The Agile methodology was born in 2001 as a new program development method in IT (Information Technology) departments and nowadays is widely applied in almost every industry, but recently it is discovered that this approach could also be extended to all the other company departments and this will bring significant long-term benefits. The firms that decide to apply the Agile organizational model become more flexible to external and internal changes, faster in decision and response production, more careful to customer needs, more innovative and have more motivated employees; overall the Agile transformation increase the company competitive advantage and the possibility to become market leader. Due to those reasons and to the intensification of business complexity, market competition and technological innovations an increasing number of organizations are implementing the Agile organizational model. Since it is a relatively new topic, it is not well explored, so a further investigation is needed. The purpose of this research was to identify which are the peculiar characteristics of Agile organizations and which of the models that are currently emerging on the market can be identified as Agile. In particular it is conducted an accurate literature review searching for the characterizing attributes of Agile organizations where clearly emerges that flexibility, innovation, limited hierarchy, vast communication network and continuous learning are key aspects. Then ten of the most interesting rising models are analysed; come out that Exponential Organization, Holacracy and Sociocracy are similar to Agile organization model, Self-Managed organization, the Networked organization, the Blue Paradigm, the Vineet Nayar Model, the Jan Carlzon Model are partially similar and Informal Hierarchy and Enterprise Libérée are completely different. Furthermore are explored which are the main reasons that pushes an organization to adopt the Agile model. It is performed a multiple case study research on a sample of seven firms that have adopted this methodology for at least two years. More in depth, data have been gathered throughout interviews and some secondary data sources. Analysing the information collected results that the complicated market situation, the big technology changing and the strong competition are the most relevant factors affecting the decision to start an Agile transformation. Nonetheless have been also deepened which factors can positively contribute to the development of an Agile organization and which are the challenges that can be faced. In addition it has been investigated the correlation between the company dimension and the way in which the Agile organizational model is applied. Thanks to the analysis of the case study of company of different dimension in terms of turnover and number of employees it figured out that large firms usually implement Agile only in some departments and maintain an internal hierarchy, while small firms are completely Agile and have no hierarchy. In the end is possible to conclude that the firm dimension is a relevant factor affecting the extent to which the Agile methodology is adopted.
La metodologia Agile è nata nel 2001 come nuovo metodo di sviluppo dei programmi nei dipartimenti IT (tecnologia dell’informazione) e oggigiorno è ampiamente applicata in quasi tutti i settori, ma recentemente è stato scoperto che questo approccio può essere esteso anche a tutti gli altri dipartimenti aziendali e questo porterà molti benefici a lungo termine. Le aziende che decidono di applicare il modello organizzativo Agile diventano più flessibili ai cambiamenti interni ed esterni, più rapidi nelle decisioni e nelle risposte, più attente alle esigenze dei clienti, più innovative e hanno dipendenti più motivati; nel complesso la trasformazione Agile aumenta il vantaggio competitivo dell'azienda e la possibilità di diventare il leader del settore. Per questi motivi e per l'intensificarsi della complessità aziendale, della concorrenza sul mercato e delle innovazioni tecnologiche, un numero crescente di organizzazioni sta attuando il modello organizzativo Agile. Poiché si tratta di un argomento relativamente nuovo, non è ben esplorato, quindi sono necessarie ulteriori indagini. Lo scopo di questa ricerca era identificare quali sono le caratteristiche peculiari delle organizzazioni Agile e quali tra modelli che stanno emergendo sul mercato possono essere identificati come Agile. In particolare viene condotta un'accurata revisione della letteratura alla ricerca degli attributi caratterizzanti delle organizzazioni Agile, dove emerge chiaramente che flessibilità, innovazione, poca gerarchia, un’ampia rete di comunicazione e apprendimento continuo sono aspetti chiave. Quindi vengono analizzati dieci dei modelli nascenti più interessanti; viene scoperto che Eponential organization, Holacracy e Sociocracy sono simili al modello organizzativo Agile, Self-Managed organization, the Networked organization, the Blue Paradigm, the Vineet Nayar Model, the Jan Carlzon Model sono parzialmente simili e Informal Hierarchy e Enterprise Libérée sono completamente diverse. Inoltre vengono esplorati quali sono i motivi principali che spingono un'organizzazione ad adottare il modello Agile. Viene condotta una ricerca con casi studio multipli su un campione di sette aziende che hanno adottato questa metodologia per almeno due anni. Più precisamente, alcuni dati sono stati raccolti durante interviste e altri da alcune fonti secondarie. Analizzando le informazioni raccolte risulta che la complicata situazione del mercato, il grande cambiamento tecnologico e la forte concorrenza sono i fattori più rilevanti che influenzano la decisione di avviare una trasformazione Agile. Tuttavia, sono stati anche approfonditi quali fattori possono contribuire positivamente allo sviluppo di un'organizzazione Agile e quali sono le sfide che si possono incontrare. Inoltre, è stata studiata la correlazione tra la dimensione aziendale e il modo in cui viene applicato il modello organizzativo Agile. Grazie all'analisi dei casi studio di aziende di diverse dimensioni in termini di fatturato e numero di dipendenti, è emerso che le grandi aziende di solito implementano il metodo Agile solo in alcuni dipartimenti e mantengono una gerarchia interna, mentre le piccole imprese sono completamente agili e non hanno gerarchia. Infine è possibile concludere che la dimensione dell'impresa è un fattore rilevante che influenza la misura in cui viene adottata la metodologia Agile.
Contemporary agile organizations. Characteristics, challenges and enablers
CALONACI, AURELIA
2018/2019
Abstract
The Agile methodology was born in 2001 as a new program development method in IT (Information Technology) departments and nowadays is widely applied in almost every industry, but recently it is discovered that this approach could also be extended to all the other company departments and this will bring significant long-term benefits. The firms that decide to apply the Agile organizational model become more flexible to external and internal changes, faster in decision and response production, more careful to customer needs, more innovative and have more motivated employees; overall the Agile transformation increase the company competitive advantage and the possibility to become market leader. Due to those reasons and to the intensification of business complexity, market competition and technological innovations an increasing number of organizations are implementing the Agile organizational model. Since it is a relatively new topic, it is not well explored, so a further investigation is needed. The purpose of this research was to identify which are the peculiar characteristics of Agile organizations and which of the models that are currently emerging on the market can be identified as Agile. In particular it is conducted an accurate literature review searching for the characterizing attributes of Agile organizations where clearly emerges that flexibility, innovation, limited hierarchy, vast communication network and continuous learning are key aspects. Then ten of the most interesting rising models are analysed; come out that Exponential Organization, Holacracy and Sociocracy are similar to Agile organization model, Self-Managed organization, the Networked organization, the Blue Paradigm, the Vineet Nayar Model, the Jan Carlzon Model are partially similar and Informal Hierarchy and Enterprise Libérée are completely different. Furthermore are explored which are the main reasons that pushes an organization to adopt the Agile model. It is performed a multiple case study research on a sample of seven firms that have adopted this methodology for at least two years. More in depth, data have been gathered throughout interviews and some secondary data sources. Analysing the information collected results that the complicated market situation, the big technology changing and the strong competition are the most relevant factors affecting the decision to start an Agile transformation. Nonetheless have been also deepened which factors can positively contribute to the development of an Agile organization and which are the challenges that can be faced. In addition it has been investigated the correlation between the company dimension and the way in which the Agile organizational model is applied. Thanks to the analysis of the case study of company of different dimension in terms of turnover and number of employees it figured out that large firms usually implement Agile only in some departments and maintain an internal hierarchy, while small firms are completely Agile and have no hierarchy. In the end is possible to conclude that the firm dimension is a relevant factor affecting the extent to which the Agile methodology is adopted.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Tesi Calonaci Aurelia.pdf
non accessibile
Descrizione: Testo della Tesi
Dimensione
3.32 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
3.32 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
I documenti in POLITesi sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
https://hdl.handle.net/10589/150493