Comparative Study on Agile software development methodologies

Today-s business environment is very much dynamic, and organisations are constantly changing their software requirements to adjust with new environment. They also demand for fast delivery of software products as well as for accepting changing requirements. In this aspect, traditional plan-driven developments fail to meet up these requirements. Though traditional software development methodologies, such as life cycle-based structured and object oriented approaches, continue to dominate the systems development few decades and much research has done in traditional methodologies, Agile software development brings its own set of novel challenges that must be addressed to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of the valuable software. It is a set of software development methods based on iterative and incremental development process, where requirements and development evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams that allows rapid delivery of high quality software to meet customer needs and also accommodate changes in the requirements. In this paper, we significantly identify and describe the major factors, that Agile development approach improves software development process to meet the rapid changing business environments. We also provide a brief comparison of agile development methodologies with traditional systems development methodologies, and discuss current state of adopting agile methodologies. We speculate that from the need to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of the valuable software, Agile software development is emerged as an alternative to traditional plan-based software development methods. The purpose of this paper, is to provide an in-depth understanding, the major benefits of agile development approach to software development industry, as well as provide a comparison study report of ASDM over TSDM.Comment: 25 pages, 25 images, 86 references used, with authors biographie

Дослідження системи операційного менеджменту організації, на прикладі Apple Computer, Inc

The object of investigation is the process of managing of operating activities of Apple, Inc. The aim of the work is to formulate theoretical approaches and to develop practical recommendations on directions of improvement of operating management at the organization. Research methods cover methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, detailing, system approach. This master’s research paper analyzes the operational management of Apple, Inc. and provides recommendations for it’s improvement. In particular, the main directions of solving the problems of operational management of the company have been outlined, the proposals on improvement of expansion distribution network and organization of innovative activity of the Apple Inc. have been made.Об'єкт дослідження ‒ процес управління операційною діяльністю компанії Apple, Inc. Мета дослідження - формування теоретичних підходів та розробка практичних рекомендацій щодо напрямів вдосконалення системи операційного менеджменту компанії Apple, Inc. Методи дослідження: методи аналізу, синтезу, порівняння, деталізації, системний підхід. У роботі проведено аналіз операційного менеджменту Apple, Inc., а також викладені рекомендації щодо його вдосконалення. Зокрема, окреслено основні напрями вирішення проблем операційного менеджменту компанії, внесено пропозиції щодо розширення дистриб’юторської мережі, а також вдосконалення організації інноваційної діяльності Apple Inc.Introduction 6 CHAPTER 1 THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT 8 1.1 Meanings and definition of operational management 8 1.2 Principles and methods of operations management 12 1.3 Factors affecting the Operations activity of Apple Inc. company 21 CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 31 2.1 Сompany introduction 31 2.2 SWOT - analysis of Apple Inc. Company 46 2.3 Analysis of operation management at Apple Inc 50 CHAPTER 3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING OF OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT AT THE APPLE INC 63 3.1 The main directions of solving operational management problems of the company 63 3.2 Recommendations concerning improvements of Distribution in the organization 65 3.3 Recommendations concerning improvements of innovative activity at the organization 67 CHAPTER 4 SPECIAL PART 73 4.1 Current trends in the field 73 4.2 Company policy in the market 75 CHAPTER 5 RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATIONS 77 5.1 Statement for recommendations at Company 77 CHAPTER 6 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY AT THE ENTERPRISE 79 6.1 The aim of occupational health 79 6.2 Organization of occupational health and safety at the enterprise 86 CHAPTER 7 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 92 7.1 Environmental issues in the field 92 7.2 Еnvironmental factors 94 Conclusions 96 References 98 Appendices 10

Collaboration : a key competence for competing in the 21st century

It is now an accepted fact that in the 21st century competition will be between networks of organisations and individuals, which efficiently and effectively integrate their competencies and resources in order to compete in a global economy (Bititci et al, 2004). Similarly the SME'2000 conference, which was held in Bologna, concluded that 'SMEs belonging to networks are often more competitive and innovative than those operating in isolation. When working together, SMEs can increase their focus through specialisation in functions that are complementary within their networks'

An assessment of supply chain and innovation management practices in the manufacturing industries in Turkey

This paper aims at assessing the supply chain and innovation management in the manufacturing industries in Turkey on an empirical basis. The assessments presented are based on parts of the data and information collected through the execution of the Competitive Strategies and Best Practices Benchmarking Questionnaire in 82 companies from four sectors of the manufacturing industries in Turkey. Results of these sectoral benchmarking studies reported elsewhere indicate the need of adopting product differentiation particularly through more knowledge intensive products as the dominant competitive strategy and also the need for improvement in various areas of supply chain as well as innovation management. In this paper, these issues are analysed through the survey results and some conclusions are drawn. Several policy measures applicable in near future are suggested for improving the areas found in need of improvement

Managing Information Systems and Technologies for Agility: Case Studies in Supply Chain Management.

This research examines how information systems and technologies enable supply chain agility. The research was performed through the field study method involving 18 organizations representing the OEMs, suppliers, and IT vendors within the aerospace, automotive, electronics, healthcare, and fast moving consumer goods industries. Interviews were undertaken with managers from the IT and supply chain departments. The interviewees conceptualize supply chain agility with respect to the level of agility (internal or external) and the directions of agility (upstream or downstream). While supply chain agility is essentially regarded as the capability to rapidly match demand requirements and supply constraints by sensing and responding to change in the environment, form IT perspective, it means offering products and services that could increase transparency and improve relationships between trading partners. These are exemplified through the use of emergent IS/IT services, such as Supplier Portal, Vendor-Managed Inventory, E-Marketplace, and Web-based EDI, as well as industry-wide standards and solutions

Customized Software in Distributed Embedded Systems: ISOBUS and the Coming Revolution in Agriculture

The electrification of agricultural equipment has been evolving for many years and in some ways is lagging behind other industries. However this strategy of following the lead of other industries now offers Ag the opportunity to move forward at a revolutionary pace. Network standards defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) committees are the basis for defining a rulebook for this industrystandardizing worldwide electronics interoperability. ISOBUS (ISO 11783) which defines a physical standard between tractors and implements will be an important enabler for most new product definitions. The foundation of this coming revolution will be provided through software. This paper outlines the electronics hardware and software architecture for off-road vehicles that allows for implementation of customized machine control features. There are several key areas discussed. The first enabler for this revolution is a software development and delivery system that defines a design methodology for creating and delivering software modules for a distributed set of controllers. This design methodology presents two advantages that today’s modern electronic technologies can deliver: 1) Customization with commodity hardware and 2) Service without replacing hardware parts anywhere in the world. The second enabler for this machine revolution is an ‘agile’ process to develop the software. Many product ideas are being valuated through a trial and error and continuous improvement process. Software will play an important enabler for these product definitions. A comparison between the worldwide trend for software processes, the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), and what type of process would fit the offroad industry is based around the maturity of the new product ideas. The strong supply chain link between dealers and customers for off-road machines, coupled with the emerging awareness of electronic functions and controls, sets a basis for a specialized software development process. An important enabler for this ‘agile’ process is the re-use of code and incremental testing with reviews. The history of the off-road machine business has been based on proven designs and long times between model updates. However, the worldwide adoption of the ISOBUS standard is poised to change this history. ISOBUS is not only establishing an open system for interoperability, it is establishing a sequence of features for diagnostics, sequenced operations, and information management. As customers discover these capabilities, they will expect them to be further advanced and customized for their specific needs. This requires adding agility into the proven durable processes so that manufacturers can respond faster to these growing needs. Electronics, and especially well-planned software systems, offer an agile technology for meeting this coming need. This paper presents the benchmarking of various embedded software development projects relating project content, project rigor, and quality. From this, insights into maintaining quality are gained in order to include agility into a durable development project. Also, risk and rewards of leveraging low cost country software development skills are addressed to stretch resources or even develop common resources for software systems

Building a boundaryless manufacturing organisation through HITOP method

There is little empirical research to support the allegation that ‘leagile’ manufacturing organisations thrive in hostile environments, nor has it been demonstrated that organisation processes (referred to as enablers) actually support ‘leagile’ performance. This study tests the statistical significance of five selected HITOP (highly integrated technology, organisation and people) ‘leagile’ enablers. This was accomplished by using a mail survey instrument to measure the presence of ‘leagile enablers’ in a sample of companies taken from best factory award winners in UK, US and Japan. [Continues.

Natural disasters, PC supply chain and corporate performance

Purpose – This paper provides quantitative evidence of natural disasters’ effect on corporate performance and studies the mechanisms through which the supply chain moderates and mediates the link. Design/methodology/approach – Using two major natural disasters as quasiexperiment, namely the 2011 Japanese earthquake-tsunami (JET) and Thai flood (TF), and data over the period 2010Q1-2013Q4, effect of these events on end assemblers’ performance is studied, with a focus on the personal computer (PC) supply chain. The moderating influence of delivery and sourcing – as supply chain flexibility and agility – are examined through end assemblers’ and suppliers’ inventory. The suppliers’ mediating role is captured as disruption in obtaining PC components through their sales. Findings – Only JET had any negative effect, further quantified as short-term and long-term. The TF instead portrays an insignificant but positive aftermath, which is construed as showing learning from experience and adaptability following JET. Inventory matters, but differently for the two events, and suppliers only exhibit a moderating influence on the assemblers’ disaster-performance link. Originality/value – Natural disasters, as catastrophic vulnerabilities, are distinct from other vulnerabilities in that they are hard to predict and have significant impact. Since little is known about the impact of natural disasters on firm performance and how supply chain mechanisms moderate or mediate their impact, they should be distinctly modelled and empirically studied from other vulnerabilities. This paper sheds light on supply chain resilience to such events with the role of dynamic capabilities