Who are Metrics Team’s Stakeholders and What Do They Expect? Conducting Stakeholder Mapping with Focus on Communication in Agile Software Development Organization

As an increasing number of organizations create metrics teams, conducting stakeholder mapping is pivotal for identifying and analyzing metrics stakeholders’ expectations for reducing the risks of miscommunication and project failure. Further, though team-stakeholder communication is essential for successful collaboration, few studies focus on it in software measurement context. This case study seeks to identify and analyze metrics team’s stakeholders, with a special focus on communication challenges in team-stakeholder contacts. Inspired by Bryson\u27s Basic Stakeholder Analysis Techniques and Mitchell, Agle, and Wood\u27s theoretical model for stakeholder identification, a stakeholder mapping exercise was conducted using interactive workshops and follow-up interviews with 16 metrics team members and their stakeholders. The results illustrate the complexity of identifying stakeholders in agile organizations, the importance of developing a metrics culture, and enhancing transparency in team-stakeholder communication. The study aims to contribute to the development of stakeholder theory and offers insights into communication in software engineering context

Exploring the enablers of organisational and marketing innovations in SMEs: findings from South-western Nigeria

Previous research studies on innovation tend to focus on process and product innovations. Recent theoretical opinions reveal that Organisational and Marketing Innovations (OMIs) could be the necessary prerequisites to optimally utilise and deploy such process and product innovations. It is important to note that there is a dearth of information on the enablers of OMIs capabilities among the SMEs. Despite their closeness to their customers, many SMEs are finding it difficult to achieve successful and effective innovations; these are innovations that have positive impact on the business growth and returns. This study presents findings from exploratory qualitative research conducted in the South-western Nigeria. Drawing upon information-rich evidence from 13 in-depth interviews with the owners and the managers of SMEs, this study identifies some enablers that can promote SMEs’ OMIs capabilities, effective innovations and organisational survival

Organisational context for employee ambidexterity and employee engagement: towards performance improvement in small and medium-sized manufacturing and service organisations

Organisational Ambidexterity and Employee Engagement have emerged to be crucial in achieving long-term organisational success. However, there is a lack of understanding of how individual ambidexterity of the shop-floor employees affects the overall ambidexterity and performance of an organisation. As a measure of individual employee performance, Employee Engagement increases employee discretionary effort; employee productivity; customer satisfaction and loyalty; and organisational profitability. Findings reveal that practical interest in Employee Engagement has outstripped the available research evidence, and fundamental questions, such as how to increase employee level of engagement, require further scrutiny. This study investigates the organisational context required for Employee Ambidexterity and Employee Engagement and the relationship between them. Structural equation modelling of quantitative data from 398 shop-floor employees in Small and Medium-sized Nigerian Manufacturing and Service Organisations reveal that Organic Structure, plus Flexible and Family-like Organisational Culture promote Employee Ambidexterity and Employee’s Level of Engagement and performance

Stakeholder saliency dynamics in strategic ICT projects

This study seeks to explain how stakeholders’ dynamics influence Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strategic projects implementation in Saudi Arabian public hospitals. Stakeholder theory, mainly the identification framework of Mitchell, Agle, and Wood, is used to identify stakeholders’ saliency throughout the project events. However, stakeholder theory is static and do not help in tracking dynamics, i.e. how saliency is gained and lost through the events, and hence interpreting the influence. Therefore, this research challenges this staticity by instrumentally using appreciative systems concepts of Vickers and the later operationalized model developed by Checkland and Casar. Appreciative systems might help in tracking dynamics and interpreting their influence on ICT strategic project reality. Results show that stakeholder saliency dynamics reside in continual appreciative processes. Such dynamics directly exert an influence on the ICT project, which is strategic, i.e. significant changes to direction, emphasis and resources. Theoretical insights from this study have also practical implication

IT-enabled performative spaces in gender segregated work

This thesis investigates the use of ICT in Saudi Arabia to support collaboration between segregated genders. It attempts to understand the emerging technology practices of workers in higher education institutions, which are aimed at bridging the culturally imposed spatial divide between men and women in the workplace. In examining the gender-segregated context, the study also looks into the consequent organisational and structural changes resulting from technology use. This includes evaluating new practices in terms of progressive change, and how this specifically relates to the work experiences of women as a subordinated and marginalised group. Furthermore, the study uses the Saudi context as a vehicle to explore IS discussions regarding the human and material/technical aspects of agency in technology use, and the role attributed to each in theoretical perspectives on organisation. Prior research has extended Giddens' (1984) structuration theory to incorporate material agency as part of a social-technical ensemble. Yet the ways in which physical-digital spaces contextualise interactions and structure work practices are under explored. Thus, the study develops a conceptual model that extends concepts of 'locale' and 'regionalisation' from structuration theory to the IS field, and defines 'technical settings of interaction' constituted by human and material agencies. The research presented in this study uses a single case design, and collects data by conducting interviews and non-participant observation at Umm AI-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah. The case of gender segregated work in Saudi is used to illustrate the performativity of digital spaces, and demonstrates how workers use technical configurations of ICTs to create zones of interaction that can challenge existing cultural norms, or hinder progressive change. Finally, the study finds that attending to Giddens' focus on time-space not only adds an additional level of analysis to technology studies, but also shows the potential of structurational research in contributing to sociomaterial discussions on materiality

IT-enabled performative spaces in gender segregated work

This thesis investigates the use of ICT in Saudi Arabia to support collaboration between segregated genders. It attempts to understand the emerging technology practices of workers in higher education institutions, which are aimed at bridging the culturally imposed spatial divide between men and women in the workplace. In examining the gender-segregated context, the study also looks into the consequent organisational and structural changes resulting from technology use. This includes evaluating new practices in terms of progressive change, and how this specifically relates to the work experiences of women as a subordinated and marginalised group. Furthermore, the study uses the Saudi context as a vehicle to explore IS discussions regarding the human and material/technical aspects of agency in technology use, and the role attributed to each in theoretical perspectives on organisation. Prior research has extended Giddens' (1984) structuration theory to incorporate material agency as part of a social-technical ensemble. Yet the ways in which physical-digital spaces contextualise interactions and structure work practices are under explored. Thus, the study develops a conceptual model that extends concepts of 'locale' and 'regionalisation' from structuration theory to the IS field, and defines 'technical settings of interaction' constituted by human and material agencies. The research presented in this study uses a single case design, and collects data by conducting interviews and non-participant observation at Umm AI-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah. The case of gender segregated work in Saudi is used to illustrate the performativity of digital spaces, and demonstrates how workers use technical configurations of ICTs to create zones of interaction that can challenge existing cultural norms, or hinder progressive change. Finally, the study finds that attending to Giddens' focus on time-space not only adds an additional level of analysis to technology studies, but also shows the potential of structurational research in contributing to sociomaterial discussions on materiality