Are More Frequent Releases Always Better? Dynamics of Pivoting, Scaling, and the Minimum Viable Product

Using the system dynamics methodology, we model the minimum viable product (MVP) approach to product development and examine the impact of release frequency, planning practices and committed reengineering capacity on software development outcomes. We leverage the organizational learning, Lean Startup, and Agile methodology literature to form the underpinnings of the model and measure outcomes using cumulative market cost of failing to meet market wants and cumulative engineering cost. While shorter release cycles are better in general for achieving market fit, the relationship is moderated by planning delays and committed reengineering capacity. We show that reducing the extent of pivot in each iteration may be better for firms. Firms instead should iterate moderately and not radically during any particular release. Counter intuitively, planning delays are beneficial by reducing overreaction to spurious market signals. Finally, we discuss implications of our findings for future research on learning and planning amongst entrepreneurial firms

Introduction to Agile and Lean Discovery and Development Minitrack

N/

Minimum Viable Product in Information Systems Development Context: Systematic Mapping Study

Minimum Viable Product (MVP), initially introduced for startups, permits organizations to test the market demand for a product without investing a substantial amount of resources. Due to this nature of minimizing the risks and costs in the product development, not only startups in the information system development (ISD) context but also established organizations have started to adapt MVP in product development processes. Therefore, it is critical to understand how the notions of MVP can be employed in the ISD context. This study aims to identify common characteristics of MVP in the ISD context to support ISD organizations to define a better MVP for their product development processes. A systematic mapping study was performed by defining research questions, conducting a literature search, and defining selection criteria. Finally, the study presents the most used MVP characteristics in the ISD context and suggests a better combination of characteristics together with MVP\u27s original definition

The business value of agile software development: Results from a systematic literature review

A key promise of agile software development (ASD) is to deliver business value. While research and practice indeed report multiple benefits resulting from the adoption of ASD methodologies, the bandwidth of the achievable business values is not well understood yet. To clarify the concept of ASD business value and provide a systematic perspective on its multidimensional nature, we present the results of a literature review, in which we investigated the attainable benefits when adopting ASD methodologies. The contribution of the paper is twofold. First, we provide a systematic overview of 43 distinct ASD business values, which includes prominent values such as increased productivity and less regarded values, for example improved business IT alignment. Using a conceptual lens based on Chow and Cao (2008), we furthermore relate the identified business values to the factors determining the success of ASD projects, thus proposing a novel model to explain ASD success

The Role of Environmental Factors for the Success of Digital Start-ups

Digital start-ups are perceived as an engine for innovation and job promotor. While success factors for non-IT start-ups have already been extensively researched, this study sheds light on digital entrepreneurs, whose business model relies primarily on services based on digital technologies. Applying the Grounded Theory method, we identify relevant environmental success factors for digital entrepreneurs. The study’s research contribution is threefold. First, we provide 16 relevant and less relevant environmental success factors, which enables a comparison with prior identified factors. We found out that several prior environmental success factors, such as accessibility to transportation or the availability of land and facilities are less relevant for a digital entrepreneur. Second, we derive and discuss hypotheses for the influence of these factors on digital start-up success. Third, we present a theoretical model that lays the foundation for explaining the environmental influence on digital entrepreneurship success

Entrepreneurial design of a digital health business

Software startups are an important source of innovation and wealth creation. Startups must develop and release software quickly to gain early cash flow and legitimacy for firm survival. They must search and identify a suitable market in a tight time frame. A ambiguity in the quality of the novel software designed can further intensify uncertainty for startups. Also, the entrepreneur-investor relationship is a critical conduit for financial and social resources, yet the investors’ influence on software design is understudied. This leads to the following research question: How does the entrepreneurial context in which the startup operates affect software design process and product in the early years? Given the exploratory nature of the research question, I drew on an eighteen-month, participant-observation case study of a three-year-old, digital healthcare startup, HealthCom. HealthCom designed a software to facilitate knowledge transfer between nurses and patients. I leveraged the attention-based view (ABV) as an organizing framework for analysis. By looking at how the environmental context influences the designers’ attention and actions, researchers can begin to understand the rationale behind design decisions. The findings illustrate how the attention of the designers were directed by financial-focused and quality-focused attention drivers. Financial-focused attention drivers originated from players (e.g. clients and investors) that intensified pressures for funding and led to the reframing of software as an enabler of funding. This contradicted quality-focused design alternatives grounded in user requirements and software design rules. It underlined the move from attention to designs that accommodated user requirements towards those that captured emerging business opportunities. Designers had to balance the tensions between financial and quality-focused design decisions that could lead to inhibition of future growth, compromises in quality or over-optimization of quality. Designers simplified and coupled requirements throughout the design process and postponed investments of design resources to meet client-imposed deadlines. The design product became disposable, quick to build, limited in adaptability, spartan, and vulnerable, and it enabled the startup to capture the business opportunities amidst time constraints, financial pressures, and high uncertainty.Information, Risk, and Operations Management (IROM

The Dark Side of Digitalization: Three Case Studies of the Negative Implications of Information Technology

While the use of information technology (IT) can have both positive and negative implications, extant information systems (IS) studies have predominantly focused on positive accounts of IT use over the years. This thesis aims to examine the emerging roles of IT and the unintended consequences of IT use. Although studying the dark side phenomena of IT use at different levels of analysis is important because the use of IT can have negative implications in hedonic, organizational, and societal settings, most of the existing research focuses on an individual level of analysis in a work context. This thesis, therefore, focuses on understanding how the use of IT contributes to unintended implications (1) in a hedonic context with an individual level of analysis, (2) in a work context with an organizational level of analysis, and (3) in a societal context with a societal level of analysis. More specifically, the role of IT in mobile gaming addiction, digital debt accrual, and Hikikomori development is examined in terms of its unintended consequences using three levels of analysis, respectively. Accordingly, three qualitative case studies are presented to answer the following research questions: (1) “How do negative implications arise as a result of IT use in a hedonic context?” (2) “How do negative implications arise as a result of IT implementation and use at the organizational level?” and (3) “How do negative implications arise as a result of IT use at a societal level?” To address the first research question, the first case study chosen is Empires and Puzzles. This is one of the world’s most commercially successful mobile games, rated as a top 10 grossing app in the role-playing games and strategy games category on both the iOS and Android platforms. The study examines this case to identify the specific mechanisms of mobile gaming addiction, thus representing one of the earliest in-depth studies to offer a hedonic perspective of dark side phenomena. In particular, this study reveals the mechanisms of how the characteristics, features, and content of a mobile game influence gamers’ psychological states and induce addiction. To address the second research question, the second case study chosen is the Fintech Platform Company. The company has undertaken more than 100 systems development projects for multiple resource-constrained client companies that are likely to accrue digital debt. The study provides a theoretical framework of how digital debt is accrued as a result of systems development. Findings show that digital debt has negative organizational implications that not only influence individuals, but also the entire organization and a number of stakeholders. Finally, to address the third research question, the third case study chosen is the Yokayoka Hikikomori Support Center. Based in the city of Fukuoka, this is one of the most successful Hikikomori treatment centers in Japan, using a variety of different treatment alternatives, both online and offline. The study suggests a theoretical framework of how IT contributes to Hikikomori development, a recognized mental disorder that manifests as a state of acute social withdrawal. Based on its findings, this study adopts a technology affordances and constraints perspective of the phenomenon to shed light on how IT induces the pathological behaviors associated with this recognized mental disorder, and thus may serve as a crucial first step toward its treatment. Taken together, by addressing the research questions, these findings make several important theoretical contributions to the dark side of IT literature: 1) challenge the existing knowledge in this area, particularly knowledge centered on perspectives at an individual level in a work context by providing three empirically grounded theoretical frameworks that help address the lack of empirical studies on the roles of IT from the dark side research in a hedonic context, and at organizational and societal levels; 2) explore three aspects of negative outcomes on individuals, organizations, and societies; and 3) challenge the dominant position of existing studies by providing empirical evidence of a process perspective on how the use of IT can result in negative outcomes by constructing detailed theoretical frameworks that identify the mechanisms used to illustrate the dark side at different levels of analysis. Beyond its theoretical implications, this thesis also makes a number of contributions to practice: 1) serves as a detailed roadmap for practitioners through which to understand how the mechanisms work, and consequently to identify effective and appropriate interventions to dull the negative impacts on individuals in a hedonic context; 2) provides a comprehensive and empirically supported framework for practitioners who face difficulty in understanding and managing adverse impacts on organizations so as to use the theoretical framework as a detailed blueprint to assess and identify appropriate remedial actions; and 3) provides a detailed roadmap for practitioners who seek to understand the contributions of IT on negative social outcomes so as to design effective treatments and interventions and address the adverse social consequences

Development of a Managerial Approach for a New IT Organisation Design Framework (ITODF) Based on Digitisation Trends.

Abstract Business organisations are currently at a tipping point. Disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and others transforms many industries in the ways they work. Lines between business and technology blur. Researchers have acknowledged that this is the time in which the IT organisation needs to re-strategize itself. In this dissertation, the author provides a structured derivation of an IT organisation design framework. He illustrates how the IT organisation needs to be designed in the digital age to be successful. The research results are derived through a qualitative exploratory study and a quantitative confirmatory study. The findings show that the detailed design of six dimensions is critical for the successful IT organisation design: Strategy, Structure, Information, Governance, Processes and Sourcing. Additionally, the dissertation outlines important implications for practitioners along five guiding principles. These guiding principles explain how to best implement the design framework in practice. Resumen Las organizaciones empresariales se encuentran actualmente en un punto de inflexión en el que tecnologías disruptivas como la Inteligencia Artificial, Blockchain y otras pueden transformar el funcionamiento de muchas industrias, pues la línea divisoria entre el negocio y la tecnología se hace cada vez más difusa. Los investigadores coinciden en que, en este momento, es necesario redefinir las organizaciones relacionadas con las Tecnologías de la Información (TI) en la empresa. En este trabajo, el autor ofrece un marco de diseño estructurado las empresas del sector TI. Se expone cómo debe definirse el diseño organizativo de TI en la era digital, realizando para ello un estudio exploratorio cualitativo y un estudio confirmatorio cuantitativo. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que, para garantizar el éxito de la organización TI, es fundamental el diseño detallado de seis dimensiones: Estrategia, Estructura, Información, Gobierno, Procesos y Abastecimiento. Además, el presente trabajo ofrece a los profesionales implicaciones importantes referidas a cada uno de los cinco principios rectores citados, con el fin de implementar adecuadamente en la práctica el diseño de la organización.Administración y Dirección de Empresa