A Qualitative Study on Project Failure in Agile Teams Using Socio- technical Systems Theory

Companies are adopting agile methodology in response to fulfill a growing demand for agility. Specifically, the scrum method gained popularity, despite having no guarantee of success. This study employs socio-technical systems interaction as a framework to study the reasons for agile project failure. It reflects on misalignments as an outcome of socio- technical systems interaction. In this study, we identify the events that are most commonly responsible for imbalance by using socio-technical systems theory as a diagnostic tool. We conducted a qualitative interpretive study interviewing twenty-seven individuals in agile information systems delivery (ISD) team settings. Our findings reveal how an individual's lack of belief about being agile, doing agile, and both result in events of failure in IT projects. This study provides a nuanced understanding of the challenges and reasons for failure in agile teams

Influences on agile practice tailoring in enterprise software development.

Agile development projects have become a reality in large enterprises using offshore development models. A case study involving seven international companies with offices in Bangalore, India, and London, UK was conducted, including interviews with 19 practitioners. The contribution of this paper is to illustrate the reasons for tailoring Agile practices within the context of large enterprises. The findings show that scrum roles and practices did not conflict with enterprise policies or processes and were thought to improve product quality and productivity. However, agile practices from the XP tradition were not so widely adopted. Test driven development did not integrate well within enterprises where independent quality assurance teams were constituted as separate departments. Continuous integration was found to be challenging where enterprise software products required time consuming regression testing and elaborate code release processes. While adoption of coding standards and collective code ownership are necessary to facilitate interaction between disparate stakeholder groups

“The Second Vice is Lying, the First is Running into Debt.” Antecedents and Mitigating Practices of Social Debt: an Exploratory Study in Distributed Software Development Teams

Although much is known about the concept of technical debt in software development, less is known about its social counterpart, also known as social debt. Social debt refers to future consequences of decisions related to people and their interactions. Omissions in social interactions or reduction of communication can foster social debt – and in turn result in negative outcomes in the long run. In this paper, we explore what factors drive and mitigate social debt in distributed agile software development teams. Utilizing an exploratory case study approach, we derive insights from two case organizations. We present antecedents and mitigating factors of social debt related to communication, collaboration, and coordination

Distributed agile patterns : an approach to facilitate agile adoption in offshore software development

Over a decade, companies have been using agile methods for the development of software. However with the increasing trends of offshore software development, companies are becoming more interested in using agile methods for such projects. While offshore development has several dynamic benefits such as cost reduction, flexibility, proximity to market, concentration on core processes and easy access to talent, they have introduced new challenges, such as trust, socio-cultural, communication and coordination, and knowledge transfer issues. These challenges not only affect the development process but also affect the applicability of agile practices in offshore development. As a consequence, companies have been modifying and adapting agile practices to overcome these challenges. However there has been little effort put to collect and document the common practices that have been used repeatedly to solve recurring problems in offshore development. Using the systematic literature review approach and applying customised search criteria based on the research questions, we identified and reviewed over 200 cases from literature. As part of this research we also conducted semi-structured interviews, in which we involved practicing professionals who were working with distributed teams. As a result, we identified and documented a number of solutions to address the common agile issues in software development, which we classified as distributed agile patterns. This research presents the challenges caused by offshore development, how they affect the applicability of agile practices in offshoring. We have then developed a catalogue containing the identified fifteen distributed agile patterns and have classified them into four categories. We have used a case study to explain how these patterns can be applied in offshore software development. To verify and validate our catalogue, we conducted a reflection workshop, in which we invited professionals to review and comment on the patterns. The participants engaged in reviewing the patterns and gave constructive feedback, which helped in improving the catalogue. Based on their feedback, the distributed agile patterns catalogue was finalised. The catalogue can help practitioners make a more informed decision while choosing agile for their offshore projects

The Software Prototype as Digital Boundary Object – A Revelatory Longitudinal Innovation Case

With the availability of lower cost but highly skilled software development labor from offshore regions, entrepreneurs from developed countries who do not have software development experience can utilize this workforce to develop innovative software products. In order to succeed in offshored innovation projects, the often extreme knowledge boundaries between the onsite entrepreneur and the offshore software development team have to be overcome. Prior research has proposed that boundary objects are critical for bridging such boundaries – if they are appropriately used. Our longitudinal, revelatory case study of a software innovation project is one of the first to explore the role of the software prototype as a digital boundary object. Our study empirically unpacks five use practices that transform the software prototype into a boundary object such that knowledge boundaries are bridged. Our findings provide new theoretical insights for literature on software innovation and boundary objects, and have implications for practice

Consequences of Project Team Member Turnover for agile Information Systems Development Teams: A Multiple Case Study

Turnover of IT professionals has been at the center of IT workforce research, mainly focusing on individual level drivers and consequences. This paper explores how turnover events affect the dynamics of agile software development (ISD) teams. We conducted 25 semi-structured interviews in seven cases to understand team-level consequences of turnover events. We found that ISD teams who directly or indirectly experienced turnover events are confronted with the following four consequences on the group level: (1) group dynamics shift, leading to (2) interpersonal voids, and (3) voids of expertise which consequently leads to (4) rebalancing resources. Through our work, we contribute to a better understanding of how coping processes that start after collective turnover occurs in agile ISD teams are shaped at the group level

How to develop best practices for outsourcing for Entrepreneurial companies

This study explores the best practices that could be used for outsourcing for Entrepreneurial and startup companie

Analysis of Japanese Software Business

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-96).Today, our society is surrounded by information system, computers, and software. It is no exaggeration to say that our daily life depends on software and its function. Accordingly, the business of software has made miraculous growth in the last two decades and is playing a significant role in various industries. In accordance with the growing business needs for effective software and information systems, various firms in various countries have entered the business of software seeking for prosperity. Some have succeeded, some have failed. What distinguishes these firms is its ability to manage and deliver quality products on demand, on time, at a low cost. To achieve such goal, software firms have thought out different methods and tools striving to establish its practice. Nevertheless, many software firms around the globe are struggling to satisfy its clients to achieve business success. With no exception, Japanese software firms are facing difficulties of managing software projects. While its ability to deliver high quality product is well acknowledged among software industry, its high cost structure and schedule delays are thought of as serious problems. Moreover, some of the transitions in the industry are forcing Japanese software firms to seek new opportunities. Therefore, it is important for Japanese software firms to establish more productive ways of developing software products and effective business strategies. Primal objective of this paper is to analyze the present conditions of Japanese software firms and to derive some recommendations which could enhance its current situation. It will also include the discussion of software development practices in US and India firms to better understand strength and weaknesses of Japanese firms and capture some important concepts which can be applied to improve current practice.by Kenichiro Inada.S.M.in System Design and Managemen