Examining the relationship between agile adoption motivation factors and agile practice clusters used by software startups in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Agile software development methodology (ASDM) has been increasingly adopted in organizations. Despite many benefits offered by ASDM, successful ASDM adoption is a big challenge for organizations. Many studies show that these methods were adopted partly by selecting a set of agile practices. Therefore, it is difficult for new adopters to choose agile practice sets that fit their organization needs as ASDM has a big pool of available practices or clusters. Agile practices should be selected based on motivation factors that include the organization needs in order to maximize the benefit of adopting them. The aim of this study is to identify the relationships between organization’s ASDM adoption motivation factors and the agile practices clusters. This study used a quantitative approach to evaluate the relationships between these variables. The study was conducted using a questionnaire with 76 software practitioners from software startups in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The analysis generated 4 clusters; each is associated with a list of practices. These clusters are labeled as project management, quality assurance, software process, and incremental and iterative clusters. This study finds that three adoption motivation factors (a motivation for increased software quality, increased efficiency, or increased effectiveness) are associated with the quality assurance, software process, and incremental and iterative clusters. By understanding these factors in terms of ASDM adoption and which types of agile practice cluster is more suitable will help to increase the success of the agile adoption process. Furthermore, the study will help to understand how the startups selected the practices used. Also, the study could help new startups to easily choose the proper agile practices based on their motivation and needs. The findings will help the organization to select suitable agile practices cluster by matching the motivation factors that correspondingly affect the ASDM successful adoption

Inovação e gestão da cadeia de abastecimento: estratégias, capacidades e o efeito do alinhamento sobre o desempenho das empresas

Innovation and supply chain management are two topics of great importance in the academic world and present great potential to generate sustainable competitive advantage for firms. If, on one hand, innovation allow the creation of new products and services and the improvement of business processes, helping to achieve new markets, an adequate management of the supply chain is fundamental for the improvement of the services provided to clients and for the achievement of better operational and financial performance. The relationship between innovation and supply chain management has gained importance in the last years and has been addressed in two different approaches: the importance of collaboration among supply chain partners to innovation; and the relationship between the two processes or areas within firms, which is the least explored and is the target of the present research. As a way to contribute to the development of knowledge regarding the relationship between innovation and supply chain management, the main objective of this thesis is, using the concept of fit as a basis, examine how supply chain strategies affect the relationship between innovation capabilities and business performance. The study is developed under a positivist paradigm and under the lens of the Resource-based View (RBV). To test the research hypotheses, formulated from the developed theoretical model, a survey was conduct on firms from Portugal and Brazil, with a total of 329 responses, and data were analysed by means of statistical methods, especially cluster analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), linear regression, hierarchical regression and structural equation modelling. Results show differences in the antecedents of the adoption of the different supply chain strategies; confirm the impact of innovation capabilities on business performance; and indicates the moderator effect of supply chain strategies on the relationship between innovation capabilities and business performance. The study contributes in a variety of ways to theory, especially by means of the creation of a theory regarding the impact of supply chain strategies on the relationship between innovation capabilities and business performance and on the antecedents and consequences of the adoption of different supply chain strategies. The results also contribute to practice, providing references to decision making regarding the choice of the right capacities and strategies to be developed and adopted by firms according to internal and external requirements.Inovação e gestão da cadeia de abastecimento são temas de grande importância e que apresentam elevado potencial para geração de diferencial competitivo sustentável para as empresas. Se, por um lado, a inovação permite a criação de novos produtos ou serviços e o alcance de novos mercados, uma gestão adequada da cadeia de abastecimento revela-se fundamental para a entrega dos produtos e serviços prestados aos clientes e para a obtenção de melhores resultados operacionais e financeiros pelas empresas. A relação entre inovação e gestão da cadeia de abastecimento, que ganhou muita importância nos meios acadêmico e empresarial nos últimos anos, tem sido estudada com dois diferentes enfoques: a relação das empresas com os seus parceiros de cadeia de abastecimento com vista à inovação; e a relação entre os dois processos ou áreas dentro das empresas, sendo este último o menos explorado e o alvo da presente investigação. De forma a contribuir para o desenvolvimento do conhecimento relativamente à relação entre inovação e gestão das cadeias de abastecimento, esta investigação tem como principal objetivo, usando como base o conceito de fit, estudar como as estratégias de gestão das cadeias de abastecimento afetam a relação entre as capacidades de inovação e o desempenho dos negócios das empresas. O estudo segue um paradigma positivista e utiliza a visão baseada em recursos (RBV) como principal teoria de base. Para testar as hipóteses da investigação, formuladas a partir do modelo teórico desenvolvido, um questionário foi aplicado a empresas de Portugal e do Brasil, tendo sido obtidas 329 respostas, e os dados foram analisados com recurso a métodos estatísticos, com destaque para a aplicação de análise de clusters, análise de variância (ANOVA), regressão linear, regressão hierárquica e análise de equações estruturais. As análises realizadas demonstram as diferenças na aplicação e nos resultados relativamente à adoção das estratégias de gestão da cadeia de abastecimento; confirmam o impacto das capacidades de inovação sobre o desempenho das empresas; e comprovam o efeito moderador das estratégias de gestão das cadeias de abastecimento sobre esta relação. O estudo apresenta contribuições para o meio académico, por meio da criação de uma modelo teórico sobre o impacto das estratégias de gestão das cadeias de abastecimento na relação entre as capacidades de inovação e o desempenho das empresas; e para a prática, fornecendo referências para a tomada de decisão relativamente à definição de estratégias e capacidades a desenvolver.Programa Doutoral em Engenharia e Gestão Industria

Management of software development projects in Brazil using agile methods

The aim of the paper is to analyze how agile management practices are being adopted by specialists from software development technology companies in Brazil, identifying actions that contribute to the success of software implementation, aiming to ensure the survival of organizations in the market. The study counted with a literature review to support the field research with software development specialists who use the agile methodology and work in Brazil in the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The results were analyzed through a descriptive statistics and content analysis. The research identified that the companies that adopt agile software management methodology in Brazil prefer the Scrum method and the development teams may be geographically distributed. The main positive points identified when adopting agile methods were the process speed, team involvement, maximization of results, involvement with the client, and simplicity. Most experts identified problems in the implementation of the agile methodology and as points of attention: management of distributed teams, scope estimation and communication. It was possible to identify the existence of a positive financial result by adopting the agile method for software development projects, as well as actions that contribute to the success of these projects, such as controlling quality using different testing techniques, project management, time, stakeholders, scope, and have agile communication, with feedback and good leadership. On the other hand, it was observed in the statistics that, although efficient, this method is still not being widely used. This research can contribute to the managers of software development companies in the use of agile methods as well as improving management decision-making

Improving the management of cost and scope in software projects using agile practices

While organizations want to develop software products with reduced cost and flexible scope, stories about the applicability of agile practices to improve project development and performance in the software industry are scarce and focused on specific methodologies such as Scrum and XP. Given these facts, this paper aims to investigate, through practitioners' perceptions of value, which agile practices are being used to improve two performance criteria for software projects-cost and scope. Using a multivariate statistical technique known as Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), the results suggest that the use of agile practices can be represented in factors which describe different applications in software development process to improve cost and scope. Also, we conclude that some agile practices should be used together in order to get better efficiency on cost and scope in four development aspects: improving (a) team abilities, (b)management of requirements, (c) quality of the code developed, and (d) delivery of software on-budget and on-time.Comment: 47-64p

Understanding the Structure of Agile Software Development Using Text Analytics: A Preliminary Analysis

The tenets of agile software development (ASD) were formulated over fifteen years ago. Since then, a number of methods and best practices have emerged, which, in turn, have spawned many research ideas. This study attempts to chronicle the evolution of thought in agile software development by using text analytics, an approach that is becoming invaluable in our efforts to understand unstructured text. Specifically, we use text analytics to unravel latent semantic relationships within the agile domain in order to get a sense of where we started, where we are today, and what to anticipate in the future

Implementing Agile practices in a large game development company

Abstract. Large game development companies working with complex projects need to find ways to work iteratively and adjust to changing requirements in order to succeed. To achieve this, many of them turn to Agile frameworks and practices. In this thesis, the purpose is to analyze how these large game development companies implement Agile working practices and what are the related benefits and challenges. The roles of human skills in the implementation process are also examined. This is done by conducting a single-case study of the Agile implementation process in a case company. The findings of the study indicate that the Agile implementation process in the case company follows a general change process structure, which consists of seven core activities: recognition and start, diagnosis, planning, implementation and review, sustaining change, learning, and managing people issues. During the implementation process, the most significant challenges the case company faced were connected to implementing Agile ways of leading development, such as Product Ownership and Products Backlog. In addition, the relationship of human skills and Agile implementation appears to be cyclical; while well-developed human skills such as support, communication, and conflict solving skills make the implementation process easier, properly implemented Agile practices may also improve human skills. This study contributes to Agile implementation research by expanding the knowledge of Agile implementation in large game development organizations and elaborating the connection between the implementation process and change management theory. The findings of the study can also help those implementing Agile in game companies to predict the structure of the process and anticipate the potential challenges of it.Tiivistelmä. Suurten ja monimutkaisten projektien parissa työskentelevien pelialan yritysten täytyy löytää tapoja työskennellä iteratiivisesti ja sopeutua muutoksiin menestyäkseen. Tästä syystä monet niistä kääntyvät ketterien menetelmien puoleen. Tässä diplomityössä tarkoitus on analysoida sitä, miten nämä yritykset ottavat käyttöön ketteriä menetelmiä ja mitä hyötyjä ja haasteita prosessiin liittyy. Myös inhimillisten taitojen rooleja käyttöönottoprosessissa tutkitaan. Tutkimuksessa perehdytään ketterien menetelmien käyttöönottoon kohdeyrityksessä yksittäistapaustutkimuksena. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että kohdeyrityksessä ketterien menetelmien käyttöönottoprosessi mukailee yleisen muutosprosessin rakennetta, joka koostuu seitsemästä toiminnosta: muutostarpeen tunnistamisesta ja prosessin aloittamisesta, diagnosoinnista, suunnittelusta, käyttöönotosta ja arvioinnista, muutoksen ylläpitämisestä, oppimisesta ja ihmisiin liittyvien asioiden johtamisesta. Keskeisimmät kohdeyrityksen käyttöönottoprosessin aikana kohtaamat haasteet liittyivät ketterien menetelmien mukaisten johtamistapojen käyttöönottoon kuten tuoteomistajuuteen ja tuotteen tehtävälistoihin. Inhimillisten taitojen ja ketterien menetelmien käyttöönoton suhde puolestaan vaikuttaa sykliseltä; samalla kun hyvät inhimilliset taidot kuten tuki-, kommunikaatio-, ja konfliktienselvittelytaidot tekevät käyttöönottoprosessista helpomman, voivat ketterät menetelmät puolestaan kehittää inhimillisiä taitoja. Tämä tutkimus edistää ketterien menetelmien käyttöönottoon liittyvää tutkimusta kasvattamalla ymmärrystä menetelmien käyttöönotosta suurissa pelialan yrityksissä ja lisäämällä tietoa käyttöönottoprosessin ja muutoksenhallinnan teorian välisestä yhteydestä. Tutkimuksen tulokset voivat myös auttaa ketterien menetelmien käyttöönottoa pelialan yrityksissä johtavia henkilöitä ennakoimaan käyttöönottoprosessin kulkua ja siihen liittyviä haasteita

An information model for lean, agile, resilient and green supply chain management

Dissertação para a obtenção de Grau de Mestre em Engenharia e Gestão IndustrialIn modern business environments, an effective Supply Chain Management (SCM) is crucial to business continuity. In this context, Lean, Agile, Resilient and Green (LARG), are advocated as the fundamental paradigm for a competitive Supply Chain (SC) as a whole. In fact, competition between supply chains (SC) has replaced the traditional competition between companies. To make a supply chain more competitive, capable of responding to the demands of customers with agility, and capable of responding effectively to unexpected disturbance, in conjugation with environmental responsibilities, and the necessity to eliminate processes that add no value, companies must implement a set of LARG SCM practices and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to measure their influence on the SC performance. However, the selection of the best LARG SCM practices and KPIs is a complex decision-making problem, involving dependencies and feedbacks. Still, any decision-making must be supported by real and transparent data. This dissertation intends to provide two integrated models to assist the information management and decision-making. The first is an information model to support a LARG SCM, allowing the exchange and storage of data/information through a single information platform. In this model three types of diagrams are developed, Business Process Diagram (BPD), Use Cases Diagram and Class Diagram to assist the information platform design. The second is a decision-making model, designated LARG Analytical Network Process (ANP) to select the best LARG SCM practices/KPI to be implemented in SCs. Both models are developed and validated within the automotive SC, namely in Volkswagen Autoeuropa

Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2021, which was held virtually during June 14-18, 2021. XP is the premier agile software development conference combining research and practice. It is a unique forum where agile researchers, practitioners, thought leaders, coaches, and trainers get together to present and discuss their most recent innovations, research results, experiences, concerns, challenges, and trends.  XP conferences provide an informal environment to learn and trigger discussions and welcome both people new to agile and seasoned agile practitioners. This year’s conference was held with the theme “Agile Turns Twenty While the World Goes Online”. The 11 full and 2 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 38 submissions. They were organized in topical sections named: agile practices; process assessment; large-scale agile; and short contributions