Prestation i fotboll beror på många olika fysiska faktorer som exempelvis styrka, uthållighet och snabbhet. Snabbheten kan delas upp i många olika faktorer exempelvis sprinter rakt fram och agility. Det finns även något som kallas reaktiv agility vilket betyder att man reagerar på ett visuellt stimuli och därefter reagerar med ett beslut. En förmåga som verkar bli mer central i fotbollen. Syftet med denna studie var att utvärdera ett kort träningsprograms påverkan på de olika snabbhetsfaktorerna, raka sprint, agility och reaktiv agility samt beräkna korrelationer mellan de olika variablerna. Metod: Före- och eftertester gjordes på 19 ungdomar från svenska U17 allsvenskan. Testpersonerna delades därefter upp i en interventionsgrupp(IG)(N=9) och en kontrollgrupp(KG)(N=10). Testerna som utfördes var Reactive agility test(RAT), Agility 5-0-5 och 10- 20- 30 meter sprint. IG fick efter testerna utföra ett träningspass i veckan under fem veckor bestående av två parövningar med fokus på reaktionssnabbhet, sprint och agility. Resultat: Inga statistisk signifikanta skillnader fanns mellan grupperna efter träningsperioden. Konklusion: Resultaten pekade mot att interventionsprogrammet inte hade någon påverkan. Däremot går det att ifrågasätta resultatet då eftertesterna utfördes på ett mindre bra sätt. / Performance in soccer can be defined in various different factors, like strength, endurance and quickness. Quickness can be divined in different sub factors for example straight sprints and agility. There is also something called reactive agility, which means that you react to a visual stimulus and therefore react and take a decision. The purpose: of this study was to investigate the effects of a short training programme that focus on the different quickness factors, straight sprints, agility and reactive agility. Method: Pre- and post-tests were made on 19 adolescents from the Swedish U17 Allsvenskan. The subjects were later divided into an intervention group (IG) and a control group (CG). The performed tests were: reactive agility test (RAT), agility 5-0-5 and 10- 20- 30 m sprint. After the tests the IG performed a five week long training programme containing two different duo exercises with focus on reaction ability, agility and sprint. Result: No statistical significant difference was detected between the groups after the training period in any of the tested variables. Conclusion: The results suggest that the intervention programme had no effect. It can, however, be challenged due to methodological issues that occurred during testing.

Background: Soccer players, independent of positions, perform high-intensity movements such as agility for short periods and have longer periods of low-intensity and rest during a soccer game. Agility is considered to be dependent on perceptional and decision-making factors and physical factors related to changes in directions. Most research has displayed no differences in different preplanned agility test within playing positions. However, no studies have been done on reactive agility within different positions on the soccer field. Aim: The purpose of the study was to compare if soccer players ́ reactive – and preplanned agility performance differs between their positions in the team. The study will also examine the level of correlation between results from reactive agility and preplanned agility. Methods: Thirty male soccer players, 17-19 years old, were tested in reactive agility and preplanned agility. The subjects were divided into three groups depending on their playing position, including defenders (n=10), midfielders (n=10) and forwards (n=10). Mean scores for both agility tests were analyzed with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the criterion level for significance was set at 5 % (p ≤ 0.05). Correlations were performed to study the relationship between reactive agility and preplanned agility. Following limits were used to determine the strength of the value of Pearson correlation; r=.10 to .29 small, r=.30 to .49 medium, r=.50 to 1.0 large. Results: No statistical significant differences between defenders, midfielders and forwards in neither reactive agility (p=0.624) or preplanned agility (p=0.481) were perceived. There was a small correlation (r=0.24) between all studied results from the reactive – and preplanned agility test. When positions were correlated within the two test, the highest correlation between reactive agility and preplanned agility was found in midfielders with a medium correlation (r=0.47) while small correlations appeared within defenders (r=0.28) and forwards (r=-0.11). Conclusions: The findings of this thesis showed no statistical significant differences between playing positions in reactive agility nor in preplanned agility. The impact of the soccer players’ integration with different soccer coaches could be an explanation to the reactive agility results where some coaches may focus on developing perceptual skills more than other coaches. The absence of differences in preplanned agility may suggest that the physical abilities needed to perform the Zig-Zag test did not differ among defenders, midfielders or forwards. It can also be suggested that reactive agility and preplanned agility are two independent variables who do not share characteristics. Future research should focus on incorporating a more valid reactive agility test for soccer players and study larger samples who are specialized in their positions.

ABSTRACT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHYSICAL FACTORS TO AGILITY PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGIATE TENNIS PLAYERS Ian McKinley and Dr. Kimitake Sato, Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, College of Education, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee Tennis players change direction numerous times within a tennis match and game making agility an important skill for them to possess. The purpose of this study was to investigate at the significance of physical factors as they relate to agility performance in collegiate tennis players. The physical factors looked at were anthropomorphic measurements; isometric peak force, rate of force development, and force scale; countermovement jump performance, and squat jump performance. The participants were seventeen (Male: N = 8, Female: N=9) NCAA Division I collegiate level tennis players. Anthropomorphic measurements included height, body mass, and body fat percentages were also considered. Strength was measured by an isometric mid-thigh pull, and lastly power was measured by vertical jumps. Significance was set at 0.05 for statistical analysis. Correlation analysis showed that isometric rate of force development from isometric mid-thigh pull was significant (p = 0.033). In conclusion both anthropomorphic measurements and vertical jumps have little effect on agility performance but the rate of force development in the isometric mid-thigh pull test has statistically significant relationship to agility performance in tennis players, indicating agility movement is influenced by how fast you can develop force against ground.

Background: A lot of previous research have studied the correlation between bilateral jumps with performance in change of direction (COD) even though COD occurs unilateral. Only a few researches have studied the relationship between COD and unilateral jumps but the results are conflicting. Neither of these have studied the correlation between COD, measured with the Zigzag agility test, and both unilateral horizontal jumps (UHJ) and unilateral lateral jumps (ULJ) among young soccer players.  Aim: The aim was to study the magnitude of the correlation between UHJ and the Zigzag agility test and between ULJ and the Zigzag agility test among young male soccer players.  Method: Thirty young male soccer players between 17-19 years were tested in a Zigzag agility test and two different jumps (UHJ and ULJ). The time of the Zigzag agility test was measured in seconds and the length of the two jumps in meters. Everything were tested during one test session. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to calculate the relationships between UHJ, ULJ and the Zigzag agility test. Following guidelines were used to determine the magnitude of the correlation: r below -0.29 for a small correlation, r= -0.30 to -0.49 for a medium correlation and r -0.50 to -1.0 for a strong correlation.    Results: Small correlation were found between UHJ and the Zigzag agility test (r= -0.028) and as well as between ULJ the Zigzag agility test (r= -0.27). The mean value (SD±) was 6.41s (0.18) for the Zigzag agility test, 1.87m (0.15) for UHJ and 1.65m (0.13) for ULJ.  Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that both UHJ and ULJ had small correlations with the Zigzag agility test as a measurement of COD performance, with a slightly higher correlation for the ULJ. This means that unilateral jumps and COD performance probably are two different skills and should be trained in different ways. Not much research has been done in this area and the results concerning the correlation between COD and unilateral jumps are still mixed. More research is needed to declare the relationship with unilateral jumps and COD performance. Interesting for the further research would also be to involve other factors such as running technique and straight sprinting to determine the importance of each factor.

Studien avser att ur ett ledningsperspektiv undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar privata företag samt hur företagen arbetar för att vara flexibla och skapar förhållningssätt i relation till dessa. Vidare vill vi jämföra det empiriska materialet med det teoretiska resonemang som producerats i den vetenskapliga arenan för att bidra med insikter som kan utveckla forskning inom området. Det empiriska resultatet bygger på åtta kvalitativa intervjuer med representanter från HR-funktionen i företag inom privat sektor. Både resultat och vetenskaplig genomgång har visat på variationer av såväl påverkan som förhållningssätt. Företagens val av förhållningssätt eller strategi har gjorts med bakgrund av varierande orsaker och har lett till olika effekter beroende på verksamhetsspecifika förutsättningar. Detta medför svårigheter avseende definitionen av vad som påverkar, hur det påverkar samt hur företag bör förhålla sig. Vissa strategier visade sig fungera bra i en typ av verksamhet medan samma typ av strategi inte påstods vara möjlig i andra. Sammanfattningsvis kan vi konstatera att företagens möjlighet att förhålla sig till förändrade förutsättningar utgör deras överlevnads förmåga. Vidare har det visat sig att detta omfattar både företagets flexibilitet och dess förmåga att minska flexibilitetsbehovet.

It is generally the case that corporate information systems consist of heterogeneous software subsystems that interact using many various processes and protocols. Applications that execute within such subsystems tend to be designed in isolation with little or no thought given to the requirements for future interaction. To provide bridges between these heterogeneous subsystems, one-off "hacked" solutions are usually introduced which rely upon maintenance of the status quo for all aspects of the execution environment and are thus inherently "brittle". Such a situation is inappropriate for large-scale and highly decentralised system deployments. In order to make such systems more robust and exhibit scalable performance characteristics, it is preferable to construct them with the ability to react to changes in the environment that they operate within. This research seeks to provide a method of how to engender "agility" into system components to improve their ability to deal with unpredictable environments. Our approach is to view systems and components from an interactive perspective and provide a middleware mechanism that enables a "variable" degree of coupling between system components. To achieve this we introduce three high-level "dimensions" of coupling, namely mediation, adaptation and crystallisation. Each dimension is characterised by the location of behaviour required for interaction and patterns of behaviour movement. The coordination characteristics of these dimensions of coupling are specified to establish a separation of coordination and application functionalities in endogenous distributed systems. The outcomes of this research project are: a definition for the dimensions of coupling that have been identified, a protocol to perform transitions between dimensions and a preliminary framework for the development of more agile applications.

This thesis identifies how the IT function can create agility in existing information systems. Agility is the capability to quickly sense and respond to environmental perturbations. This thesis contrasts the agility perspective from a widely used industry framework with research perspectives on agility in the IS literature. Beer’s Viable System Model is a useful meta-level theory to house agility elements from IS research literature and applies cybernetic principles to identify the capabilities required of the IT function. Indeed, a survey of 70 organizations confirms that the meta-level theory better correlates with reported agility measures than existing practice measures do on their own. / There were three stages to the research. First, was conceptually applying the Viable System Model to the concept of agility from IS research literature. The cybernetic model proposed an explanative theory for agility in information systems and prescribed capabilities for the IT function. / The second research stage was a qualitative study with an IT consultancy. Managers and consultants participated in applicability checking the theoretical development to the agility topic. The level of analysis was the client base of an IT consultancy, which consists of approximately 250 Australian organizations. A research deliverable was a joint white paper between the University of Melbourne and the IT consultancy. / The final stage was two quantitative surveys for theory testing. The first survey mailed a Likert-type questionnaire to business and IT managers amongst the IT consultancy’s clients. The second survey invited international members of professional interest groups to complete a web-based questionnaire. The responses from the surveys were analyzed using partial-least-squares modeling and linear regression. The data analysis correlated process maturity of the IT function and the likelihood of agility in existing information systems. The thesis claims to generalize the survey findings to other large organizations in OECD countries. / The thesis offers an agility-capability model for the IT function, which extends IS research with a theory that explains and predicts agility in existing information systems. A further contribution is to improve IT industry ‘best practice’ frameworks by prescribing capabilities to develop.

No description available.

Syfte och frågeställningar Syftet var att undersöka frekvensstegen som träningsmetod för fotbollsspelare i avsikt att öka snabbhet i vändningar och agility då dessa förmågor är mycket viktiga för en spelare under en fotbollsmatch. Frågeställningar: Ökar träning med frekvensstege spelarnas agility? Förbättrar träning med frekvensstege spelarnas förmåga att ändra riktning i hög hastighet? Metod För att besvara frågeställningarna valdes en experimentell, kvantitativ studie med Test-Retest som insamlingsmetod. I studien deltog både en försöksgrupp och en kontrollgrupp. Försöksgruppen var ett damfotbollslag, ålder 18.8±1.9  år och de var 12 deltagare. Kontrollgruppen var ett damfotbollslag, ålder 17.8±0.8 och var 6 deltagare. Undersökningen pågick under 7 veckor och vid totalt 12 tillfällen. Spelarna undersöktes två gånger i T-drill, Pro Shuttle och Z-drill. Vecka 1 var förtesterna (Test). Vecka 2-6 pågick träningen med frekvensstegar, två tillfällen per vecka och 30 minuter per tillfälle (totalt 9 tillfällen och 4,5 timmars träning). Vecka 7 utfördes det andra testtillfället (Retest). Resultat Ingen skillnad fanns mellan grupperna gällande varken agility eller vändnignar i hög hastighet. Gällande agility så förbättrades båda grupperna i Pro Shuttle (-0,234 ±0,194 sek) samt försämrades i Z-drill (0,518±0,393 sek), p<0,000. Båda grupperna förbättrades även i T-drill (-0,49±0,448 sek), p<0.000.  En analys med ANOVA RM visar att grupperna inte skiljdes åt gällande förändring i agility eller vädningar (p<0,451-0,972). Slutsats Studien pekar på att frekvensstegen leder inte till några signifikanta ökningar i agility men tyder också på att de inte hämmar utvecklingen. Därmed kan stegarna vara en del av ett träningsprogram för fotbollsspelare för att eventuellt förbättra andra områden av prestation. / Aim The aim is to evaluate agility ladders as a method for soccer players to increase change of direction-skill and agility, as these skills are very important for a player during a game. Specific aims: Will agility ladder training increase the players’ agility? Will training with agility ladders improve the players’ ability to change direction at high speed? Method An experimental and quantitative study model was chosen, collecting results through Test-Retest measurements. A trial group and a control group took part in the study. The trial group consisted of a women’s soccer team, age 18.8±1.9, with 12 participants. The control group consisted of a women’s soccer team, age 17.8±0.8, with 6 participants. The study lasted 7 weeks and on 12 occasions. The players were tested twice in the T-drill, Pro Shuttle and Z-drill.  In week 1 the first tests were conducted. Through the following five weeks the training took place, thirty minutes - two times a week (a total of 9 workouts and 4,5 hours of training). The final tests were conducted during the seventh week. Results   No difference was found between the groups in the T-drill (change of direction), Z-drill or Pro Shuttle (agility). Both groups improved in the T-drill (-0.49 ± 0.448 sec) and the Pro Shuttle (-0.234 ± 0.194 sec) and deteriorated in the Z-drill (0.518 ± 0.393 sec), p <0.000. Analysis of the results, using ANOVA RM, shows that the groups do not differ regarding change in agility (p<0,451-0,972).   Conclusions   The study indicates that the agility ladders do not produce significant increases in agility, but also suggest that they do not hamper development. This allows agility ladders to be part of a training program for soccer players to possibly improve other areas of performance.

Agile software development methods reduce project costs and development time by simultaneously enhancing quality. But despite these advantages, agile principles are rarely adopted by the whole organization. In fact, it seems difficult to describe what distinguishes an agile organization from another. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to gain an understanding what factors constitute agility at an enterprise level and to develop a maturity model as measurement tool. To fulfill this aim, the thesis as based on a multi-paradigmatic approach combining behavioral and design science and utilizes a pluralistic set of research methods belonging to both paradigms. A comprehensive analysis of agility-related frameworks showed that despite partial similarity there is no consensus about what constitutes an “agile organization”. Hence, the thesis identified the structure to be found behind the concept of organizational agility using an exploratory research approach. A survey among organizations in the software and IT services industry was conducted and showed that organizational agility can be described using six interrelated factors that can be further aggregated into the three basic dimensions of “Agility Prerequisites,” “Agility of People,” and “Structures Enhancing Agility.” Based on these results, the Organizational Agility Maturity Model has been developed providing a theoretically and empirically grounded structure of organizational agility supporting the efforts of developing a common understanding of the concept. The application of the maturity model furthermore creates useful benefits for organizations and underscores the strategic character of organizational agility. It generates an awareness about the complexity of organizational agility. Furthermore, it may serve as a reference frame to implement a systematic and well-directed approach for improvements and continuous assessment of actions taken.