Agile methods in biomedical software development: a multi-site experience report

BACKGROUND: Agile is an iterative approach to software development that relies on strong collaboration and automation to keep pace with dynamic environments. We have successfully used agile development approaches to create and maintain biomedical software, including software for bioinformatics. This paper reports on a qualitative study of our experiences using these methods. RESULTS: We have found that agile methods are well suited to the exploratory and iterative nature of scientific inquiry. They provide a robust framework for reproducing scientific results and for developing clinical support systems. The agile development approach also provides a model for collaboration between software engineers and researchers. We present our experience using agile methodologies in projects at six different biomedical software development organizations. The organizations include academic, commercial and government development teams, and included both bioinformatics and clinical support applications. We found that agile practices were a match for the needs of our biomedical projects and contributed to the success of our organizations. CONCLUSION: We found that the agile development approach was a good fit for our organizations, and that these practices should be applicable and valuable to other biomedical software development efforts. Although we found differences in how agile methods were used, we were also able to identify a set of core practices that were common to all of the groups, and that could be a focus for others seeking to adopt these methods

Engaging Teachers in Agile School Improvement

This Organizational Improvement Plan addresses a K-6 principal’s leadership challenge of engaging teachers in implementing the strategies from the annual school improvement plan in a changing school context. The inquiry questions focus on increasing teacher voice, enabling collaborative professional learning, and facilitating dynamic organizational change. Drawing from complexity theory, School X is conceived as a complex adaptive system that exists within a broader eco-system, with organizational transformation occurring through complex responsive processes where human interactions and diversity are essential for shifting current thinking and behaviors. The principal proposes an authentic/adaptive leadership approach that integrates two change models to develop the Dynamic Innovative Generative change framework to lead teachers in a system-oriented and locally adapted process where teachers participate as leaders and co-creators of school improvement. A collaborative, short-term action planning protocol enables teachers to engage in student-centered, collaborative, and impactful school and practice improvement. This proposed solution addresses the current low level of readiness for teachers to engage in creative and collaborative professional learning. Supporting the principal in implementing the changes in this OIP is a detailed communication plan and strategies for adapting decisions and leading an agile school improvement process

How to overcome barriers for innovations in organizations from the public sector – Local governments for the future

The barriers for innovations in organizations from the public sector, particularly local administration (cities, municipalities) are of highest relevance today with strong implications for the future. Capacity for innovation is recognized as a crucial factor for the development and survival of modern organizations. Already now the public sector must compete for funding, interest and good image according to the same rules as the private companies and this trend seems to strengthen. Cities deal with large, complex problems, which require innovative thinking. The problem is the lack of capacity to generate new solutions and, as a result, there are not enough non-standard strategies and groundbreaking ideas that could help produce prospect and success. Three research questions were set for the study: 1/ What are the main barriers for innovations in the local administration? 2/ What are the main drivers for innovations in the local administration? 3/ What kind of measures would help the local organizations to reduce these barriers? The research material and data collected during interviews with administrators, policy makers and researchers were analyzed with Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) and through the lenses of the three-dimensional system (mechanic, dynamic, organic). As a result, four visions of the future of the organizations from the public sector, five systemic barriers and four drivers for innovations were extracted. The visions are: 1) Locked Tower – the system with predominant mechanistic dimension; 2) Turtle in the City, with the organic dimension present to a bigger extent than in a previous one; 3) The Ice is Cracking – with the balance between mechanistic and organic dimension, the dynamic dimension appears; 4) Open and Fearless – the system with predominant dynamic dimension – emerging but aspirational at the moment. The study revealed that the hierarchical structure, fear of mistakes, old-school managers, who control and supervise but lack trust in their employees, as well as fragmented communication and too rigorous planning (i.e. lack of flexibility) are the key barriers that should be limited or removed if the cities want to be innovative, more prosperous and successful in the future. On the other hand, there several ways in which the public sector could improve its innovativeness and competitiveness. They are: investing in human resources, encouraging the experimenting culture, supporting brave leaders with vision and commitment and promoting the division of work that allows more time for brainstorming and implementing instead of planning and reporting. In the conclusion, the study provided the diagnosis of the barriers for innovations in the organizations from the public sector, more precisely in the city administration, and a set of recommendations on how to improve the situation.siirretty Doriast

A Grounded Theory Study of Leadership Mechanisms for Customer-Orientation Organizational Change

Organizational leaders are spearheading change as an engine to reshape corporate cultures for novel purposes, redefining the significance and meaning of generating value through customer-oriented companies, emphasizing what is most important and relevant to customers. Capitalizing on the value of customer-orientation entails attention toward continuously improving it. The purpose of this study is to explore and explain the dynamics of increasing customer-orientation as an organizational change in a business-to-business technology company setting from the perspective of organizational leaders. By engaging change leadership experts through a grounded theory qualitative research approach, the study resulted in a substantive theory with a set of propositions and framework offering a contextual understanding of customer-orientation change for managerial and scholarly use. The results help advance multi-disciplinary marketing, leadership, and organizational change research associated with the customer-orientation definition and the nature of the leadership mechanisms to affect the change. The resulting theoretical propositions suggest that the organizational change to increase customer-orientation encompasses an aspirational organizational culture shift, an amplification of short and long-term customer value, and continuous adaptation through a management system. The analysis revealed that leaders steer the complex change by adopting second-order organizational orientations involving organizational culture and customer value. The culture-oriented changes center around increasing organizational alignment, agility, and engagement to shape a customer-oriented company. The customer value-oriented shifts focus on building trust, applying a user lens, and creating a 360-learning environment to generate higher customer and business value. Using a change theories lens, the results indicated that increasing customer-orientation entails leading the organization through an interplay of diverse change process modes balancing social construction and prescribed regulation

Training Program Effectiveness in Building Workforce Agility and Resilience

Decades of qualitative case studies suggest that organizations must be able to deal with change effectively to compete and survive. Many researchers have linked higher workforce levels of agility and resilience to organizations\u27 abilities to deal with change more successfully; however, there is a scarcity of empirical research addressing the efficacy of agility and resilience development in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively examine the development of workforce resilience and agility, as measured by FIT for Change assessment. The theory of planned behavior was the study\u27s theoretical framework, theorizing that changing attitudes and beliefs about change through a learning program might lead to more positive behaviors in response to change. The primary research question was whether a significant difference exists between individual agility and resilience levels before and after a learning intervention in the target population (N = 612) of associates employed by a large healthcare organization who participated in the learning intervention. Due to the abnormal distribution of the data and failed assumption of homogeneity of the regression slopes, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used in lieu of ANCOVA. The results indicated that Agility scores increased on the second test (p = .000). Resilience scores did not change significantly on the second test (p = .913). This study is significant to healthcare organizations undergoing change and may result in organizations investing in development of agility and resilience of their workforce. Developing agility and resilience in people facilitates social change by creating communities that do not just survive but adapt in an optimistic way and find opportunities benefiting the society even during the most adverse changes

(De)coding a technopolity: tethering the civic blockchain to political transformation

This study rests at the intersection of technopolitics, translocal networks and political change. The overall aim of the thesis is to understand, and in turn, influence, the way technology interacts with political transformation. It responds to the fact that social science has thus far neglected to adequately account for and analyze how emerging technologies like blockchain and civic tech influence the way politics is practiced. The main research question guiding the study is how does the design, implementation and use of technopolitical innovations influence the practice of politics. The thesis foregrounds the idea that technopolitical experiments personify a ‘prefigurative politics by design’ i.e. they embody the politics and power structures they want to enable in society. Conducted as part of the EU-funded SUSPLACE project that explores the transformative capacity of sustainable place-shaping practices, the research was predominantly inspired by a hybrid digital ethnography methodology. The thesis confines its focus to three empirical clusters: technopolitical blockchain projects, government-led blockchain projects and place-based civic engagement technologies. The study delineates how differing politico-social imaginaries play a role in the design and implementation of technopolitical projects; addresses contemporary post-political phenomena such as the depoliticization of agency; and identifies the activation of a place-based geography of political action through digitally-mediated municipal networks. It articulates the language and frameworks necessary to analyze these present-day challenges, while simultaneously developing approaches that can be exported to different domains of political activism. Technology is not neutral; but neither are its designers and users. The thesis finds that it is through considerable, deliberate efforts, in conjunction with individual and collective choices, that technopolitical innovations can reframe our socio-economic and political realities. The study demonstrates the emphatic and urgent need for researchers, practitioners, politicians and citizens to collaboratively work on redrawing boundaries of access, empowering the citizenry, creating new forms of organization and re-politicizing the economy. It outlines a transdisciplinary research and practice agenda that aims at not only (de)coding the existing technopolitical innovations, but also (re)coding them to create a more equitable system of politics. The thesis concludes that since coding affordances and constraints in a technopolitical system is shown to regulate political agency and even influence the behavior of citizens, we must devise value-driven technology that incentivizes creating a more equitable political system.&nbsp

Factors influencing public sector decisions and the achievement of sustainable development in the State of Victoria, Australia

Public decisions impact each of our lives, now and into the future. We entrust them to politicians and civil servants, expecting our elected and paid representatives to act in the public interest and to deliver on the promises they make to us. This thesis explores what has led to the arguably limited achievement of sustainable development by public decision-makers, despite three decades of increasing international, national, and subnational commitments to it. Thirty-five interviews and a survey (n=98) of current or former Victorian Public Sector employees provide insights into public decision-making. Inductive thematic and statistical analyses across case studies and cohorts, network mapping, and systems thinking are applied to draw and validate conclusions stemming from those insights. Forty influences, ranging from the personal characteristics of individual decision-makers to the definition, availability and use of evidence, are found to have the potential to both help and hinder the achievement of desired public outcomes. Regression and distributional analyses show that the importance of these influences varies, depending on context and perspective. For example: participants whose work focused on achieving sustainable development have quite different influence importance hierarchies compared to their more general decision-making focused peers; and, participants with a more 'upbeat' approach focus more on influences individuals can impact than their less 'upbeat' colleagues. Network mapping of the linkages between influences illustrates the importance of interconnected approaches to their management, and a theory on the level of control individuals can exert upon each is proposed. Additionally, considerations of sustainable development are found to be influenced by: the presence of reinforcing feedback loops within the decision-making system; apparently limited awareness of the ability to change or evolve the system; inconsistent goal definition (interviewees provide seven definitions of sustainable development); and heuristics (a third of participants are unaware of the Sustainable Development Goals, and of those indicating awareness a number demonstrate poorer understanding than they self-assess). Seventy-eight percent of participants indicate people have more influence upon public outcomes than formal frameworks, suggesting the latter are of limited value. Other solutions discussed include: tweaking existing processes to encourage thinking and awareness of sustainable development; highlighting individual's agency; applying the understandings of system leverage points gained herein; and, a suite of interviewee ideas for enhancing public decision effectiveness or longevity. This thesis concludes that public decision-makers recognise unmet public expectations and do their best to address them. But, they are often overwhelmed by the system's complexity and underestimate the impact they can reasonably have upon it, leaving many of them feeling as frustrated and powerless as the public they endeavour to serve. However, it also suggests that public decision makers who believe they can personally drive change, are more likely to do so and that greater self-efficacy within the public sector will lead to a lessening of the gap between public aspirations and delivered public outcomes. The identified influences and solutions, presented amidst a previously unavailable and rich set of insights and other factors identified in the literature, provide a basis on which to enhance these practices. Further, it is suggested that these conclusions and the influences identified apply not only to sustainable development in Victoria but to many other public decision-making issues and geographic scales, broadening the potential application of the findings

Key competencies for accelerating the radical innovation process in large companies

Radical innovation is seen as one of the key factors in keeping large companies competitive over time and renewing their competencies. However, these projects are characterized by uncertainty, long-term and high investment, and complexity. Thus, researchers, professionals, and policymakers are constantly interested in methods to achieve accelerated innovation. This thesis aims to explore how do competencies help accelerate the radical innovation process in large companies. This study draws on the understanding that large companies desire to develop the innovation process and identify essential competencies to accelerate it. The study was conducted as a qualitative study, and a semi-structured interview was chosen as the data collection method. Nine interviews were carried out with five different companies, and all the informants represent managers involved in a large company’s innovation activities. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. This study provides insight into the competence categories that positively affect the speed of the innovation process. According to the results, the key competencies are cross-functional competencies, social competencies, entrepreneurial and leadership competencies, and commercialization competencies. The results show that culture can foster innovation and competencies development, as well as the role of dynamic capabilities is more significant than large companies necessarily understand themselves. Dynamic capabilities are reflected, for example, in the increased interest in agile methods, the importance of networking, finding new customers, industries, and technologies, and responding to a new kind of customer needs. Besides, the results showed that management sees the most crucial task as reviewing and understanding the big picture, encouraging and supporting people through an appropriate culture, utilizing, developing, and acquiring competencies, and enabling experimentation. The main findings of the empirical research are in line with the theoretical framework of the thesis. For a large company to present something completely radical, it takes courage, passion, and the ability to take the innovation project forward. The most important matters in implementing radical innovation projects are to achieve a suitable climate and culture to implement the project. This study raises the importance of generalists and suggests their role as a vital link between substance experts and at the interfaces of different organizations and cultures.Pitkällä aikavälillä radikaali innovaatio nähdään yhtenä niistä avaintekijöistä, joka pitää suuret yritykset kilpailukykyisinä osaamista uudistamalla. Radikaaleille innovaatioprojekteille on ominaista epävarmuus, pitkäaikaiset ja suuret investoinnit sekä monimutkaisuus. Näistä syistä tutkijat, yritykset ja päättäjät ovat entistä kiinnostuneempia menetelmistä, joilla näitä innovaatioprosesseja voi nopeuttaa. Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena on selvittää, miten osaaminen voi auttaa radikaalien innovaatioprosessien nopeuttamista suurissa yrityksissä. Tutkimus perustuu käsitykseen, että suuret yritykset haluavat kehittää innovaatioprosessejaan ja tunnistaa olennaiset osaamiset niiden kiihdyttämiseksi. Tutkielma tehtiin kvalitatiivisena tutkimuksena, ja tiedonkeruun menetelmäksi valittiin puolistrukturoidut haastattelut. Yhteensä yhdeksää henkilöä haastateltiin viidestä eri yrityksestä. Haastateltavaksi valitut henkilöt edustavat suuryritysten innovaatiotoimintaan osallistuvia johtajia. Haastatteluilla kerätyt tiedot analysoitiin temaattisella analyysillä. Tämä tutkimus antaa käsityksen osaamisista, jotka vaikuttavat positiivisesti innovaatioprosessin nopeuteen. Tutkimuksen tuloksena nämä avainkompetenssit ovat poikkitieteellinen-, sosiaalinen-, yrittäjyys- ja johtamis- sekä kaupallistamisosaaminen. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittivat myös, että kulttuuri voi edistää innovaatioiden ja osaamisen kehittymistä, vaikka suuret yritykset eivät aina tunnista kulttuurin arvoa tässä kontekstissa. Dynaamisten kyvykkyyksien rooli on merkittävä, ja ne heijastuvat esimerkiksi lisääntyneenä kiinnostuksena ketteriä menetelmiä kohtaan, verkostoitumisen merkitykseen, uusien asiakkaiden, toimialojen ja teknologioiden jatkuvaan etsimiseen ja löytämiseen, sekä uudenlaisiin asiakastarpeisiin vastaamiseen. Sen lisäksi tulokset osoittavat, että radikaalien innovaatioiden kiihdyttämisen kannalta johdon tärkeimpinä tehtävinä on kokonaiskuvan ymmärtäminen, ihmisten rohkaiseva ja tukeva kulttuuri, osaamisen hyödyntäminen, kehittäminen ja hankkiminen, sekä kokeilujen mahdollistaminen. Empiirisen tutkimuksen havainnot ovat linjassa tutkielman teoreettisen kehyksen kanssa. Pystyäkseen esittelemään radikaaleja innovaatioita, suurissa yrityksissä tarvitaan rohkeutta ja intohimoa viedä innovaatioprojekteja eteenpäin, kulttuurin ja ilmapiirin merkitystä unohtamatta. Tämä tutkimus nostaa esiin generalistien merkityksen innovaatioprosesseissa. Generalistit tuleekin nähdä olennaisena linkkinä asiantuntijoiden, erilaisten organisaatioiden sekä niissä vallitsevien kulttuurien välillä

Emergence of the connectivist leadership paradigm: a grounded theory study in the Asia region

This qualitative, grounded theory study focused on the exploration of leadership arising within the Asia region. While enduring leadership qualities like strength, humility, resolve, and trust have been foundational in leadership practice globally, scholars have demonstrated that leadership does not exist in absolute terms; it is shaped by the values of local culture, which set expectations for leadership behaviors. This study explored the conceptualization of a more collective and connected form of leadership in the context of a region leading the world with highly networked digital social practices. The question the study explored was, if, and to what extent, leaders and teams in the Asia region are shifting their understanding and practices of leadership, from a process led primarily by an individual to a system of shared and digitally connected relationships. The literature review provided the opportunity to go beyond the mere transferability of heroic Western-centric leadership theories and investigated emerging leadership models in Asia, learning theories in the digital age, and the evolution of leadership theory and organization design. Data collection comprised of forty-two interviews: twenty-nine one-on-one in-depth interviews with research participants based in the Asia region and thirteen global leading experts in networked learning, leadership, and Asian studies. The findings were harnessed in support of the development of a grounded theory, which shifts the heroic leadership paradigm in favor of the discovery of a new leadership model called Connectivist Leadership

Teaching business leadership skills to professionals in healthcare cybersecurity, biodefense and biotechnology through experiential learning methods

Пандемія COVID-19 не тільки змінила глобальний економічний ландшафт, але й підкреслила критичну потребу в стратегічному лідерстві та управлінських навичках в організаціях, що охоплюють різні сектори. Ця стаття заглиблюється в непереборний імператив виховання стратегічного лідерства та управлінських компетенцій серед технічних експертів, з особливим акцентом на ключових сферах, таких як біозахист, кібербезпека охорони здоров’я, біотехнології та управління операціями охорони здоров’я. У ньому стверджується, що пост-COVID-19 ера потребує глибокої зміни організаційних пріоритетів, наполягаючи на оновленому зобов’язанні розвивати всебічні лідерські здібності разом із технічними навичками в програмах аспірантури та здобуття ступеня. Щоб відповідати цьому імперативу, документ виступає за впровадження інноваційних та орієнтованих на студента педагогічних підходів. У сучасному динамічному ландшафті традиційні методи не можуть підготувати технічних менеджерів до багатогранних викликів, з якими вони стикаються. Натомість у документі відстоюється використання підходів до навчання на основі досвіду, таких як навчання, засноване на діяльності, навчання на основі проблем, дизайнерське мислення та Learn-Teach-Do. Ці підходи виходять за рамки теорії, занурюючи студентів у спільний, рефлексивний та інтегративний досвід, який імітує реальні сценарії, таким чином оснащуючи їх лідерською проникливістю, необхідною для досягнення успіху в технічних ролях охорони здоров’я.The COVID-19 pandemic has not only reshaped the global economic landscape but also underscored the critical need for strategic leadership and management skills in organizations spanning diverse sectors. This paper delves into the compelling imperative of nurturing strategic leadership and management competencies among technical experts, with a particular focus on pivotal fields such as biodefense, healthcare cybersecurity, biotechnology, and healthcare operations management. It asserts that the post-COVID-19 era necessitates a profound shift in organizational priorities, urging a renewed commitment to fostering comprehensive leadership capabilities alongside technical proficiency within graduate and degree completion programs. To meet this imperative, the paper advocates for the adoption of innovative and student-centric pedagogical approaches. In today’s dynamic landscape, traditional methods fall short in preparing technical managers for the multifaceted challenges they face. Instead, the paper champions the utilization of experiential learning approaches, such as activity-based learning, problem-based learning, design thinking, and Learn-Teach-Do. These approaches go beyond theory, immersing students in collaborative, reflective, and integrative experiences that simulate real-world scenarios, thus equipping them with the leadership acumen needed to excel in technical healthcare roles