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Agile in Multisite Software Engineering INTEGRATION CHALLENGES Agile in Multisite Software Engineering INTEGRATION CHALLENGES Naresh Mehta & Junaid Gill | IY2578 Master Thesis | 23 May 2017 Agile in Multisite Software Engineering | Naresh Mehta & Junaid Gill Integration Challenges TO OUR BELOVED PARENTS & FAMILIES 2 | PAGE Agile in Multisite Software Engineering | Naresh Mehta & Junaid Gill Integration Challenges ABSTRACT Many big organizations who are in existence since before the term agile came into existence are pursuing agile transformations and trying to integrate it with their existing structure. It has been an accepted fact that agile integrations are difficult in big organizations and many of such organizations fail the transformations. This is especially true for multisite software organizations where a traditional mix of old and new ways of working ends up creating issues. The result of such failure is the implementation of a hybrid way of working which ultimately leads to lower output and higher cost for the organizations. This paper looks at the integration challenges for multisite software engineering organizations and correlates with the theoretical findings by earlier with practical findings using survey and interviews as data collection tools. This paper specifically focusses on integration challenges involving self-organizing teams, power distribution, knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing, communications and decision making. The paper also has empirical evidence that shows that there is a communication and understanding gap between the employees and management in basic understanding of agile concepts. 3 | PAGE Agile in Multisite Software Engineering | Naresh Mehta & Junaid Gill Integration Challenges Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................6 List of Tables .............................................................................................................................6 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................ 8 1.2 Problem discussion .................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Problem formulation and purpose ........................................................................... 11 1.4 De-limitations ........................................................................................................... 11 1.5 Thesis structure ........................................................................................................ 12 2. Theory .............................................................................................................................. 14 2.1 Agile builds on lean ................................................................................................. 14 2.2 Lean & Agile ............................................................................................................. 16 2.2.1 Self-organizing teams ...................................................................................... 16 2.2.2 Power distribution ............................................................................................ 17 2.2.3 Knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing ..................................................... 18 2.2.4 Communications .............................................................................................. 20 2.2.5 Decision making............................................................................................... 20 2.3 Large-scale Agile integration.................................................................................... 21 2.3.1 Success factors .................................................................................................. 22 2.3.2 Challenges ........................................................................................................ 23 2.4 Analysis of the theory .............................................................................................. 25 3. Method ............................................................................................................................. 27 3.1 Literature review ...................................................................................................... 27 3.2 Search criteria .......................................................................................................... 27 3.3 Data collection ......................................................................................................... 28 3.4 Respondent profiles ................................................................................................. 29 3.4.1 Survey respondent profiles .............................................................................. 29 3.4.2 Focused interview profiles ............................................................................... 30 4. Empirical Findings .......................................................................................................... 32 4.1 Survey findings ........................................................................................................ 32 4 | PAGE Agile in Multisite Software Engineering | Naresh Mehta & Junaid Gill Integration Challenges 4.2 Focused interview findings ..................................................................................... 35 4.2.1 Does agile promote responsible & accountable behavior in multisite R&D environment? ................................................................................................................... 36 4.2.2 Does agile cause silos and cooperation issues? ............................................... 37 4.2.3 Is agile a reason for knowledge-hiding? .......................................................... 38 4.2.4 Does agile raise power distribution issues? .................................................... 38 5. Analysis ............................................................................................................................40 6. Conclusions and implications ......................................................................................... 42 6.1 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 42 6.2 Implications ............................................................................................................. 42 7. Further research .............................................................................................................. 44 8. Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. 45 9. References ........................................................................................................................46 9. Appendices ..................................................................................................................... 49 9.1 Internet survey questions ....................................................................................... 49 9.2 Focused interview questions .................................................................................. 49 9.3 Focused interview recordings ................................................................................ 49 5 | PAGE Agile in Multisite Software Engineering | Naresh Mehta & Junaid Gill Integration Challenges List of Figures Figure 1 Thesis structure .......................................................................................................... 13 Figure 2 The SAFe house of Lean ............................................................................................ 15 Figure 3 Diagnosis of knowledge sharing hostility (Kenneth & Michailova, 2002, p. 65) .... 19 Figure 4 DDM principles relation to decision making obstacles (Drury, et al., 2012, p. 1246) .................................................................................................................................................. 21 Figure 5 Literature selection process ..................................................................................... 28 Figure 6 Respondents exposure to lean/agile WoWs ............................................................ 33 Figure 7 Follow same timeline across organization .............................................................. 34 Figure 8 Respondents satisfaction levels with lean/agile ways of working .......................... 35 List of Tables Table 1 Success factors in transformation (Dikert, et al., 2016) ............................................. 23 Table 2 Transformation Challenges (Dikert, et al., 2016) ...................................................... 24 Table 3 Search keywords ......................................................................................................... 27 6 | PAGE Agile in Multisite Software Engineering | Naresh Mehta & Junaid Gill Integration Challenges 1. Introduction Industries can be broadly classified into creative and traditional industries1. Creative industries thrive on innovation and creativity as well as knowledge harvesting, requiring higher level of skills as well as expertise for daily tasks which can be carried out in a host of different ways depending on the skill set of the implementer. Traditional industries on the other hand mainly thrive on routine
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