Organizations have always tried and pushed themselves to bring changes in how they conduct business. They do this to reach the market quickly and achieve customer satisfaction. This master thesis was conducted at a global leader transportation company, Alstom, to investigate Scaled Agile Frameworks (SAFe) adoption in their Sweden Development Centre, identifying SAFe implementation challenges in a safety-related development as a single-case study. For the thesis, two research questions were formulated to identify the implementation challenges and find their reasons. For the data collection of the thesis, semi-structured interviews, self-completion surveys, and relevant research papers were used to serve the purpose of both primary data and secondary data sources. The researchers acted as ethnographers by participating in the company’s daily events and taking notes. The analysis of the collected data was done using the triangulation approach to get reliable results. In addition, researchers also used SAFe core competency assessment to evaluate the business agility of the case organization.The analysis from the collected data resulted in five implementation challenges. The data suggested that the major challenge was insufficient training and lack of agile mindset among the team members. The case organization had invested in training and support for going through the transformation, but the agile training was interrupted in 2019. Since then, the knowledge about SAFe and the agile way of working was acquired based on learning by doing. Based on the data, the researchers concluded that lack of continuous training has resulted in the development over time of other implementation challenges like insufficient self-organization, nonoptimal team size, and lack of clarity when defining role responsibilities. The data also suggested that transparent communication between different levels may still be a challenge. The SAFe assessment that has been conducted resulted in confirm previous result that in some places complemented the identified implementation challenges.  Key Words: Scaling Agile Framework, Implementation challenges, Lean, Waterfall, Self-organization, Continuous learning culture, Safety related development, Business agility, Ethnography.

Produzierende Unternehmen, die traditionelle Produktentwicklungsmethoden mit linearen und rigiden Prozessen nutzen, sind zunehmend weniger in der Lage, den Veränderungen in Märkten und Technologien gerecht zu werden. Der klassische Stage-Gate Prozesses nach Cooper lässt kein adäquates Reagieren auf diese Veränderungen zu, sodass es zu Verzögerungen in der Entwicklung und späten Änderungen am Produkt im weiteren Projektverlauf kommt. Aus diesem Grund werden agile Methoden innerhalb etablierter plangetriebener Ansätze integriert, um durch kurzfristige und wiederkehrende Planungs-aktivitäten und ein iteratives Vorgehen in der Entwicklung eine schnellere Anpassung an mögliche Veränderungen während der Projektdurchführung zu ermöglichen. Die Anwendung agiler Methoden, die aus der Softwareentwicklung entstammen, kann jedoch nicht ohne Anpassungen erfolgen, da sich der Entwicklungsprozess physischer Produkte beispielsweise hinsichtlich der Modularisierung des Gesamtsystems in kleinere Inkremente deutlich von der Vorgehensweise in der Softwareentwicklung unterscheidet. Um die Einführung agiler Methoden unternehmensspezifisch und zweckmäßig gestalten zu können, soll die Basis für einen unternehmensspezifischen Problemlösungsprozess gelegt werden, mit dem Agilität in die Prozesse eingeführt werden kann. Dazu soll herausgefunden werden, inwieweit Entwickler aus der Praxis den Bedarf für eine individuelle Einführung von Agilität sehen. Dazu werden Interviews mit Experten aus Unternehmen geführt, um die Implementierung agiler Methoden im Rahmen der physischen Produktentwicklung in der Praxis zu hinterfragen und zukünftige Forschungspotentiale zu explizieren. Daraus werden Hypothesen hinsichtlich einer individuellen Einführung von Agilität in die Entwicklungsprozesse produzierender Unternehmen abgeleitet und in einer quantitativen Umfrage überprüft. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eindeutig den Bedarf für eine individuelle Einführung von Agilität in den jeweiligen Anwendungsfall.

Notre projet de recherche vise à comprendre comment les organisations peuvent s’adapter à leur environnement et le faire évoluer en tirant partie de la richesse d’informations auxquelles le marketing a accès. Pour cela, nous avons mobilisé un cadre d’analyse croisant la littérature sur l’agilité en marketing, sur les capacités dynamiques et les compétences, et sur l’apprentissage organisationnel. Grâce à une démarche abductive, qui se compose de trois études qualitatives, nous répondons à la problématique : Quelles sont les ressources, capacités et compétences qui influencent la compétence d’agilité pour le marketing ? Nos résultats mettent en évidence l’importance de facilitateurs de l’agilité en termes de structure, de culture et de technologie. Ils montrent par ailleurs que l’objectif du transfert d’informations entre les chargés d’études et le marketing opérationnel, ainsi que le degré de contrôle sur l’interprétation des informations par le marketing opérationnel influence la coordination des activités qui composent l’agilité. / The aim of this project is to understand how organizations are able to adapt to their environment and to make it evolve in making use of the wealth of market information. For that purpose, we used an analytical framework based on the literature on customer agility, on dynamic capabilities and core competencies, and on organizational learning.An abductive approach based on three qualitative studies helped us answer the following research problem: What resources, capabilities and competencies influence customer agility?Our results show that micro-foundations of customer agility, in terms of structure, culture and technologies, are needed.We also show the importance of the objective of the intra-organizational transfer between market analysts and product managers and of the level of control over the receiver on the coordination of the two activities of customer agility.

Title: The effect of compensatory exercises in ice hockey players of younger school age with focus on the evaluation of selected parameters of stability, coordination and movement stereotypes Objectives: The objective of this thesis was to verify the effect of compensatory exercises on stability, coordination and movement stereotypes in ice-hockey players of younger school age (8-12 years old). Specifically, the objective was to verify stated effect on dynamic stability, static stability of the trunk, execution of selected stereotypes, coordination and performance in specific test on ice. Methods: Data for this thesis were collected using quantitative form of research. The whole research population was composed of 75 probands with the average age of 10,3 years and who play actively ice-hockey. The population was composed of both sexes, males and females (boys and girls). Participants were divided into two groups - experimental (n = 43) and control (n = 32). To collect the values of measurements was used method of testing with clinical tests and to eliminate disturbing elements we also used the method of questionnaire. The values were collected in input and output sessions. The time spacing between those two measurements was 3 months. Between stated two measurements in experimental group took place...

Die Anforderungen des Marktes in Bezug auf Flexibilität und Geschwindigkeit, welchen sich Produktionsunternehmen stellen müssen, nehmen immer weiter zu. Die Kunden wollen in jeder Hinsicht individuell bedient werden. Sie wollen das Produkt nach ihren Vorstellungen konfigurieren können, es in kurzer Zeit zur Verfügung gestellt bekommen und trotzdem bei Bedarf individuelle Änderungen integrieren können. Aus diesem Grund muss ein Produktionsunternehmen sowohl in der Planungs- als auch in der Ausführungsphase flexibel auf Änderungen, die vom Kunden ausgelöst werden oder durch interne Ereignisse erforderlich sind, reagieren können. Studien unter produzierenden Unternehmen haben gezeigt, dass im Fall der Notwendigkeit nachträglicher Änderungen das Produktionsplanungs- und steuerungssystem oft nicht miteinbezogen wird, insbesondere dann, wenn die Änderungen sehr prozessnah stattfinden. Da Änderungen jedoch heutzutage keine Seltenheit mehr sind, führt dies dazu, dass die im System gehaltenen Daten häufig von dem tatsächlichen Produkti-onsablauf abweichen. Eine im Rahmen der Arbeit durchgeführte Analyse führender ERP-Systeme und MES hat gezeigt, dass dieses Problem auf Systemunzulänglichkeiten zurückzuführen ist. Auf Basis der Systemuntersuchung schlägt die Arbeit deshalb ein Konzept für ein flexibles Produktionspla-nungs- und -steuerungssystem vor: das PPS II-System. Dieses System soll gewährleisten, dass nachträgliche Änderungen, die durch interne oder externe Ereignisse ausgelöst werden, in die Produktionsplanung integriert werden können. Die Architektur des PPS II-Systems basiert auf der Idee, die starre Trennung zwischen den Planungs- und Steuerungssystemen der Fertigung aufzulösen. Um dies zu gewährleisten, besteht das PPS II-System aus lose gekoppelten Services, deren Zusammenwirken das Verhalten des Systems beschreibt. Die Funktionalität des PPS II-Systems orientiert sich am Konzept der prozessnahen Gestaltungsentscheidung, welches die Ausführungszeit, die zu verwendenden Materialien und die einzusetzenden Ressourcen auf Basis verschiedener Abstraktionen erst unmittelbar vor Produktionsbeginn bestimmt. Eine umfangreiche theoretische und praktische Evaluierung bestätigt, dass das PPS II-System auf diese Weise sehr flexibel auf Änderungen reagieren kann. / Today, production companies face big challenges, in particular with regards to flexibility and speed. Their customers want to be served individually in every respect. They want to configure the product individually and receive it as fast as possible. However, they also want to be able to integrate late changes. For this reason, a production company must be able to react to changes in the planning phase as well as in the production phase in a very flexible way. Such changes might be initiated by the customers or they might be necessary due to internal events. Surveys, which analyzed the processes of production companies, have revealed that their production planning and control systems are often not involved if late changes are necessary. This is particularly true, if the changes occur shortly before the production starts. Therefore, system data deviate from the real production procedure often already in the planning phase. An analysis of leading ERP systems and MES carried out in this thesis has shown that the reason for the problems is the limited flexibility of these systems. On the basis of the analysis, this thesis proposes a new concept for a flexible production and control system: the PPC II system. This system should ensure that late changes triggered by internal or external events can be integrated in the production schedule. The architecture of the PPC II system is based on the idea to eliminate the separation between the planning system and the control system. To reach this goal, the system consists of loosely coupled services that are flexibly orches-trated to control production processes. The PPC II system realizes the concept of late order freeze. Process-relevant decisions for the execution time, the used materials, and the resources are made shortly before production starts. A comprehensive theoretical and practical evaluation verifies that the PPC II system is able to react flexible to changes.

Title: Effect of toning in warm-up on performance of floorball players Objectives: Find out the influence of toning in warm-up before performance in exercises aimed at determining the action speed, explosive power of legs and agility of floorball players. Methods: A total of 20 floorball player aged 17 - 27 years participated in two measurements, one week apart. On the test day each proband passed one of two types of warm-up, non-toning warm-up and toning warm-up, and the next test day passed the second type of warm-up. The warm-up was follwed by three tests, the 20 m run, the jump from place and the shuttle run. For analysis of results was used statistics methods. Results: The first hypothesis was confirmed for the group of probands aged 17-19 years in the overall performance, 10 m run, 20 m run and jump from place. The second hypothesis was confirmed in the overall performance for all probands, then for the group of probands aged 17-19 years and for the group of probands aged 20-24 years. The second hypothesis was confirmed in the 10 and 20 m run for all probands, in the 10 m, 20 m run and in the jump from the place for the group of probands aged 17-19 years, in the 10 and 20 m run for group of probands aged 20-24 years. According to Cohen's d the results of the 10 and 20 m run were the most...

Denna uppsats består av en fallstudie vars syfte är att bidra med kunskap kring vilka faktorer som påverkar arbetet av att stödja utbildning på ett lärosäte för högre utbildning, i relation till digital transformation, vid kriser som COVID-19-pandemin. Studien bidrar även med förståelse för relaterade begrepp som har ett samband med digital transformation vid liknande kriser. För att uppfylla syftet har ett valt arbetssystem på ett lärosäte för högre utbildning undersökts genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med ett urval av respondenter. Det studerade arbetssystemet har valts ut för att dels få en överblick över arbetssystemet och dess roller, dels för att ta reda på hur detta arbetssystem förhållit sig till begrepp som har en koppling till digital transformation vid COVID-19-pandemin. Resultatet visar att begreppen ambidexteritet, agilitet, digital motståndskraft och digital transformation har ett samband, och att dessa begrepp är faktorer som påverkar arbetet av att stödja utbildning vid kriser som liknar COVID-19-pandemin. Andra viktiga faktorer som har en koppling till dessa begrepp och anses ha en påverkan är kursplaner, utvärderingar, IT-kompetens, innovationsförmåga samt digitala verktyg. Dessa slutsatser baseras på upplevelser och erfarenheter från de representerade rollerna ur det valda arbetssystemet. / This is a case study whose purpose is to contribute with knowledge about the factors that affect the work of supporting education at a higher education institution, in relation to digital transformation, in crises such as the COVID-19-pandemic. The study also contributes with an understanding of related concepts that are related to digital transformation in similar crises. To fulfill this purpose, a selected work system at a higher education institution has been studied through semi-structured interviews with a sample of respondents. The studied work system has been selected to get an overview of the roles within the work system, as well as to find out how this work system relates to concepts related to digital transformation in the COVID-19-pandemic. The results shows that the concepts of ambidexterity, agility, digital resilience, and digital transformation are related, and that these concepts are factors that influence the work of supporting education in crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Other important factors that are linked to these concepts and are considered to have an impact are syllabi, evaluations, IT skills, innovation ability and digital tools. These conclusions are based on experiences and opinions by the represented roles from the chosen work system.

Software security for agile methods, particularly for those designed for individual developers, is still a major concern. With most software products deployed over the Internet, security as a key component of software quality has become a major problem. In addressing this problem, this research proposes a solo software development methodology (SSDM) that uses as minimum resources as possible, at the same time conforming to the best practice for delivering secure and high-quality software products. Agile methods have excelled on delivering timely and quality software. At the same time research also shows that most agile methods do not address the problem of security in the developed software. A metasynthesis of SSDMs conducted in this thesis confirmed the lack practices that promote security in the developed software product. On the other hand, some researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of incorporating existing lightweight security practices into agile methods. This research uses Design Science Research (DSR) to build, demonstrate and evaluate a lightweight SSDM. Using an algorithm adapted for the purpose, the research systematically integrates lightweight security and quality practices to produce an agile secure-solo software development methodology (Secure-SSDM). A multiple-case study in an academic and industry setting is conducted to demonstrate and evaluate the utility of the methodology. This demonstration and evaluation thereof, indicates the applicability of the methodology in building high-quality and secure software products. Theoretical evaluation of the agility of the Secure-SSDM using the four-dimensional analytical tool (4-DAT) shows satisfactory compliance of the methodology with agile principles. The main contributions in this thesis are: the Secure-SSDM, which entails description of the concepts, modelling languages, stages, tasks, tools and techniques; generation of a quality theory on practices that promote quality in a solo software development environment; adaptation of Keramati and Mirian-Hosseinabadi’s algorithm for the purposes of integrating quality and security practices. This research would be of value to researchers as it introduces the security component of software quality into a solo software development environment, probing more research in the area. To software developers the research has provided a lightweight methodology that builds quality and security into the product using minimum resources. / School of Computing / D. Phil. (Computer Science)

Bakgrund och problem: En tilltagande globaliseringen, teknisk utveckling och ökad konkurrens har gjort att företag behöver anpassa sig till den föränderliga miljön för att förbli lönsamma och konkurrenskraftiga. Projekt är ett effektivt sätt att anpassa sig till en föränderlig och osäker omvärld. Därför har det skett en ökning av antalet projekt som bedrivs, samtidigt som en allt högre andel projekt misslyckas på grund av faktorerna i projektets miljö som orsakar komplexitet i projektet. Komplexiteten behöver således hanteras för att kunna driva projektet framåt.  Syfte: Syftet med studien är att identifiera hur faktorerna i projektets föränderliga miljö orsakar komplexitet samt att skapa bättre förståelse för hur faktorerna hanteras i projektstyrningen. Vidare är det praktiska syftet att skapa vägledning och insikt i hur företag kan hantera komplexiteten som orsakas av dessa faktorer.  Metod: Forskningsstrategin är baserad på ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt med en abduktiv ansats. Forskningsdesignen bygger en insamling av empiriska data genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer på sex olika verksamheter, där fallen består av både traditionella branscher där det traditionella projektstyrningsidéerna kan tänkas dominera och modernare företag som tar avstamp i mer agila projektstyrningsmetoder.  Slutsats: Studiens resultat visade att komplexitetsfaktorerna i slutändan påverkar en eller flera variabler i projekttriangeln, som är tid, kostnad och kvalitet/resultat. Komplexitetsfaktorerna som identifierades är begränsad tid, begränsade resurser, intressenternas inflytande, kompetensbrist, motstånd för förändring, lagar och regleringar samt teknisk utveckling. Studiens resultat visade också på att komplexitetsfaktorerna hanteras genom effektivare kommunikation, långsiktighet, effektiv planering, samt viljan att förändras. / Background and problem: Increasing globalization, technological development and increased competition have made it necessary for companies to adapt to the changing environment in order to remain profitable and competitive. Projects are an effective way to adapt to a changing and uncertain world. Therefore, there has been an increase in the number of projects carried out, at the same time as an increasing proportion of projects fail due to the factors in the project environment that cause complexity in the project. The complexity thus needs to be managed in order to be able to drive the project forward.  Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify how the factors in the project's changing environment cause complexity and to create a better understanding of how the factors are handled in project management. Furthermore, the practical purpose is to create guidance and insight into how companies can handle the complexity caused by these factors.  Method: The research strategy is based on a qualitative approach with an abductive approach. The research design builds a collection of empirical data through semi-structured interviews of six different companies, where the cases consist of both traditional industries where the traditional project management ideas may dominate and modern companies that are based on more agile project management methods.  Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the complexity factors ultimately affect one or more variables in the project triangle, which are time, cost and quality/results. The complexity factors identified are limited time, limited resources, stakeholder influence, lack of competence, resistance to change, laws and regulations and technical development. The results of the study also showed that the complexity factors are managed through more efficient communication, strategic and effective planning and the willingness to change.

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in understanding how organizations can utilize big data in their process management to create value and improve their processes. This is due to new challenges for process management which have arisen from increasing competition and the complexity of large data sets due to technological advancements. These large data sets have been described by scholars as big data which involves data that are so complex traditional data analysis software are not sufficient in managing or analyzing them. Because of the complexity of handling such great volumes of data there is a big gap in practical examples where organizations have incorporated big data in their process management. Therefore, in order to fill relevant gaps and contribute to advancements in this field, this thesis will explore how big data can contribute to improved process management. Hence, the aim of this thesis entailed investigating how, why and to what extent big data is used in process management. As well as to outline the purpose and challenges of using big data in process management. This was accomplished through a literature review and a survey, respectively, in order to understand how big data had previously been used to create value and improve processes in organizations. From the extensive literature review, an analysis matrix of how big data is used in process management is provided through the intersections between big data and process management dimensions. The analysis matrix showed that most of the instances in which big data was used in process management were in process analysis & improvement and process control & agility. Simply put, organizations used big data in specific activities involved in process management but not in a holistic manner. Furthermore, the limited findings from the survey indicate that the main challenges and purposes of big data use in Swedish organizations are the complexity of handling data and making statistically better decisions, respectively.