Culture dimensions in software development industry: The effects of mentoring

Software development is a human centric and sociotechnical activity and like all human activities is influenced by cultural factors. However, software engineering is being further affected because of the globalization in software development. As a result, cultural diversity is influencing software development and its outcomes. The software engineering industry, a very intensive industry regarding human capital, is facing a new era in which software development personnel must adapt to multicultural work environments. Today, many organizations present a multicultural workforce which needs to be managed. This paper analyzes the influence of culture on mentoring relationships within the software engineering industry. Two interesting findings can be concluded from our study: (1) cultural differences affect both formal and informal mentoring, and (2) technical competences are not improved when implementing mentoring relationships

How Can Organizations Integrate and Connect Learning with Work?

[Excerpt] Over the last few decades, workforce management has evolved to become complex and dynamic due to an increasingly competitive business landscape, the digital revolution and the mix of employees that now includes a multigenerational workforce. Work roles are expected to keep evolving requiring employees to keep up with new knowledge and upskill to remain employable; and as this happens, the ways of learning change as well. Research has also shown that companies that invest in the development of their employees are 2.4 times more likely to hit their performance targets, hence, organizations need to be proactive about adopting effective strategies that will enable them to manage the development of their employees in a way that supports the business priorities

Execution: the Critical “What’s Next?” in Strategic Human Resource Management

The Human Resource Planning Society’s 1999 State of the Art/Practice (SOTA/P) study was conducted by a virtual team of researchers who interviewed and surveyed 232 human resource and line executives, consultants, and academics worldwide. Looking three to five years ahead, the study probed four basic topics: (1) major emerging trends in external environments, (2) essential organizational capabilities, (3) critical people issues, and (4) the evolving role of the human resource function. This article briefly reports some of the study’s major findings, along with an implied action agenda – the “gotta do’s for the leading edge. Cutting through the complexity, the general tone is one of urgency emanating from the intersection of several underlying themes: the increasing fierceness of competition, the rapid and unrelenting pace of change, the imperatives of marketplace and thus organizational agility, and the corresponding need to buck prevailing trends by attracting and, especially, retaining and capturing the commitment of world-class talent. While it all adds up to a golden opportunity for human resource functions, there is a clear need to get to get on with it – to get better, faster, and smarter – or run the risk of being left in the proverbial dust. Execute or be executed

Management Strategies for Adopting Agile Methods of Software Development in Distributed Teams

Between 2003 and 2015, more than 61% of U.S. software development teams failed to satisfy project requirements, budgets, or timelines. Failed projects cost the software industry an estimated 60 billion dollars. Lost opportunities and misused resources are often the result of software development leaders failing to implement appropriate methods for managing software projects. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies software development managers use in adopting Agile methodology in the context of distributed teams. The tenets of Agile approach are individual interaction over tools, working software over documentation, and collaboration over a contract. The conceptual framework for the study was adapting Agile development methodologies. The targeted population was software development managers of U.S.-based companies located in Northern California who had successfully adopted Agile methods for distributed teams. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 5 managers and a review of project-tracking documentation and tools. Data analysis included inductive coding of transcribed interviews and evaluation of secondary data to identify themes through methodological triangulation. Findings indicated that coaching and training of teams, incremental implementation of Agile processes, and proactive management of communication effectiveness are effective strategies for adopting Agile methodology in the context of distributed teams. Improving the efficacy of Agile adoption may translate to increased financial stability for software engineers across the world as well as accelerate the successful development of information systems, thereby enriching human lives

Determining how information technology is changing the role of leadership in virtual organization

Includes bibliographical references

Overcoming cultural barriers to being agile in distributed teams

Context: Agile methods in offshored projects have become increasingly popular. Yet, many companies have found that the use of agile methods in coordination with companies located outside the regions of early agile adopters remains challenging. India has received particular attention as the leading destination of offshoring contracts due to significant cultural differences between sides of such contracts. Alarming differences are primarily rooted in the hierarchical business culture of Indian organizations and related command-and-control management behavior styles. Objective: In this study, we attempt to understand whether cultural barriers persist in distributed projects in which Indian engineers work with a more empowering Swedish management, and if so, how to overcome them. The present work is an invited extension of a conference paper. Method: We performed a multiple-case study in a mature agile company located in Sweden and a more hierarchical Indian vendor. We collected data from five group interviews with a total of 34 participants and five workshops with 96 participants in five distributed DevOps teams, including 36 Indian members, whose preferred behavior in different situations we surveyed. Results: We identified twelve cultural barriers, six of which were classified as impediments to agile software development practices, and report on the manifestation of these barriers in five DevOps teams. Finally, we put forward recommendations to overcome the identified barriers and emphasize the importance of cultural training, especially when onboarding new team members. Conclusions: Our findings confirm previously reported behaviors rooted in cultural differences that impede the adoption of agile approaches in offshore collaborations, and identify new barriers not previously reported. In contrast to the existing opinion that cultural characteristics are rigid and unchanging, we found that some barriers present at the beginning of the studied collaboration disappeared over time. Many offshore members reported behaving similarly to their onshore colleagues.acceptedVersio

Coaching culture model as a driver for a successful team management

Current fast-paced environment challenges companies to shift the focus of business away from control, power and micromanagement towards personal and professional progression by learning and upskilling practices, as well as nurturing leadership competencies, in order to stay competitive. Coaching has been considered a practice that enables businesses to facilitate growth, assist learning, thus getting to a safe environment pushing self-confidence, mutual support, creativity, multicultural communication. Yet, there is a lack of clarity on what coaching represents as a phenomenon, as well as how exactly companies can benefit from it and, if they can, which formats are the most efficient in which cases. Moreover, it is not enough to develop and implement a set of separate coaching practices - in order to see the qualitative outcomes, coaching culture model should be developed and applied. Therefore, this study takes a step forward in the understanding of coaching culture framework, develop a coaching culture model and see how it can be useful within the corporate environment. Theoretical base for this research consists of coaching theories by Whitmore, Bachkirova, Cox, Clutterbuck, Jakonen, Vesso, Alas as well as other authors, such as Wolf, Rosha, Lace etc. who studied factors impacting coaching process and its outcomes. Change management models by Lewin and others are used for coaching culture model implementation planning. The empirical analysis was made with qualitative research. The case company participating in the research went through the company-wide questionnaire, while a few team members completed the semi-structured interviews. The activities were made before and after the coaching culture model was implemented in the company. The conclusion of the study is that coaching culture model has a positive effect on the team management process. The final version of the model ensures that by addressing the following aspects: having structured processes towards agile and team metrics’ establishments (Objectives and Key Results, Key Performance Indicators etc.), waterfalling practices from the leadership team as the starting point and towards the rest of the teams, making sure applied practices are customized for each particular team to ensure its full efficiency, encouraging commitment and engagement, thus boosting employees’ potential. These results are discussed by formulating the theoretical and practical implications of the research, limitations and suggestions for further research on the topic

The Agile Coach Role: Coaching for Agile Performance Impact

It is increasingly common to introduce agile coaches to help gain speed and advantage in agile companies. Following the success of Spotify, the role of the agile coach has branched out in terms of tasks and responsibilities, but little research has been conducted to examine how this role is practiced. This paper examines the role of the agile coach through 19 semi-structured interviews with agile coaches from ten different companies. We describe the role in terms of the tasks the coach has in agile projects, valuable traits, skills, tools, and the enablers of agile coaching. Our findings indicate that agile coaches perform at the team and organizational levels. They affect effort, strategies, knowledge, and skills of the agile teams. The most essential traits of an agile coach are being emphatic, people-oriented, able to listen, diplomatic, and persistent. We suggest empirically based advice for agile coaching, for example companies giving their agile coaches the authority to implement the required organizational changes within and outside the teams.publishedVersio