Agile methods provide an organization or a team with the flexibility to adopt a selected subset of principles and practices based on their culture, their values, and the types of systems that they develop. More specifically, every organization or team implements a customized agile method, tailored to better accommodate its needs. However, the extent to which a customized method supports the organizational objectives, i.e. the 'goodness' of that method, should be demonstrable. Existing agile assessment approaches focus on comparative analyses, or are limited in scope and application. In this research, we propose a systematic, comprehensive approach to assessing the 'goodness' of agile methods. We examine an agile method based on (1) its adequacy, (2) the capability of the organization to support the adopted principles and strategies specified by the method, and (3) the method's effectiveness. We propose the Objectives, Principles and Strategies (OPS) Framework to guide our assessment process. The Framework identifies (a) objectives of the agile philosophy, (b) principles that support the objectives and (c) strategies that implement the principles. It also defines (d) linkages that relate objectives to principles, and principles to strategies, and finally, (e) indicators for assessing the extent to which an organization supports the implementation and effectiveness of those strategies. The propagation of indicator values along the linkages provides a multi-level assessment view of the agile method.  In this dissertation, we present our assessment methodology, guiding Framework, validation approach, results and findings, and future directions. / Ph. D.

Machine Learning (ML) has become a hot topic in recent years because of its potential benefits for many companies. Especially some big companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft have shown several successful cases on integrating AI capability in their own businesses. Although the interest in machine learning is rapidly increasing in almost all the business sectors, there is still a lack of knowledge of how to apply ML in small companies. Different from the big companies, smaller companies usually do not have massive resources such as the capital investment, infrastructures and expertise in machine learning. The lack of resources does not only make it difficult to adopt machine learning in small companies, but also makes the existing solutions from big companies difficult to be applied in the more general business environments. This thesis aims to help small companies to adopt machine learning by integrating the machine learning activities in their existing agile software development processes. Thus the companies can reuse most of their existing resources and let the developers apply machine learning by following the proposed model. Throughout the work, a literature review, a survey and an interview were conducted to find the challenges for small companies regarding adopting machine learning. The identified major challenges include affording to hire the right talents working with machine learning, the sufficient amount of data at their disposals, the general knowledge regarding the Machine Learning Process (MLP) and what can/cannot be done with machine learning. These challenges were identified as requirements for the proposed model to make machine learning more accessible to small companies.The proposed model called Machine Learning for All (ML4A), is divided into two major sections for the investigated challenges. The first section is a Machine Learning Usage Model to give a guideline to the non-experts for a better view of what can be accomplished with machine learning techniques. This should be used before starting a project related to machine learning. To implement the project, a process model called Agile Machine Learning (AML) is proposed in the second section. AML is a proposition of how machine learning can be integrated into an agile software engineering process, which also fits the requirements for small companies. A case study was conducted at a small Swedish company called SportAdmin to validate ML4A. The results showed the effectiveness of the proposed model by letting non-experts in machine learning to apply machine learning techniques in a small company.

Between 2003 and 2015, more than 61% of U.S. software development teams failed to satisfy project requirements, budgets, or timelines. Failed projects cost the software industry an estimated 60 billion dollars. Lost opportunities and misused resources are often the result of software development leaders failing to implement appropriate methods for managing software projects. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies software development managers use in adopting Agile methodology in the context of distributed teams. The tenets of Agile approach are individual interaction over tools, working software over documentation, and collaboration over a contract. The conceptual framework for the study was adapting Agile development methodologies. The targeted population was software development managers of U.S.-based companies located in Northern California who had successfully adopted Agile methods for distributed teams. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 5 managers and a review of project-tracking documentation and tools. Data analysis included inductive coding of transcribed interviews and evaluation of secondary data to identify themes through methodological triangulation. Findings indicated that coaching and training of teams, incremental implementation of Agile processes, and proactive management of communication effectiveness are effective strategies for adopting Agile methodology in the context of distributed teams. Improving the efficacy of Agile adoption may translate to increased financial stability for software engineers across the world as well as accelerate the successful development of information systems, thereby enriching human lives.

Scrum is a widely used methodology for software development that is born of the Agile movement. In recent years DevOps has been increasing in popularity within the software industry. The purpose of this thesis is to firstly, explore the technical and social challenges a Scrum team may face when adopting DevOps. Secondly, to explore what collaboration mechanisms that can facilitate a closer cooperation between development and operations. A multiple case study was conducted using semi-structured interviews as the data collection method. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three technical challenges and one social challenge emerged from the analysis. Additionally, four mechanisms were identified during the analysis as ways to achieve a closer collaboration between the development and operations teams. The result discussion showed that challenges of adopting DevOps when using Scrum are comparable to the findings of previous research where the scope of methodology is not limited to Scrum. Furthermore, the identified collaboration mechanisms can be used by organizations to enhance collaboration between development and operations but should not be seen as strict guidelines.

This research paper explores the impact of COVID-19 and the shift to remote work on project management practices across multiple industries. Through interviews with project managers, the study finds that companies with pre-existing remote work policies were better equipped to handle the transition to remote work. In contrast, companies without pre-existing policies faced increased challenges in communication, team morale, and workload management. The study also highlights the struggle to maintain work-life balance, the importance of communication, and the need to address technical difficulties. Project managers emphasized the importance of accountability and maintaining productivity during remote work. Overall, the study finds a positive shift in the collective outlook on remote work, with employees expressing a strong preference to continue working remotely even after the pandemic. The study emphasizes the evolving role of project managers in adopting a holistic approach to resolving interpersonal and managerial issues within teams during remote work.

When organizations are growing, hierarchical structure makes it tougher to adapt to change. In a dynamic and fast-changing world, the need for flexibility in organizations to meet customer demands are higher thanever. What customer demands, and how customer value is created, is to some extent unclear since it varies between industries, companies, and individuals. Although many researchers have discussed customer valuefor a long time, accurate conclusions seem hard to find. Recently, many organizations have adopted Agile methodology to handle challenges in a changing business environment. However, few scientific studieshave emphasized how this can be managed well in the IT consulting industry.This study aims to investigate how customer value is affected by Agile methodology, hence an investigationof what drives customer value in the IT consulting industry is conducted. Through a literature study on customer value in the IT consulting industry, the authors have identified 16 key dimensions of customer value, which have been divided into product-based value, service-based value, and relationship-based value.A case study on Elvenite AB, who is currently transforming into an Agile organization, is used as research approach, where a total of 19 interviews with experts, employees and customers were conducted. Data wasalso collected via a validation form and by participating observation, where the authors participated in Agile ceremonies at the case study company.An analysis of the result shows that the value dimensions responsiveness, empathy, reliability, and supplier solidarity with customers are very important to customers. The results also shows that Agile methodologypositively affects the value dimensions responsiveness, communication, and flexibility the most. A chart between customer value and Agile methodology’s impact, shows that responsiveness and empathy should be emphasized the most if an Agile organization wants to maximize customer value in the IT consulting industry. Agile working methods and an Agile mindset creates value through increased transparency, alignment, and through an incremental value delivery where various stakeholders are involved. On an external level, IT consulting firms should emphasize the importance of highly valued dimension in the Agile delivery. On an internal level, Agile organizations should make sure to enable an optimal flow of prioritization andcommunication in the organization, decentralize decision-making and build Agile teams around valu

Background. Software companies make frequent development in their software products to improve their quality. Agile software development (ASD) helps in the rapid delivery of the software product with consistent quality to the customer. Agile Software development shares a lot of characteristics with knowledge-intensive works, and it also needs lot of knowledge from different domains of both human and com- puting domains. Knowledge is defined as a belief of one individual capability for an effective action. Tacit knowledge is a category of the knowledge management which is defined an individuals’ memory, action or beliefs. Moreover, tacit knowledge plays a crucial role in ASD. However, tacit knowledge is hard to transfer among team mem- bers as tacit knowledge is based on an individual experience. Tacit knowledge is not documented for further reference so there is a need to study how efficiently can tacit knowledge is currently being transferred in the industry, what challenges are being faced in tacit knowledge transfer and the mitigation strategies used to overcome the tacit knowledge transfer challenges. Objectives. In this present thesis, we focused on how tacit knowledge is being transferred among team members in agile software development. Objective 1: To identify the current tacit knowledge transfer mechanism in agile software development. Objective 2: To identify challenges in managing tacit knowledge transfer between team members in Agile software development. Objective 3: To explore mitigation strategies to overcome the challenges faced dur- ing tacit knowledge transfer. Methods. In this study, SLR and interviews were implemented to achieve the objective. SLR was used to achieve the first two objectives, and interviews were conducted to achieve all the objectives. Results. From SLR, a total of 21 challenges and 12 transfer mechanisms have been identified whereas, from the interviews, a total of 12 challenges, 8 transfer mecha- nisms, and 7 mitigation strategies have been identified. There were new challenges and transfer mechanisms identified in both research methods. Some of the transfer mechanisms consist of daily scrum calls and day-to-day forums among the teams. Both the research methods’ results indicate that one of the most challenging parts while transferring tacit knowledge is the lack of critical thinking with human orienta- tion. Based on the interviews, some of the mitigation strategies such as regular sprint meetings, and online whiteboarding were considered to overcome the tacit knowledge transfer challenges. Conclusions. Based on the challenges identified from the interview, it is evident that teams working in distributed teams are facing more challenges in transferring tacit knowledge, and tacit knowledge transfer sessions should be recorded to reduce the challenges.

Background: Project Management is an overall methodology that is used for the execution of specific activities which require resources and planning from the organization. A new project methodology, agile project management was introduced when specific tasks required rapid response to constantly changing conditions. In an agile project management, the cross-functional team consists of team members from various departments in the organization with different knowledge levels. The distribution of knowledge level and various work roles in the cross-functional team can bring up important strategies as different challenges as well. Therefore, it is a great of importance from the management level consider different strategies in order to overcome the challenges. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to present the effective strategies and common challenges of the involvement of cross-functional teams in an agile project to obtain a better understanding about when to implement it and how these can be useful from a managerial perspective.Method: The current study follows qualitative research by performing an interview qualitative study with participants from different professional backgrounds and companies from Sweden by performing semi-structured interviews.Conclusion: The results present the four themes were identified which are: communication, knowledge sharing, leadership as the effective strategies and, identified challenges as the common challenges in a cross-functional team while using agile project management.

Den kompetensbrist som råder inom Tech-branschen har inte undkommit många. Trots att fältet accelererar i rasande fart bromsar kompetensbristen digitaliseringen och utvecklingen av samhället. Utvecklande trender tvingar organisationer till kontinuerlig förändring där rekryteringen inom organisationen behöver bli flexibel och anpassningsbar för att kunna möta förändringar och tillgodogöra organisationen med den kompetens som behövs för att hjälpa dom att överleva på marknaden. I och med den kompetensbrist som råder inom Tech, tillsammans med den växande digitaliseringen inom alla olika typer av branscher, slåss de allra flesta organisationer om den lilla mängd kompetens som finns på marknaden. Därför har det aldrig varit så aktuellt att behöva vara en attraktiv arbetsgivare. Syftet med studien är att kartlägga hur en agil Talent Acqusition kan vara ett steg på vägen för att underlätta i processen att få tag i den kompetens som organisationen behöver. Studiens är en fallstudie där undersökningsobjekt har varit ett Tech-företags kampanj för att rekrytera mjukvaruutvecklare. Resultaten visar att rekrytera för segment har varit ett bra första steg mot ett mer agilt arbetssätt. Det är dock näst intill omöjligt att ersätta headhunting av senior spetskompetens med denna typ av tillvägagångsätt för Talent Acquisition. För att skapa mervärde av detta arbetssätt behöver företaget lägga ett större fokus på tvärfunktionella teams, kommunikation samt lägga tydligare ramar. Sammanfattningsvis bidrar ett mer agilt Talent Acquisition till att effektivisera rekryteringsprocessen och ta tillvara på kandidaten på ett bättre sätt, i denna kandidatfokuserade marknad.

Companies must be flexible and adaptable to compete in today's market. Those with such skills can better meet changing customer needs. Customization can add value by meeting customers' specific needs. Engineer-to-order (ETO) is used as a strategy to meet customer needs. High-mix, low-volume products are promoted. This creates uncertainty about the demand that the organization needs to deal with in a fast and efficient way, which results in applying agile as an approach to dealing with uncertainty. In addition, the organization needs to be more resilient to the vulnerability to which the market exposes the organization. However, at the same time, the organization needs the ability to make sense of the state of its environment, detect new threats, adopt new technologies and organizational attributes, and contribute to its resilience. However, it is unclear how to simultaneously develop an agile-based manufacturing strategy and a more resilient organization. Evidently, research is limited regarding the management of both the ability to move quickly and easily (Agile) and the organization's capacity to rapidly adapt to and respond to all types of risks (Resilience) within complex ETO organizations. In light of this, the purpose of this study is to investigate how agile and resilient practices can be implemented in ETO organizations to facilitate the production of complex or specialized products, as well as the capacity to absorb stress, recover essential functionality, and thrive under altered conditions. This study has primarily adopted a qualitative methodology, which uses both a case study approach and a literature review. The case study is based on interviews, a document study, and questionaries. The result from this study presents critical areas to improve from the point of view of agile and resilient practices so that the organization can have better performance and productivity. Improving areas such as communication, management style, the development of a model and knowledge management, the desired organizational structure, and the customer's role is essential in order to increase the organization's efficiency and decrease its uncertainty and risks.