Title: Agile software development methodology: effects on perceived software quality and the cultural context for organizational adoption
Abstract: Despite success stories of using the agile methodology to develop information systems, there are still questions concerning its suitability as well as its impacts on perceived software quality, which have hindered its widespread adoption in the software industry. This dissertation empirically investigates: (a) how systems developers use agile methodologies, and how a developer's use of the agile approach is associated with his/her perceived improvement of software quality; (b) why organizations use agile methodologies to differing degrees, and whether organizational culture impacts on or explains this disparity.
Since the agile methodology suggests a set of values and behavioral rules to developers, we hypothesized that developers' use of agile methodology was directly associated with their perceived benefits of agile methodology to internal performance, while indirectly associated with their perceived benefits to software quality. In order to test these hypotheses, we collected 57 survey responses from software professionals and analyzed them with Partial Least Squares (PLS). The results of the analysis provided support to all hypothesized associations.
After the survey, we conducted two qualitative studies to investigate the impacts of organizational culture on the organization's adoption of agile methodology. Using interviews, observations, and document analysis, we searched for cultural assumptions, values, and beliefs, as well as the adoption of agile methodology in two organizations. The data provided strong support to our speculation that organizational culture affects the organizational adoption of agile methodology. In particular, a culture that emphasizes agility and external adaptability facilitates the extensive adoption of agile methodology in organizations, while a culture of regulations and operational excellence hinders its organizational adoption.
This dissertation contributes to a better understanding of agile methodology and its adoption and use by developers and organizations. It informs practitioners on when and where to adopt the agile methodology, given their organizational contexts and project characteristics.
Keywords: agile software development, agile methodology, systems analysis, systems design, systems development, systems development methodologies, perceived software quality, organizational culture.
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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