Agile in the Era of Digitalization : A Finnish Survey Study

This paper was a Candidate for the Best Full Paper.Peer reviewe

Information flows at inter-team boundaries in agile information systems development

Agile software development methods are being used on larger projects thus the study of inter-team communication are becoming an important topic of interest for researchers. This research addresses inter-team communication by exploring the tools and three different boundaries, inter-team, team and customers, and geographically separated teams. In this research, we gathered data from semi-structured face-to-face interviews which were analyzed following the grounded theory approach. Our study reveals consensus from different teams on the importance of virtual Kanban boards. Also, some teams members tend to adapt to other teams’ preferred communication tool. We observed challenges around interdependent user stories among the different teams and highlighted the problems that rise at the different boundaries. Keywords: agile information system development • inter-team communication • agile team boundary • communication • agile methods • cooperating agile team

A study of the Scrum Master’s role

Scrum is an increasingly common approach to software development adopted by organizations around the world. However, as organizations transition from traditional plan-driven development to agile development with Scrum, the question arises as to which Scrum role (Product Owner, Scrum Master, or Scrum Team Member) corresponds to a Project Manager, or conversely which Scrum role should the Project Managers adopt? In an attempt to answer this question, we adopted a mixed-method research approach comprising a systematic literature review and embedded case study of a commercial software development team. Our research has identified activities that comprise the Scrum Master role, and which additional roles are actually performed by Scrum Masters in practice. We found nine activities that are performed by Scrum Masters. In addition, we found that Scrum Masters also perform other roles, most importantly as Project Managers. This latter situation results in tension and conflict of interest that could have a negative impact on the performance of the team as a whole. These results point to the need to re-assess the role of Project Managers in organizations that adopt Scrum as a development approach. We hypothesize that it might be better for Project Managers to become Product Owners, as aspects of this latter role are more consistent with the traditional responsibilities of a Project Manager

Mixed Climatology, Non-synoptic Phenomena and Downburst Wind Loading of Structures

Modern wind engineering was born in 1961, when Davenport published a paper in which meteorology, micrometeorology, climatology, bluff-body aerodynamics and structural dynamics were embedded within a homogeneous framework of the wind loading of structures called today \u201cDavenport chain\u201d. Idealizing the wind with a synoptic extra-tropical cyclone, this model was so simple and elegant as to become a sort of axiom. Between 1976 and 1977 Gomes and Vickery separated thunderstorm from non-thunderstorm winds, determined their disjoint extreme distributions and derived a mixed model later extended to other Aeolian phenomena; this study, which represents a milestone in mixed climatology, proved the impossibility of labelling a heterogeneous range of events by the generic term \u201cwind\u201d. This paper provides an overview of this matter, with particular regard to the studies conducted at the University of Genova on thunderstorm downbursts

Withdrawal or reduction of the dietary vitamin premix on bone parameters of broiler chickens in two rearing systems

This study was conducted to compare the withdrawal or reduction of the vitamin premix (VP) from broiler diets at between days 29 and 42 of age on the characteristics of leg bones of the broilers in a battery cage (Trial 1) and a floor (Trial 2) rearing system. Seven experimental diets were formulated, based on wheat and barley, and consisted of four replicates per treatment. The metatarsus bone was used for measuring biomechanical bone characteristics, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and calcium concentrations blood serum to assess vitamin D3 status. The results of the first trial showed that there were no significant differences in body weight, strength of metatarsus bone and contents of ash, Ca and P in the toe with reduction or withdrawal of the vitamin premix from the diets during days 29 - 35. However, after 36 - 42 days there were significant differences for these parameters between the treatment without the vitamin premix (T1) and the other treatments. At 29 - 35 days and 36 - 42 days there were significant differences for ALP activity between T1 and the other treatments. The results of Trial 2 showed that the reduction in the vitamin premix and withdrawal at d 29 did not impair body weight, bone parameters and blood concentrations during the final growth period of the broilers. Finally, the results of the present study indicate that in the battery cage system it is possible to reduce the level of the dietary vitamin premix during the finisher period, but withdrawal can negatively affect body weight and bone parameters of broiler chickens, while in the floor system it is possible to withdrawal VP from broilers’ finisher diets.Keywords: Alkaline phosphatase, ash, broilers, calcium, bone strengt

Scale and Responsiveness in Large-Scale Software Development

In large-scale software development, there is typically a conflict between being responsive to individual customers, while at the same time achieving scale in terms of delivering a high number of features to a large customer base. Most often, organizations focus on scale and individual customer requests are viewed as problematic since they add complexity to product variation and version control. Here, we explore the use of customer-specific teams as a means to address this conflict. First, we verify the use of customer-specific teams as successful for improving customer responsiveness, customer satisfaction and feature quality through a case study at Ericsson. Second, we identify three approaches for how to organize feature development, and recommendations on how software development companies can efficiently use these to improve their practices. Third, we observe new business opportunities that arise when using customer-specific teams

Comparison of Performance and Leg Bone Characteristics of Broiler Fed Different Levels of Vitamin Premix in Floor and

Two experiments were carried out in order to comparison of the effect of different levels of vitamin premix in two raising systems of floor and cage on performance and leg bone characteristics of broiler chickens which were fed with adjusted diet base on wheat and barley during 29 to 42 days. The treatments were composed of 0, 33.33, 66.66 and 100 percent of vitamin premix (according to the recommendation of vitamin premix Producer Company) which used from 29 to 42 days. Experiment in floor was carried out by using 288 male broiler chickens (Ross 308) with 4 treatments and 4 replicates in a completely randomized design in floor system. Experiment in cage battery system was carried out by using 80 male broiler chickens with 4 treatments and 4 replicates in raising cage. Feed intake and body weight gain of each replicate were calculated during two weeks of the experiment. During these two weeks, in experiment in floor, two broiler chickens were measured and in experiment in cage battery system one broiler chickens slaughtered and breast, thigh, percentage of abdominal fat and liver were measured. After slaughtered, right leg of each bird was used for determine ash, calcium, phosphorus and strength. The results of the experiment in floor showed that vitamin premix withdrawal at 29 days of age did not impair carcass characteristics and leg bone characteristics during the final rearing period. The results of battery cage system showed that withdrawal of vitamin premix from the diet of experimental birds; were induced negative effect on productive performance, weights of thigh, and breast and leg bone characteristics during 36-42 day of ages. Therefore, it seems that there is the possibility of vitamin premix levels reduction up to the approximate 33% level in finisher period while in the floor system; it is possible to withdraw vitamin supplements in broilers’ finisher diets and in this way the costs of poultry industry will reduce

No silver brick: Opportunities and limitations of teaching Scrum with Lego workshops

Education in Software Engineering has to both teach technical content such as databases and programming but also organisational skills such as team work and project management. While the former can be evaluated from a product perspective, the latter are usually embedded in a Software Engineering process and need to be assessed and adapted throughout their implementation. The in-action property of processes puts a strain on teachers since we cannot be present throughout the students’ work. To address this challenge we have adopted workshops to teach Scrum by building a Lego city in short sprints to focus on the methodological content. In this way we can be present throughout the process and coach the students. We have applied the exercise in six different courses, across five different educational programmes and observed more than 450 participating students. In this paper, we report on our experiences with this approach, based on quantitative data from the students and qualitative data from both students and teachers. We give recommendations for learning opportunities and best practices and discuss the limitations of these workshops in a classroom setting. We also report on how the students transferred their methodological knowledge to software development projects in an academic setting