Thoughts on Current and Future Research on Agile and Lean: Ensuring Relevance and Rigor

Over the past two decades, research in the area of agile and lean software development has mirrored the strong growth of the use of agile and lean methodologies. However, while these research streams have made a significant contribution in the use of agile and lean methodologies, much of the recent research lacks the rigor and relevance to make an impact in research and practice. For example, many of the studies have not measured the actual use of agile or lean methods nor had a significant theoretical grounding. Furthermore, agile research has not expanded to fully cover emerging opportunities and challenges. A deeper theoretical motivation on agile and lean software development can help demonstrate how the principles of, for example, agile software development, may be transferred to these other areas, and hence, broaden the research’s relevance. This paper provides commentary intended to help push the agile and lean research agenda forward, and outlines three key critieria that future researchers should consider when conducting research on the phenomenon of agile. The paper also provides an example for the use of the criteria, and presents several initial, open research questions that could help increase the use of agile, including the use of agile and lean concepts in other IT and non-IT contexts

Architectural design of experience based factory model for software development process in cloud computing: integration with workflow and multi-agent system

A model which is based on experience factory approach has been proposed earlier, calledEBF-SD, to overcome the limitations of experience management in software developmentdomain. An application prototype, which is then called SDeX, is developed based on theproposed model. The study on correlation analysis indicates that automation do have positiverelationship with other components: knowledge management, cloud, collaboration and portal.This paper further discusses the high level prototype development with the emphasis on thearchitectural design. Automation features are incorporated in the design in which workflowsystem and intelligent agents are integrated, and the facilitation of cloud environment isempowered to further support the automation.Keywords: architectural design; knowledge management; experience factory; workflow;multi-agent system; cloud automation

Toward a more sustainable coffee production

This paper contributes to the literature on the emerging trend of Southern sustainability standards and certifications as a reaction to the Northern-based private standards by businesses and NGOs. It particularly analyzes the implementation capacity of ISCoffee as a public standard and certification initiated by the Indonesian government. We analyze the opportunities and barriers in the process of implementing ISCoffee and examine whether ISCoffee can become a viable alternative to Northern-based private standards and certification. We first conclude that the implementation capacity of ISCoffee is low, because of weak administrative structures, and communication and coordination deficiencies. Second, we conclude that ISCoffee will unlikely being able to solve smallholder-related problems in the coffee sector such as limited access to market, insufficient capital, and underdeveloped farmer organizations. Finally, we conclude that ISCoffee - on the short term - will not manage to become a viable alternative to Northern-based private standards and certifications

Alignment Practices Affect Distances in Software Development: A Theory and a Model

Coordinating a software project across distances is challenging. Even without geographical and time zone distances, other distances within a project can cause communication gaps. For example, organisational and cognitive distances between product owners and development-near roles such as developers and testers can lead to weak alignment of the software and the business requirements. Applying good software development practices, known to enhance alignment, can alleviate these challenges. We present a theoretical model called the Gap Model of how alignment practices affect different types of distances. This model has been inductively generated from empirical data. We also present an initial version of a theory based on this model that explains, at a general level, how practices affect communication within a project by impacting distances between people, activities and artefacts. The presented results provide a basis for further research and can be used by software organisations to improve on software practice

A systematic review of knowledge sharing challenges and practices in global software development

Abstract not availableMansooreh Zahedia, Mojtaba Shahinb, Muhammad Ali Baba

Examining Shared Understanding and Team Performance in Global Virtual Teams

Modern organizations face many significant challenges because of turbulent environments and a competitive global economy. These competitive demands have forced many organizations to increase levels of flexibility and adaptability through the use of virtual environments, and global teams are prevalent in business organizations. Although significant research has been conducted on virtual teams, the development of shared understanding among the members of these teams has not been studied adequately. Time/space barriers, communication complexities, and team diversity hinder the development of shared understanding in these teams. Based on the Media Synchronicity Theory (MST), a new theoretical model was created that used the constructs use of communication media, mode of interaction and team diversity to ascertain the influence shared understanding in global virtual teams. Additionally, the research model examined the relationship between shared understanding and team performance. The developed, web-based survey measured the participants’ use of communication media, mode of interaction, diversity, shared understanding, and team performance in virtual environments. The survey was administered through SurveyMonkey and distributed to a pool of opt-in respondents from firms with virtual teams. A total of 118 respondents participated in the study. The findings of this study indicate that use of communication and familiarity with systems are strong determinants of shared understanding, and subsequently shared understanding is a strong predictor of team performance. The study also indicates that mode of interaction is less of a predictor of shared understanding, and that cultural diversity, modified diversity construct, did not influence shared understanding. As virtual teams continue to proliferate, executive leaders and managers must ensure that teams and environments are designed for collaboration through use of communication technologies that promote synchronicity, and that its members are familiar with systems which subsequently promotes shared understanding

Is communication evolving?

Oppgaven handler om utfordringene i informasjonsflyten mellom ledelsen og produkusjonen i et høy variasjon - lavt volum miljø. Hvor det ble utforsket på hvordan en digital tilnærming av Lean prinsippet kan forbedre informasjons flyten. Det ble utført en case studie gjennom en norsk produksjons bedrift som faller under miljøet høy variajson - lavt volum

Relationship Between Software Development Team Structure, Ambiguity, Volatility, and Project Failure

Complex environments like the United States Air Force\u27s advanced weapon systems are highly reliant on externally developed software, which is often delivered late, over budget, and with fewer benefits than expected. Grounded in Galbraith\u27s organizational information processing theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between software development team structure, ambiguity, volatility and software project failure. Participants included 23 members of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association in the southeastern United States who completed 4 project management surveys. Results of multiple regression analysis indicated the model as a whole was able to predict software project failure, F(3,19) = 10.838, p \u3c .001, R2 = 0.631. Software development team structure was the only statistically significant predictor, t = 2.762, p = .012. Implications for positive social change include the potential for software development company owners and military leaders to understand the factors that influence software project success and to develop strategies to enhance software development team structure

A knowledge analytics portal for agile programming

iii, 76 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cmIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-76).Agile programming has been widely adopted for software development. One criticism on agile programming is the lack of documentation and knowledge sharing in the software development process. This thesis proposes a novel knowledge management approach for creating, managing, and sharing various types of documents for agile software development. The proposed approach divides software developers into two groups, masters and apprentices. Masters are senior software developers who are primarily responsible for agile software development. Masters avoid document writing as advocated in the agile manifesto for software development. Apprentices are junior software developers who are mainly responsible for creating, managing and sharing various types of documents for the agile software development process. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is investigated and validated through a prototype of a knowledge analytics portal. This thesis concludes that the proposed knowledge analytics portal increases the knowledge sharing for the agile software development process