ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURAL SOLUTIONS AS DETERMINANTS SUPPORTING THE FUNCTIONING OF EMPLOYEES IN AGILE WORKING CONDITIONS

Abstract

Contemporary organizations that want to stay on the market, and what is important, maintain their competitive advantage, should have the ability to cope in a turbulent or unpredictable environment. One of the methods currently used by enterprises to cope with the conditions described above is the introduction of agile working methods. Two assumptions were made in this study. Firstly, behind the success of any enterprise stands, on the one hand, a human being and, on the other hand, the organizational solutions supporting him. Secondly, the organizational structural solutions are a management tool, and thus can have a significant impact on the way employees function in the organization, translating into their effectiveness or lack thereof. According to the systemic approach, organizational structure can support or constrain employees in effectively achieving the goals set by the enterprise. The subject of this publication is the analysis of structural solutions, in relation to particular dimensions of organizational structure, preferred by members of agile project teams operating in the IT industry in companies dealing mainly with software development. The aim of the research was to find an answer to the question: Which organizational structural solutions are considered by the members of agile teams as supporting them in agile working conditions? The article is empirical in nature. The research was conducted in a group of 285 employees from purposely selected companies which are part of the ICT Central Poland cluster. The presented results are a quantitative analysis of responses obtained through a survey using a questionnaire.