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

Understanding Agility in ISD Projects

Since the 2001 publication of the Agile Manifesto, agile information systems development (ISD) methods have enjoyed increasing popularity. Extant research has highlighted critical challenges and key benefits associated with agile methods. Notwithstanding, the contribution of the actions performed by actors involved in an ISD project toward the achievement of agility remains unclear. This issue motivated the present study, which addresses the question of “how do project teams achieve agility in ISD projects? . To answer this question a theoretical lens that accounts for the shared understanding that actors have of the ISD process as well as its actual unfolding is adopted. Building on extant conceptualizations of agility in ISD and its constituting facets, a study of three ISD projects within an organization is conducted. The main expected contribution of the study is to offer insight into the actions that contribute to the achievement of the various facets of agility in ISD

Agile methodologies between software development and music production: an empirical study

Over the past 20 years agile methodologies revolutionized Information Technology, oering tremendous opportunities for the development of Software Engineering as an independent discipline. More specifically, agile methodologies contributed to enhancing the eectiveness and the speed of the production process as well as to improving the productivity and motivations of software developers organized in high performing teams. The agile philosophy can be and has been applied in dierent contexts and across several domains. This work analyses the relationship between Agile methodologies used by software engineers and the practices pursued by musicians in their daily lives. Our findings suggests that collaborative, strongly planned software development life cycle models (such as Waterfall, V-model, iterative, and Spiral) are not adequate models to describe the daily practices of musical composers. This is because their work requires a lot of flexibility, which such models intrinsically lack, because they are oriented to ensuring some form of monitorable progress. Interestingly, our findings also show that nine out of 12 Agile Principles are consciously or unconsciously followed by musicians in their practices. This suggests that there are some deep connections between these two prima facie dierent fields, which are both very creative. Even though our findings await replication, possibly with larger statistical samples, they contribute to open up a new strand of research in the fi

Percepções de práticas ágeis em desenvolvimento de software : benefícios e desafios

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Departamento de Ciência da Computação, 2017.O presente trabalho tem por finalidade apresentar as metodologias e as práticas ágeis mais comumente utilizadas nas indústrias de software, sua evolução desde o Manifesto Ágil até os dias atuais, fatores de sucesso, possibilidades e limitações. Mostra que existem várias evidências do crescimento dessas práticas nos últimos anos e que a comunidade acadêmica vem realizando vários estudos para mostrar empiricamente que elas podem ajudar no processo de desenvolvimento de software. Apresenta uma fundamentação teórica embasada em um estudo terciário considerando vários artigos a respeito da utilização de práticas ágeis na comunidade científica. As práticas são apontadas à luz de pesquisa de campo referentes às metodologias DSDM, Crystal, FDD, Lean, Kanban, XP e Scrum, consideradas as metodologias ágeis mais atuantes hoje, sob a ótica das evidências metodológicas, casos de sucesso e principais desafios e situações. Apresenta também os resultados de uma pesquisa de campo realizada em indústrias de software no Distrito Federal e entorno, trazendo novas informações para profissionais da Engenharia de Software, em um esforço para mostrar essas tecnologias e apontar a sua evolução, bem como seus benefícios e desafios. Os resultados da pesquisa mostram que as metodologias ágeis continuam a ser de interesse para os pesquisadores no futuro e que diversos projetos, hoje em andamento nas indústrias, vêm cooperar com a investigação apresentando um estudo importante para a Engenharia de Software.This study aims to present the methodologies and agile practices, their evolution since the Agile Manifesto to the present day, success factors, possibilities and limitations. It presents several evidences about the growth of agile practices that have occurred in recent years, and that the academic community has been conducting several studies that empirically show that these practices help in the software development process. It presents a theoretical framework grounded in a tertiary study considering several articles on the use of agile practices in the scientific community. The practices are identified in the light of empirical research related to methodologies, such as DSDM, Crystal, FDD, Lean, Kanban, XP and Scrum, considered the most active agile methodologies today, from the perspective of methodological evidence, case studies and key challenges and situations. Here we also present the results of a field research carried out in several software industries in Federal District - Brazil and surroundings, bringing new information for software engineering practitioners, in an effort to show these technologies and point their evolution as well as its benefits and shortcomings, and paint a frame with the picture of them on the Brazilian software industry. The results of our survey shows that agile methodologies continue to be of interest to researchers in the future and that many projects currently in progress in industries, come cooperate with the investigation presenting an important study for Software Engineering

Laajamittainen muutos kohti ketteryyttä ja Leaniä kansainvälisesti hajautetussa organisaatiossa - tapaustutkimus Ericsson

The interest in adopting Agile and Lean in large and geographically distributed organizations is increasing constantly. Organizations are seeking alternative ways of working to improve their ability to operate in a fast-paced market. However, several problems may emerge when Agile practices and Lean principles are adopted in a traditional organization. Despite the increasing interest, there are not much research on how Agile and Lean are implemented in large-scale and distributed organizations. Hence, the main goal of this thesis is to follow how a large, globally distributed and continuously growing product development organization at Ericsson adopted Agile practices and Lean principles. The research approach of this study was a qualitative single case study. Three sources of data were used to analyze the case organization. The results of this thesis encompass a set of challenges and success factors emerged from the transformation within the case organization. Additionally, the results illustrate the phases the organization has undergone during the transformation. During the transformation, the organization has introduced several changes including building a common backlog, implementing Agile practices at the team level, and building an active Agile and Lean mindset. However, the organization has faced several challenges which have been mainly related to lack of a process definition, weakly defined roles and responsibilities, lack of training and coaching, and change resistance. The success factors include, among others, setting up a new leadership team and an organization culture that empowers individuals.Kiinnostus ketterien ja Lean-menetelmien käyttöönottoon suurissa ja kansainvälisesti hajautetuissa organisaatioissa on tasaisessa kasvussa. Yritykset ovat etsimässä vaihtoehtoisia tapoja työskennellä, jotta ne voisivat parantaa kykyään toimia nopeasti muuttuvilla markkinoilla. Monia ongelmia kuitenkin esiintyy kun ketteriä käytäntöjä ja Lean periaatteita otetaan käyttöön perinteisissä yrityksissä. Kasvavasta kiinnostuksesta huolimatta, ketterien ja Lean-menetelmien käyttöönottoa suurenmittakaavan hajautetuissa organisaatioissa ei ole paljon tutkittu. Tästä syystä tämän työn tarkoituksena on seurata miten suuri, kansainvälisesti hajautettu ja kasvava tuotekehitysorganisaatio Ericssonilla ottaa käyttöön ketterät käytännöt ja Lean-periaatteet. Lähestymistapa tutkimukselle on kvalitatiivinen, yksittäinen tapaustutkimus. Esimerkkiorganisaation tutkimiseen on käytetty kolmea erillistä tietolähdettä. Työn tulokset sisältävät joukon haasteita ja menestystekijöitä, jotka esiintyivät muutoksen aikana esimerkkiorganisaatiossa. Tulokset esittävät myös vaiheet, jotka esimerkkiorganisaatio on käynyt läpi muutoksen aikana. Organisaatio on tehnyt monia muutoksia prosessin aikana, muun muassa ottanut käyttöön organisaation laajuisen kehitysjonon ja ketterät käytännöt tiimitasolla, sekä rakentanut aktiivista ajattelutapaa tukemaan ketteryyttä ja Lean’ä. Kaikesta huolimatta organisaatio on kohdannut huomattavia haasteita, jotka liittyvät pääasiassa puutteellisesti määriteltyyn prosessiin, heikosti määriteltyihin rooleihin ja vastuualueisiin, vähäiseen harjoitteluun ja koulutukseen, sekä muutosvastarintaan. Uusi johtajatiimi sekä yksilöitä kannustava organisaatiokulttuuri ovat osa muutoksen menestystekijöitä