Internal communication is an important factor in organisations today. For many system development teams it’s critical that the communication works well. Without communication, success would be impossible. This study aims to highlight the effect communication has on the members of agile project teams. The theoretical data is gathered from a literature study in the fields of relevance. The empirical data in this study is gathered from interviews and observations at three different companies, all working with agile development methods. The results from the interviews and observations presents that all respondents were affected by the internal communication in their work. Our analysis show a clear resemblance between the empirical data and the data gathered in our theoretical study. Our conclusion show that internal communication has an effect on the agile project teams. A factor that became very clear is that the project teams feel more effective because of the communication. But our conclusion also shows that the internal communication improved relations, work became more fun, and the atmosphere in the project teams got more familiar. Communication helped the project teams spread their knowledge between each other in the project teams. The communication also created a common language for the system developers which meant they could understand the requirements better and easier, which leads to more effective communication.

Electromagnetic equations pertaining to electrically small dipole antennas and electrically small monopole antennas with small circular ground planes are reviewed. Two electrically small antenna designs are analyzed numerically and the results are compared. The first is a frequency agile version of the two-dimensional (2D) planar Egyptian axe dipole (EAD) antenna. The second is its three-dimensional (3D) counterpart. The frequency agile performance characteristics of both the 2D and 3D EAD designs are studied and compared. The potential for non-Foster augmentation to achieve large instantaneous fractional impedance bandwidths is detailed for each antenna. In addition, details are given on how to run frequency agile simulations in both ANSYS HFSS and Agilent's ADS. Details are also provided on how to generate an antenna's non-Foster |S₁₁| and radiation efficiency curves using HFSS, and how to generate an antenna's non-Foster |S₁₁| curve using ADS.

Requirements management is an important part of the software development process. The success of a project may depend on how this is handled. Even though several research studies indicates that more attention should be paid on non-functional requirements, the primary focus in practical projects still regards identifying functional requirements. Especially the prioritization of the non-functional requirements has been proven to be of great importance for the success of a project. This report investigates basics in agile requirements management involving opinions from experts from a software development company. This is done with help of existing literature and interviews with key actors involved in prioritization at the company. I investigate prioritization of non-functional requirements and possibilities for agile project development. The results contribute to developing an overall understanding of the agile way of working. The methodology of this report follows a qualitative approach. It is based on secondary data from literature and documents, but also on data collected via interviews. The results are acknowledging earlier findings from the literature and illustrate with examples actual prioritization of non-functional requirements, and how and why prioritization is a complex activity at a company. However, according to one of the most important findings of this study, the strict use of prioritization techniques is not the most urgent necessity for the success of a project. / Kravhanteringen är en viktig del av systemutvecklingsprocessen. Ett projekts framgång kan kopplas till hur detta genomförs. Även om flera studier pekar på att mer uppmärksamhet bör läggas på icke-funktionella krav är den primära fokusen i flera projekt fortfarande att identifiera funktionella krav. Speciellt prioriteringen av de icke-funktionella kraven har visat sig vara av stor betydelse för ett lyckat projekt.  Den här rapporten undersöker grunderna i den agila kravhanteringen som involverar åsikter från experter i ett företag inom mjukvaruutveckling. Detta görs med hjälp av befintlig litteratur samt intervjuer med nyckelaktörer involverade i prioriteringen hos företaget. Jag undersöker prioriteringen av icke-funktionella krav och möjligheter för agil projektutveckling hos företaget. Följaktligen kommer resultatet bidra till att ge läsaren en allmän förståelse om det agila arbetssättet. Metodologin för den här rapporten följer ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt. Den baseras på sekundär data från litteratur och dokument, men även data insamlat via intervjuer. Resultaten medger tidigare upptäckter från litteraturen och visar med exempel verklig prioritering av icke-funktionella krav samt hur och varför prioriteringen är en komplex aktivitet hos ett företag. Dock är, enligt en av de viktigaste upptäckterna i den här rapporten, ett strikt användande av prioriteringstekniker inte den viktigaste nödvändigheten för ett lyckat projekt.

Despite the perceived importance of IT, a majority of IT projects fail to deliver what was actually ordered (!). One main reason for failure is IT project management’s inability to adapt and react to a dynamic and changing project environment, instead, projects are run as if it is possible to predict all project variables before project start. In reality, IT project workers live in a dynamic, political and commercial environment where it is difficult to predict and control the future. IT projects needs to be continually aligned with their environment to stay relevant and deliver utility. Through a design science and action research approach, a model supporting IT project managers with IT project alignment is created and tested. The model is called DELTA and is designed to be easy to understand and use for IT project managers; it builds on a simplification of commonly available approaches in order to facilitate communication the different domains of expertise in IT projects. DELTA builds on four main constituents: Enterprise images, Stakeholders, Goals and Project. Guidelines for using the model is also presented. Experiences from using the model indicates that the model is perceived as a useful complement to regular project management methods, specifically by merging different conceptual perceptions into a common view. Furthermore, results highlight the conflict between IT project alignment and the traditional project model. Finally, the results show the difference between IT project issues and underlying causes for these issues.

Service organizations need to respond rapidly to both changes in the market and customer expectations. One way of accomplishing this is through service innovation enacted to achieve competitive advantage. This study applies a service-dominant logic (SDL) lens to describe how a service organization may achieve service innovation through value co-creation that is facilitated by agile distributed methods. Literature on value co-creation is somewhat limited; although a few studies have provided guidance on what is needed to achieve value co-creation, no study has yet presented how this might be achieved. Therefore, using a single-site case study in the context of a large service organization, this study examines how value is co-created and the role that agile distributed methods play in this process. This research seeks to contribute to practice by providing service organizations with recommendations for achieving value co-creation. It contributes to theory by advancing our understanding of value co-creation processes; moreover, by using the context of an SDL, it presents a framework that maps elements of service innovation to agile distributed practices.

En este trabajo de tesis se describirá una técnica de modelado centrado en mockups, introduciéndola primero con MockupDD Web. Luego de haber ejemplificado el desarrollo centrado en mockups para metodologías MDWE, se describirá un marco general para el modelado sobre mockups (lo que se referenciará como metodología MockupDD general) y una instanciación particular de esta metodología además de la ya presentada para la Web. Las principales contribuciones de la metodología MockupDD y sus especializaciones son: (1) Mejorar el workflow en cascada de las metodologías MDD tradicionales (en especial, aquellas MDWE) para permitir acortar las iteraciones y permitir a usuarios finales y clientes involucrados interactuar más rápidamente son el software generado, agilizando el proceso. (2) Mejorar la productividad en el modelado de aplicaciones a través de la técnica de modelado de aplicaciones sobre mockups reduciendo sus errores y tiempo requerido, como se mostrará luego en las secciones de validación (3) Introducir a clientes y usuarios finales en el proceso de desarrollo, utilizando artefactos de especificación de requerimientos de fácil comprensión para los mismos en lugar de conceptos de modelado comprensibles sólo para desarrolladores. En este contexto se utilizarán mockups y diferentes técnicas de anotación y especificación de requerimientos formales sobre los mismos. (4) La implementación de un lenguaje de modelado sobre mockups con diferentes vistas, satisfaciendo al mismo tiempo la necesidad de comprensión de requerimientos por parte de los usuarios finales y las capacidades técnicas requeridas por los desarrolladores. (5) Con ayuda de esta versatilidad del lenguaje y del uso de mockups (los cuales son comprensibles en su totalidad por usuarios finales), proveer un método de modelado más trazable desde el punto de vista de los requerimientos.

Manufacturing organizations are facing fragmented markets and increased demand of variety from consumers. As a result, many of these firms have adopted mass customization manufacturing strategies in an effort to offer their customers the freedom of choice while maintaining operational efficiency. Lean manufacturing strategies have also seen heavy use in manufacturing environments. This study investigates the possibilities of integrating lean manufacturing principles and practices into mass customization environments in order to improve system performance. The feasibility of other manufacturing strategies such as agility, Quick Response Manufacturing and the Theory of Constraints assisting in the application of lean manufacturing for mass customization is also explored with the goal of developing a theoretical framework for the application of these manufacturing systems in different types of mass customization environments. The result of these investigations is tested and verified using a real world case study.

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This study investigates the critical success factors involved in agile systems development projects. Various systems development methodologies and project management methodologies are presented with their underlying principles, strengths and weaknesses. Thereafter the critical success factors adopted from the work of Chow and Cao (2007) are presented. A positivistic research paradigm was chosen for data collection and analysis. The survey method was chosen for data collection. A questionnaire was sent to multiple respondents in a predominantly agile work environment, which resulted in a total of 129 respondents in various business sectors. The results were analysed by implementing multiple correlation and regression statistics as well as descriptive statistics. The results show that there are in fact 16 critical success factors that have a direct impact on the success of agile systems development projects. Agile systems development methodologies have been increasing in use during the last 3 years, and most organisations are implementing some form of project management methodology. The first recommendation is based on the findings that strong customer involvement and the appropriate management of the agile process with a satisfactory amount of documentation resulted in greater process success. Therefore, organisations should encourage these critical success factors when implementing an ASDM as this has a positive effect on the project outcome. The appropriate management of the agile process with a satisfactory amount of documentation, the application of good design practices and technical knowledge to a project, and a cooperative organizational culture instead of hierarchical are three of the key critical success factors that were positively related to the success of the product. By focussing on these critical success factors, the success of the entire project can be predicted. / Thesis (MCom (Computer Science & Information Systems))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Over the years, organizations have seen fit to adopt the use of agile systems development methodologies (ASDMs) because of the benefits that they offer, such as flexibility and the ability to deliver products faster, in constantly changing environments. When ASDMs are used in projects, they are made to fit or be suitable for a project‟s unique aspects, such as its size, requirements, scope and outcomes. This is known as the contingent use of ASDMs. Little is known about the contingent use of ASDMs in South African organizations. It is not known whether it is happening, its procedure and its success. It is important to know this because quality and control need to be maintained in systems produced. There is always a danger that the benefits of using a system development methodology (SDM) would be lost if ASDMs are highly adapted. This led to an investigation of three organizations in South Africa that use contingent ASDMs. With the help of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and documents, data was collected that was analysed, using the tool ATLAS.ti, and the analysis methods content and cross-case analysis. It was found that some South African organizations in the telecommunications, consulting, technological, outsourcing and agricultural sectors use ASDMs in combination with the still popular waterfall SDM. Compatibility between the SDM and the project is a factor in some organizations. Scrum was cited to be the ASDM that was used in some of the organizations interviewed due to its maturity. They make ASDMs contingent by using aspects in the methods, such as Scrum, that are useful for their unique projects. These aspects are in some cases combined with other SDMs to form hybrid methodologies. Some organizations use criteria, such as project needs, outcomes, size and complexity to make ASDMs contingent. Some organizations have measures and facilities in place to manage, monitor, control and document the process used to make ASDMs contingent. They make use of contingent ASDMs as they have experienced more success with them and they will continue to do so. / Thesis (MCom (Computer Science & Information Systems))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.