Catching up with Method and Process Practice: An Industry-Informed Baseline for Researchers

Software development methods are usually not applied by the book.companies are under pressure to continuously deploy software products that meet market needs and stakeholders\u27 requests. To implement efficient and effective development processes, companies utilize multiple frameworks, methods and practices, and combine these into hybrid methods. A common combination contains a rich management framework to organize and steer projects complemented with a number of smaller practices providing the development teams with tools to complete their tasks. In this paper, based on 732 data points collected through an international survey, we study the software development process use in practice. Our results show that 76.8% of the companies implement hybrid methods.company size as well as the strategy in devising and evolving hybrid methods affect the suitability of the chosen process to reach company or project goals. Our findings show that companies that combine planned improvement programs with process evolution can increase their process\u27 suitability by up to 5%

Pioneering the combined use of agile and stage-gate models in new product development–cases from the manufacturing industry

Stage gate models have long been the norm in manufacturing industries. Whereas agile models, such as scrum, are standard amongst software industries. These two models have been traditionally been pitted against one another, each with its own advantages and limitations. A new trend is being observed, where gated models are becoming more agile, and agile models more gated. This trend indicates a need to combine the models, recognizing the limitations of both. We explore a number of cases where the models have been combined, very much based on trial and error, with adaptions being made as needed. The findings are relevant to product- and engineering design theory and education as stage gate models are commonly seen as the basis for modeling and teaching design. Certain qualities of agile are expected to be integrated into stage gate models, from which new process models might emerge. Such processes are expected to integrate more interdisciplinary collaboration along different stages of product development, facilitate more flexibility in setting requirements and allowing change. This article offers managers the possibility to understand how to combine stage gate and agile models and why, based upon cross company learning, hence fast tracking this process

How is the innovation process developed in traditional companies by combining the plan-oriented and flexible process models, and in which situations is it utilized?

This paper analyzes how the innovation process is developed in traditional companies by combining the plan-oriented and flexible process models, and in which situations it is utilized. To answer the research question, a multiple case study was selected. This research compared three traditional manufacturing companies within the same industry with in-depth interviews, follow-up interviews, observations, and secondary research. Traditional manufacturing companies today have begun to focus more on innovations, even so, how they organize for innovation differ amongst the companies. Five out of the eight boundary conditions presented by Paluch et al., (2019), proved highly important for the traditional companies researched, but the findings revealed investment and time influence, strategic fit and willingness to change and mindset to be of equal importance for selecting the general Hybrid innovation process. Nevertheless, three separate situations were revealed to affect the development of the combined process in traditional manufacturing companies. These situations were then based on four out of nine conditions initially found through both expected and observed pattern matching during the analysis; investment, consumer preferences, managerial control, and approach to risk. The different combination of the conditions resulted in three situation-based approaches to the Hybrid process model: short-term incremental-, short-term radical- and long-term radical innovations. From a theoretical perspective, this study emphasizes a need for a combined process. When considering large traditional manufacturing companies’ approach to innovation and how the degree of leaning towards the Agile or Stage-Gate method, whilst still being a Hybrid process, highly varies based on the innovational situation related to time and radicality. From a practical perspective, the three combined processes developed through research can serve as a guideline for innovation managers and help simplify the practice for mutual understanding of how to organize the innovation process based on three separate situations

Applying agile to portfolio management

Portfolio management is a practice of managing organization’s projects in a structured manner. The goal is to produce maximum value by selecting executed projects, realizing the maximum amount of business value. Portfolio management is also one of the most important tools to execute company strategy by focusing on development efforts and as such an important tool for management. Agile project management and development practices have become very common in the last decade, so portfolio management should also be compatible with modern agile development methods when applied. In this thesis, a literature review is made to understand the current research of portfolio management, agile development methods, and combining those two subjects. A goal is to understand how portfolio management process should be defined to be compatible with projects using agile development methods, and if agile methods can be applied in the process as well. A new customized portfolio management framework is designed and implemented based on the literature review for Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company’s investment organization to be used to manage in house development projects. Thesis will follow up if the framework is able to improve organization’s portfolio management practices. The designed framework was considered as an improvement and was designed to support use of agile development methods

Integrating agile software development into stage-gate managed product development

Agile methods have evolved as a bottom-up approach to software development. However, as the software in embedded products is only one part of development projects, agile methods must coexist with project management models typically of the stage-gate type. This paper presents a qualitative case study of two large independent software system projects that have used eXtreme Programming (XP) for software development within contexts of stage-gate project management models. The study is comprised of open ended interviews with managers as well as practitioners, followed by a structured, fully traceable, qualitative analysis. We conclude that it is possible to integrate XP in a gate model context. Key issues for success are the interfaces towards the agile subproject and management attitudes towards the agile approach

A Hybrid Approach Using RUP and Scrum as a Software Development Strategy

According to some researchers, a hybrid approach can help optimize the software development lifecycle by combining two or more methodologies. RUP and Scrum are two methodologies that successfully complement each other to improve the software development process. However, the literature has shown only few case studies on exactly how organizations are successfully applying this hybrid methodology and the benefits and issues found during the process. To help fill this literature gap, the main purpose of this thesis is to describe the development of the Lobbyist Registration and Tracking System for the City of Jacksonville case study where a hybrid approach, that integrates RUP and Scrum, was implemented to develop a major application to provide additional empirical evidence and enrich the knowledge in this under-investigated field. The objective of this research was fulfilled since the case study was described in detail with the specific processes implemented using RUP and Scrum within the context of the IBM Rational Collaborative Lifecycle Management Solution. The results may help researchers and practitioners who are looking for evidence about conducting a hybrid approach. However, more case studies that successfully combine RUP and Scrum need to be developed in order to have enough empirical evidence

EXTREME PROGRAMMING AND RATIONAL UNIFIED PROCESS – CONTRASTS OR SYNONYMS?

The agile movement has received much attention in software engineering recently. Established methodologies try to surf on the wave and present their methodologies a being agile, among those Rational Unified Process (RUP). In order to evaluate the statements we evaluate the RUP against eXtreme Programming (XP) to find out to what extent they are similar end where they are different. We use a qualitative approach, utilizing a framework for comparison. RUP is a top-down solution and XP is a bottom-up approach. Which of the two is really best in different situations has to be investigated in new empirical studies.extreme programming

The Vortex of Continuous Development of Embedded Systems: An Inquiry into Agility Orchestration

Agile methodologies have become a popular and widely accepted method for managing software development. Since the inception of the Agile Manifesto over ten years ago, agile development techniques have superseded waterfall methods in many, if not most, software development organizations. Despite its apparent success, many companies have struggled with the adoption and implementation of agile, and exactly what level of adoption provides optimum agility. Agility is commonly held in the literature to be constructed of elements external to a company or project but may in fact be composed of both external and internal elements. The exact relationship of the adoption of agile development techniques and their relationship to the actual agility of a business remain unclear. A primary contributor to this uncertainty is the somewhat amorphous definition of agile itself. In academic literature, the concept is still relatively young and loosely defined. In practice, organizations have largely opted for a hybrid approach to agile, mixing its concepts and methods with existing Stage Gate or waterfall methodologies. This has made the management of agile even more complex. Crucially, there is no definition or criterion available to determine the appropriate mix of agile and waterfall processes in an embedded software development context nor is there a method to determine the impact of one against the other. These issues beg the question: how do organizations manage agility? This interpretive case study provides an empirical account of how stakeholders manage both market and process agility in an embedded systems context via a hybrid agility implementation and product genesis. As a result, we provide the notion of agile vorticity, as the point at which market and process agility collide to produce business momentum at a specific point of innovation within the agile business vortex

Agility and system documentation in large-scale enterprise system projects: a knowledge management perspective

The growth of the agile approach usage comes with a deemphasis on formal documentation (explicit knowledge) and an increased reliance on personal interactions (tacit knowledge) for knowledge transfer. However, the sharing of tacit knowledge poses challenges. The agile approach is prone to knowledge hoarding, as well as knowledge loss from employee turnover and reassignment during periods of significant organizational changes. This study proposes a model that frames documentation and personal interactions as co-agents of system knowledge transfer. We report the preliminary confirmation of crucial antecedents along the dimensions of codification and personalization strategies to support our model. We present a set of findings on current practices, as well as a set of knowledge-sharing issues on system documentation based on three main categories. The first category incorporates system development approaches applied in large-scale enterprise systems projects. The second and the third categories comprise eight knowledge management themes, classified into the dimensions of personalization and codification for knowledge sharing and document practices. Finally, we put forward five propositions based on our findings.publishedVersio