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

Model of Critical Factors for Outsourcing Agile Development

Companies are beginning to combine outsourcing with Agile software engineering techniques with the goal of receiving the benefits of both – faster time to market, greater quality, and smaller costs. Since Agile was originally developed to work principally with small collocated teams, scalability of Agile to the enterprise, and simultaneous use of Agile and outsourcing are questions concerning applicability of Agile techniques to global business environments. This paper first summarizes current experience studies and research in Agile, enterprise Agile and Agile outsourcing, to identify factors likely to affect success on Agile projects. It then extends a model originally developed by Chow and Cao (2007) to account for these factors. Finally it outlines an experiment whose goal is to determine which of these factors drives successful projects that use both Agile and outsourcing

Scalable agile frameworks in large enterprise project portfolio management

Con un alcance de estudio exploratorio, debido a que se ha investigado poco y se encuentra en un estado emergente, el propósito de la investigación fue explorar la implementación de los marcos ágiles escalables en la gestión del portafolio de proyectos (PPM) de grandes empresas. Además, este estudio de caso cualitativo planteó la siguiente pregunta principal de investigación: ¿De qué manera los marcos ágiles escalables se implementan en la PPM de grandes empresas, y por qué? Este estudio recopiló información de 59 portafolios de proyectos en 22 empresas con implementaciones de métodos ágiles y marcos ágiles escalables de las industrias tecnologías de la información (IT- por sus siglas en inglés), financiera y telecomunicaciones, de México, Colombia, Perú, Ecuador, Costa Rica y Chile, mediante 43 entrevistas en profundidad semiestructuradas. Los hallazgos revelan que existen portafolios de proyectos con alta variabilidad en servicio, producto e innovación, y con implementaciones híbridas de Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Spotify Model y Scrum. Además, enfrentan diferentes desafíos relacionados con la implementación de los marcos ágiles escalables en la PPM, la cultura organizacional, resistencia al cambio y liderazgo estratégico. Del mismo modo, los hallazgos demuestran que los marcos ágiles son una opción viable para optimizar el time-to-market, aumentar la productividad de los equipos y mejorar la comunicación a nivel general. Este estudio es uno de los primeros en explorar cómo implementan las grandes empresas los marcos ágiles escalables en la PPM para llenar el vacío en la literatura relacionado con cómo y cuándo las empresas deben abordar un proceso de transformación ágil que funcione de manera exitosa en su PPM. Por lo tanto, este estudio proporciona evidencia empírica de seis países latinoamericanos como base potencial para futuras investigaciones y publicaciones.With an exploratory study scope, due to little research and in an emerging state, the purpose of the research was to explore the implementation of scalable agile frameworks in project portfolio management (PPM) of large enterprises. This qualitative case study posed as its primary research question: How and why are scalable agile frameworks implemented in the PPM of large companies? Further, this study used the purposive sampling method and the snowball technique. Data were collected from 59 project portfolios in 22 companies with agile and scalable agile framework implementations in the information technology (IT), financial and telecommunications industries in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Chile, through 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews. The findings reveal that there are project portfolios with high variability in service, product and innovation, and with hybrid implementations of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Spotify Model and Scrum. In addition, they face different challenges related to the implementation of scalable agile frameworks in PPM, organizational culture, resistance to change, and strategic leadership. Similarly, the findings demonstrate that agile frameworks are a viable option to optimize time-to-market, increase team productivity and improve communication across the board. This study represents one of the first to explore how large companies implement scalable agile frameworks in PPM to fill the gap in the literature related to how and when companies should approach an agile transformation process working successfully in their PPM. Accordingly, this study provides empirical evidence from six Latin American countries as a potential basis for future research and publications

Guest Editorial: Agile beyond software - In search of flexibility in a wide range of innovation projects and industries

The nine papers in this special section focus on new developments in agile software and reports on applications for its use. A key aspect for the extensive use of agile software is that it supports developers with coping with the growing uncertainty and turbulence in technological and market environments. Feedback and change are at the core of Agile for a dynamic, evolving, and organic, rather than static, predefined, and mechanistic development process advocated by waterfall management. To create timely, high-quality, cost-efficient, and innovative solutions, Agile developers organized in small, colocated, autonomous teams, build and test software in rapid iterative cycles, actively involving users to gather feedback, updating the project scope, and plan “on-the-fly,” using face-to-face communication as opposed to documentation. These papers contribute to the state-of-the-art of agile research by offering a rich, up-todate account of the dynamics occurring when expanding Agile into “not-just-software” contexts of the key challenges and perils related to the scaling and of the possible solutions to them

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

Is there such a thing as agile IT program management?

This paper presents early evidence of agile methods in IT enabled transformational programs of high strategic significance and substantial complexity in large organisations. Based on interviews of top management, and program and project managers, we discuss the key drivers that lead to agile IT enabled programs and some of the barriers encountered while managing IT enabled programs in an agile manner. In addition to the need for fast response to environmental changes, strong IT-business collaboration, and efficient resource use by minimising governance burden, we found that organisations are adopting agile practices in program management as transitory step towards achieving enterprise agility. In doing so agile and non-agile projects co-exist within a program thus creating new coordination challenges. Programs with high degree of agile methods adoption face similar challenges in coordinating with the rest of the organisation which operates in non-agile manner. The paper aims to contribute to fostering scholarly discussion on implementation of agile practices in major projects and programs, an emerging area of research with scarce academic literature

Innovation, agile project management and firm performance: empirical evidence from high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises in China

While agile project management has become increasingly important for high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), each firm's performance varies greatly, due to different degrees of innovation capability and to the dynamics of the internal and external environments. Drawing on theories of resource-based view, innovation capability and agile project management, and equipped with a comparative analysis of two high-tech SMEs, we developed a theoretical model with six hypotheses. We then carried out empirical research, including the measurement of key variables, data collection and analysis, validity and reliability tests, regression analysis, and structural equation modeling, confirming five of the six hypotheses initially presented. The model developed in this study includes the different roles of innovation capability, considers project agility in promoting firm performance, and takes into account interactions with the innovation atmosphere and environmental dynamics. The results contribute to the development and refinement of the theory of project agility by presenting new findings in the field of innovation and environmental dynamics. The results also provide guidance to project agility practices of high-tech SMEs in China, improving those firms’ performance. The implications and limitations of this study are also discussed.Embora a gestão ágil de projetos esteja a ganhar importância para as pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) de tecnologia de ponta, o desempenho de diferentes empresas varia consoante a sua capacidade de inovação e depende da dinâmica dos ambientes interno e externo em que elas se inserem. Recorrendo a teorias relacionadas com a visão baseada nos recursos, capacidades de inovação e gestão ágil de projetos, assim como com recurso à análise comparativa de duas PMEs de tecnologia de ponta, desenvolvemos um modelo teórico com seis hipóteses. Posteriormente, levámos a cabo investigação empírica, incluindo a medição de variáveis-chave, recolha e análise de dados e testes de validação e fiabilidade. Procedemos, ainda, a análises de regressão e à modelação de equações estruturais, confirmando cinco das seis hipóteses inicialmente estabelecidas. O modelo desenvolvido inclui diferentes funções da capacidade de inovação, considera a contribuição da agilidade de projeto para a melhoria do desempenho da empresa e tem em conta as interações com a envolvente de inovação e com as dinâmicas do ambiente. Os resultados alcançados permitem desenvolver a teoria da agilidade de projeto, apresentando contributos valiosos no campo da inovação e das dinâmicas do ambiente empresarial. Esta contribuição pode servir de guia às práticas de gestão ágil de projetos de PMEs de tecnologia de ponta na China, melhorando o seu desempenho organizacional. As implicações e limitações deste estudo são também apresentadas