Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2021, which was held virtually during June 14-18, 2021. XP is the premier agile software development conference combining research and practice. It is a unique forum where agile researchers, practitioners, thought leaders, coaches, and trainers get together to present and discuss their most recent innovations, research results, experiences, concerns, challenges, and trends.  XP conferences provide an informal environment to learn and trigger discussions and welcome both people new to agile and seasoned agile practitioners. This year’s conference was held with the theme “Agile Turns Twenty While the World Goes Online”. The 11 full and 2 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 38 submissions. They were organized in topical sections named: agile practices; process assessment; large-scale agile; and short contributions

Healthy lifestyle interventions to combat noncommunicable disease : a novel nonhierarchical connectivity model for key stakeholders : a policy statement from the American Heart Association, European Society of Cardiology, European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, and American College of Preventive Medicine

© 2015 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, and the European Society of Cardiology. This article is being published concurrently in Mayo Clinic Proceedings [1]. The articles are identical except for minor stylistic and spelling differences in keeping with each journal's style. Either citation can be used when citing this article. [1] Arena R, Guazzi M, Lianov L, Whitsel L, Berra K, Lavie CJ, Kaminsky L, Williams M, Hivert M-F, Franklin NC, Myers J, Dengel D, Lloyd-Jones DM, Pinto FJ, Cosentino F, Halle M, Gielen S, Dendale P, Niebauer J, Pelliccia A, Giannuzzi P, Corra U, Piepoli MF, Guthrie G, Shurney D. Healthy Lifestyle Interventions to Combat Noncommunicable Diseased - A Novel Nonhierarchical Connectivity Model for Key Stakeholders: A Policy Statement From the American Heart Association, European Society of Cardiology, European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, and American College of Preventive Medicine. Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2015; DOI: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.05.001 [In Press]Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have become the primary health concern for most countries around the world. Currently, more than 36 million people worldwide die from NCDs each year, accounting for 63% of annual global deaths; most are preventable. The global financial burden of NCDs is staggering, with an estimated 2010 global cost of $6.3 trillion (US dollars) that is projected to increase to$13 trillion by 2030. A number of NCDs share one or more common predisposing risk factors, all related to lifestyle to some degree: (1) cigarette smoking, (2) hypertension, (3) hyperglycemia, (4) dyslipidemia, (5) obesity, (6) physical inactivity, and (7) poor nutrition. In large part, prevention, control, or even reversal of the aforementioned modifiable risk factors are realized through leading a healthy lifestyle (HL). The challenge is how to initiate the global change, not toward increasing documentation of the scope of the problem but toward true action-creating, implementing, and sustaining HL initiatives that will result in positive, measurable changes in the previously defined poor health metrics. To achieve this task, a paradigm shift in how we approach NCD prevention and treatment is required. The goal of this American Heart Association/European Society of Cardiology/European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation/American College of Preventive Medicine policy statement is to define key stakeholders and highlight their connectivity with respect to HL initiatives. This policy encourages integrated action by all stakeholders to create the needed paradigm shift and achieve broad adoption of HL behaviors on a global scale.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An integration model for identifying the determinants of the adoption and implementation level of HRIS applications and Its effectiveness in business organisations in Jordan

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel UniversityThis thesis investigates the influence of firms’ internal and external environmental factors upon their adoption of HRIS behaviour (i.e., the variation between adopters and non-adopters) and the level of implementation of HRIS applications and its effectiveness. An integrated conceptual framework was developed for the factors that determine the organisation’s adoption and the level of practice of HRIS applications. This framework integrates ideas and elements from the Diffusion of innovation Theory (DOI) and technology organization environment (TOE) model, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the IT studies in the area of HRM. Data were collected through structured-directed interviews with 236 respondents. The survey units were the shareholding companies in Jordan, and the key single respondents approach was employed. The findings of the study support that internal and external environmental factors are related not only to adoption of HRIS behaviour (i.e., the difference between adopters and non-adopters), but also to the level of implementing of HRIS applications. In comparison to each environmental dimension acting alone, the integration approach of the two internal and external dimensions gives better explanation not only of the prediction of the level of implementing of HRIS applications, but also of the prediction of adoption behaviour. Therefore, a better understanding of adoption of HRIS behaviour and the level of implementing of HRIS applications requires that firms’ environmental factors be viewed as whole (i.e., the interaction of the internal and external dimension) rather than being isolated fragments (i.e., only a single dimension). The current research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by enhancing current understanding of the organisational adoption of HRIS, which is an under-researched area in Jordan as a developing country. By employing analytical tools based on Rogers’s Innovation Diffusion Theory , UTAUT, TOE , and the findings of empirical studies of IT adoption, evidence confirms that the adoption of HRIS in the business organisations depends largely on interaction of internal and external environmental factors and the findings support the need for an integrated view of the adoption phenomenon. In that respect, this study also attempts to make an important theoretical contribution towards articulating differences in the determinants of adoption and the level of implementations of HRIS applications and its effectiveness

Assisting First-Position Leaders in Transition to Executive Secretary Roles

This final project is designed to provide assistance from a biblical perspective to those transitioning into the role of executive secretary, a second-leader position, after having led from a first-leader position. In the Seventh-day Adventist Church organization, there are several structural levels, which form a hierarchical structure. Individuals who are selected for the position of second leader usually are chosen from among those who are first leaders in a lower level of the church organization. This transition to second leader creates unique and specific challenges for most persons. Many struggle with understanding how to lead from this position as second leader after having become accustomed to the role and responsibility of being a first leader. It is the objective of this project to look at the leadership role of the executive secretary, the second leader, from a biblical perspective and provide some guidance and insight on balancing loyalty and leadership, support and strength from this unique position. This project will be presented in three parts. Part One will deal with the contextual environment in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination in which the executive secretary functions. It will focus on the organizational structure of the denomination and the role and function of the executive secretary. Part Two will present a theological understanding of the Church and the Body of Christ, as it relates to functions and roles within the body of believers. It will provide biblical examples of second leaders and how they operate. Part Three will apply the theological understanding of the Body of Christ and the biblical examples in Scripture to the role of the executive secretary. It also will contain an implementation strategy on how first leaders can use these principles and successfully transition into a second-leader role. Content Reader: Skip Bell, DMi

Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Finance and Managerial Control in the US Forest Products Industry, 1945-2008

Over the past three decades a significant change has taken place in the ownership structure of industrial timberlands in the United States. The once widely held belief that significant timberland ownership was a necessary ingredient for success in the forest products industry came to an end as millions of acres of productive land were sold from industrial forest products firms to institutional investment organizations, known as Timberland Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs) or Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). This dissertation examines this large-scale transfer of timberland ownership through a multi-level analysis of financialization and the rise of shareholder value ideology in corporate management. Part I of the dissertation provides a critical synthesis of these two literatures in order to construct a historical sociological framework for analyzing institutional change in modern corporations. Financialization is defined as a gravitational shift from productive to financial forms of capital accumulation. I then conceptualize the relationship between managers and shareholders as an institutional form of the broader social relation that exists between productive and financial capitalists. The shareholder value conception of managerial control is conceptualized as an ideological manifestation of the shift that took place in the relationship between these two sectors of the capitalist class that motivated and justified managerial decision-making in large non-financial corporations. Part II employs this framework to examine the historical development of the US forest products industry over the course of the second half of the 20th century. This includes an analysis of corporate land ownership strategies during the postwar era of managerial capitalism, the impact of the hostile takeover movement, and the rise of shareholder capitalism in recent decades. I argue that both the decision by managers to sell-off their timberland holdings and the growth of institutional investors seeking to expand their investment portfolios are directly related to the process of financialization. Furthermore, I conclude that the financialization of the US forest product industry led to favorable outcomes for financial interests, but has left the industry with higher levels of concentration, fewer employees, heightened risk, and declining profits

Mobile commerce business models and technologies towards success

Mobile commerce is any transaction with a monetary value that is conducted via a mobile telecommunications network. This thesis tries to examine the factors leading to the success of mobile commerce as well as factors that may hinder its success. This research is separated into five parts: In the first part of this thesis, an analysis of wired e-commerce businesses is made; followed by advantages of mobile commerce over wired e-commerce. In the second part of this thesis, new wireless business models that are expected to generate substantial revenue flows as well as some successful examples of these business models are discussed. In the third part of this thesis, advances in wireless technologies that will lead to the success of mobile commerce are discussed. In the fourth part of this thesis, competition strategies and revenue structure of mobile commerce are discussed. And finally, in the fifth part of this thesis, drawbacks of wireless technologies towards the success of mobile commerce as well as how they can be overcome are discussed. The research and the conclusion suggest that although wireless technologies and their related business models are fairly new, they are growing at rapid speed. These are incredible sources of revenue. Once the factors hindering their usability, reliability, development and deployment are overcome, mobile technologies show great potential as revenue generators for both existing and newly developing businesse

In a creative healthy place? Situating Arts and Health within the discourse of ‘the devolution revolution’

This thesis explores the problematic relationship forged between the field of practice known as Arts and Health and discourse of the ‘devolution revolution’ (2016-2019). This was a period when key policy areas - pertaining to health, creativity and place - were ‘aligned’ by local government in an ongoing age of austerity. It examines the human geographies of Arts and Health through four case studies sited across Greater Manchester and North Wales, a region cojoined through the spatial imaginary of ‘The Northern Powerhouse’. The research begins by considering the impetus for devolution in the 1990s, before focussing attention on the English context of the first ever city and regional devolution deal struck between Manchester City leaders and HM Treasury in 2016. This was made conditional on budget reductions. The ‘pre-histories’ of the emergent category of Arts and Health are then examined across the post-war decades. The category of Arts and Health is navigated across its varied (re)imaginings, including those made recently which deny the field can be seen as the ‘natural cousin’ of austerity. The ways in which these diverse, often contradictory agendas, have come together is examined through grounded accounts of neoliberal policy as it is (re)produced in everyday situations. Reflexive, first person ethnographic accounts of four local contexts, in Llandudno, Prestatyn, Wigan and Central Manchester are presented to show how the field of Arts and Health is being interpreted and produced through certain affective ambiences and ‘atmospheres’. The research reveals that across this territory, similar values and common cultures are taking hold. These include the belief that local communities offer forums for collective action and decision-making (over and above those of national institutions) and that additional resources are not needed, merely a new mindset. The conclusion is drawn that, as much as the field of Arts and Health aims to enact forms of progressive social change, it is a field of practice that is also being shaped by forces exerted by a regressive political economy

Protecting the health of the poor: Social Movements in the South

Despite the colossal amount of spending on health and healthcare programmes globally, why do massive inequalities in health remain, both within and between countries? Drawing on in-depth empirical research spanning Asia, Latin America and Africa, this path-breaking collection offers an overview of the legal, political and social factors behind the poor performance of countries in the Global South in enforcing the right to health. In doing so, it argues that governments and NGOs should unite to set a comprehensive agenda for a fight against poverty and for protecting the health of the poor. Bringing together fresh perspectives from critically engaged scholars, Protecting the Health of the Poor makes a compelling case for the need to re-evaluate how we approach healthcare in developing countries at a global, national and local level.Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP) at the University of BergenpublishedVersio