Google search inquiries 2010-2019: Agile marketing (Blue), Agile manufacturing (Yellow), Agile HR (Green), Agile sales (Red), and Agile education (Purple) (Color figure online)

Google search inquiries 2010-2019: Agile marketing (Blue), Agile manufacturing (Yellow), Agile HR (Green), Agile sales (Red), and Agile education (Purple) (Color figure online)

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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 emp...

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... many practitioner reports and potential interest (see Fig. 1), we found little empirical literature on the application of Agile methods, especially in the domains of marketing, healthcare, finance and human resources. Most of the reports relating to these four domains consist of accounts of personal experiences recorded in specialist blogs, forum discussions and opinion pieces, and thus are not ...

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... Still, despite increasing adoption, the application of agile frameworks across different business domains outside of IT has so far received little attention in the empirical literature. While previous studies explored the topic from a qualitative perspective [4], there has been little analysis of the impact on team performance beyond software development settings [4]. This paper reports on a survey-based empirical study aiming (1) to understand the application of agile methods across different business disciplines outside of IT and software development, particularly what is being applied, why, and where; and (2) to examine the relationship between the application of agile methods and their impact on Teamwork Quality (TWQ) and team performance across different business domains and disciplines. ...
... Still, despite increasing adoption, the application of agile frameworks across different business domains outside of IT has so far received little attention in the empirical literature. While previous studies explored the topic from a qualitative perspective [4], there has been little analysis of the impact on team performance beyond software development settings [4]. This paper reports on a survey-based empirical study aiming (1) to understand the application of agile methods across different business disciplines outside of IT and software development, particularly what is being applied, why, and where; and (2) to examine the relationship between the application of agile methods and their impact on Teamwork Quality (TWQ) and team performance across different business domains and disciplines. ...
... Oprins et al. [4] identified characteristics and enablers for the application of agile frameworks across different business domains: (1) Team-based work, especially in self-managing multidisciplinary teams; (2) Continuous improvement and iterative development in Sprints; (3) Learning organization; and (4) Customer involvement. ...
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The global trend of increasing work complexity and speed is pressuring organizations to seek new ways to improve the performance of their teams and team of teams. Agile frameworks such as Scrum are a popular collaboration framework for teams, however their application outside the software development domain has received little attention in research literature until recently. This paper reports on an empirical study to understand the application of agile frameworks across different business domains outside of IT and their impact on Teamwork Quality (TWQ) and team performance. Stemming from a multinational dataset of 71 respondents, the results indicate that (1) the vast majority of teams apply Scrum or Kanban in the context of service development and support; (2) the main objectives for the application of agile methods is the creation of a shared overview of tasks, improved time to market, as well as improved flexibility and efficiency; and that (3) Agile Mindset shows strong to moderate correlations between various aspects of Teamwork Quality and eventual team performance.
... The processes adopted by teams in the development and operations cycles follow continuous engineering trends, resulting in the streamlining of the software development lifecycle [15]. However, although the business cycle is not alien to agile practices [30], they are still far from being the de facto way in which to operate. It is common to use hierarchical and bureaucratic organizational structures and processes, or worse still, those that are guided by poor and misapplied agility [31]. ...
Chapter
BizDevOps is an extension of the DevOps approach, which incorporates a business cycle involving non-IT stakeholders in order to achieve IT/business alignment and meet organizational needs. However, this new cycle may run the risk of losing agility. While the development and operations cycles of DevOps are inherently agile, the lack of agility in the business cycle can create bottlenecks, thus compromising overall software lifecycle agility. This work addresses the relevance of this problem, analyzes the associated difficulties, and proposes potential solutions. The difficulties identified encompass stakeholders, processes, information and resources. A promising solution involves leveraging Enterprise Architecture enriched with agile practices defined in the latest version (10) of the TOGAF industrial standard. These practices make it possible to describe the entire organization, including the alignment relationships between business elements and system and IT elements. Furthermore, the incorporation of continuous engineering activities into BizDevOps, such as continuous planning and continuous budgeting, could improve IT/business alignment. Moreover, the use of ‘business capabilities’ as a technique with which to assess abilities and align objectives is essential. This is because it allows the specification of the elements required in order to achieve a specific purpose or expected outcome for the organization, such as developing software while ensuring the alignment of IT with the business. The proposed solutions have the objective of overcoming alignment challenges in BizDevOps by addressing stakeholder involvement, process optimization, information flow and resource allocation. The study emphasizes the importance of IT/business alignment in software development projects and suggests that agile enterprise architecture practices should effectively tackle this challenge within the context of BizDevOps.
... There are several studies in the literature related to agile project management. The use of methodologies such as Scrum (Ashraf and Ali, 2013;Azanha et al., 2017;Baxter and Turner, 2023;Cervone, 2011;Hidalgo, 2019;Lee and Chen, 2023;Ma'arif et al., 2018;Milićević et al., 2019;Oprins et al., 2019;Peek, 2022;Permana, 2015;Yücenur, 2023) and Kanban (Alaidaros et al., 2018(Alaidaros et al., , 2019(Alaidaros et al., , 2021Damij and Damij, 2021;Weflen et al., 2022) is evidenced independently but also in an integrated manner (Bhavsar et al., 2020;Cruz et al., 2021;Febles Parker and del Monte, 2014;Ferrão and Dias Canedo, 2015; Fuentes Del Burgo et al., (Anderson et al., 2012;Cocco et al., 2011). In this sense, studying how to maximize value generation in VUCA environments is relevant, considering the effect of constraints in the workflow. ...
Article
Highly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments (VUCA) complicate and condition project management. With the emergence of agile project management, it is proposed to co-construct it with the client's active participation. Two used agile methodologies are Scrum and Kanban. Scrum is based on executing fast, interactive cycles (Sprints) for the incremental construction of products. Kanban promotes the balance of the continuous workflow through synchronizing tasks and seeking perfection. The combined use of Scrum-Kanban facilitates the integration of the best of both approaches. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) proposes a method for managing constraints in a system (Constraint Management). The Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) method and Buffer Management are practical applications of this theory. This study seeks to maximize the continuous flow of value (Throughput) in agile project management by synergistically integrating the DBR method with Scrum-Kanban. The five-step process is implemented for the planning, executing, and controlling the Kanban board in a Scrum Sprint cycle. Four scenarios are evaluated: (1) Balanced Line; (2) Unbalanced Line; (3) Unbalanced Line Modification 1-Stable, Robust and Fast; and (4) Unbalanced Line Modification 2-Focusing and Elevation. Measurement of completed work (Kanban cards in the "Done" column) and final inventory for the Sprint cycle reveals that Simulation 4 is the optimal scenario, achieving the highest average "output" ("Done" cards) with reduced inventory ("Doing" cards). The integration of DBR with Scrum-Kanban maximizes the completed work (Throughput) and minimizes the final inventory of the Sprint cycle, which is corroborated by the principle of Little's Law.
... Chow and Cao, 23 Agarwal and Rathod, 46 Tyagi et al., 69 Agile methods are used because they lead to customer satisfaction Olsson et al., 5 Oprins et al., 87 Mishra et al., 93 ...
... Jørgensen et al.,86 noticed that external factors complicate the use of good Agile practices, for instance the lack of involvement by the customer. Team-based work, continuous improvement, learning, organization, and customer involvement are main enablers in Agile practices.87 However, it is interesting to note that despite the many benefits of Agile methods adoption still there is a lack of user involvement and participation.88 ...
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This study provides empirical evidence to the body of knowledge in Agile methods adoption in small, medium, and large organizations in the global context. This research explores facilitators and inhibitors of Agile methods adoption in software development organizations. A survey was conducted among Agile professionals to gather survey data from 52 software organizations in seven countries across the world. This study found many facilitators of Agile adoption to be significant such as customers’ dominant issues, encouragement, project champion, highly competent team, use of tools, etc. Similarly a correlation analysis revealed multiple inhibitors as significant: absence of a full set of right Agile practices, absence of customer presence, absence of tracking mechanisms during Agile progress, and failure to determine the role of the client. The present study identifies that an Agile team with high expertise and competence leads to higher quality in software, customer satisfaction along with return on investment (ROI) while a small Agile team increases ease in handling changing requirements, customer satisfaction, reduced delivery time, and increased ROI. Frequent delivery accelerates better control over work, adds to software quality, customer satisfaction, and in shortening delivery time along with increase ROI. It has also been observed that providing essential features early leads to increase in software quality and customer satisfaction. This study confirms that active customer focus leads to better control over work. Further, absence of customer decreases dealing with changing requirements, and customer satisfaction while absence of progress tracking lowers customer satisfaction.
... This is exemplified by self-managing (agile) teams where leadership is shared (Manz & Sims, 1987) and decisions on the activities of the team are made collectively (Leffingwell, 2010). While such teams occur mostly in the IT industry (Hoda & Murugesan, 2016;Oprins et al., 2019), they are becoming more and more common in other industries as well (Ciric et al., 2018;Papadakis & Tsironis, 2018). For agile project teams, shared leadership can be a valuable solution enabling them to make full use of their potential (Carson et al., 2007) and attain the planned team performance (Nicolaides et al., 2014;Sousa & van Dierendonck, 2016) as well as the more distal outcomes (Pearce & Conger, 2003;Sweeney et al., 2019). ...
... The analysis of the sample structure indicates the dominant position of companies operating in the IT and telecommunications industry and in services. This confirms the researchers' observation that agile teams most often work on projects in the IT industry (Hoda & Murugesan, 2016;Oprins et al., 2019), even though they more and more frequently appear in other industries as well (Ciric et al., 2018;Papadakis & Tsironis, 2018). What is unique about companies in these industries is the high degree of integration of the offered product or service with the software component, which allows creating added value for the customer. ...
Article
Get access Cite article Share options Information, rights and permissions Metrics and citations Abstract Drawing on leadership theory, this research verified what makes shared leadership an effective form of leadership for agile project teams, and whether using it influences the outcomes achieved by such teams as well as the more distal outcomes. Survey data were collected from 251 members of agile project teams implementing projects of an iterative and incremental character. Structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was adopted to test the hypotheses. Our research confirms that shared leadership is an effective form of leadership for agile project teams whose members are empowered to engage in leadership functions or processes. The findings confirm a positive direct impact of shared leadership on the performance of agile project teams and indirect impact on project efficiency and effectiveness. The research results also confirm the influence of project team–related contextual moderators on shared leadership inputs and outputs. The study contributes to leadership theory in the plural leadership research stream and confirms the shift from individual leadership to collective leadership as a result of the growing popularity of the agility paradigm.
... ▪ Processes: In the development and operations cycles, the processes adopted by teams follow continuous engineering trends, which results in streamlining the software development lifecycle (Fitzgerald & Stol, 2017). On the other hand, in the business cycle, despite not being alien to agile practices (Oprins, Frijns, & Stettina, 2019), they are still far from being the de facto way to operate. It is common to use hierarchical and bureaucratic organizational structures and processes or worse, guided by poor and misapplied agility (Denning, 2020). ...
... The processes should not be unifyingly perceived as there are in most cases similar stakeholders involved. Another approach will include the currently promoted and employed efficient agile methods (Miller, 2020;Oprins et al., 2019). Furthermore, the reengineering sometimes implies the necessary organizational, departmental, team as well as individual changes or amendments. ...
... Study [27] explores potential applications of Agile management methods in domains where they have not yet been tried and provides a trajectory of where Agile management methods can be explored in the future. They, like study [28], anticipate that the domains that require creative work, where Agile mainly is located, could open up further demands for Agile methods in diversified domains including engineering, science, education, audiovisual industries, and healthcare. ...
Chapter
Agile has gained speed and penetrated into many and varying organizations today. In tune, the term Agile has become representing a widely appreciated mind-set, principles, practices and methods, for varying domains. Despite these benefits of agility, the Agile consultants may evangelize it with commercial concerns resulting in “selling agility” to organizations as an object in the form of packaged practices, which may lead to end of Agile. Also, there are views about/on the Agile Manifesto as it is a product of the past and mainly developer centric. Those concerns have led us to investigate whether Agile is sustainable enough to live for a long time, what the future of Agile look like in the coming years or whether there is any point in the Agile Manifesto to be altered. To find out answers to these questions, fourteen interviews from nine companies in three major industries in Turkey including TechFin (Technology-Finance), Aviation, and Telecommunication were included to collect data. It seems that Agile will be lasting for a long time as it provides many benefits to the organizations. On the way, it may evolve into many different versions shaped around customized needs and contexts of the organizations. Organizations will probably focus more on people related factors, integrating and balancing Agile with other best practices, being-changed communication needs after the pandemic, seeking solutions for the outside of the “initial Agile” zone and Agile mindset. Commonly, the participants expect to see a change in the software focus on the Agile Manifesto, as well as an addition of value perspective on it.KeywordsAgile software developmentASDAgilityScrumKanbanSustainProspective
... • Marketing, human resources, communication, geology [47]. ...
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It is rare for a project to progress without surprises or changes. An Agile approach aims not only to accept these challenges, but also to respond to them and quickly make the required adaptations so that the project remains in line with the beneficiary’s needs. This approach is often associated with software development, but it can in fact be applied to any type of project: manufacturing bathtubs and cars, teaching music, sales team performance,... Various conditions create a favorable climate for the realization of an Agile project: tolerance for variable efficiency, context of permanent change, a relatively high level of complexity, willingness to collaborate, open-mindedness and managerial support. We experimented with the implementation of an Agile approach within a police zone in Belgium, and more specifically within the framework of the zonal security plan follow-up. This plan determines the priorities of the police zone in terms of security phenomena and internal operations management. We proposed and tested a model in which we adapted Scrum to the context of the organization in order to build teams in charge of putting into action the objectives determined in the plan. Rather than following the traditional waterfall approach via a series of analyses and plans that ultimately establish the actions that should be carried out by the field staff, our model places these field actors at the center. They are responsible not only for thinking about how best to achieve the desired outcome, but also for helping to implement them. Although this experiment was interrupted for reasons unrelated to the Agile approach, we can draw some observations to improve the replication of a similar approach, such as the attention to be paid to the environmental elements in order to maintain timeboxing.
... Agile transformations are a relatively new and complex organizational phenomenon. Initially developed and applied within individual teams and initiatives with a focus on software development, organizations have begun to apply it at an enterprise level, impacting multiple organizational layers such as teams [6,27], programs and portfolios [28], as well as multiple business domains such as HR, finance and sales [21]. ...
... (4) Business agility: From 2018 onwards, companies and framework creators adjusted their thinking from IT-driven to organization-wide agility [1]. While the term can be traced back to earlier academic literature [16], terms such as agile finance, agile marketing, agile sales and agile HR began appearing later [21]. ...
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While many organizations embark on agile transformations, they can lack insight into the actual impact of these transformations across organizational layers. In this paper, we collect new and study existing evidence on the impact of agile transformations on organizational performance across teams, programs and portfolios. We conducted an international survey collecting the perceptions of agile coaches, transformation leads and other relevant roles, and we correlated levels of agile maturity to the perceptions on dimensions of organizational performance. Based on 134 responses from 29 countries across 16 industries, (1) we consolidated understanding of the benefits of agile transformations based on prior evidence and our data from a more diverse and larger sample, (2) we identified the dimensions impacted by agile transformations as being productivity, responsiveness, quality, workflow health and employee satisfaction & engagement and (3) we traced specific benefits on those dimensions to individual organizational layers of teams, programs and portfolios, showing the magnitude of impact of each dimension per layer. Overall, we can conclude that agile transformations have a variety of strong organizational benefits. This aggregated evidence allows reflection on transformation trends, but also enables organizations to optimize their agile transformation efforts.KeywordsAgile transformationsAgile portfolio managementSoftware developmentOrganizational performance