Benefits Of Agile Research Articles

Principle-based decision-making: realising benefits in a scaled agile environment

PurposeThis paper examines the conflict between rule-based and principle-based approaches to benefits realisation in agile projects. It proposes a principle-based framework as a more effective alternative, aligned with the iterative and adaptive nature of agile methodologies.Design/methodology/approachThe research utilises semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data from professionals experienced in agile projects. Causal loop diagrams are employed to illustrate the relationships between identified principles. The study identifies 12 key principles essential for agile benefits realisation, with a particular focus on visibility and consequence management.FindingsThe study finds that a principle-based approach to benefits realisation is more compatible with agile methodologies compared to a rule-based approach. The flexibility of principle-based decision-making allows for continuous adaptation and improvement, aligning with the dynamic and iterative nature of agile projects. The principles of visibility and consequence management emerge as critical factors in successfully realising benefits in an agile environment.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are based on qualitative data from a limited number of interviews, which may not be generalisable across all agile projects. Further research with a larger sample size and diverse project types is recommended to validate and refine the proposed principles.Practical implicationsAgile teams and project managers can leverage the identified principles to enhance their decision-making processes and improve benefits realisation outcomes. Adopting a principle-based approach can lead to more flexible, responsive and effective project management practices.Social implicationsBy promoting more adaptive and responsive project management practices, the adoption of a principle-based approach can contribute to greater satisfaction and collaboration among project stakeholders, leading to more successful project outcomes.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by highlighting the limitations of rule-based approaches in agile contexts and proposing a principle-based framework for benefits realisation. The identification of specific principles and their interrelationships provides a novel perspective and practical guidance for agile practitioners.

Does agile improve value creation in government?

While extensive literature exists on agile practices in private sectors, its application and outcomes in the public sector remain relatively unexplored. In light of recent theoretical debates on how using agile may improve the functioning and results of government organizations, we empirically investigate the outcomes of agile adoption on value creation in public administrations. Drawing on a theoretical framework on value creation in public service delivery, we conduct a comparative qualitative case study involving 19 agile initiatives across the three German government levels. Our findings reveal that agile leads to numerous positive outcomes at both individual (e.g., employee well-being, human-centric leadership, skill development) and organizational levels (e.g., cross-functional collaboration, increased efficiency and transparency). This study contributes to substantiating theoretical claims about agile benefits in government, offering in-depth qualitative insights and theory development.

A Case Study of the Agile Enterprise Regarding the External Business Environment

Abstract The unstable business conditions, the international antagonism, inconsistent demand as well as the growing expectations of possible clientele put to the challenge the enterprises globally. The enterprises’ agility proposes possibilities to assist companies foresee the new international economic trends. It utilizes critical circumstances of the environment as new prospects for expansion. The enterprises’ agility benefits from endogenous and exogenous alternations in the ecosystem to enhance its capabilities and so to provide constant as well as lucrative presence in the ecosystem. This paper first depicts the state of being agile in an enterprise. Then it explains how agility contributes to the effectiveness of the enterprises. The scientific literature is not abundant with only a few leading scholars on this topic. A methodology is used to assess the existing turbulent business environment in order to explore the forces that stimulate the enterprises to enhance their agility. This research obtains data from a survey conducted in enterprises operating in the textile industry in one geographical region. The questionnaire that was used is only partially analyzed in this paper in order to evaluate the tested enterprises in respect to their agility to the external business environment. The outcome of this analysis shows that some of the enterprises are performing relatively agile whereas others have deficiencies. The contribution brought by this paper is approbation of a scientific methodology in practice and the interpretations of the results supplied by the questionnaire.

Agile Methodologies for Improved Product Management

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the adoption of agile methodologies in the context of product management and assess their impact on product development processes, organizational culture, and overall business performance. The study aims to provide valuable insights into the challenges, benefits, and best practices associated with implementing agile practices in product management, ultimately contributing to the enhancement of product management strategies in contemporary organizations.
 Methodology: Descriptive research enables the exploration of various variables, such as organizational size, industry, and cultural factors, which may influence the adoption of Agile. It allows for an in-depth analysis of these characteristics and their impact on Agile practices. Thematic analysis serves as a robust method for uncovering insights and patterns within qualitative data, allowing for a nuanced exploration of the adoption of agile methodologies in the realm of product management. It provides a systematic and transparent approach to data analysis, enabling the research to contribute valuable findings to the field.
 Findings: Identification of common obstacles and challenges faced by organizations during Agile adoption, such as resistance to change, cultural alignment, and scaling Agile beyond individual teams. Recognition of the benefits of Agile, including increased product innovation, faster time-to-market, improved customer satisfaction, and enhanced adaptability to changing market conditions. Exploration of the concept of hybrid product administration systems is highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of combining Agile and traditional methodologies. The examination of the impact of Agile on fostering creativity and innovation within product development teams is done.
 Unique contribution to theory, practice, and policy: The study enriches the theoretical understanding of agile implementation models, hybrid systems, and the relationship between agile practices and creativity within teams. It provides a foundation for further theoretical exploration in the field. The research offers practical recommendations for organizations seeking to adopt agile methodologies in product management, providing insights into overcoming challenges, achieving a balance in hybrid systems, and fostering a culture of collaboration and creativity. The findings have potential policy implications for regulatory bodies and governments interested in promoting agile adoption. The research suggests the need for industry-specific guidelines and government support to facilitate agile implementation and innovation.

Digital innovation through cybersecurity learning factories

Globally, the cybersecurity workforce changes tremendous challenges. Shortages in specialised cybersecurity staff members essentially puts organisations at risk. New graduates can face difficulties in entering the cybersecurity domain due to a lack of experience and knowledge. However, with the advent of newer techniques for knowledge development, we find that learning factories offer a fresh perspective. Learning factories provide a mechanism to remove the barriers in the field of cybersecurity and cultivate a nurturing training environment. This paper looks at the modernisation of traditional training by covering the application of learning factories in the cybersecurity field. It aims to show how knowledge can be geared into more practical schemes to empower participants and expose them to critical cybersecurity skills. Through the paper, it will be demonstrated that learning factories can be used for real-world learning and information sharing. Learning factories embody the principles of knowledge sharing and promotes more efficient knowledge management. With the use of nominated tools and technologies cyber security learning factories can help measure the effectiveness of worker training as well provide for consistent facilitated training. Overall, learning factories can help to transform training and build knowledge application.
 Learning factories may be set up to tackle real industry challenges and are particularly useful in the field of cybersecurity. Using learning factories there is an opportunity to advance multi-dimensional cybersecurity skills and develop innovation in the field. Due to the added advantages of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) being virtually accessible, there is the added benefits of agility, responsiveness and increased engagement. Using a variety of modes, cybersecurity learning factories can combine the techniques of gamification, videos, multi-media and simulation. All of this provided an augmented and enriched experience for participants. Learning factories are a low-cost solution to replicating working environments thus assisting in skills development. Through the application of learning factories, a skilled workforce can be developed and cultivated.

Model‐Based Systems Engineering as an Enabler of Agility

ABSTRACTModel‐based systems engineering (MBSE) with agility can help systems engineering programs which deal with both increasing complexity and frequent changes in environment and usages, shorter time‐to‐market, uncertainty of the needs, and more sophisticated industrial schemes. Agile approaches originated in software engineering can be extended and tailored to a certain extent to complex systems engineering and particularly to MBSE. Main benefits of agility are provision of a minimum viable product as early as possible in the schedule, early capture of changes of needs, enabling to deliver a system answering to the real needs, and securing of the value proposal. It includes also potential reduction in rework of the final system through regular customer feedback throughout development (left shift for the defect correction with early exposure), and efficiency of the use of resources. Concerning MBSE, the use of models as a single source of truth for completeness and consistency is useful to share and secure the design by improving communication within engineering teams and the building and support of the development strategy, and to help to automate some tasks such as model exchange and synchronization. In addition to the benefits of each approach, combining them may help to: ▪ Organize and synchronize the development and validation effort of one or multiple engineering teams. ▪ Faster impact analysis including trade‐off studies/options and hence a faster reaction to evolutions in expectations and constraints, that is, the agility of systems. ▪ Show regularly “end to end” value to the customer and other stakeholders.

Implementation of a fully integrated continuous manufacturing line for direct compression and coating at a commercial pharmaceutical facility – Part 1: Operational considerations and control strategy

We implement a fully integrated continuous manufacturing (CM) line for direct compression and coating of a pharmaceutical oral solid dosage form in a commercial production facility. In this first paper of a two-part series, we describe process design and operational choices made to introduce CM using infrastructure originally intended for batch operations. Consistent with lean manufacturing principles, we select equipment, facilities, and novel process analytical technologies that meet production agility goals alongside an existing batch process. Choices address process risks, are aligned with existing quality systems, yet allow exploration of CM agility benefits in commercial operations. We outline how operating procedures, control schemes, and release criteria from the historical batch process are adapted for CM with modified lot and yield definitions based on patient demand. We devise a hierarchy of complementary controls including real-time process interrogation, predictive residence time distribution models of tablet concentration, real-time product release testing using automated tablet NIR spectroscopy, active rejection and diversion, and throughput-based sampling. Results from lots produced under normal operational conditions confirm our CM process provides assurance of product quality. Qualification strategies to achieve lot size flexibility aims are also described. Finally, we consider CM extensions to formulations with differing risk profiles. Further analysis of results for lots produced under normal operational conditions is provided in part 2 (Rosas et al., 2023).

Agile Project Management Approaches: A Case Study with Respect to Their Application in Finance Technology Projects

The strategy of Financial Services in Libyan pioneer companies has begun to achieve a transformation from providing ordinary services to electronic services through financial services technologies, which necessitates the qualification of employees in Libyan software companies. To facilitate this, recent agile software agile project management strategies and their possible advantages, disadvantages, and possible limitations will be discussed. In the context of improving software development for changing work conditions or requirements, he current state of agile project management (APM) will be studied and enhancement with best APM practices will be implemented within Masarat IT & Financial Services, a pioneer Libyan company. Our findings demonstrate that the application of agile project management best practices has a positive impact on project success. The benefits of agility were immediately apparent, and the advantages of adopting APM methodologies were a crucial factor in successfully completing the project.

Integrating Agile Methodologies into Enterprise Architecture for Enhanced Collaboration and Business

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the integration of agile methodologies into enterprise architecture (EA) has emerged as a transformative approach to managing complex and dynamic projects. This paper explores the application of agile practices within various domains of EA, focusing on business process projects and capability map development. By examining practical implementations and leveraging insights from recent research, we demonstrate the tangible benefits of agility in enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and aligning projects with strategic goals. The study presents a detailed analysis of how Scrum techniques and Kanban dashboards can be effectively utilized in EA projects, particularly in the context of invoicing process review and financial management capability mapping. We discuss the implementation of sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and sprint reviews in these EA contexts, as well as the use of ticketing systems for workload management and Kanban boards for progress tracking. The research highlights the benefits of this approach, including improved stakeholder engagement, faster value delivery, enhanced flexibility, and increased transparency. However, it also addresses challenges such as initial resistance to change and the need to balance agile methodologies with long-term EA planning. By providing practical insights and recommendations, this paper aims to guide EA professionals in adopting agile practices to improve project outcomes and organizational alignment in an increasingly dynamic business environment.

Current approaches for executing big data science projects-a systematic literature review.

There is an increasing number of big data science projects aiming to create value for organizations by improving decision making, streamlining costs or enhancing business processes. However, many of these projects fail to deliver the expected value. It has been observed that a key reason many data science projects don’t succeed is not technical in nature, but rather, the process aspect of the project. The lack of established and mature methodologies for executing data science projects has been frequently noted as a reason for these project failures. To help move the field forward, this study presents a systematic review of research focused on the adoption of big data science process frameworks. The goal of the review was to identify (1) the key themes, with respect to current research on how teams execute data science projects, (2) the most common approaches regarding how data science projects are organized, managed and coordinated, (3) the activities involved in a data science projects life cycle, and (4) the implications for future research in this field. In short, the review identified 68 primary studies thematically classified in six categories. Two of the themes (workflow and agility) accounted for approximately 80% of the identified studies. The findings regarding workflow approaches consist mainly of adaptations to CRISP-DM (vs entirely new proposed methodologies). With respect to agile approaches, most of the studies only explored the conceptual benefits of using an agile approach in a data science project (vs actually evaluating an agile framework being used in a data science context). Hence, one finding from this research is that future research should explore how to best achieve the theorized benefits of agility. Another finding is the need to explore how to efficiently combine workflow and agile frameworks within a data science context to achieve a more comprehensive approach for project execution.

An Agility Training Continuum for Team Sports: From Cones and Ladders to Small-Sided Games

ABSTRACT Agility is a key and complex concept within team sports performance. Because of its multidimensional nature, agility benefits from perceptual and cognitive skills as well as physical capacity (e.g., ability to exert acceleration, deceleration, and changes of direction). Agility should be integrated in different and complementary ways in team sports training. From more analytical to more ecological tasks, there is a need to comprehend the respective adaptations and identify how to integrate such a spectrum and, eventually, combine them in the training process and manage it accordingly to the player's needs. Based on this premise, the purpose of this article is to present alternative methods and recommendations that may help to develop agility in field-based invasion sports. The main concepts pertaining to agility and associated capacities will be explored. Afterward, a proposal for a more analytical approach based on the use of cones and ladders will be introduced, as well as approaches based on small-sided games. Finally, an integration of agility training and a combination of approaches will be presented using soccer as an example.

The agility-control-nexus: A levers of control approach on the consequences of agility in innovation projects

Recent developments indicate a fast-growing relevance of the agile project methodology in innovation. Besides the benefits, agile projects also pose several challenges. Organizations need to come up with an answer to cope with the inherent risks of agile projects. The adaption of management control mechanisms is key to foster the benefits of agile. However, the ongoing debate on the benefits of control systems for innovation and the harm of control systems for achieving agility creates a nexus. Further research on how to adapt existing mechanisms is required to obtain a better understanding and provide guidance for organizations. Building on Simon's levers-of-control (LOC), this study specifies the consequences of different control levers applied by top managers on the outcome of innovation projects considering the respective project agility and the agility of the projects' environment. We follow the calls of existing research on the nexus of control and agility and adumbrate which control levers can positively influence the outcome of agile and non-agile innovation projects. Using survey data of 316 project managers and product owners across different industries, this study reveals that the impact of control on innovation project performance depends on the design of control systems and the emphasis on different control levers used by top managers. Furthermore, the findings reveal a moderation effect of agility in this context. The combination of the LOC and agile project management for innovation projects contributes to the literature on innovation management, project management, and management control.

Factors Influencing the Efficacy of Agile Usage

Agile techniques that utilize iterative development are broadly used in various industry projects as a lightweight development technique which can satisfy the continuous changes of requirements. Short repetitions are used that are required for efficient product delivery. Traditional and old software development methods are not much efficient and effective to control the rapid change in requirements. Despite the benefits of Agile, criticism on agile methodology states that it couldn’t succeed to pay attention to architectural and design issues and therefore is bound to produce small design-decisions. The past decade has observed numerous changes in systems development with many organizations accepting agile techniques as a viable methodology for developing systems. An increase in the number of research studies reveals the growing demand and acceptance of agile methodologies. While most research has focused on acceptance rate and adaptation of agile practices, there is very limited knowledge of their post-adoption usage and incorporation within organizations. Several factors explain the effective usage of agile methodologies. A combination of previous research in Agile Methodologies, Diffusion of Innovations, Information Systems implementation, and Systems Development has been carried out to develop a research model that identifies the main factors relevant to the propagation and effective usage of agile methodologies in organizations.

Dynamic Agile Distributed Development Method

“Agile” is an effective software engineering model with a high trust and acceptance rate among its users. The term agility comes from the concept of rapid development and working in a team for better results and a faster competition rate when compared with any other software engineering model. In this study, an assessment of the different patterns, frameworks, and application program interfaces available for distributed development in an agile model is given. After analyzing the state-of-the-art distributed models, a novel framework of a dynamic agile distributed development method (DADDM) is introduced in this paper. Many researchers have worked on global software development using the agile approach; however, we are presenting the idea of incorporating the agile benefits with dynamic distributed software development. The applicability of the proposed model is checked via two selected parameters: a feasibility study and a business study. The complete DADDM development life cycle is presented in the methodology section. The techniques used in DADDM and team members’ roles and responsibilities in DADDM are defined in this study. This study reflects all pillars of planning, controlling, organizing, and management of leadership. The use of DADDM in distributed agile development encourages future researchers to use this proposed framework for comparison and testing of their models and to check the effectiveness through a comparison with DADDM.

Understanding the Characteristics, Benefits and Challenges of Agile it Project Management: A Literature Based Perspective

The objectives of this study was to bring out the understanding of the concept of agile IT project management; what it is and what it is not. It was also aimed at comparing the pros and cons of both agile and traditional methods of IT project management in a typical industry setting; the challenges of going purely agile, and so on. It is purely a review of literature of peer reviewed papers sourced mainly from Google Scholar. It was revealed that agile outweigh the traditional methods in terms of benefits, but its implementation poses a lot of challenges due to a number of issues, paramount among them being organizational culture and empowerment of the project team. This has resulted in a number of industries sticking to the traditional methods despite the overwhelming benefits of agile. In another school of thought, the combination of the two paradigms is the way forward.

Shifts in Organizational Culture When Implementing Agility

The present article is premised on the argument that a combination of drive from the top and other business pressures is demanding that organizations take an Agile approach to the planning, delivery and continual adaptation of their business models. Notions of culture change, the role and purpose of business, flexibility, resilience, the nature of leadership, the employment relationship and talent are themselves embedded in this macro context and in need of revision. The range of working practices and related values associated with Agile, and the changing expectations of workers and customers, suggests that new approaches to leadership and change management are needed. Attempts to scale up Agile to an enterprise level generally meet with little success typically due to cultural barriers, with conventional leadership approaches, linear thinking and mechanistic change management being particular stumbling blocks. It is often assumed that, as people engage and start using agile methodologies, they will feel committed to sustain the benefits of agility, including innovation. However, tackling only one aspect of cultural change is unlikely to produce lasting value. The article suggests various ways in which organizational cultures, leadership behaviours and change management practices may need to shift to deliver sustainable value through a better balance of organizational and employee needs. The role of senior leaders in committing to, and enabling these shifts, is pivotal.

Agent-Based Simulation of Hardware-Intensive Design Teams Using the Function–Behavior–Structure Framework

Agile processes have been used in software development, with many case studies indicating positive changes in productivity when these processes are used. Agile processes are beginning to be applied to work beyond software-centric systems. There does not yet exist a diverse set of studies on the effectiveness of Agile processes on hardware-intensive systems. The research in this article applies a modeling and simulation-based approach which uses the function–behavior–structure framework to evaluate the effectiveness of waterfall and Agile processes. The simulation was validated against case studies of software-centric design efforts. When applied to a space launch vehicle—a highly coupled, hardware-intensive system—the simulation shows that the benefits of Agile may not be as great as those seen with software-intensive systems.

Agile Requirements Engineering: An Empirical Analysis and Evidence from a Tertiary Education Context

Aim/Purpose: The study describes empirical research into agile Requirements Engineering (RE) practices based on an analysis of data collected in a large higher education organization. Background: Requirements Engineering (RE) in agile development contexts is considerably different than in traditional software development. The field of agile RE is still nascent where there is a need to evaluate its impact in real-world settings. Methodology: Using a case study methodology, the study involved interviewing nine experienced software practitioners who reflected on the use and implementation of various agile RE practices in two software development projects of a student management system. Contribution: The primary contribution of the paper is the evaluation of agile RE practices in a large tertiary educational organization. Based on the analysis of the data, it provides valuable insights into the practice of agile RE in a specific context (i.e., education), but just as importantly, the ones that were omitted or replaced with others and why. Findings: While the evolutionary and iterative approach to defining requirements was followed in general, not all agile practices could be fully adhered to in the case organization. Although face-to-face communication with the customers has been recognized as one the most important agile RE practices, it was one of the most difficult practices to achieve with a large and diverse customer base. Addressing people issues (e.g., resistance to change, thinking, and mindset) was found to be a key driver to following the iterative RE process effectively. Contrary to the value-based approach advocated in the literature, the value-based approach was not strictly adhered to in requirements prioritization. Continuous integration was perceived to be a more beneficial practice than prototyping, as it allows frequent integration of code and facilitates delivering working software when necessary. Recommendations for Practitioners: Our study has important implications for practitioners. Based on our empirical analysis, we provide specific recommendations for effective implementation of agile RE practices. For example, our findings suggest that practitioners could address the challenges associated with limited face-to-face communication challenges by producing flexible, accessible, and electronic documentation to enable communication. Recommendations for Researchers: Researchers can use the identified agile RE practices and their variants to per-form in-depth investigations into agile requirements engineering in other educational contexts. Impact on Society: There are a number of new technologies that offer exciting new opportunities that can be explored to maximize the benefits of agile and other requirements techniques. Future Research: Future research could conduct case studies in different contexts and thus con-tribute to developing bundles or collections of practices to improve software development processes in specific contexts.

Edge Computing in IoT-Based Manufacturing

Edge computing extends the capabilities of computation, network connection, and storage from the cloud to the edge of the network. It enables the application of business logic between the downstream data of the cloud service and the upstream data of the Internet of Things (IoT). In the field of Industrial IoT, edge computing provides added benefits of agility, real-time processing, and autonomy to create value for intelligent manufacturing. With the focus on the concept of edge computing, this article proposes an architecture of edge computing for IoT-based manufacturing. It also analyzes the role of edge computing from four aspects including edge equipment, network communication, information fusion, and cooperative mechanism with cloud computing. Finally, we give a case study to implement the active maintenance based on a prototype platform. This article aims to provide a technical reference for the deployment of edge computing in the smart factory.

Have your cake and eat it too? Simultaneously pursuing the knowledge-sharing benefits of agile and traditional development approaches

This research examines how organizations manage knowledge-sharing processes in systems development projects that employ both agile and traditional development techniques. Using a longitudinal case study, we draw on one company’s experience with a system implementation that employed a traditional approach during its first phase and then a hybrid, agile-traditional approach in its second phase. By applying an ambidexterity theory lens, we find that the adoption of a hybrid approach allowed the project to continue to exploit the traditional techniques that were working well, abandon techniques that were underperforming, and explore the use of agile techniques in selected areas.