A Lean Enterprise Architecture Approach as an Enabler for Organizational Agility : Case: Metso Outotec

In the era where delivery speed is perceived more important than IT landscape integration, consistency and long-term planning, different architectural approaches have become important considerations of information systems management. Moreover, recent studies have shown that the need for a holistic EA is often overlooked, when organizations try to apply agile development models, which may lead to several problems, such as technical debt, redundant rework, inconsistent communication, decentralized and siloed architecture design, unsustainable architecture, and inconsistence in coding style. Hence, with the growing deployment of scaling agile methods there is a need for purpose-fit approaches to integrate EA frameworks to enable organization agility while maintaining long-term vision. This study aims to explore how EA activities are put into practices in a company deploying large-scale agile development methods – namely EA deliverables, EA benefits, EA concerns and EA enablers. In total, 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted from a case company, and an analysis was done using the Gioia method. As a result, EA deliverables (business objective deliverables, intentional architecture deliverables, and emergent design deliverables), EA benefits (organizational agility and organizational robustness), EA concerns (immaturity, disengagement, urgency, and resistance and anti-patterns), and EA enablers (communication and collaboration, Lean EA, and EA culture) were identified. The enterprise architecture practices used by the case company were in line with the guidelines and best practices recommended by the literature and industry experts. Moreover, a literature review provided some theoretical constructs and suggestions, namely the Lean EA development (LEAD) method and the design principles of architectural thinking for supporting organizational agility, which can be recommended to be applied by the case company or any other organization scaling agile

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Health-Related Stigma as a Determinant of Functioning in Young Adults with Narcolepsy

Symptoms of narcolepsy tend to arise during adolescence or young adulthood, a formative time in human development during which people are usually completing their education and launching a career. Little is known about the impact of narcolepsy on the social aspects of health-related quality of life in young adults. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between health-related stigma, mood (anxiety and depression) and daytime functioning in young adults with narcolepsy compared to those without narcolepsy. Young adults (age 18-35) with narcolepsy (N = 122) and without narcolepsy (N = 93) were mailed a packet that included questionnaires and a self-addressed postage paid envelope. The questionnaire included demographic information and a composite of instruments including the SF 36, Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ), Fife Stigma Scale (FSS), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Variable associations were assessed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U Test, correlations, stepwise multiple regression and path analysis. Young adults with narcolepsy perceived significantly more stigma and lower mood and health-related quality of life than young adults without narcolepsy (p<0.01). Health-related stigma was directly and indirectly associated with lower functioning through depressed mood. Fifty-two percent of the variance in functioning was explained by the final model in the young adults with narcolepsy. Health-related stigma in young adults with narcolepsy is at a level consistent with other chronic medical illnesses. Health-related stigma may be an important determinant of functioning in young adults with narcolepsy. Future work is indicated toward further characterizing stigma and developing interventions that address various domains of stigma in people with narcolepsy