tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37990201823291907492024-03-08T14:40:31.203-05:00Agile MethodologiesChange for HierarchyApurv Kulkarnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09543519090638608464noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799020182329190749.post-67718727220473624862011-11-17T18:54:00.001-05:002011-11-17T19:22:40.127-05:00Proposed Survey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have finally come up with the survey questions. These have been modeled not only on agile and organizational culture factors. A third dimension has been added related to social culture. This will usually reflect country specific details. However, some questions will be related to cultural aspects outside of work.<br />
<br />
I feel that this research will generate results which will help in finding a middle path to successful software development in projects distributed across companies, countries and cultures. The survey questions will be posted soon.</div>Apurv Kulkarnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09543519090638608464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799020182329190749.post-91137668728092677592011-11-07T15:29:00.004-05:002011-11-07T15:29:54.911-05:00Organizational Culture and its effect on Employee Retention<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Fifth paper reviewed:</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> A study of
Organizational Culture and its effect on Employee Retention </span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Author:</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Nandita Chatterjee <i>R V Institute of Management,
Bangalore</i></span> <br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Year Published:</b> 2009<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Date Reviewed:</b> October 27<sup>th</sup>,
2011<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Link: </b><a href="http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/HICSS.2009.952">http://www.mendeley.com/research/study-organisational-culture-effect-employee-retention/</a><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Review:</b><br />
For a change, this time I reviewed a paper disconnected with Agile
methodologies or Software Engineering. This particular paper was published in
the ASBM Journal of Management.<br />
The paper deals with employee retention and its relation to organizational
culture. From this paper, we see the author quoting four components of
organizational culture. The four components are:<br />
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>People – The abilities, needs, values and
expectations of the individuals.</div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>Process – Behaviors, attitudes and interactions
that occur within the organization at the individual, team and inter-team
levels.</div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>Structures – The formal mechanisms of the
organization that are designed to channel behavior toward organizational goals
and fulfill the needs of the members.</div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>Environment – The external conditions which the
organization deals with. This includes customers, technology and social values
within which it operates.</div>
Therefore, in order to find a clear correlation between Agile methodologies
and Organizational culture, we must map the principles behind Agile and the components
of culture. I propose the following map:<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: 118.1pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td colspan="2" style="border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 232.75pt;" valign="top" width="310"><div align="center" class="text" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">A. General
Questions about Agile</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Customer
Satisfaction</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">7</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Working
Software</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">10</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Simplicity</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td colspan="2" style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 232.75pt;" valign="top" width="310"><div align="center" class="text" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">B. People</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Welcome
changing requirements</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">5</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Build
projects around motivated individuals</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">9</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Attention
to technical excellence</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td colspan="2" style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 232.75pt;" valign="top" width="310"><div align="center" class="text" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">C. Process</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Early
and Continuous Development</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">4</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Business
people and developers must work together throughout</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">5</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Trust
them to get the job done</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">6</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Face-to-face
communication</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">9</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Good
Design</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">11</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Self
organizing teams</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 15;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">12</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Team
behavior tuned regularly</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 16;">
<td colspan="2" style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 232.75pt;" valign="top" width="310"><div align="center" class="text" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">D.
Structures</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 17;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">3</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Deliver
working software frequently</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 18;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">3</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Shorter
time scale</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 19;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">8</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Sustainable
development</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 20;">
<td colspan="2" style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 232.75pt;" valign="top" width="310"><div align="center" class="text" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">E.
Environment</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 21;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Harness
change for customer’s advantage</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 22;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 22.0pt;" valign="top" width="29"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">5</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Give
them the environment and support they need</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">8</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 210.75pt;" valign="top" width="281"><div class="text" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Sponsors,
developers and users should maintain constant pace</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
For further information on the principles behind the Agile Manifesto, please
visit: <a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html">http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html</a><br />
<br /></div>Apurv Kulkarnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09543519090638608464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799020182329190749.post-69374103544498958562011-10-17T09:20:00.001-04:002011-10-17T09:20:21.541-04:00The Impact of Organizational Culture on Agile Method Use<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Fourth paper reviewed:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> The Impact of Organizational Culture on Agile Method Use </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Authors:</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Diane Strode <i>Victoria University OF Wellington,</i></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> Sid Huff</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> <i>Victoria University of Wellington,</i></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Alexei Tretiakov <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Massey University</i></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Year Published:</b> 2009</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Date Reviewed:</b> October 15<sup>th</sup>, 2011</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Link:</b><b> </b><a href="http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/HICSS.2009.952">http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/HICSS.2009.952</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Review:</b></div>
Many have said that Agile methodologies are highly dependent on the culture of the organization. What is the exact relation between the methodology used and the culture?<br />
This paper inspects this using empirical data from 9 project teams of which 8 are based in New Zealand while 1 is from the United Kingdom. This paper, through a specific formula calculates the exact factor of correlation between this two entities.<br />
The paper successfully concludes that agile is highly culture dependent. It requires a more entrepreneurial, motivated, equal (without hierarchies) and having a high order of mutual trust within itself. Project teams without these values fail to implement agile in the true sense.<br />
I believe that because of the conflict between the organizational culture and the aspects of the agile manifesto, many of the projects fail to give the customer satisfaction that is required of them. Especially in the cases of software outsourcing companies, it is has been observed that a failure like this is not taken well by the client company and at times the client demands a transition to another such software services company even if that requires a high cost on the part of the client.<br />
However, expecting the team to change the organizational culture is a bit difficult and will almost always meet high resistance from both the ranks of management and also the team members. Can we adapt agile to such organizations without hassles?</div>Apurv Kulkarnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09543519090638608464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799020182329190749.post-7433286400583424602011-10-17T09:01:00.001-04:002011-10-17T09:02:42.630-04:00Agile Experience in a Software Services Company<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Third paper reviewed:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> Agile Experience in a Software Services Company</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Authors:</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Jakub Rudzki <i>Solita Oy,</i></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Imed Hummouda <i>Tampere University of Technology,</i></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Tuomas Mikkola <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Solita Oy</i></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Year Published:</b> 2009</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Date Reviewed:</b> October 15<sup>th</sup>, 2011</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Link: </b><a href="http://www.mendeley.com/research/agile-experiences-software-service-company/">http://www.mendeley.com/research/agile-experiences-software-service-company/</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Review:</b></div>
Most of the big software companies in India are service oriented companies. These companies serve other companies by accepting their projects on a contract basis. However, in most of these case, along with the actual project come the development models associated with them. The agile methodologies have gained popularity with such projects.<br />
This particular paper explores projects in a software services company Solita Oy based in Finland. This company counts companies like Oracle as its clientele. This paper presents a case study of 18 projects within this company. The projects range from using waterfall and iterative models to the agile scrum model.<br />
The authors found that although project which used agile scored high on team performance and project success, they were not as popular with the client. Customer satisfaction was higher in the iterative model. However, in other factors, agile was at par with other models.</div>Apurv Kulkarnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09543519090638608464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799020182329190749.post-76527684688850582092011-10-04T00:36:00.000-04:002011-10-04T02:16:15.613-04:00Agile Development in a Bureaucratic Arena<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Second
paper reviewed:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> Agile Development in a bureaucratic arena – A case
study experience</span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Author: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Hilary Berger <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cardiff School of Management</i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Year Published:</b> 2007</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Date Reviewed:</b> September
22<sup>nd</sup>, 2011</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Link: </b><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0268401207001028">http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0268401207001028</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Review:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After having questions regarding the success of Agile in a hierarchical
organization, I tried to look for research in this area. I chanced to look into
this particular paper by Hilary Berger. This is a case study of a real project
by a UK Regional Government Department that is responsible for managing the
administration and expenditure of the European Union’s Common Agricultural
Policy (CAP).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This paper has shown that Agile Development has enabled the
users to finally get a released product fast enough. However, it also showed
the hindrances programmers faced during this process. Due to the inequalities
in the organization, the inherent ‘blame’ system continued during this too.
According to Agile, a programming delay should be flexible enough to be
deferred to the next release. This was not accepted easily by the levels in
management. The blame culture remained prevalent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One more factor was that higher levels in the bureaucracy
were reluctant in relinquishing control of the project. Agile relies on quick decision-making
activities at the developer level. The senior levels however found it difficult
to give this decision-making power in the hands of the base level programmers.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The paper however concluded that the basic culture must
evolve in order to make Agile highly effective. I somehow find this idea
utopian as it is very difficult to make and break a corporate culture. I feel
that there must be some way in which one can make Agile effective even in a
bureaucracy. I believe that if this methodology can bring about a flexibility
in the development of software, it should be flexible by itself to adapt to any
culture it is used in.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Apurv Kulkarnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09543519090638608464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799020182329190749.post-37671346271453811592011-10-03T23:33:00.000-04:002011-10-04T00:36:44.487-04:00Agile Software Development<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">First
paper reviewed:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> Agile Software Development - A Survey of Early
Adopters</span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Authors:
</span></b><br />
<div style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Leo R. Vijayasarathy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Colorado State University</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Dan Turk <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Colorado
State University</i></span> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Year Published:</b> 2008</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Date Reviewed:</b> September
18<sup>th</sup>, 2011</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Link: </b><a href="http://www.aom-iaom.org/jitm_pdfs/jitm_08/article3.pdf">http://www.aom-iaom.org/jitm_pdfs/jitm_08/article3.pdf</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Review:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The motivation of this paper is mainly to gauge the
acceptance of Agile Methodologies in the industry. This was a result of an
internet survey directed towards Yahoo groups members. Of the 98 respondents of
this survey, 81 were from the USA; 4 each from Canada, India and the UK; 1 each
from Australia, Botswana, Colombia, Mexico and New Zealand.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although there were many benefits of Agile discovered
through this survey, and most of the respondents were positive about it, there
was a stark number of limitations that were listed. There were 6 main
advantages of Agile including better meeting customer needs and faster time to
delivery. However, there were 15 limitations spotted with it which included
limited support and lack of documentation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is a point to ponder upon. Although most of the members
using Agile are happy with it, there were far too many limitations listed out
in sheer numbers. Agile is flexible and widely used, however there must be a
way to reduce these limitations.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One more point that struck me was that most of the
respondents were from the USA. The effect of culture on Agile has not been
considered as determining factor. We have not considered the problems faced by
people in more rigid, hierarchical environments. Agile cannot sustain in a
hierarchy but most companies in countries such as India have a rigid
hierarchical structure. Also, 98 respondents do not seem enough for judging the
success of a methodology.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I feel that we need more information to meter the success of
this methodology.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Apurv Kulkarnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09543519090638608464noreply@blogger.com