Abstract
What are the drivers for the burgeoning interest in agile methods? Have these drivers stimulated a similar rethinking on other fronts? What have we discovered? In this paper. I take a reflective stance in order to look at these larger issues and patterns. This stepping back is informed primarily by involvement in a mudti-year research project on Quality Software Development @ Internet Speed and ongoing research on diffusion theory and the practices of technology adoption. I suggest the shift toward agile models and methods signals a larger transformation in the workplace toward the organization of the 21st century. This transition state is “between paradigms” and turbulent, marked by relentless change and volatility. The transition is a work in progress and by no means complete.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agile Manifesto. “Manifesto for Agile Software Development,” 2001 (available online at http://agilemanifesto.org/).
Ambler, S. W. The Object Primer (3rd ed.), Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Austin, R., and Devin, L. Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know about How Artists Work, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc. Publishing as Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2003.
Baskerville, R., Levine, L., Pries-Heje, J., Ramesh, B., and Slaughter, S. “How Internet Software Companies Negotiate Quality,” Computer (34:5), May 2001, pp. 51–57.
Baskerville, R., Levine, L., Pries-Heje, J., Ramesh, B., and Slaughter, S. “Is Internet-Speed Software Development Different?,” IEEE Software (20:6), November–December 2003, pp. 70–77.
Boehm, B. “Get Ready for Agile Methods, with Care,” IEEE Computer (35:1), January 2002, pp. 64–69.
Boehm, B., and Turner, R. Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed. Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley, 2003.
Bourque, P., Dupuis, R., Abran, A., Moore, J. W., Tripp, L., and Wolff, S. “Fundamental Principles of Software Engineering: A Journey,” Journal of Systems and Software (62:1), May 2002, pp. 59–70.
De Geus, A. The Living Company, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1997
DeMarco, T., and Boehm, B. “The Agile Methods Fray,” Computer (35:6), June 2002, pp. 90–93.
Dove, R. Response Ability—The Language, Structure, and Culture of the Agile Enterprise, New York: Wiley, 2001.
Dove, R. Value Propositioning—Perception and Misperception in Decision Making, Tuscon, AZ: Inceni Books, 2005.
Grover, V., and Malhotra, M. “A Framework for Examining the Interface Between Operations and Information Systems: Implications for Research in the New Millennium,” Decision Sciences (30:4), Fall 1999, pp. 901–920.
Highsmith, J. Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative Approach to Managing Complex Systems, New York: Dorset House Publishing, 2000.
Hock, D. Birth of the Chaordic Age, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1999.
Kathuria, R., Anandarajan, M., and Igbaria, M. “Linking IT Applications with Manufacturing Strategy,” Decision Sciences (30:4), 1999, pp. 959–991.
Leonard, D. When Sparks Fly: Igniting Creativity in Groups, Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1999.
Levine, L., Baskerville, R., Loveland Link, J. L., Pries-Heje, J., Ramesh, B., and Slaughter, S. “Discovery Colloquium: Quality Software Development @ Internet Speed,” SEI Technical Report CMU/SEI-2002-TR-020, Pittsburgh, PA: Software Engineering Institute, 2002.
Merriam-Webster Incorporated. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2004 (available at http://www.m-w.com/).
Paulk, M. C. “Extreme Programming from a CMM Perspective,” IEEE Software (18:6), November–December 2001, pp. 19–26.
Paulk, M. C, Weber, C. V., Curtis, B., and and Crissis, M. B. The Capability Maturity Model: Guidelines for Improving the Software Process. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2001.
Rakitin, S. “Manifesto Elicits Cynicism,” Computer (4:12), December 2001, p. 4.
Ramesh, B., Pries-Heje, J., and Baskerville, R. “Internet Software Engineering: A Different Class of Processes,” Annals of Software Engineering (14), December 2002, pp. 169–195.
Smith, P. G., and Reinertsen, D. Developing Products in Half the Time, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998.
Strauss, A., and Corbin, J. Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1990.
Tashakkori, A., and Teddlie, C. Mixed Methodology: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998.
Thomke, S. Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential on New Technologies for Innovation, Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.
Wheatley, M. J. Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World (revised ed.), San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2001.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 International Federation for Information Processing
About this paper
Cite this paper
Levine, L. (2005). Reflections on Software Agility and Agile Methods: Challenges, Dilemmas, and the Way Ahead. In: Baskerville, R.L., Mathiassen, L., Pries-Heje, J., DeGross, J.I. (eds) Business Agility and Information Technology Diffusion. TDIT 2005. IFIP International Federation for Information Processing, vol 180. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-25590-7_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-25590-7_22
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-25589-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-25590-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)