Intrafirm knowledge transfer of agile software practices: barriers and their relations

Abstract

ABSTRACTAgile software practices are widely used in a great variety of organizations, and the shift from traditional plan-driven approaches entails a redefinition of processes in these organizations. Intrafirm knowledge transfer of agile software practices between projects is a key concern in this redefinition. While knowledge transfer is essential for an organization to develop or keep its competitive advantage, it is also both difficult and time consuming, due to a wide range of barriers. Transferring knowledge on agile practices is even more complex due to there being a high degree of tacit knowledge. Research on knowledge of agile practices focuses on adoption of agile practices within a single team, thus extant research lacks focus on intrafirm transfer. Through a case study, this article investigates the intrafirm knowledge transfer of agile practices. With a starting point as the theory of barriers to knowledge transfer, we modify and extend the framework to transferring knowledge of agile practices. This framework is subsequently applied for interpreting and analyzing the case study data. The analysis shows how these barriers (e.g., the organizational culture, time and resources, knowledge strategy, and motivation and willingness) are related and that they cannot be understood in isolation. The barriers and their relations are brought together in a conceptual model and its relevance is discussed.