Towards smart assessment: A metamodel proposal

International audienceAssessment initiatives in organisations are focused on the evaluation of organisational aspects aiming to obtain a critic view of their status. The assessment results are used to lead improvement programs or to serve as base for comparative purposes. Assessment approaches may comprise complex tasks demanding a large amount of time and resources. Moreover, assessment results are highly dependent on the assessment input, which may have a dynamic nature due to the constant evolution of organisations. The assessment results should be adaptable to these changes without much effort whilst being able to provide efficient and reliable results. Therefore, providing smart capabilities to the assessment process or to systems in charge of performing assessments represents a step forward in the search for more efficient appraisal processes. This work proposes a metamodel defining the elements of a Smart Assessment, which is guided by elements related to the smartness concept such as knowledge, learning, reasoning and inferring capabilities. The metamodel is further specialized considering a Business Process In-teroperability Smart Assessment scenario

The Key Factors of Evaluating Agile Approaches: A Systematic Literature Review

Currently, Agile Methods (AMs) are extensively being used in projects of various sizes and in different environments, thus surpassing their primary intended scope. For instance, they have been executed in distributed and non-distributed projects. In addition, AMs have been implemented in different project fields, such as engineering, medicine, banking, and manufacturing. Consequently, different Agile approaches have been proposed and integrated with other approaches in order to support the increased demand for diverse project environments. In this direction, various authors have examined the process of developing those approaches; however, the focus on explaining evaluation phases is scarce and scattered. Therefore, this study aims to review pertinent literature to identify the key factors and methodologies used to evaluate the proposed approaches in the Agile domain. The systematic literature review (SLR) methodology was adopted to identify, evaluate, and interpret all existing studies relevant to the research objective. SLR provides in-depth and more thorough results than an ordinary literature review. Forty-eight studies were selected and analyzed. The results show that applicability, effectiveness, and efficiency are the three most frequently examined evaluation factors, whereas case studies and surveys are the most frequently used research methods in evaluation studies. Factors identified in this review provide the evidence and the opportunity to design instruments or assessment forms that meet the needs of those researchers who are planning to evaluate their proposed Agile approaches

The key factors of evaluating agile approaches: a systematic literature review

Currently, the housing sector is one of the Malaysian government’s main concerns as it is continuously facing various problems. This sector is endlessly struggling with enormous difficulties that have caused negative implications to the industry’s performance. Since a well governed corporate governance is said to be associated with better company performance, a number of corporate governance mechanisms are being employed in this study so as to test on their impact on the firms’ performance. Independence of board of directors (BOD) and audit committee (AC) members, non-duality and frequency of board meetings held per annum are among the CG mechanisms tested in relation to the firms’ performance, Tobin’s Q. The three-year period (2013-2015) data is taken from the annual reports and Thomson Reuters Data stream for all the companies in the property industry in Bursa Malaysia. Number of board meetings, CEO/Chairman non-duality, Independence of BOD members. These empirical evidences from this study would enhance the importance of incorporating corporate governance mechanisms and international diversification in relation to organizational performance for property industry

Estudio de mapeo sistemático de las herramientas y técnicas para la identificación de los niveles de agilidad del equipo de desarrollo en un proyecto de software

El presente estudio registra los instrumentos, herramientas y técnicas para identificar el nivel de agilidad, se realizó una investigación en base al Método del Mapeo Sistemático (SMS), se investigó en diferentes bibliotecas virtuales. Los instrumentos, herramientas y técnicas permiten identificar los niveles de agilidad tanto en las organizaciones y equipos. Se tiene como finalidad evaluar el conocimiento, además, el nivel de agilidad mediante diferentes escalas, al momento de desarrollar sus proyectos, contribuyen con el mejoramiento continuo.He present study records the instruments, tools and techniques to identify the level of agility, an investigation was carried out based on the Systematic Mapping Method (SMS), it was investigated in different virtual libraries. The instruments, tools and techniques allow to identify the levels of agility in both organizations and teams. The purpose is to evaluate knowledge, in addition, the level of agility through different scales, at the time of developing your projects, they contribute to continuous improvement

Um modelo de avaliação semi-automatizada de processos de software alinhado ao BPMN

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Tecnológico. Ciências da Computação.Nos últimos anos o mercado de software vem crescendo, e a procura por qualidade em softwares tem sido um fator muito importante no processo de desenvolvimento de software. Considerando esse fator, uma forma de alcançar um desenvolvimento que possa garantir um produto final que tenha qualidade se dá por meio da adoção de processos de qualidade. Como alternativa de solução, normas e modelos de referência como MPS.BR ou CMMI têm sido utilizados para proporcionar melhores práticas na definição de processos, no intuito de fornecer qualidade e melhorias no processo de desenvolvimento de software e por consequência, no produto final. Com o advento das abordagens ágeis, empresas e organizações não só mudaram o modo como desenvolvem software mas também o modo como gerenciam seus processos, o que implica em como garantir a qualidade e maturidade durante o desenvolvimento em organizações que adotam esse tipo de prática. Atualmente as avaliações de processos ocorrem de forma manual, o que demanda tempo e implica em alto custo, acabando por não se alinhar muito para ambientes ágeis. Este trabalho pretende desenvolver um modelo para auxiliar equipes que desenvolvem softwares em ambientes ágeis, com o objetivo de avaliar a qualidade de seus processos por meio de uma forma semi-automatizada de avaliação, a ser desenvolvida utilizando-se a BPMN para modelar processos de software em uma plataforma BPMS. O modelo é avaliado por meio da aplicação prática na modelagem, a avaliação automatizada utiliza processos de uma empresa de software, e os resultados indicam que o modelo é aplicável e fácil de entender, atingindo seus objetivos de uso.In recent years the software market has been growing, and the demand for software quality has been a very important factor in the software development process. Considering this factor, one way to achieve a development that can guarantee a final product that has quality is through the adoption of quality processes. As an alternative solution, standards and reference models such as MPS.BR or CMMI have been used to provide best practices in process definition in order to provide quality and improvements in the software development process and consequently in the final product. With the advent of agile approaches, companies and organizations have not only changed the way they develop software but also the way they manage their processes, which implies how to guarantee quality and maturity during development in organizations that adopt this type of practice. Currently, process evaluations occur manually, which takes time and implies high costs, and does not align very well for agile environments. This work intends to develop a model to assist teams that develop software in agile environments, with the objective of evaluating the quality of their processes through a semi-automated form of evaluation, to be developed using BPMN to model processes of software on a BPMS platform. The model is evaluated through practical application in modeling, an automated evaluation uses the processes of a software company, and the results indicate that they are specific and easy to understand, reaching their goals of use

ORGANIZING FOR THE DIGITAL WORLD: A PATHWAY TOWARDS THE AGILE MARKETING CAPABILITY

The ultimate goal of this dissertation is to explain how agility intersects in the field of marketing capabilities, in order to deepen the understanding about a new marketing capability: the Agile Marketing Capability. My dissertation consists of three papers. The first paper inquires how the Agile Marketing Capability can be formally theorized and conceptualized, identifying its key theorizing elements and putting the basis for its further exploration and analysis. The outcomes of this first study identify the core dimensions (or constructs) of the Agile Marketing Capability, advance a holistic theoretical model, and discuss the underlying constructs and relationships. With this first conceptualization of a marketing-focused capability of agility, I start outlining a new path of marketing capabilities, seeking to redefine marketing capabilities by learning more about Agile Marketing implementation. Thus, I lay the terrain for future exploration and forecast of this topic, and enrich the debate on the opportunity to integrate agile principles into marketing studies, and ultimately impact marketing capabilities. The second paper provides an initial empirical investigation of agile capability in marketing field, exploring its main defining features and thus elaborating some key theoretical and empirical dimensions which may characterize and compose the Agile Marketing Capability. The outcomes of this second study identify and organize the key theoretical concepts and dimensions of the Agile Marketing Capability in a theoretical framework. To summarize study results I also formulate some propositions, which could stimulate future theoretical and empirical research towards this topic. The findings of this research considerably advance extant knowledge on capabilities greater aligned with digital transformation challenges, which is a topic still at an early stage in current literature. Specifically, the analysis carried out in the second paper improves the understanding on agility in digital and international marketing settings, contributing to extend dynamic capabilities and marketing capabilities literature. In the meantime, the framework and propositions of this study, as well as the empirical findings, contribute to explain what strategic actions are needed to foster marketing agility, thus pursuing and implementing an Agile Marketing Capability. The third and final paper extends the body of knowledge of agile capabilities in marketing field by looking at how different organizations pursue and implement the Agile Marketing Capability. The outcomes of this third study deepen the conceptualization and definition of the Agile Marketing Capability dimensions, proposing a four-stage Agile Marketing Capability maturity framework. The framework provides key actions, activities and behaviours organized in progressive maturity levels to enable organizations to assess and improve their capabilities in Agile Marketing implementation. The findings of this work contribute to deepen the body of knowledge on marketing capabilities and agility research streams, explaining the benefits that could derive from employing agile approaches and capabilities in marketing, and how their employment actually may enhance organizations’ extant marketing capabilities, particularly in turbulent and fast-changing contexts. Notably, the analysis performed in this third study sheds light on progressive behaviors and actions representative of different maturity levels in the development and management of the Agile Marketing Capability. The maturity framework proposed in this paper and the empirical findings clarify to managers and practitioners how to assess current maturity level in the development of such capability, understand potential improvement actions, and, thus, achieve higher levels of performance. Briefly, it provides useful guidelines for organizations to become more agile in their marketing capabilities

Application of a software agility assessment model – AgilityMod in the field

Adoption of agile values and principles and transformation of organizations towards agility are not easy and straightforward. Misinterpretation of agile principles and values, and adoption of partial solutions with few agile practices instead of holistic approaches prevent organizations to obtain full benefits of agile methods. We developed the Software Agility Assessment Reference Model (AgilityMod) for the appraisal of software projects from agility perspective and to provide guidance on specifying gaps on the road towards agility (agile maturity). The meta-model of AgilityMod was defined in relation with the ISO/IEC 15504-Process Assessment Model. AgilityMod was developed in an iterative and incremental manner by running successive case studies and getting opinions of experts for the evaluation and improvement of the Model. The multiple case study that we present here in detail included the implementation of the Model in eight software development companies. The results of this case study were evaluated by the case study participants. According to the significant majority of the case study participants, AgilityMod achieves its purpose.TUBITAK (113E528); European Regional Development Fund through Lero - the Irish Software Research Centre (10/CE/11855 13/RC/2094