Agility in a small software firm: a sense-and-respond analysis. (1st December 2008)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schmidt, Thomas; Mathiassen, Lars
• Is Part Of: International journal of business information systems. Volume 4:Number 1(2009)
• Page Start: 85
• Page End: 104
• Publication Date: 2008-12-01
• Subjects: software development -- agility -- sense-and-respond approach -- small firms -- Denmark -- process modularity -- modular products -- human resource flexibility -- agile systems; Information storage and retrieval systems -- Business -- Periodicals; Business -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Management information systems -- Periodicals; System design -- Periodicals; System analysis -- Periodicals; 651.8
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1746-0972

Abstract

Small software firms are vulnerable to environmental uncertainty. While agile methods and other technologies offer suggestions to this challenge, we know little about how these firms combine project and firm level capabilities to effectively respond to changes. On this backdrop, we examine a small Danish software firm, TeachTech Inc., through the lens of Haeckel's sense-and-respond approach. Our analysis suggests that: the firm has appropriate sense-and-respond cycles, but improving process modularity and human resource flexibility, could increase its ability to respond faster and more effectively; the firm focuses on specific business goals, but these are not clearly explicated and expressed as empowering governing values enabling a quick and coordinated response; complex and demanding challenges are related to dynamically reassigning commitments and the supporting mechanisms are insufficient; a modularised product portfolio leverage some of the impeding restrictions. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for theory and practice.