A Longitudinal Examination of Agile Work Transformation - A Process Theory

Abstract

Agile work organization has experienced a significant increase in acceptance in recent years. However, literature falls short in explaining the transformation process that results from the implementation of agile work organization as a means of achieving increased adaptability, rate of speed and flexibility. We apply a process ontology to agile work organization by following three multinational firms that apply agile work organization, utilizing a case study approach over three years. At the macro level, our theory describes the transformation process set in motion by agile work organization as a three-phase process. At the micro level, we show that this transformation process is driven by specific design decisions on individual elements. Thus, our process theory contributes to a better understanding of agile work organization as a means to achieve organizational agility and to STS theory by showing that the emergence and constitution of STS are mainly driven by micro-level processes.