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Early reading skills are the foundation of children’s academic success (Lonigan et al., 1999). Unfortunately reading difficulties are highly prevalent in school children (National Center for Education Statistics, 2007) and can have significant and long-lasting negative impacts on academic, social, and vocational achievement (Sylva & Hurry, 1996). A link between difficulties in reading and behaviour problems has also been widely noted in the literature. Few studies have, however, examined the impact of reading interventions on both reading and behaviour skills for children, particularly for children with mild to moderate behavioural issues. This is an important area of research in determining the effects of literacy intervention, and disentangling the complex relationship between reading and behavioural difficulties. Accordingly, the current study aimed to monitor the effectiveness of a specialist reading intervention on children's literacy skills and behaviour. The research employed a multiple case study design, and was separated into three phases (a pre-testing phase, intervention phase, and post-test phase). Participants consisted of 11 students from two Christchurch Primary schools who had difficulties in reading, as well as five teachers, two literacy teachers, and one teacher aide. Four participants, who exhibited more severe behaviour (as identified by their teacher on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) at pre-test, were selected as case study participants. Case study participants’ literacy teachers provided additional information regarding the students’ behaviour. All participants completed pre- and post-literacy (reading and spelling) and phonological awareness assessments and students were observed in the classroom setting. Teachers also completed surveys in regards to the students’ classroom behaviour over the course of the intervention. The Agility with Sound intervention primarily targets phonological awareness and application of phonological decoding strategies in reading. The intervention also focuses on vocabulary development and reading comprehension. At School 1, participants attended four, 1 hour sessions each week as a small-group. At School 2, participants attended three sessions each week for 30 minutes. Differences in intervention scheduling and content across the two schools restricted the research design that could be employed to establish the effects of the specialist teaching. Results showed that the majority of participants showed an increase in raw score for the Letter-word Identification (n=11), Word Attack (n=7), and Helen Arkell Spelling Test (n=9), indicating that the research intervention had a significant, positive impact on children’s word identification, decoding, and spelling skills. No significant differences were found between pre- and post-test measures of behaviour, however, qualitative data from teachers indicated that for four participants, some change in classroom behaviour was evident following intervention. Findings from case study students indicated that Participant 9 who had the most reported difficulties during literacy sessions (as reported by her literacy teacher), demonstrated the least progress in literacy; demonstrating decreases in spelling and reading raw scores following the intervention period. The remaining case study participants all demonstrated increases in reading, spelling, and phonological awareness (with the exception of Participant 3 who showed no change in phonological awareness). All participants (with the exception of Participant 11 whose teacher-report of classroom behaviour remained the same from pre- to post-test) also demonstrated decreased raw scores in observation of problem classroom behaviours and teacher-reports of problem classroom behaviours over the course of the intervention period. A correlation analysis did not show a significant association between change in literacy and change in classroom behaviour following the intervention period. The current research supports the use of Agility with Sound for enhancing school children’s literacy skills, and highlights the importance of combining literacy and behavioural intervention to enhance both literacy and classroom behaviour skills for children with co-morbid difficulties.

Despite a general consensus concerning the relevance of supply partnerships to agility, the literature reveals disagreements and contradictions regarding their characteristics and, in particular, their duration. This is, whether partnerships in an agile strategy should be long-term (strategic partnerships) or short-term (agile partnerships). The research joins this debate by investigating the types and characteristics of supply partnerships to achieve agility. The underlying premise of the work is that the type of supply partnership is contingent on the degree of turbulence an agile strategy is designed to face. The research was carried out in the fashion industry, given the relevance of agility in this industry. Specifically, the research focused the supply partnerships developed by the footwear companies in the Macerata-Fermo district, the largest footwear district in Italy. The focus on district companies allow the comparison of several companies sharing a very similar business context, allowing a better control of external variables and increasing the internal validity of the study. The field research consisted of a preliminary survey on agility drivers and agile capabilities in the Macerata-Fermo footwear district, followed by an in-depth investigation on supply partnerships using multiple embedded cases studies. Overall six medium-large footwear companies have been analysed in their supply relationships with respect to five key supply categories. For each supply category, the buyer view of the focal firms has been complemented with a view from the supplier side. In total the fieldwork is built upon 30 interviews with 22 informants from 18 companies for a total of more than 23 hours of interviews. In all cases, except two, the key informant was owner, CEO or general manager of the company, eventually supported by another company manager. In two cases, the interviews data have been strengthened by a longitudinal analysis of purchase orders over eight years. The fieldwork highlights that agility drivers and agile capabilities impact on the footwear companies’ decision of developing agile supply partnerships. Specifically footwear companies that are under the pressure of high-turbulence agility drivers (here represented by a high collection renewal rate) and that have developed strong agile capabilities (here represented by a local supply network and a purchase orders postponement) choose agile supply partnerships with respect to supply categories that are sensitive to the fashion trends and therefore difficult to be sourced in a stable way – season after season – from the same suppliers. The main contribution to theory is related to the characteristics of supply partnerships in an agile strategy and specifically to the apparent paradox of “high-involvement & short- term” relationships (i.e. agile supply partnerships). In spite of the presence of time compression diseconomies in building up partnership and of the loss of relational (non- redeployable) benefits in closing down partnerships, scenarios of high-turbulence can give companies an incentive to look for short-term partnerships. Such finding can support a wider claim that different levels of turbulence call for different agility strategies requiring different capabilities and practices. The main contribution to practice is related to the way agile partnerships are selected, started and ended. Given that many industries are facing an increase in market turbulence, it appears that many companies – even outside the fashion industry – might have to learn how to balance high-involvement supply relationships with respect to a shorter time horizon.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

While there is an abundance of empirically based information on the broad subject of executive leadership and executive leader development, opportunity for further research is driven by complexity of the executive’s world and the related need to function at high levels of learning agility. In fact, learning agility has been identified by Korn/ Ferry (Korn/Ferry, 2011) as the single most important predictor of executive success. This study seeks to explore non-traditional forms of executive leader development based on an integrated theoretical lens, including learning and executive development theories as they relate to learning agility. Executive Coaching is of primary interest as an executive development theory, with a diagnostic element designed to provide insight about development issues, particularly those around leadership pipeline cross points. The Competing Values Framework, as applied here for individual executive growth and development constructs, offers an additional theoretical lens as well as a structure for practical application. Using an engaged scholarship approach through Action Research, this is explored with a focus on executive development options that go beyond traditional leadership training models, and with research, insights analyzed through the CVF assessment and structured interviews. Among the findings are insights which confirm the learning agility construct claims that it is a key predictor to executive success as executives traverse career transitions. More specifically, the insights which proceed from this study also support the reasons that self-discovery learning interventions impact learning agility for senior executives. They include: The Participants in this study demonstrated Learning Agility Development as defined for this research, providing evidence that Learning Agility can be developed Executive Coaching and Related Self-Discovery Constructs contribute more to Learning Agility Executive Development when the executive coach offers a fluid approach which includes significant engagement and mutual dialog as well as inquiry. Learning Agility Development is related to one’s ability to manage Competing Values, especially Competing Values that are unique to the individual. Individual Awareness, its connection to reflexivity, and the movement of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge is a key finding related to senior executive learning agility development. A Systems Approach to Learning Agility Executive Development which includes a systemic framework, a defined process/structure, and individual customization is indicated for senior level executives. The study offers extensions to existing theories as well as a practical theory-and-findings-based executive development methodology.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Agile methodologies have become a popular and widely accepted method for managing software development. Since the inception of the Agile Manifesto over ten years ago, agile development techniques have superseded waterfall methods in many, if not most, software development organizations. Despite its apparent success, many companies have struggled with the adoption and implementation of agile, and exactly what level of adoption provides optimum agility. Agility is commonly held in the literature to be constructed of elements external to a company or project but may in fact be composed of both external and internal elements. The exact relationship of the adoption of agile development techniques and their relationship to the actual agility of a business remain unclear. A primary contributor to this uncertainty is the somewhat amorphous definition of agile itself. In academic literature, the concept is still relatively young and loosely defined. In practice, organizations have largely opted for a hybrid approach to agile, mixing its concepts and methods with existing Stage Gate or waterfall methodologies. This has made the management of agile even more complex. Crucially, there is no definition or criterion available to determine the appropriate mix of agile and waterfall processes in an embedded software development context nor is there a method to determine the impact of one against the other. These issues beg the question: how do organizations manage agility? This interpretive case study provides an empirical account of how stakeholders manage both market and process agility in an embedded systems context via a hybrid agility implementation and product genesis. As a result, we provide the notion of agile vorticity, as the point at which market and process agility collide to produce business momentum at a specific point of innovation within the agile business vortex.

Erfolg macht attraktiv – das gilt auch für die Prinzipien und Methoden der agilen Softwareentwicklung. Diese finden momentan eine weite Verbreitung, denn sie geben offenbar gute oder zumindest bessere Antworten auf die Probleme, mit denen die herkömmlichen Projektmethoden nicht zurande kommen (Royce 1970). Agile, manchmal auch »leichtgewichtig« genannte Methoden vermeiden übermäßige Planung und Spezifikation, sie ersetzen sie durch eine schnelle Abfolge von Zyklen aus Aktion-Reflexion und Neuausrichtung. Sie bevorzugen die Kollaboration unter gleichberechtigten Experten, die Kommunikation statt Weisung. Und sie beziehen den Kunden und späteren Nutzer bereits in die Entwicklungsarbeit mit ein, denn der Kunde ist die wichtigste Informationsquelle, er bestimmt, inwiefern das Produkt für ihn nützlich ist. Durch solche Prinzipien ist es möglich, Zeit- und Budgetüberschreitungen besser zu vermeiden, einen produktiven Umgang mit Ungewissheit und wechselnden Situationen zu entwickeln und schonender mit der menschlichen Arbeitskraft umzugehen (Abrahamsson et al. 2003). So hat sich das Konzept der »Agilität« auch auf andere Bereiche übertragen, z.B. auf die Gründung von Unternehmen (»Lean Start Up«, Ries 2011) oder die Gestaltung von Organisationsstrukturen (»Agile Organisation«, Richardson 2005). [... aus dem Text]

Nas últimas décadas, com o surgimento de grandes organizações de tecnologia da informação (TI) e a comoditização de produtos e serviços de TI, o mercado em geral percebeu a oportunidade de desenvolver novas soluções para seus clientes. Neste contexto, visando a criação de um ambiente de trabalho exploratório e orientado à inovação, a adoção de práticas mais modernas de gestão de TI tem chamado a atenção de executivos e ganhado espaço nas organizações. A TI bimodal caracteriza-se pelo uso de dois modelos de operação com propósitos distintos: 1) confiabilidade e; 2) agilidade. O presente estudo apresenta práticas de gestão de TI existentes no mercado orientados a estes diferentes modelos de operação. O objetivo do estudo é propor um framework de práticas de gestão de TI para TI Bimodal. São abordados os conceitos de Governança de TI, TI Bimodal, COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies), ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration), PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge), Lean IT, DevOps, SCRUM e Project Model Canvas, servindo de base estrutural para o melhor entendimento do estudo O método qualitativo utilizado nesta pesquisa foi o estudo de caso, onde foram aplicadas 10 entrevistas com executivos de TI, pesquisa documental e observação participante em uma instituição financeira Cooperativa situada no Rio Grande do Sul. Como resultado foi proposto um framework de práticas de gestão para TI bimodal contendo 11 elementos e 30 práticas relacionadas. O framework cobre um conjunto de práticas abrangentes o suficiente para auxiliar diferentes organizações que tenham interesse em atuar com mais de um modo de operação. / In the last decades, with the emergence of large organizations of information technology (IT) and the commoditization of IT products and services, the Market in general has perceived the opportunity to develop new solutions for their clients. In this context, aiming at the creation of an exploratory work environment and directed toward innovation, the adoption of more modern practices of IT management have caught the attention of executives and gained space in the organizations. The bimodal IT is characterized by two models of operation in place with distinct purposes: 1) Reliability and; 2) Agility. This study presents existing IT management practices in the market directed at different operation models of IT. The goal of the study is to propose a framework of IT management practices for Bimodal IT. The concepts of IT Governance, Bimodal IT, COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies), ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration), PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge), Lean IT, DevOps, SCRUM and Project Model Canvas, serve as the structural base for better comprehension of the study The qualitative method used for this research was the case study where 10 interviews were applied with IT executives, documental research and participant observation was carried out in a Cooperative financial institution situated in Rio Grande do Sul. As a result, a bimodal IT management practice framework containing 12 elements and 30 related practices was proposed. The framework covers a set of practices broad enough to help different organizations that have an interest in working with more than one mode of operation.

Nas últimas décadas, com o surgimento de grandes organizações de tecnologia da informação (TI) e a comoditização de produtos e serviços de TI, o mercado em geral percebeu a oportunidade de desenvolver novas soluções para seus clientes. Neste contexto, visando a criação de um ambiente de trabalho exploratório e orientado à inovação, a adoção de práticas mais modernas de gestão de TI tem chamado a atenção de executivos e ganhado espaço nas organizações. A TI bimodal caracteriza-se pelo uso de dois modelos de operação com propósitos distintos: 1) confiabilidade e; 2) agilidade. O presente estudo apresenta práticas de gestão de TI existentes no mercado orientados a estes diferentes modelos de operação. O objetivo do estudo é propor um framework de práticas de gestão de TI para TI Bimodal. São abordados os conceitos de Governança de TI, TI Bimodal, COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies), ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration), PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge), Lean IT, DevOps, SCRUM e Project Model Canvas, servindo de base estrutural para o melhor entendimento do estudo O método qualitativo utilizado nesta pesquisa foi o estudo de caso, onde foram aplicadas 10 entrevistas com executivos de TI, pesquisa documental e observação participante em uma instituição financeira Cooperativa situada no Rio Grande do Sul. Como resultado foi proposto um framework de práticas de gestão para TI bimodal contendo 11 elementos e 30 práticas relacionadas. O framework cobre um conjunto de práticas abrangentes o suficiente para auxiliar diferentes organizações que tenham interesse em atuar com mais de um modo de operação. / In the last decades, with the emergence of large organizations of information technology (IT) and the commoditization of IT products and services, the Market in general has perceived the opportunity to develop new solutions for their clients. In this context, aiming at the creation of an exploratory work environment and directed toward innovation, the adoption of more modern practices of IT management have caught the attention of executives and gained space in the organizations. The bimodal IT is characterized by two models of operation in place with distinct purposes: 1) Reliability and; 2) Agility. This study presents existing IT management practices in the market directed at different operation models of IT. The goal of the study is to propose a framework of IT management practices for Bimodal IT. The concepts of IT Governance, Bimodal IT, COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies), ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration), PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge), Lean IT, DevOps, SCRUM and Project Model Canvas, serve as the structural base for better comprehension of the study The qualitative method used for this research was the case study where 10 interviews were applied with IT executives, documental research and participant observation was carried out in a Cooperative financial institution situated in Rio Grande do Sul. As a result, a bimodal IT management practice framework containing 12 elements and 30 related practices was proposed. The framework covers a set of practices broad enough to help different organizations that have an interest in working with more than one mode of operation.