Toward a conceptual framework of agile methods: a study of agility in different disciplines (original) (raw)
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Agile software development or agility is a sound concept of today's scenario which comprises the methods like scrum, Kanban, pair programming, extreme programming etc...Agile methods work with collaboration, competence, predictive planning and achievement and so that they let a project to be completed in its optimum state i.e. within time and cost and with producing best results. Agile methods are not bound to apply only in field of software development but they can be used in each and every field for getting best results in least efforts. This paper is an attempt to provide a study on agile methods as well as the chances to use them in other fields of engineering.
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For Developing software there are two main methodologies: the traditional sequential or “the waterfall method” and the iterative or “The Agile Method”. In this paper we emphasis on Agile Manifesto and its principles. It provides the general understanding of Agile Software Development and can act as a foundation for choosing methodology for the software projects as we have compared different methods and listed their Applicability and Limitations.
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Together with many success stories, promises such as the increase in production speed and the improvement in stakeholders' collaboration have contributed to making agile a transformation in the software industry in which many companies want to take part. However, driven either by a natural and expected evolution or by contextual factors that challenge the adoption of agile methods as prescribed by their creator(s), software processes in practice mutate into hybrids over time. Are these still agile? In this article, we investigate the question: what makes a software development method agile? We present an empirical study grounded in a large-scale international survey that aims to identify software development methods and practices that improve or tame agility. Based on 556 data points, we analyze the perceived degree of agility in the implementation of standard project disciplines and its relation to used development methods and practices. Our findings suggest that only a small number of participants operate their projects in a purely traditional or agile manner (under 15%). That said, most project disciplines and most practices show a clear trend towards increasing degrees of agility. Compared to the methods used to develop software, the selection of practices has a stronger effect on the degree of agility of a given discipline. Finally, there are no methods or practices that explicitly guarantee or prevent agility. We conclude that agility cannot be defined solely at the process level. Additional factors need to be taken into account when trying to implement or improve agility in a software company. Finally, we discuss the field of software process-related research in the light of our findings and present a roadmap for future research.
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The Agile Manifesto and Agile Principles are typically referred to as the definitions of "agile" and "agility". However, many other definitions exist in the literature. Thus the different definitions provide interesting source for research. For each definition we examine where their emphasis is and compare that to the emphases found in the Agile Principles.
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The growing popularity of Agile management methods has led to their application to a number of areas inside, but also outside, the software development domain. However, despite many practitioner reports, research exploring whether and how Agile practices have been applied in domains beyond software development has been rather patchy with little empirical evidence. What is there behind the hype and how can other domains learn from it? To address this gap in the research, we present the findings of our study on the application of Agile management practices in other domains, including an outlook towards a potential expansion enabling Business Agility. To practitioners, this study presents examples of Scrum applied outside the software development domain including concrete practices applied. To researchers, it presents an empirical starting point for further exploration. Keywords: Agile • Agile practices • Business agility • Change • Client orientation • Collaboration • Responsiveness • Retrospectives • Scrum outside software development
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Today's firms, particularly startups, require agile communication to sense and seize opportunities and to adapt to the market as quickly as possible (Picken 2017; Takeuchi and Nonaka 1986). However, scholars have predominantly focused on external communication, taking agile internal communication for granted. This paper analyzes the combinations of conditions (i.e., firm features and communication devices) that are present in startups with agile internal communication. The study considers the startup's life cycle, the size of the startup, and the size of the founding team. The use of direct communication channels, structured communication channels, and agile methods is also considered. Analysis of 88 Spanish startups shows that the size of the founding team influences the combination of present and absent communication methods when agile internal communication is present. In startups where the founding team is small, direct communication methods are absent, whereas the use of structured communication methods, online project management, and other communication tools is present. On the contrary, when the founding team size is large, direct communication is a core condition, as is the absence of structured communication methods. Agile methods represent a peripheral condition for the presence of agile internal communication when the founding team is small and structured communication is present as a core condition. Similarly, when the founding team is small and the presence of direct communication is a core condition, the presence of agile methods is a peripheral condition for the presence of agile internal communication.
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Bu çalışmanın amacı, öğretmenlerin algılarına göre, okul yöneticilerinin çevik liderlik özelliklerinin belirlenmesine yönelik bir ölçek geliştirmektir. Ölçeğin geliştirilme aşamasında 96 madde oluşturulmuş ve uzman görüşüne sunulmuştur. Lawshe analizi ile yapılan kapsam geçerliği işlemlerinin ardından 8 madde ölçekten çıkarılmıştır. Oluşturulan 88 maddelik taslak ölçek 2018-2019 eğitim öğretim yılında İstanbul ilinde çeşitli okul kademelerinde görev yapmakta olan öğretmenlere uygulanmış 1056 öğretmenden değerlendirmeye uygun veri toplanmıştır. Ölçeğin yapı geçerliğini saptamak amacıyla temel bileşenler analizi ile faktör analizi yapılmış ve Varimax dik döndürme işlemi gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu analizler sonucunda 5 faktörlü (duygusal çeviklik, sinerji çevikliği, dijital okuryazarlık ve teknoloji çevikliği, paylaşılan sorumluluk ve proaktivite çevikliği ve yeniliklere açıklık ve uyum sağlama çevikliği) 56 maddeli yapının toplam varyansın %82,92’sini açıklayan bir ölçeği oluşturduğu g...
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A g i l q is becomng an imnpoi?ant cotnponent in the continuous struggle to increase overall supply c h a~n perjornzance. The need to react speedib to sudden cha~zges in dentand 01. supply necessitates the sharing of a large amount of high qualitj, i~ifornzation 111 a tinzelj' manner between trading partners. Electronic data ~nterchange (ED() and other interorganizational systems (IOS) are able to support these goals; however, the d@usion ofthese systenzs throughout the supplj~ chaln 1s b~ no means guaranteed. We borrow porn the IOS adoption literature to explain reasons offailure to adopt. We use the adoption position moclei to anal).ze three shovt case studies and we corroborate that, in these cases, the relative power ofafirm and its intent of adoption toward a speclfic IOS together.deternzlne its position in the decision. By combining the adoption positions of the trndzng partners, we can effectively predict the decision ofthe outcome. At the end ofthe paper, ice propose strategies to overcome these barriers which hinder the realizat~on of arl agile s~~p p l y chnnl
Exploring knowledge management in agile software development organizations
International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 2019
Knowledge represents a sustainable asset for innovative firms and specifically software industries working in unpredictable environments. Until the late 90's, the most widely used software development approaches advocated extensive documentation and traceability. The emphasized knowledge is mainly explicit. However, with the dynamics of progress of technologies and the market changing demands, extensive planning and documentation are quickly becoming obsolete. As such, more flexible methods, called agile methods, have gained popularity. These methods value collective learning and close collaboration between team members. To this day, little research has shown how agile software development supports knowledge management initiatives. This research helps fill this gap by reviewing the related work on agile software development by focusing on and examining knowledge management initiatives in agile organizations. We developed a theoretical model of knowledge management in agile environments. Our findings highlight the way knowledge management is embedded in agile practices, including continuous communication, iterative development, knowledge repositories and engineering practices. It also emphasizes the importance of knowledge management in Information Technology development organizations.
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