period 2005–2019, fixed effects (FE) and generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations are used to determine the nature and significance of the independent variable (economic condition), complemented by three control variables, on the dependent WGI-defined variable political stability scored on the basis of a continuum from −2.5 (most unstable) to +2.5 (most stable). For the link between political instability and socioeconomic conditions, the study employs a construct derived from frustration-aggression and relative deprivation theory.
Findings
The study links socioeconomic adversity to political instability in the context of SSA. In addition, larger populated countries exhibit a greater propensity to political instability than smaller populated countries. In contrast, foreign direct investment (FDI) appears to have no real effect, positive or negative, on political stability.
Practical implications
Poor living conditions seem to be strongly associated with a high risk of political violence in SSA. To buoy socioeconomic status, poverty alleviation needs be elevated into a key initiative in the decision-making agenda, at all levels of governance, with real targeted strides achieved in terms of enhancement of the standard of living of the masses. In addition, policies that control population need to be inaugurated hand-in-hand with welfare measures and a more equitable balancing of the distribution of resources in the society.
Originality/value
Given the high regional incidence of civil strife and violence, combined with a dearth of research of an empirical nature on political risk in SSA, this study provides a largely ignored and useful context on SSA apart from studies on the incidence of violence that consider the developing countries as a monolithic whole.
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