Tensions and ambidexterity: a case study of an agile project at a government agency

Today’s dynamic business environment must continuously adapt its software development methods to changing technologies and new requirements on the part of customers. Therefore, Agile methods are being used more and more used because they emphasize both flexibility and the ability to change. However, at the same time, the business-driven need for predictability and control remains. The purpose of this case study is to explore and theorize on paradoxical tensions and ambidexterity during an Agile software development project at a government agency. The study empirically examines how tensions and the ambidextrous responses to these tensions are related to Agile values. Data was collected by conducting interviews and studying internal project documents. Four categories of tensions (learning, organizing, performing, and belonging) were used for analytical purposes. The findings suggest that most of the tensions perceived were in the categories of learning and performing. There are, furthermore, several connectionsbetween the ambidextrous responses to these tensions and Agile principles. A deeper understanding of Agile values and principles is required in order to make projects successful. The contribution made by the study, therefore, is of great importance because Agile methods are for leading projects, not only in Agile software development, but also in other industries and sectors

Experiences of Public Agency Managers When Making Outsourcing Decisions

Managers in state transportation agencies in the United States must frequently choose between using the talents and abilities of in-house staff or outsourcing for road and bridge design projects. Budgetary crises have strongly affected funding for transportation infrastructure. Facing budgetary pressures to suppress costs, managers must frequently make the choice of outsourcing a project or performing it in-house. Yet, decision-making models for these decisions are inadequate. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of public agency managers when making decisions to outsource the core government functions such as road and bridge design projects. The research question was: What are the lived experiences of managers at the public agency when making decisions about whether to outsource core government functions such as road and bridge design projects? Participants were interviewed about their lived experiences at a state Department of Transportation with \u27make or buy\u27 decisions. Purposeful sampling was used to select 19 participants for the interviews and the collected data were coded and used a van Kaam approach for analysis. Five themes emerged as findings: acceptance of outsourcing, benefits versus problems, outsourcing propelled by staff limits, loss of control when a project is outsourced, and political pressure for and against outsourcing. These findings may be relevant for management personnel at U.S. public agencies. The implications for positive social change include improved cost, increased efficiency of use of time and talent of management personnel in state transportation agencies, and cost benefits for both management and public

Hands in the Pockets of Mercurial Donors: How Three Theories Explain Ngo Responses to Shifting Funding Priorities

The NGO-donor relationship has become understood as exceptionally volatile. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in developing countries rely heavily on foreign donor funding and potential over-reliance on donors becomes apparent. The research at hand concentrates on the relationship between environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international donor agencies in the local setting of a developing country. It explores the potential impact of changing funding priorities on NGO behavior and decision-making. It raises two questions: How do NGOs respond to changes in donor funding objectives? Why do NGOs react the way they do? NGOs react to changes in the external environment in different ways (Thompson 1967; Pfeffer and Salancik 1978; Scott 1981; Pfeffer 1982). The first phase of the dissertation explores the NGO-donor relationship when donors revise funding priorities and partner NGOs try to adapt. There is a variation in the way NGOs respond to changes in funding manifested or applied in a variety of ways. The study draws on qualitative research to study the decisions of four NGOs in response to shifts in funding, and analysis reveals the following variations in NGO responses to such shifts: suspend the relationship, reach common ground and maintain the relation, automatically execute the donor\u27s interests, and voluntarily and deliberately adapt to the situation. The research builds on Hirschman\u27s (1970) individual self-interest theory and considers NGOs as `consumers\u27 in their relationship with donor agencies. Using Hirschman\u27s (1970) typology, three modes of NGOs\u27 response are identified: exit, voice, loyalty, and a fourth mode, adjustment, is proposed. Furthermore, the dissertation integrates resource dependence theory (Pfeffer and Salancik 1978) and the theory of weak ties (Granovetter 1973, 1983) to construct a more parsimonious theory to predict organizational responses to changes in the surrounding environment. Each of the two theories is reviewed separately to provide a theoretical justification for NGO behavior in a changing funding environment. Resource dependence determines NGO behavior. Therefore, we expect that NGOs characterized with high resource dependency will comply with donor interests. Furthermore, the behavior of the NGO could also be determined by the presence of strong or weak ties, such that an NGO centrally located in a dense network with strong ties is likely to comply with donor interests. This investigation also recognizes that organizations vary in terms of tolerance for resource dependency and the nature and structures of their network relations. The study accepts Salancik\u27s (1995) argument that control over resources is not the only source of power in an inter-organizational relationship; network positions are related to power. Accordingly, the study presents an alternative perspective that integrates the two theories, stipulating that an organizational response to changes in its external environment depends on the level of resource dependence tolerance as well as the strength of ties in a network of actors. The likelihood of an organization adopting exit as a response to shifts in donor funding is higher with lower resource dependence and weaker network ties. The likelihood of an organization practicing voice is higher with lower resource dependence and stronger ties. The likelihood of an organization practicing adjustment is higher with higher resource dependence and weaker network ties. Lastly, the likelihood of an organization adopting loyalty as a response to shifts in donor funding is higher with higher resource dependence and stronger ties. The integrated theory is supported with in-depth qualitative analysis of multiple cases of NGOs and their relations with stakeholders, specifically donors. It is verified by translating propositions into hypotheses. These key hypotheses are tested using multinomial regression analysis based on measurements derived from network analysis that plots network maps of environmental NGOs in Lebanon. The results provide good support for the predictions of the integrated theory. Variation in resource dependence has no effect on the choice of voice over exit, while higher centrality increases the tendency towards voice. There is a higher tendency for adjustment with higher resource criticality and concentration while tie strength has a weak effect on the choice of adjustment over exit

Cyberterrorism: A postmodern view of networks of terror and how computer security experts and law enforcement officials fight them.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how cyberterrorists create networks in order to engage in malicious activities against the Internet and computers. The purpose of the study is also to understand how computer security labs (i.e., in universities) and various agencies (that is, law enforcement agencies such as police departments and the FBI) create joint networks in their fight against cyberterrorists. This idea of analyzing the social networks of two opposing sides rests on the premise that it takes networks to fight networks. The ultimate goal is to show that, because of the postmodern nature of the Internet, the fight between networks of cyberterrorists and networks of computer security experts (and law enforcement officials) is a postmodern fight. Two theories are used in this study: social network theory and game theory.This study employed qualitative methodology and data were collected via in-depth conversational (face-to-face) interviewing. Twenty-seven computer security experts and law enforcement officials were interviewed. Overall, this study found that cyberterrorists tend not to work alone. Rather, they team up with others through social networks. It was also found that it takes networks to fight networks. As such, it is necessary for experts and officials to combine efforts, through networking, in order to combat, let alone understand, cyberterrorist networks. Of equal relevance is the fact that law enforcement agents and computer security experts do not always engage in battle with cyberterrorists. They sometimes try to interact with them in order to obtain more information about their networks (and vice versa). Finally, four themes were identified from the participants' accounts: (1) postmodern state of chaos, (2) social engineering, (3) know thy enemy, and (4) the enemy of my enemy is my friend

Communicating impermanence : temporal structuring of the COVID-19 pandemic in everyday organizational life

Impermanence is an essential yet understudied aspect of organizational communication. This study addresses the research question: How do people communicate about (or avoid communicating about) impermanence in the workplace? Taking impermanence—defined simply as the fact that reality is constantly in flux, transient, and effervescent—as a fundamental condition of life, this dissertation explores to what extent impermanence can be identified through organizational communication. During the onset of an unprecedented cosmological event (Weick, 1995), the COVID-19 pandemic, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork through an established, mid- size non-profit organization while employed in a leadership role. Building upon 10 particular actions Weick (2012) used to describe organizational impermanence—believing, discarding, doubting, enacting, interrupting, labeling, reasoning, repeating, seeing, and substantiating— observations were taken on how members accepted and avoided the pandemic through everyday communication. These 10 actions have been further arranged through existing models of temporal structuring (Orlikowski & Yates, 2002; Ballard & Seibold, 2003, 2004) along five multidirectional feedback cycles—processes of confidence, awareness, influence, continuity, and affirmation. Further analysis explores how these cycles identify and express the lived experience of impermanence. I aim to further the paradigm of "the impermanent organization" (Weick, 2012), as well as temporal structuring and feedback cycles, so that researchers have more tools to describe and identify how impermanence is (or is not) communicated in the workplace. Finally, I will offer some practical recommendations for leadership and members of organizations on how to adapt to and cope with impermanence in daily life.Communication Studie

Planners\u27 perceptions of their communicative roles in the implementation of local comprehensive plans: a Q-methodology study

This research, by utilizing the descriptive aspect of the communicative planning model, examined the opinions of surveyed public planners to understand their perceptions concerning their roles in the implementation of comprehensive plans. The research developed a Q-methodology design to uncover a typology of opinion concerned the perceived roles played by participants throughout the planning process in counties within the state of Georgia. The research contributes to the literature by developing this typology and by using it to assess the opinions of public planners. Through the use of Q-methodology, the research analyzed 34 usable Q-sorts from Georgia planners. Based on analysis of these sorts, four distinct types of opinion were found. The planning participants appear to be communicating opinions that represent the following: mostly positive roles on structural issues, such as budgeting, coordinating, and plan complexity; two roles that are positive of public participation; and two roles that are negative of public participation and focused on economic development. The research‘s typology shows that the planning participants view planning in two dimensions: political (opinion concerning the public) and functional (opinion concerning what leads to successful planning)

Exploring supplier integration implementation within the humanitarian supply chain context

This thesis aims at exploring the supplier relationship between an international humanitarian organisation and their supplier and supplier integration within the humanitarian context. Supplier integration studies from the humanitarian perspective remain under-explored, although integration has been considered as supply chain management excellence in the business studies. Due to very little research regarding humanitarian supplier integration, an exploratory study was employed in an early phase of the project by conducting expert interviews, in order to validate the significance of the research topic, refine research questions and inform the research direction. This small-scale exploratory study provided useful guideline for the main case study and suggested theoretical lenses and many influencing factors surrounding the relationships between an IHO and its supplier. The research sought a qualitative and abductive approach based on the critical realism principles. It adopted a single case study research design with 8 nested sub-cases under a focal organisation. For data collection methods, semi-structured interviews and documentation were used and data analysis was conducted based on an iterative way between the data and theory through three rounds of data analysis. The findings are divided into two chapters. The first chapter concerns descriptive findings focusing on contextual factors and situational factors. This part provides justification of scoping suppliers from the humanitarian perspective, adaptable working structure of the IHO according to the type of suppliers, and detailed description about donors’ influences, regional contexts and disaster types. The second chapter of findings presents the influences of the theoretical elements that were obtained through a further review and the pattern of SI practices according to each supplier