AGILE–STAGE GATE MANAGEMENT (ASGM): NPD IMPLEMENTATION PRACTICES FROM GLOBAL FIRMS DEVELOPING COMPLEX, PHYSICAL PRODUCTS

Stage Gate Management (SGM) has been used successfully by global organizations to direct the New Product Development process (NPD) for years, recently a new variant of this venerable approach has emerged. Researchers and firms have begun to intersperse elements of Agile, as popularized for the development of software, to create an Agile – Stage Gate Management (ASGM) hybrid NPD framework. Agile practitioners believe in process waste reduction, an intense focus on customers, and the creation of nimble entrepreneurial project teams, which, for software products, has positively impacted development time to market, resource utilization, and market success, more generally, improved business outcomes. For NPD professionals responsible for physical products, not solely software, do these Agile tenets continue to produce results? With minimal available research, a Grounded Theory study was conducted to inductively create theory from the implementation of ASGM, specifically for firms that design, develop, and manufacture physical products. Twenty-nine experienced industry professionals were interviewed from four global companies which represented five distinct Business Units (BU) which competed in a variety of markets and industries around the world. From these interviews, a Content Analysis approach was employed to organize primary and secondary themes which illustrated NPD team practices. Additionally, a comparative multi-case study method further developed specific Agile/Scrum techniques implemented, the measures of business success realized, as well as, a new ASGM model for like firms. From this research, firms which developed physical products did not implement all Agile practices, only Team Interface, Product Demonstrations, and Specification Flexibility were uncovered. The cases did, however, subjectively realize an improved time to market, as well as, greater product success for projects commercialized using ASGM. Lastly, a new framework emerged which highlighted the unique practice of Agile behaviors earlier in the development process, but rigid, or SGM-like, activities closer towards product launch

Servant Leadership Behaviors that Positively Influence On-Time Delivery of Committed Work by Agile Teams in a Scaled Agile Framework

This research found strong evidence that leaders who use Servant Leadership Behaviors (SLBs) positively influence on-time delivery of committed work by scrum teams in a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). In organizations using a Scaled Agile Framework to manage large programs, Agile teams plan work called “stories” within an iteration, which can range from one to four weeks. The stories are ultimately intended to deliver functionality to the end-user and have enough information within them for business and technical people to understand the intent, develop, test, and demonstrate a vertical slice of system functionality. Our research used Servant Leadership theory to uncover SLBs that positively influence the delivery of committed work by scrum teams in a Scaled Agile Framework. Using a qualitative case study research method, we collected data through semi-structured interviews with SAFe industry consultants who have an average of at least 18 years of industry consulting experience, are Scaled Agile Program Consultants (SPCs) certified, have helped organizational SAFe transformations, and have coached leaders to use Servant Leadership behaviors to facilitate the on-time delivery of user stories. We found “Values People” to be the most important SLB. The SLB “Provides Leadership” was found to be the least important Servant Leadership Behavior for SAFe Agile teams

Self-Organizing Agile Teams: A Grounded Theory

Self-organizing teams are a hallmark of Agile software development, directly a ecting team e ectiveness and project success. Agile software development, and in particular the Scrum method, emphasizes self-organizing teams but does not provide clear guidelines on how teams should become and remain self-organizing. Based on Grounded Theory research involving 58 Agile prac- titioners from 23 di erent software organizations in New Zealand and In- dia, this thesis presents a grounded theory of self-organizing Agile teams. The theory of self-organizing Agile teams explains how software development teams take on informal, implicit, transient, and spontaneous roles and per- form balanced practices while facing critical environmental factors, in order to become self-organizing. The roles are: Mentor, Co-ordinator, Translator, Champion, Promoter, and Terminator. The practices involve balancing free- dom and responsibility, cross-functionality and specialization, and continuous learning and iteration pressure. The factors are senior management support and level of customer involvement. This thesis will help teams and their coaches better understand their roles and responsibilities as a self-organizing Agile team. This thesis will also serve to educate senior management and customers about the importance of supporting these team

Effective Communication in Globally Distributed Scrum: A Model and Practical Guidance

A trend in information systems development is for globally distributed teams to use agile methods and frameworks such as Scrum. In globally distributed (GD) software development, a known challenge is effective team communication. Researchers, however, cannot evaluate effective communication in GD teams using Scrum unless they know what effective communication means in that context. This qualitative study contributes a theoretical model of effective communication in GD Scrum teams and practical guidance for practitioners. Ten industry professionals working in GD Scrum teams were interviewed to capture their understanding of effective communication. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the interviews and form a basis for the model and the practical guidance. This novel model consists of communication transparency, communication quality, and communication discipline, which together lead to the alignment of team understanding (i.e., a team-level shared mental model). This theoretical model lays the ground for future research into the effect of Scrum practices on communication in GD contexts, and the effect of communication on team and project success. For practitioners, this study contributes 11 practical actions that professionals recommend for improving and sustaining effective communication

An integrated model of innovation drivers for smaller software firms

High-technology innovation is essential for economic development in industrialized societies. However, innovation practice in smaller software companies has received little attention. We derive software innovation drivers and outputs from a fragmented literature and analyze their empirical relevance using qualitative data from 25 in-depth interviews with software executives in the Silicon Fen. Repeating patterns in the data set revealed through content analysis show that the most important innovation drivers for smaller software firms are external knowledge, leadership and team processes. Specialized innovation tools and techniques are hardly used. We develop a model of software innovation drivers, together with explorative theoretical propositions.This research work is supported by the Danish Research Council: grant no. 12-133180. Many thanks to the interviewees and the participating companies

Playing the game: the study of knowledge processes across organisational boundaries in the videogames industry

This thesis studies knowledge processes which span organisational boundaries, examining how knowledge is formed and shared between two companies with divergent interests, facing the challenges of innovation processes. Cross-boundary work provides access to diverse sources of knowledge, specialties and approaches, and this enhances the innovative performance of firms. However, managing knowledge and spanning diverse boundaries has proven to be difficult. While the epistemic and social challenges have been identified to trigger conflicts and misunderstandings across boundaries, the complexity, inter-dependency and uncertainty of innovation processes have been found to multiply these challenges. Informed by the practice-based perspective, this thesis examines how the challenges of integrating knowledge in such a context are addressed and resolved. Building upon this theoretical perspective, the thesis aims to enhance understandings of knowledge processes between the large bureaucratic organisations (publishers) and small/medium-sized companies (developers) in the videogames industry. Underpinned by a social constructionist and interpretivist methodology, a qualitative study of three publisher-developer relationships was conducted. With thirty six semi-structured interviews with senior directors, managers and team leaders, the thesis examined cross- boundary practices and the conflicts experienced in this process. In order to achieve this, the study focused on the role that boundary objects, trust development and power structures played in facilitating knowledge processes. The thesis recognises the evolving and relational character of boundary objects, highlighting that a combination of static and dynamic boundary objects were effective in facilitating knowledge integration in the publisher-developer relationship. It also reveals that despite high levels of distrust between the parties involved, they managed to create and maintain a working relationship by resorting to opportunistic practices, such as knowledge hiding, deception and collusion. It is emphasised that understanding the power dynamics in the publisher-developer relationship is a pre-requisite to explaining 2 how knowledge is managed across organisational boundaries during the course of a project. Drawing upon a Foucauldian perspective, the thesis identifies the positive and enabling aspects of power dynamics in this relationship. It argues that when the parties have discrepancies, competition and high levels of distrust, power games positively influence cross-boundary practices, the use of boundary objects and knowledge processes, ultimately mobilising knowledge integration. The thesis makes four significant contributions to the knowledge management and cross-boundary work literature. First, it identifies an evolving role for boundary objects, showing how they develop during the course of a project. Second, it finds a relational and politicised dimension for boundary objects, highlighting the role of brokers to manipulate and mobilise the use and effectiveness of these objects. Third, the thesis extends the existing literature by revealing that despite high levels of distrust, parties can create a working relationship. The research shows that this is achieved through resorting to opportunistic behaviour, such as knowledge hiding, deception and collusion. As a result, this thesis adds a complementary level to Carlile's Integrated Framework, explaining that when there are high levels of differences, dependencies and novelty in the cross-boundary work, knowledge hiding, deception and collusion are the driving force to facilitate knowledge integration and maintain a functional relationship. The fourth contribution of this thesis is recognising the positive and productive aspects of power dynamics that enable and mobilise boundary objects and knowledge processes, ultimately bringing positive outcomes and creating a functional relationship between two companies with divergent interests

Assessing Navy Flag-Level Command Transitions: Commanders, Command Teams, and Effectiveness

NPS NRP Technical ReportAssessing Navy Flag-Level Command Transitions: Commanders, Command Teams, and EffectivenessCommander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force (COMOPTEVFOR)This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

The Relationship Between Leadership Style and Cognitive Style to Software Project Success

Project managers can be change agents providing direction and motivation for subordinates to meet and exceed goals; however, there is a lack of information about the soft skills needed to achieve project success. Understanding the relationship between cognitive style and transformational leadership to software project outcomes is important. This study describes the lived experiences of software project managers by focusing on their attitudes towards, perceptions of, and behaviors related to using transformational leadership and cognitive styles in agile software development environments. Husserlian phenomenological design was used to identify the structure of participants\u27 experiences. The naturalistic decision-making model and the theory of constraints were a framework for the study. Software project managers identified as transformational leaders were selected from government agencies and commercial companies. Prior to being interviewed, individuals completed the Cognitive Style Indicator. In-depth, semistructured interviews and member checking were used for data collection. Qualitative, phenomenological analysis was used to code the interview data and identify thematic response categories. Results indicated that transformational leaders possessing a planning or creating cognitive style stimulate an environment with an uplifting work atmosphere in which team members are fulfilled and product development outcomes are successful. The implications for positive social change include broadening project managers\u27 leadership and decision making regarding overall project success and leading executives to reexamine the leadership and decision-making styles of their managers resulting in their organizations\u27 prosperity, employee effectiveness, and cost containment