An Empirical Study of Scrumban Formation based on the Selection of Scrum and Kanban Practices

Scrumban is a combination of practices from Kanban and Scrum practices to manage the development of software based on different project situations. Scrumban practices formation can differ based on different projects and team members. However, since each method has its own pros and cons, inappropriate formation of Scrumban practices may lead to increased waste and time of development, and decreased quality, which in turn, affect the Agile organizations and cause inefficient and ineffective development. Practitioners of Kanban and Scrum are convinced that a combination of both methods is better than the use of one and thus, practitioners should be guided in their decision making. This study aims to show how Scrumban method is formed based on a combination of Kanban and Scrum methods. Scrumban formation and the identification of the factors, which assist in the combination of Kanban and Scrum were conducted through a review of the previous work and semi-structured interviews with 7 Agile experts, after which, content analysis was conducted to analyse the gathered data. Different factors - the method prescription, roles and responsibilities, adoption time, team size, batch size, requirements prioritization, feature size, lead time, technical practices, cost and quality, assist Agile team members in the formation of Scrumban by combining appropriate Kanban and Scrum practices. In addition, Scrumban were found to be more appropriate than Scrum or Kanban in saving time, improving quality and minimizing waste

Enterprise Agility: Why Is Transformation so Hard?

Enterprise agility requires capabilities to transform, sense and seize new business opportunities more quickly than competitors. However, acquiring those capabilities, such as continuous delivery and scaling agility to product programmes, portfolios and business models, is challenging in many organisations. This paper introduces definitions of enterprise agility involving business management and cultural lenses for analysing large-scale agile transformation. The case organisation, in the higher education domain, leverages collaborative discovery sprints and an experimental programme to enable a bottom-up approach to transformation. Meanwhile the prevalence of bureaucracy and organisational silos are often contradictory to agile principles and values. The case study results identify transformation challenges based on observations from a five-month research period. Initial findings indicate that increased focus on organisational culture and leveraging of both bottom-up innovation and supportive top-down leadership activities, could enhance the likelihood of a successful transformation

Software Development with Scrum: A Bibliometric Analysis and Profile

Introduction of the Scrum approach into software engineering has changed the way software is being developed. The Scrum approach emphasizes the active end-user involvement, embracing of change, and /iterative delivery of products. Our study showed that Scrum has different variants or is used in combination with different methods. Some tools not normally used in the conventional software approaches, like gamification, content analysis and grounded theory are also employed. However, Scrum like other software development approach focuses on improvement of software process, software quality, business value, performance, usability and efficiency and at the same time to reduce cost, risk and uncertainty. Contrary to some conventional approaches it also strives to boost soft factors like agility, trust, motivation, responsibility and transparency. The bibliometric synthetic scoping study revealed seven main research themes concerned with the Scrum research

A Platform for Teaching Applied Distributed Software Development : The Ongoing Journey of the Helsinki Software Factory

Teaching distributed software development (DSD) in project courses where student teams are geographically distributed promises several benefits. One main benefit is that in contrast to traditional classroom courses, students can experience the effects of distribution and the mechanisms for coping with distribution by themselves, therefore understanding their relevance for software development. They can thus learn to take more care of distribution challenges and risks when starting to develop software in industry. However, providing a sustainable environment for such project courses is difficult. A development environment is needed that can connect to different distributed teams and an ongoing routine to conduct such courses needs to be established. This article sketches a picture of the Software Factory, a platform that supports teaching distributed student projects and that has now been operational for more than three years. We describe the basic steps of conducting Software Factory projects, and portray experiences from past factory projects. In addition, we provide a short overview of related approaches and future activities.Peer reviewe

Os três pilares da sustentabilidade e gestão ágil de projectos: como é que eles se influenciam

The industrial world is becoming more competitive with each passing day. Companies face new challenges and to survive, they need to find ways to stand out from the rest. One way for companies to do this is to improve the quality of the products, this can be achieved by improving production planning. The goal of this thesis is to investigate a novel perspective within the theoretical area of agile project management and sustainability. The goal of the study is to prove that there are links between Agile Project Management and Sustainability, as well as to learn how Agile Project Management affects organization’s social, environmental, and economical dynamics from the triple bottom line standpoint. The research examines how agile project management ideas are connected to concepts from the three pillars of the triple bottom line using many case studies. The analysis task consisted of analyzing these concepts and relationships qualitatively to create a network diagram that graphically reproduced the existing links. The findings reveal that implementing Agile Project Management has a variety of effects on an organization's social, economic, and environmental dynamics. When the bulk of these interactions were examined, it was discovered that there is a favorable effect on all of them. This work also aims to explore the concepts related to Agile Project Management. In doing so, the author explores the questions of what the need for Project Management is, where did Project Management begin, what are the different approaches that a project can take, why the need for Agile Project Management, which methodologies exist within the Agile Project Management and what tools can help Agile Project Management to achieve results faster.O mundo industrial está a ficar mais competitivo a cada dia que passa. As empresas enfrentam novos desafios e para conseguirem sobreviver precisam, de encontrar maneiras de se destacarem das demais. Uma forma de as empresas fazerem isso é melhorar a qualidade dos produtos, o que pode ser alcançado, melhorando o planeamento da produção. Por esta razão, ter uma boa gestão de projetos torna-se crucial. O objetivo desta tese é investigar uma nova perspetiva dentro da área teórica da sustentabilidade em gestão de projetos. O objetivo do estudo é provar que existem ligações entre a gestão ágil de projetos e a sustentabilidade, bem como aprender como a gestão ágil de projetos afeta a dinâmica social, ambiental e económica das organizações, do ponto de vista do tripé da sustentabilidade. A pesquisa examina como as ideias de gestão de projetos ágeis estão conectadas aos conceitos dos três pilares do tripé da sustentabilidade, por meio do uso de vários estudos de caso. A tarefa de análise consistiu em avaliar qualitativamente esses conceitos e relações, a fim de criar um diagrama de rede que reproduzisse graficamente as relações existentes. Os resultados revelam que a implementação da gestão ágil de projetostem vários efeitos na dinâmica social, económica e ambiental de uma organização. Quando estas interações são examinadas, os resultados mostram que este método de gestão tem um efeito positivo. Este trabalho tem também como objetivo explorar os conceitos relacionados com a gestão ágil de projetos. Para tal, o autor explora as questões sobre qual a necessidade da gestão de projetos, onde começou a gestão de projetos, quais são as diferentes abordagens que um projeto pode tomar, o porquê da necessidade de uma gestão de projetos ágil, quais as que existem dentro da gestão ágil de projetos e quais as ferramentas que podem ajudar a gestão ágil de projetos a alcançar resultados mais rapidamente

In search of the origins and enduring impact of agile software development

The Agile Manifesto is a philosophical touchpoint for all agile software development (ASD) methods. We examine the manifesto and some of its associated agile methods in an effort to identify the major impacts of ASD. We have encountered some difficulty in delineating agile and non-agile software processes, which is partially the result of terminological confusion. It is clear from the volume of published research that ASD has made a significant contribution, and we have identified two lasting and important impacts. Firstly, the reduction in iteration durations and secondly, the push for reduced levels of documentation (especially in relation to software requirements). Other aspects of the Agile Manifesto may not have exerted a significant impact; for example, the use of tooling to automate processes has become central to continuous software engineering (CSE) and may not be wholly congruent with the manifesto. Furthermore, many organisations may still rely on business contracts despite calls in the manifesto for greater levels of informal customer collaboration

Implement, measure, and improve agile : a framework for agile adoption

As the world becomes increasingly connected and societies become more globalised, organisations seek to keep up with this pace through constant transformation. In order to maintain their level of competitiveness, companies need to be at the forefront of innovation, digital transformation, and continuous improvement. The evolution of the Agile methodology allows companies to adapt to new realities and be able to keep up with the complexity and demands of the markets and their stakeholders. Agile now sets a pace that transcends applicability to software development and organisations are increasingly transferring Agile values and principles to their teams so that they deliver more value, with less risk and more quickly. The literature is extensive regarding the benefits of Agile but restricts the methodology to projects and mainly to the software development context. In the context of this thesis, and together with companies of different sizes and industries, we try to understand what drove them to adopt Agile, what are the benefits and challenges of its implementation, what is the present and future of the methodology, and what is the impact on the management of the organisation as a whole. We sought to answer the research question "How can a company adopt Agile?" and, as a result, we developed a framework comprising seven phases that all companies should go through, for a more complete Agile adoption and immersion.Com o mundo cada vez mais conectado e as sociedades cada vez mais globalizadas, as organizações procuram acompanhar este ritmo através da sua transformação constante. Por forma a manter o seu nível de competitividade, as empresas necessitam de estar na linha da frente da inovação, da transformação digital, e da melhoria contínua. A evolução da metodologia Agile vem permitir que empresas se adaptem a novas realidades e sejam capazes de acompanhar a complexidade e exigência dos mercados e dos seus stakeholders. O Agile traça agora um ritmo que transcende a aplicabilidade ao desenvolvimento de software e as organizações começam cada vez mais a transferir os valores e os princípios Agile às suas equipas, para que estas entreguem mais valor, com menos risco e de forma mais célere. A literatura revela-se extensa relativamente aos benefícios do Agile, mas restringe a metodologia aos projetos e principalmente ao contexto de desenvolvimento de software. No contexto desta tese, e em conjunto com empresas de diferentes dimensões e indústrias, tentamos perceber o que as impulsionou a adotar Agile, quais os benefícios e desafios da sua implementação, qual o presente e futuro da metodologia, e qual o impacto na gestão da organização como um todo. Procuramos responder à questão de investigação “Como é que uma empresa pode adotar Agile?” e, como resultado, desenvolvemos um framework que compreende sete fases que todas as empresas devem percorrer para uma adoção e imersão ao contexto Agile