Influential factors of aligning Spotify squads in mission-critical and offshore projects – a longitudinal embedded case study

Changing the development process of an organization is one of the toughest and riskiest decisions. This is particularly true if the known experiences and practices of the new considered ways of working are relative and subject to contextual assumptions. Spotify engineering culture is deemed as a new agile software development method which increasingly attracts large-scale organizations. The method relies on several small cross-functional self-organized teams (i.e., squads). The squad autonomy is a key driver in Spotify method, where a squad decides what to do and how to do it. To enable effective squad autonomy, each squad shall be aligned with a mission, strategy, short-term goals and other squads. Since a little known about Spotify method, there is a need to answer the question of: How can organizations work out and maintain the alignment to enable loosely coupled and tightly aligned squads? In this paper, we identify factors to support the alignment that is actually performed in practice but have never been discussed before in terms of Spotify method. We also present Spotify Tailoring by highlighting the modified and newly introduced processes to the method. Our work is based on a longitudinal embedded case study which was conducted in a real-world large-scale offshore software intensive organization that maintains mission-critical systems. According to the confidentiality agreement by the organization in question, we are not allowed to reveal a detailed description of the features of the explored project

Software Development Process Change Management: Implementation of ASDM

Agile software development methodologies have been receiving a lot of attention in recent times. Although doubts have been cast on the efficacy of these methods for very large projects, some of the techniques and practices they advocate are very appealing and are being seriously considered by many organizations. It is our contention that many of these practices are antithetical to the orthodoxy of prevailing software approaches. In particular, nontrivial reconfigurations of organizational form, management practices, and workflows have to be undergone to successfully integrate agile principles into existing software development practices. This paper draws on the organizational change management literature to argue that the nature of change involved is resonant of the efforts to introduce Business Process Reengineering (BPR) in organizations. The magnitude of the change as well as the implications of migrating to agile methodologies is also presented

Artificial Intelligence Landscape: Topic Modeling and Bibliometric Approach

We elucidate the landscape of companies that are embedded in artificial intelligence by examining the patent co-citation network of over 30000 patents published from 2015 through 2023. Our research highlights 10 prominent themes on which industry front-runners have invested their resources. The primary areas that emerged from topic modeling were speech, text processing, and image processing. While intuitive, it emphasizes the diversity of data that lends itself to various applications. The study has significant implications for both academics and practitioners. Researchers can enhance their understanding through topic modeling analysis, particularly by focusing on the distinct domains within AI. Our analysis, which clusters companies based on topics, offers a strategic perspective for organizations. It assists them in identifying areas with less competition and potential collaborations within their sphere. This study deepens our understanding of the current AI landscape

HEALTHCARE INFORMATION SYSTEMS: A REVIEW OF ISSUES TOWARD RESEARCH THEMES AND AGENDAS INTO THE 21st CENTURY

Healthcare information systems encompass a wide range of issues from many disciplines including medicine, computer science, management science, statistics, biomedical engineering and numerous others. In the natural progression toward use of computers in healthcare, researchers in this multidisciplinary field are examining numerous issues ranging from examining the potential of artificial intelligence applications to application of total quality management principles to healthcare. This paper discusses various issues in an attempt toward development of a first cut framework/taxonomy of research themes and agendas for MIS researchers

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

Locus of Fluctuations: an Examination of Project Disruptions

Project deviations of different types are used to examine the theorized role of Locus of Control on two types of project outcomes: process performance and developer satisfaction. A survey of 315 professional project managers is analyzed with PLS-SEM to quantify the direct effects of requirements fluctuations, staff fluctuations and technology fluctuations as well as the contingent effects from External Locus of Flux. We demonstrate the consequences of deviation events that complicate efforts to maintain situational control. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Exploring the Structure of Software Development Research: A Preliminary Text Analysis

Software development projects are critical to organizations when seeking operational efficiencies, competitive advantage, or both. In this research we use text analytics and bibliometrics to identify the key topics of software development that were studied in IS research published in four top IS journals. We also discuss the distribution of various topics across years and the underlying cluster groupings

Utilizing Machine Learning to Explore the Relationship between Organizational Wireless and Mobile Strategy and Firm Performance: the Moderating Roles of IT Investment and CIO Compensation

This study investigates the implications of organizational wireless and mobile strategy on firm performance in the context of publicly traded information technology firms in the United States. Based on the resource-based view, it is hypothesized that information technology investment positively moderates the relationship between wireless and mobile strategy and firm performance. Similarly, chief information officer compensation is expected to strengthen the positive relationship between wireless and mobile strategy and firm performance. To test these hypotheses, topic modeling techniques and ordinary least squares regression are employed to analyze the data. The results support the positive effects of wireless and mobile strategy on firm performance. Additionally, chief information officer compensation significantly improves the performance implications of wireless and mobile strategy. Furthermore, information technology investment strengthens the positive impact of wireless and mobile strategy on firm performance. This study concludes by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings

Some Findings Concerning Requirements in Agile Methodologies

gile methods have appeared as an attractive alternative to conventional methodologies. These methods try to reduce the time to market and, indirectly, the cost of the product through flexible development and deep customer involvement. The processes related to requirements have been extensively studied in literature, in most cases in the frame of conventional methods. However, conclusions of conventional methodologies could not be necessarily valid for Agile; in some issues, conventional and Agile processes are radically different. As recent surveys report, inadequate project requirements is one of the most conflictive issues in agile approaches and better understanding about this is needed. This paper describes some findings concerning requirements activities in a project developed under an agile methodology. The project intended to evolve an existing product and, therefore, some background information was available. The major difficulties encountered were related to non-functional needs and management of requirements dependencies