article

Extending Agile Principles to Larger, Dynamic Software Projects: A Theoretical Assessment

Authors:

Debra VanderMeer,

Kaushik DuttaAuthors Info & Claims

Journal of Database Management, Volume 22, Issue 4

Pages 73 - 92

https://doi.org/10.4018/jdm.2011100104

Published: 01 October 2011 Publication History

Abstract

The article evaluates the feasibility of extending agile principles to larger, dynamic, and possibly distributed software development projects by uncovering the theoretical basis for agile values and principles for achieving agility. The extant literature focuses mainly on one theory-complex adaptive systems-to support agile methods, although recent research indicates that the control theory and the adaptive structuration theory are also applicable. This article proposes that at least three other theories exist that are highly relevant: transaction cost economics, social exchange theory, and expectancy theory. By employing these theories, a rigorous analysis of the Agile Manifesto is conducted. Certain agile values and principles find theoretical support and can be applied to enhance agility dynamic projects regardless of size; some agile principles find no theoretical support while others find limited support. Based on the analysis and the ensuing discussion, the authors propose a framework with five dimensions of agility: process, design, people, outcomes, and adaptation.

References

[1]

Abrahamsson, P., Conboy, K., & Wang, X. 2009. 'Lots done, more to do': the current state of agile systems development research. European Journal of Information Systems, 184, 281-284.

[2]

Ågerfalk, P. J., & Fitzgerald, B. 2006. Flexible and distributed software processes: Old petunias in new bowls? Communications of the ACM, 4910, 26-34.

[3]

Ambler, S. W. 2008. Has agile peaked? Scott crunches the numbers to find out. Dr. Dobb's Digital Digest. Retrieved September 22, 2011, from http://www.drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/207600615

[4]

Argyris, C. 1982. Reasoning, learning, and action: Individual and organizational. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

[5]

Armour, P. G. 2007. Agile' and offshore. Communications of the ACM, 501, 13-16.

Digital Library

[6]

Aydin, M. N., Harmsen, F., Stegwee, R. A., & van Slooten, K. 2005. On the adaptation of an agile information systems development method. Journal of Database Management, 164, 24-40.

[7]

Baskerville, R., & Pries-Heje, J. 2004. Short cycle time systems development. Information Systems Journal, 143, 237-264.

[8]

Batra, D., Xia, W., VanderMeer, D., & Dutta, K. 2010. Balancing agile and structured approaches to manage large distributed software projects: A case study from the cruise line industry. Communications of the AIS, 271, 379-394.

[9]

Beavers, P. A. 2007. Managing a large "agile" software engineering organization. In Proceedings of the IEEE AGILE Conference pp. 296-303.

Digital Library

[10]

Beck, K. 2000. Extreme programming explained: Embrace change. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

[11]

Beck, K. 2005. The XP geography: mapping your next step, a guide to planning your journey. In H. Baumeister, M. Marchesi, & M. Holcombe Eds., Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Extreme Programming and Agile Processes in Software Engineering LNCS 3556, pp. 287-287.

[12]

Beck, K., & Boehm, B. 2003. Agility through discipline: A debate. Computer, 366, 44-46.

Digital Library

[13]

Blaha, M., & Rumbaugh, J. 2005. Object-oriented modeling and design with UML 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

[14]

Blau, P. M. 1986. Exchange and power in social life. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.

[15]

Boehm, B. W. 1981. Software engineering economics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

[16]

Boehm, B. W., & Turner, R. 2003. Balancing agility and discipline: A guide for the perplexed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

[17]

Brechner, E. 2005. Journey of enlightenment: the evolution of development at Microsoft. Paper presented at the 27th International Conference on Software Engineering, St. Louis, MO.

[18]

Brydon, M., & Vining, A. R. 2008. Adoption, improvement, and disruption: predicting the impact of open source applications in enterprise software markets. Journal of Database Management, 192, 73-94.

[19]

Cao, L., Mohan, K., Xu, P., & Ramesh, B. 2009. A framework for adapting agile development methodologies. European Journal of Information Systems, 184, 332-343.

[20]

Chow, T., & Cao, D. B. 2008. A survey study of critical success factors in agile software projects. Journal of Systems and Software, 816, 961-971.

Digital Library

[21]

Conboy, K. 2009. Agility from first principles: Reconstructing the concept of agility in information systems development. Information Systems Research, 203, 329-354.

Digital Library

[22]

DeSanctis, G., & Poole, M. S. 1994. Capturing the complexity in advanced technology use: Adaptive structuration theory. Organization Science, 52, 121-147.

Digital Library

[23]

Drucker, P. F. 1997. Toward the new organization. In Hesselbein, F., Goldsmith, M., & Beckhard, R. Eds., The organization of the future pp. 1-5. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

[24]

Dyba, T., & Dingsoyr, T. 2008. Empirical studies of agile software development: A systematic review. Information and Software Technology, 509-10, 833-859.

Digital Library

[25]

Eckstein, J. 2004. Agile software development in the large: Diving into the deep. New York, NY: Dorset House.

[26]

Eisenberg, E. M., Goodall, H. L., & Trethewey, A. 2006. Organizational communication: Balancing creativity and constraint 5th ed. New York, NY: St. Martin's.

[27]

Erickson, J., Lyytinen, K., & Siau, K. 2005. Agile modeling, agile software development, and extreme programming: the state of research. Journal of Database Management, 164, 88-100.

[28]

Fernandez, D. J., & Fernandez, J. D. 2008. Agile project management-Agilism versus traditional approaches. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 492, 10-17.

[29]

Fitzgerald, B., Hartnett, G., & Conboy, K. 2006. Customising agile methods to software practices at Intel Shannon. European Journal of Information Systems, 152, 200-213.

Digital Library

[30]

Groise, E., & Mangin, N. 2007. Octopus: Agile software development facing our imperfect world. In Proceedings of the IEEE AGILE Conference pp. 344-350.

Digital Library

[31]

Gulati, R. 1995. Does familiarity breed trust? The implications of repeated ties for contractual choice in alliances. Academy of Management Journal, 381, 85-112.

[32]

Heeager, L. T., & Nielsen, P. A. 2009. Agile software development and its compatibility with a document-driven approach? A case study. Paper presented at the Australasian Conference on Information Systems.

[33]

Henderson-Sellers, B., & Serour, M. K. 2005. Creating a dual-agility method: The value of method engineering. Journal of Database Management, 164, 1-23.

[34]

Highsmith, J. A.III. 1999. Adaptive software development: A collaborative approach to managing complex systems. New York, NY: Dorset House.

[35]

Hilkka, M.-R., Tuure, T., & Matti, R. 2005. Is extreme programming just old wine in new bottles: a comparison of two cases. Journal of Database Management, 164, 41-61.

[36]

Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. 2005. Cultures and organizations: Software for the mind. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

[37]

Holland, J. H. 1992. Complex adaptive systems. Daedalus, 1211, 17-30.

[38]

Jacques, E. 1996. In praise of hierarchy. In Shafritz, J. M., & Ott, J. S. Eds., Classics of organizational theory pp. 245-253. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace.

[39]

Jain, N. 2006. Offshore agile maintenance. In Proceedings of the IEEE AGILE Conference, Minneapolis, MN.

[40]

Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. 1976. Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 34, 305-360.

[41]

Kahkonen, T. 2004. Agile methods for large organisations - Building communities of practice. In Proceedings of the AGILE Development Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.

[42]

Kelley, J. E. 1961. Critical-path planning and scheduling: Mathematical basis. Operations Research, 93, 296-320.

Digital Library

[43]

Korkala, M., & Abrahamsson, P. 2007. Communication in distributed agile development: A case study. In Proceedings of the 33rd EUROMICRO Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications pp. 203-210.

Digital Library

[44]

Larman, C. 2003. Agile and iterative development: A manager's guide. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

[45]

Layman, L., Williams, L., Damian, D., & Bures, H. 2006. Essential communication practices for Extreme Programming in a global software development team. Information and Software Technology, 489, 781-794.

[46]

Lee, G., & Xia, W. 2010. Toward agile: An integrated analysis of quantitative and qualitative field data. Management Information Systems Quarterly, 341, 87-114.

[47]

Lin, Z., Xu, B., & Xu, Y. 2011. A study of open source software development from control perspective. Journal of Database Management, 221, 26-42.

[48]

Lindvall, M., Basili, V., Boehm, B., Costa, P., Dangle, K., Shull, F., et al. 2002. Empirical findings in agile methods. Paper presented at the Second XP Universe and First Agile Universe Conference, Chicago, IL.

[49]

Lindvall, M., Muthig, D., Dagnino, A., Wallin, C., Stupperich, M., & Kiefer, D. et al . 2004. Agile software development in large organizations. Computer, 3712, 26-34.

Digital Library

[50]

Lyytinen, K., & Rose, G. M. 2006. Information system development agility as organizational learning. European Journal of Information Systems, 15, 181-199.

Digital Library

[51]

Malcolm, D. G., Roseboom, J. H., Clark, C. E., & Fazar, W. 1959. Application of a technique for research and development program evaluation. Operations Research, 75, 646-669.

Digital Library

[52]

Maruping, L. M., Venkatesh, V., & Agarwal, R. 2009. A control theory perspective on agile methodology use and changing user requirements. Information Systems Research, 203, 377-399.

Digital Library

[53]

McAvoy, J., & Butler, T. 2009. The role of project management in ineffective decision making within Agile software development projects. European Journal of Information Systems, 184, 372-383.

[54]

Meredith, S., & Francis, D. 2000. Journey towards agility: The agile wheel explored. The TQM Magazine, 122, 137-143.

[55]

Meso, P., & Jain, R. 2006. Agile software development: Adaptive system principles and best practices. Information Systems Management, 235, 19-29.

[56]

Misra, S. C., Kumar, V., & Kumar, U. 2009. Identifying some important success factors in adopting agile software development practices. Journal of Systems and Software, 82, 1869-1890.

Digital Library

[57]

Nerur, S., & Balijepally, V. G. 2007. Theoretical reflections on agile development methodologies. Communications of the ACM, 503, 79-83.

Digital Library

[58]

Nerur, S., Mahapatra, R., & Mangalaraj, G. 2005. Challenges of migrating to agile methodologies. Communications of the ACM, 485, 72-78.

Digital Library

[59]

Nord, R. L., & Tomayko, J. E. 2006. Software architecture-centric methods and agile development. IEEE Software, 232, 47-53.

Digital Library

[60]

Nuseibeh, B., & Easterbrook, S. 2000. Requirements engineering: A roadmap. Paper presented at the International Conference on Software Engineering, Limerick, Ireland.

[61]

O'Connor, D. E., & Faille, C. C. 2000. Basic economic principles: A guide for students. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

[62]

Ouchi, W. G. 1979. A conceptual framework for the design of organizational control mechanisms. Management Science, 259, 833-848.

Digital Library

[63]

Poppendieck, M., & Poppendieck, T. 2003. Lean software development: An agile toolkit. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

[64]

Procaccino, J. D., Verner, J. M., Overmyer, S. P., & Darter, M. E. 2002. Case study: Factors for early prediction of software development success. Information and Software Technology, 441, 53-62.

Digital Library

[65]

Project Management Institute. 2004. A guide to the project management body of knowledge. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

[66]

Qumer, A., & Henderson-Sellers, B. 2008. An evaluation of the degree of agility in six agile methods and its applicability for method engineering. Information and Software Technology, 504, 280-295.

Digital Library

[67]

Ramesh, B., Cao, L., Mohan, K., & Xu, P. 2006. Can distributed software development be agile? Communications of the ACM, 4910, 41-46.

Digital Library

[68]

Reeves, W. W. 1999. Learner-centered design: A cognitive view of managing complexity in product, information, and environmental design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

[69]

Sarker, S., & Sarker, S. 2009. Exploring agility in distributed information systems development teams: an interpretive study in an offshoring context. Information Systems Research, 203, 440-461.

Digital Library

[70]

Schermerhorn, J. R., Hunt, J. G., & Osborn, R. N. 2003. Organizational behaviour. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

[71]

Schwaber, K. 2005. Agile project management. In H. Baumeister, M. Marchesi, & H. Holombe Eds., Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Extreme Programming and Agile Processes in Software Engineering LNCS 3556, pp. 277-277.

[72]

Schwaber, K., & Beedle, M. 2002. Agile software development with Scrum. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

[73]

Siau, K., Long, Y., & Ling, M. 2010. Toward a unified model of information systems development success. Journal of Database Management, 211, 80-101.

Digital Library

[74]

Simon, H. A. 1957. Models of man: Social and rational; Mathematical essays on rational human behavior in a social setting. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

[75]

Stevens, W. P., Myers, G. J., & Constantine, L. L. 1999. Structural design. IBM Systems Journal, 382-3, 231-256.

Digital Library

[76]

Turk, D., France, R., & Rumpe, B. 2005. Assumptions underlying agile software-development processes. Journal of Database Management, 164, 62-87.

[77]

Vidgen, R., & Wang, X. 2009. Coevolving systems and the organization of agile software development. Information Systems Research, 203, 355-376.

Digital Library

[78]

Vinekar, V., Slinkman, C. W., & Nerur, S. 2006. Can Agile and traditional systems development approaches coexist? An ambidextrous view. Information Systems Management, 253, 31-42.

[79]

Vroom, V. H. 1964. Work and motivation. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

[80]

Williamson, O. E. 1979. Transaction-cost economics: The governance of contractual relations. The Journal of Law & Economics, 222, 233-261.

Cited By

Rolland KFitzgerald BDingsøyr TStol K(2023)Acrobats and Safety Nets: Problematizing Large-Scale Agile Software DevelopmentACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology10.1145/361716933:2(1-45)Online publication date: 23-Dec-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3617169
Sugumaran VBalijepally VDeHondt GNerur S(2017)Agility in Software Development and Project ValueJournal of Database Management10.4018/JDM.201710010328:4(40-59)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/JDM.2017100103
Batra D(2017)Adapting Agile Practices for Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence, and AnalyticsJournal of Database Management10.4018/JDM.201710010128:4(1-23)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/JDM.2017100101
Show More Cited By

Recommendations

Agility Facilitators for Contemporary Software Development

Agile software development generally refers to popular practices that are supposed to adhere to the Agile Manifesto with its values and principles. Empirical studies on agile software development have mainly focused on organizational adoption and ...
Coevolving Systems and the Organization of Agile Software Development

Despite the popularity of agile methods in software development and increasing adoption by organizations there is debate about what agility is and how it is achieved. The debate suffers from a lack of understanding of agile concepts and how agile ...
Challenges in Large-Scale Agile Software Development Projects
SAC '23: Proceedings of the 38th ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing

Agile has shown its success in small and medium-sized projects. It is becoming increasingly popular in large-scale software projects. However, agile ride in large-scale software development projects is not smooth. It is essential to understand the ...

Comments

Please enable JavaScript to view thecomments powered by Disqus.

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image Journal of Database Management

Journal of Database Management Volume 22, Issue 4

October 2011

92 pages

ISSN:1063-8016

Issue’s Table of Contents

Publisher

IGI Global

United States

Publication History

Published: 01 October 2011

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Article

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

8
Total Citations
View Citations
0
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)0
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0

Reflects downloads up to 12 Nov 2024

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Rolland KFitzgerald BDingsøyr TStol K(2023)Acrobats and Safety Nets: Problematizing Large-Scale Agile Software DevelopmentACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology10.1145/361716933:2(1-45)Online publication date: 23-Dec-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3617169
Sugumaran VBalijepally VDeHondt GNerur S(2017)Agility in Software Development and Project ValueJournal of Database Management10.4018/JDM.201710010328:4(40-59)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/JDM.2017100103
Batra D(2017)Adapting Agile Practices for Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence, and AnalyticsJournal of Database Management10.4018/JDM.201710010128:4(1-23)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/JDM.2017100101
Bonner NKulangara NNerur STeng J(2016)An Empirical Investigation of the Perceived Benefits of Agile Methodologies Using an Innovation-Theoretical modelJournal of Database Management10.5555/3078282.307828527:3(38-63)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3078282.3078285
Batra DXia WRathor S(2016)Agility Facilitators for Contemporary Software DevelopmentJournal of Database Management10.4018/JDM.201601010127:1(1-28)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/JDM.2016010101
Bishop DDeokar ASarnikar S(2016)On Understanding Preference for Agile Methods among Software DevelopersInformation Resources Management Journal10.4018/IRMJ.201607010229:3(12-36)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/IRMJ.2016070102
Kim HChan HLee S(2014)User Resistance to Software MigrationJournal of Database Management10.4018/jdm.201401010325:1(59-79)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/jdm.2014010103
Siau KTian Y(2013)Open Source Software Development Process ModelJournal of Global Information Management10.4018/jgim.201310010621:4(103-120)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/jgim.2013100106

View Options

View options

Get Access

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

View Issue’s Table of Contents