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FAKULTÄT WIRTSCHAFTSWISSENSCHAFTEN 
DRESDNER BEITRÄGE ZUR WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, NR. 68/14 
WHAT CONSTITUTES AN AGILE 
ORGANIZATION? – DESCRIPTIVE RESULTS OF 
AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION 
ROY WENDLER 
THERESA STAHLKE 
HERAUSGEBER: 
DIE PROFESSOREN DER 
FACHGRUPPE WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 
ISSN 0945-4837
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSIT¨AT DRESDEN 
Faculty of Business Management and Economics 
Chair of Information Systems, 
esp. IS in Manufacturing and Commerce 
What Constitutes an Agile Organization? 
– Descriptive Results of an Empirical Investigation – 
Roy Wendler 
Theresa Stahlke 
contact: 
Technische Universit¨at Dresden, Faculty of Business Management and Economics 
Chair of Information Systems, esp. IS in Manufacturing and Commerce 
Helmholtzstr. 10, 01069 Dresden / Germany 
roy.wendler@tu-dresden.de 
Copyright notice: Linking or citing this document is welcomed without fee, provided that the original source is clearly cited. It is not 
allowed to make or distribute digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for profit or commercial advantage. Permission to make 
copies is only granted for personal or classroom use. 
Recommended citation: Wendler, R. & Stahlke, T. (2013). What Constitutes an Agile Organization? - Descriptive Results of an 
Empirical Investigation. Dresdner Beitr¨age zur Wirtschaftsinformatik, Nr. 68/14. Dresden: Technische Universit¨at Dresden. (online: 
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-130916
Contents 
List of Figures III 
List of Tables V 
1 Introduction 1 
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 
1.2 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 
1.3 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 
2 Participants 5 
3 Selected Results 9 
3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 
3.1.1 Agile Values and Principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 
3.1.2 Agile Conditions and IT/IS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 
3.1.3 Agile Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 
3.1.4 Agile Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 
3.2 Differentiated Discussion by Subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 
3.2.1 Analysis by Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 
3.2.2 Analysis by Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 
3.2.3 Analysis by Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 
3.2.4 Analysis by Customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 
4 Conclusion 29 
4.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 
4.2 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 
4.3 Further Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 
References 32 
A Appendix VI 
A.1 Participating Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI 
A.2 Complete Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIII 
A.2.1 English Version. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIII 
A.2.2 German Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XI 
A.3 Item Sources and Related Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XVI 
A.4 Additional Graphics and Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XIX 
A.4.1 Details by Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XIX 
A.4.2 Details by Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXVIII
Contents II 
A.4.3 Details by Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXVII 
A.4.4 Details by Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLVI
List of Figures 
Figure 1.1: Interdependencies between agility-related concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 
Figure 2.1: Respondents and participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 
Figure 2.2: Fields of activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 
Figure 2.3: Location vs. size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 
Figure 2.4: Location vs. role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 
Figure 2.5: Region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 
Figure 3.1: Distribution of answers regarding agile values and principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 
Figure 3.2: Distribution of answers regarding agile conditions and IT/IS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 
Figure 3.3: Distribution of answers regarding agile capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 
Figure 3.4: Distribution of answers regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) . 17 
Figure 3.5: Distribution of answers regarding agile activities (general) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 
Figure 3.6: Illustrative example for differences between CEOs and Architects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 
Figure 3.7: Details for difference between CIOs/CTOs and IT/ITCManagers regarding train-ing 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 
Figure 3.8: Details for items focusing on cooperative activities by role. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 
Figure 3.9: Illustrative example for size-dependent trend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 
Figure 3.10: Examples demonstrating hierarchy-dependent problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 
Figure 3.11: Averages regarding partner-related activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 
Figure 3.12: Exemplary items showing higher average value for European organizations . . . . . 25 
Figure 3.13: Illustrative examples showing adaptability issues for organizations with local 
customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 
Figure 3.14: Details about agile IT/IS for companies serving customers abroad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 
Figure A.1: Averages regarding agile values and principles by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXIII 
Figure A.2: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXIV 
Figure A.3: Averages regarding agile capabilities by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXV 
Figure A.4: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by role . . . . . . . . XXVI 
Figure A.5: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXVII 
Figure A.6: Averages regarding agile values and principles by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXII 
Figure A.7: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXIII 
Figure A.8: Averages regarding agile capabilities by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXIV 
Figure A.9: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by size . . . . . . . . XXXV 
Figure A.10: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXVI 
Figure A.11: Averages regarding agile values and principles by location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLI 
Figure A.12: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLII 
Figure A.13: Averages regarding agile capabilities by location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLIII
List of Figures IV 
Figure A.14: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by location . . . . XLIV 
Figure A.15: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLV 
Figure A.16: Averages regarding agile values and principles by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . L 
Figure A.17: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . LI 
Figure A.18: Averages regarding agile capabilities by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LII 
Figure A.19: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by region of 
customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIII 
Figure A.20: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIV
List of Tables 
Table 2.1: Location and size (no. of employees) of participating organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 
Table 3.1: Ratio and average regarding agile values and principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 
Table 3.2: Ratio and average regarding agile conditions and IT/IS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 
Table 3.3: Ratio and average regarding agile capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 
Table 3.4: Ratio and average regarding agile activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 
Table 3.5: Details regarding agile conditions rated by CEOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 
Table 3.6: Proportion of participants answering that all employees share particular capabil-ities 
(illustrative examples) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 
Table 3.7: Average values of customer-related items by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 
Table A.1: Complete list of countries of participating organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII 
Table A.2: Item sources and related agility concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XVIII 
Table A.3: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by role . . . . . . . . . . . . XIX 
Table A.4: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by role . . . . . . . . . . . . XX 
Table A.5: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXI 
Table A.6: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXII 
Table A.7: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by size . . . . . . . . . . . . XXVIII 
Table A.8: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by size . . . . . . . . . . . . XXIX 
Table A.9: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXX 
Table A.10: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXI 
Table A.11: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by location . . . . . . . XXXVII 
Table A.12: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by location. . . . . . . . XXXVIII 
Table A.13: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXIX 
Table A.14: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XL 
Table A.15: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by region of cus-tomers 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLVI 
Table A.16: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by region of cus-tomers 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLVII 
Table A.17: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by region of customers . . . . . XLVIII 
Table A.18: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by region of customers . . . . . . . XLIX
1. Introduction 
For several years, businesses and organizations have faced an increasingly volatile environment, marked 
with challenges such as increased competition, globalized markets, and individualized customer require-ments. 
These challenges are accompanied by many changes in every organizational field. Such scenarios 
were already described in the 90s, for instance by Goldman, Nagel, and Preiss (1995) or the Iacocca In-stitute 
(1991). As a response, different concepts have emerged that should enable organizations to master 
these challenges. Agility is the most recent, but others like flexibility and leanness are mentioned often, too. 
Many research activities concerning agility and its related concepts have been conducted in the meantime. 
However, there currently exists no common understanding of what constitutes agility. This makes it difficult 
for both researcher and practitioner audiences to build upon the insights obtained thus far. On the one 
hand, researchers are missing a well-founded basis to develop the topic further, while on the other hand, 
practitioners cannot easily uncover what parts of their organizations have to be changed and in what respect 
they have to be changed to respond to new market challenges. 
This is of particular interest for organizations in the software and information technology (IT) service in-dustry. 
With the appearance of agile software developing methodologies in the early 2000s, or in a broader 
sense agile values and principles (see for instance Beck et al., 2001; Cockburn, 2007; Highsmith, 2002), 
the advantages of these new approaches became visible. However, it turned out to be difficult to transfer the 
experienced benefits beyond the team level (Abrahamsson, Conboy, & Wang, 2009; °Agerfalk, Fitzgerald, 
& Slaughter, 2009; Wendler & Gr¨aning, 2011), though this step is necessary so that the whole organization 
can benefit from agility. 
Hence, the report presented here is part of a research project aimed at identifying the structure and com-ponents 
of an agile organization within the software and IT service industry. To fulfill this aim, a survey 
from a comprehensive organizational perspective has been carried out that was based on a systematic com-parison 
of available agility frameworks. The purpose of this publication is to give an initial comprehensive 
overview over the collected data. Together with a comprehensive literature review conducted prior to this 
study (Wendler, 2013), it answers the research questions: What are potential components of an agile orga-nization? 
and To what extent are these components reflected by the software and IT service industry? 
The paper is structured as follows: Chapter 1 introduces the research background and acknowledges the 
people that contributed to the success of this survey. Chapter 2 provides tables and figures describing the 
actual participants of the survey, while Chapter 3 contains a descriptive analysis of the data obtained. For 
this, an overview is given in section 3.1, while section 3.2 discusses the results differentiated by various 
subgroups. The results are summarized in Chapter 4, and limitations are given as well as an outlook on on-going 
research. In addition, the report includes a comprehensive appendix covering a list of all participating 
countries, the complete questionnaire in English and German language, additional literature sources for the 
items, and a collection of additional tables and figures containing more details about the data.
1. Introduction 2 
1.1. Background 
The concept of agility is nothing new. Early works that date back to the 1950s are already found within the 
social sciences (Parsons, Bales, & Shils, 1953). However, agility gained significantly more attention in the 
1990s, especially after the so-called “Lehigh report” (Iacocca Institute, 1991) was published explaining a 
new concept of manufacturing strategies. This development was accompanied by the increasing emphasis 
on customer orientation and proactivity instead of reactivity. Later on, mainly after the year 2000, process 
orientation was an additional focus, which led to an examination of agility from an organizational perspec-tive 
(F¨orster & Wendler, 2012). Simultaneously, agility became well known within the software industry, 
whereby the “Agile Manifesto” (Beck et al., 2001) triggered extensive research in this field. 
“Agile” is defined by the dictionary as “having the faculty of quick motion; nimble, active, ready” (Simpson 
& Weiner, 1989, p. 255), whereby agility is the “quality of being agile” (Simpson & Weiner, 1989, p. 
256). Given this explanation as a basis for understanding organizational agility, a variety of definitions 
have emerged today which are heavily influenced by context and application domain. A discussion of all 
available definitions is beyond the scope of this report. Different authors already list various definitions 
of agility (for instance Bernardes & Hanna, 2009; Gunasekaran & Yusuf, 2002). Another comprehensive 
collection is given in the appendix of F¨orster and Wendler (2012). 
An extensive definition appropriate to the context of this work was developed by Ganguly, Nilchiani, and 
Farr (2009) based on the work of Dove (1999, 2001). They define agility as “an effective integration of 
response ability and knowledge management in order to rapidly, efficiently and accurately adapt to any 
unexpected (or unpredictable) change in both proactive and reactive business / customer needs and oppor-tunities 
without compromising with the cost or the quality of the product / process” (Ganguly et al., 2009, 
p. 441). 
There are two other closely connected and underlying concepts: flexibility and leanness. Although both 
share some common ground with agility, they are not the same and should be distinguished. A detailed 
discussion is given in (Conboy, 2009), which is shortly summarized here. First, flexibility is very similar 
to agility. The main differences between flexibility and agility lie in issues like lack of speed and rapid 
action, continual change instead of a one-off change, a missing inclusion of knowledge and learning, and 
the application as single practices in specific parts of the company instead company-wide. The difference 
of leanness, however, is much more straight-forward. In contrast to agility, leanness is unsuitable to vari-ability 
and uncertainty and emphasizes simple cost reduction over value-related issues, mainly value for the 
customer (Conboy, 2009). 
However, it remains unclear what elements constitute the construct of organizational agility. In a previous 
work (Wendler, 2013), 28 agility frameworks were analyzed. The aim was to identify common ground and 
differences and to search for recurring concepts of agility. Finally, this procedure resulted in 33 concepts 
of agility that were heavily interdependent on each other (please refer to Wendler, 2013 for more details). 
The final model of all identified concepts and interdependencies is illustrated in figure 1.1 and forms the 
theoretical basis of this survey, which covered all identified concepts. The methodology of the survey is 
further described in section 1.2.
1. Introduction 3 
Figure 1.1.: Interdependencies between agility-related concepts 
1.2. Methodology 
To fulfill the research aims, we used a quantitative web-based survey. A quantitative approach seemed 
appropriate because the purpose of this study was to generate an understanding of organizational agility in 
a specific industry from a comprehensive and global view. Hence, it would be insufficient to investigate 
single organizations and time-consuming to collect data qualitatively. A survey allows for the collection of 
a huge amount of data from many entities within a relatively short time frame. Furthermore, much research 
has already been conducted, making measurement scales for agility available that can be applied to this 
study (see appendix A.3 for more details). 
The survey items emerged from a comprehensive literature review (see section 1.1 and Wendler, 2013) 
that identified 33 concepts of agility. These concepts were formulated as questionnaire items with support 
from already existent studies (see appendix A.3). To ensure an appropriate measurement, different scales 
were used, because as Tsourveloudis and Valavanis (2002) point out, the parameters affecting agility are not 
homogenous. In addition, we willfully relinquished agree/disagree scales, although many authors work with
1. Introduction 4 
these. In our opinion, an organization is not agile when its employees and managers “agree” with statements 
describing agility or when they “think’ they are agile. Instead, it is the actions, capabilities, values, etc. of an 
organization that represent its agility. So, item-specific scales were developed to measure the dissemination 
of values and the implementation of conditions (fromcompletely to not at all), the distribution of capabilities 
among employees and managers (from all to none), and the frequency of activities (from always to never). 
This approach has already been used successfully by other authors (for instance Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
and has been proven to reduce errors and enhance the quality of the answers (Saris, Revilla, Krosnick, & 
Shaeffer, 2010). The complete questionnaire is given in appendix A.2. 
The target group of the survey was general and IT-related decision-makers (like CEOs, CTOs, Managers, 
and employees in leading positions) in organizations of the software- and IT service industry worldwide. 
Hence, a web-based survey was appropriate because the targeted respondents normally have a high affinity 
for web-based tasks. Furthermore, worldwide distribution of the survey was much easier by email than 
paper-based mail. To ensure that the respondents understood the items, the questionnaire was carefully 
pretested by academics and practitioners. The pretests resulted in a comprehensive revision of the original 
questionnaire. First, the questionnaire was shortened by deleting inappropriate or duplicate items. Further-more, 
items were reformulated to enhance understandability, clarity, and applicability to the topic. Finally, 
the questionnaire contained 68 items. 
The survey has mainly been distributed via newsletters of organizations representing a majority of compa-nies 
from the targeted industry (see section 1.3 for details). Furthermore, the survey has been advertised 
via forum posts, blogs, and website entries in appropriate communities and a sample of randomly drawn 
companies from databases like Amadeus (www.bvdinfo.com), Yellow Pages, and others were invited to 
participate via email. This approach, utilizing multiple channels, ensured that a sufficient number (437) of 
valid and complete responses could be collected (see Chapter 2 for more details). 
1.3. Acknowledgments 
Many people helped to make this survey a success. We would like to thank all who supported us in 
any matter, especially our colleagues for their constructive discussions and tips. In addition, we thank 
all our academic and practitioner pretesters, especially Michael Maicher, CEO, Ardour Consulting Group 
GmbH (ardour.de) and Jens Frenzel, CTO, PROLOGA GmbH (prologa.de), who helped us to redefine 
unclear items. Furthermore, we thank everybody who distributed the survey among colleagues, forums, 
and newsletters, especially Damaris Bode, Global Community Director, Iasa Global (iasaglobal.org), and 
Hans-Peter Fr¨oschle, former CEO, itSMF Deutschland e.V. (itsmf.de), as well as Manuel Fischer, head 
of section Software and Dr. Mathias Weber, head of section IT Services, BITKOM Bundesverband Infor-mationswirtschaft, 
Telekommunikation und neue Medien e.V. (bitkom.org). Finally, we thank Russ Lewis, 
Senior Partner, Storm Consulting (storm-consulting.com) for fruitful discussions and new ideas for inter-preting 
the results of the survey.
2. Participants 
Altogether, the survey has been viewed by 1522 persons and 768 of them answered at least one question. 
Among those respondents, 490 completed the questionnaire. Unfortunately, 53 invalid responses had to be 
excluded from analysis because they do not belong to the focused industry of software development and IT 
services. Hence, 437 responses were included for further analysis (see figure 2.1). All following numbers, 
figures, and tables apply to these 437 responses. 
In addition, figure 2.1 shows the roles of all participants within their organization. More than one third of 
them are Enterprise and IT Architects, followed by Chief Executive Officers at nearly 30 %. Chief Informa-tion 
Officers, Chief Technology Officers, and other IT and ITC Managers sum up to more than 20 %. Roles 
summarized as Other include leading positions like Managerial Board Members, Chief Financial Officers, 
Technical Directors, or Senior Managers of Quality Management, Research & Development, Sales, IT, and 
others. In general, all participants hold leading or managerial positions in their organizations, and hence it 
is assured that they are able to assess their organization from an extensive point of view and are suitable to 
answer the survey questions. 
Figure 2.2 shows the fields of activity of the participating organizations. Most of them are nearly equally 
distributed within Programming and Software Development (43.1 %), and IT Services and Consultancy 
(41.6 %). Computer Facilities Management (6.5 %) is less represented. Other includes a mix of different 
industries, for instance banking, telecommunications, commerce, and advertising, among others. However, 
all are closely connected with the software and IT service industry or even operate in one of the other three 
fields, too. Over all, 239 organizations are active in more than one field of activity. 
Furthermore, the participants were asked to state the location of their organization or, in case of multina-tional 
companies, the location of their headquarters. As table 2.1 reveals, most companies are situated in 
Europe, especially Germany. Due to the high number of German participants, a differentiation between 
Germany and other European countries is possible. A high number of participating organizations are from 
Chief Executive 
Officer; 29.1% 
Chief 
Information / 
Technology 
Officer; 8.2% 
IT / ITC Manager; 
13.5% 
Other; 13.7% 
Enterprise / IT 
Architect; 35.5% 
no answer; 
754 
completed, 
valid; 437 
completed, 
invalid; 53 
started; 278 
[out of 437 valid responses] 
Figure 2.1.: Respondents and participants
2. Participants 6 
43.1% 
41.6% 
6.5% 
8.8% 
50.0% 
40.0% 
30.0% 
20.0% 
10.0% 
0.0% 
Programming and 
Software 
Development 
IT Services and 
Consultancy 
Computer 
Facilities 
Management 
Other 
Figure 2.2.: Fields of activity 
Location Quantity Ratio No. of Employees Quantity Ratio 
Germany 178 40.7 % less than 10 95 21.7 % 
Europe (w/o Germany) 82 18.8 % 10 to 49 87 19.9 % 
North America 104 23.8 % 50 to 249 87 19.9 % 
Asia 39 8.9 % more than 250 167 38.2 % 
Other 34 7.8 % n.a. 1 0.2 % 
Table 2.1.: Location and size (no. of employees) of participating organizations 
North America, and 92 are situated in the United States of America. Altogether, organizations from 45 
countries worldwide participated in the study. The complete list is given in table A.1 in appendix A.1. The 
countries were assigned to the regions according the United Nations Statistics Division (United Nations 
Statistics Division, 2013). 
The organizations were further distinguished by size, i. e. by their number of employees. For this, the 
classification of the European Union was used (The Commission of the European Communities, 2003) 
and the corresponding results are also given in table 2.1. Most of these organizations are huge companies 
with more than 250 employees. The rest are nearly equally distributed among medium, small, and micro 
enterprises. 
However, it is noticeable that the different sizes of participating organizations are unevenly distributed 
within the regions, as figure 2.3 shows. Most huge companies are situated in North America, whereas the 
majority of the participating small and medium-sized companies are German. This has an effect on the 
distribution of the role of the participants, too. The proportion of CEOs is much smaller the larger the 
organization becomes, and the persons answering the survey more often hold the role of Architects or IT 
Managers. Thus the roles are also unevenly distributed within the regions (see figure 2.4). This has to be 
taken into account when interpreting the results.
2. Participants 7 
Europe 
Germany without 
Germany 
North 
America 
Asia Other 
16.0% 
14.0% 
12.0% 
10.0% 
8.0% 
6.0% 
4.0% 
2.0% 
0.0% 
less than 10 13.5% 3.0% 3.0% 0.9% 1.4% 
10 to 49 11.0% 2.3% 3.9% 1.1% 1.6% 
50 to 249 10.5% 4.6% 2.1% 1.1% 1.6% 
more than 250 5.7% 8.9% 14.6% 5.7% 3.2% 
n.a. 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% 
Figure 2.3.: Location vs. size 
Germany 
Europe 
(without 
Germany) 
North 
America 
Asia Other 
25.0% 
20.0% 
15.0% 
10.0% 
5.0% 
0.0% 
Chief Executive Officer 20.4% 3.4% 2.5% 1.6% 1.1% 
Chief Information/Technology Officer 3.2% 1.1% 2.1% 1.4% 0.5% 
IT/ITC Manager 6.4% 2.3% 3.0% 1.1% 0.7% 
Enterprise/IT Architect 3.2% 10.1% 13.3% 3.9% 5.0% 
Other 7.6% 1.8% 3.0% 0.9% 0.5% 
Figure 2.4.: Location vs. role
2. Participants 8 
local; 7.3% 
national; 
24.0% 
own region; 
27.0% 
worldwide; 
38.0% 
"abroad"; 1.6% 
n.a.; 2.1% 
Germany 
Europe 
(without 
Germany) 
North 
America 
Asia Other 
16.0% 
14.0% 
12.0% 
10.0% 
8.0% 
6.0% 
4.0% 
2.0% 
0.0% 
local 3.7% 0.5% 2.1% 0.0% 1.1% 
national 14.0% 4.1% 3.4% 1.6% 0.9% 
own region 13.7% 4.8% 4.8% 1.8% 1.8% 
worldwide 9.4% 9.2% 12.6% 4.6% 2.3% 
"abroad" 0.0% 0.0% 0.7% 0.7% 0.2% 
n.a. 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 1.4% 
Figure 2.5.: Region of customers 
Finally, the respondents were asked to state the regions where they serve their customers. The companies 
were classified as follows: 
• local: companies that only serve customers in a local area 
• national: companies that serve customers in a local and/or national area 
• own region: companies that serve customers in their own region (Europe, North America, etc.) 
• worldwide: companies that serve customers in at least one additional region than the one where they 
are located (for instance, a German company with customers in Europe and North America) 
• “abroad”: companies that serve customers in any region but the one where they are located (for 
instance, an Indian company with customers in Europe and North America) 
The left side of figure 2.5 shows the numbers of the whole sample. The proportions of the different classes 
were found to be well distributed. Approximately one third (31.3 %) only serve local and national cus-tomers. 
27 % serve customers in their own region. That means their customers are often farther away but 
the cooperation is not as complex as in worldwide operating companies (for instance, due to similar time 
zones). Most of the companies (38 %) are operating worldwide in at least two different regions. Finally, the 
numbers of companies that only have customers in other regions or that did not give sufficient information 
about their customers are very small. 
The right side of figure 2.5 distinguishes the region of customers between the locations of the participating 
organizations. It becomes clear that there is similar distribution within the different regions. The only 
exception is, again, a smaller proportion of companies operating worldwide within the German participants.
3. Selected Results 
Selected descriptive results of the survey are presented and discussed in this chapter. Section 3.1 gives the 
reader a summary of the results of all questions asked. For every part of the questionnaire, the distribution 
and ratio of all answers as well as the average value are given in a summarizing table and figure and are 
shortly described. 
Section 3.2 takes a closer look at various subgroups of participants regarding role, location, company size, 
or region of customers. Remarkable and interesting facts are discussed and interpreted. Furthermore, 
additional statistics and figures are given in appendix A.4. 
3.1. Overview 
3.1.1. Agile Values and Principles 
The first section of the questionnaire dealt with values and principles that are prevalent within the organi-zations. 
These questions help to determine the overall culture and the way of thinking of the company’s 
managers and employees. Table 3.1 summarizes the answers of all participants and averages each item. The 
table reveals that all items have an average around 2 (mainly). However, the given percentages for every 
item show that there are a variety of answers across the complete scale. 
This picture is further illustrated by figure 3.1. It shows that huge parts of the respondents answered the 
items with mainly or completely. This indicates a rather agile attitude in most of the participating organi-zations. 
Nevertheless, a proportion of approximately 20 to 30 % of the respondents state that they see the 
given values and principles only partly fulfilled. Finally, around 10 % say that their company shares these 
values and principles little or even not at all. 
Furthermore, one can recognize that the average values for the first five items, representing the general 
values of an organization (“. . . values a culture. . . ”), are slightly lower than for the second group of items, 
representing concrete aspects of implementations of such a culture (“. . . prefer. . . ”). Hence, one may con-clude 
that the majority of respondents states that their organization shares agile values but cannot put them 
into practice accordingly. 
The following is an illustrative example: nearly three quarters state that their company values a culture 
that “considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities” completely or mainly. But at the 
same time, more than 40 % stated that their company prefers “simplicity, i. e. skipping [...] features that go 
beyond the customer requirements” and “market-related changes [...] to generate new opportunities” partly 
at best. This indicates that there may be room for improvements regarding customer-related behavior.
3. Selected Results 10 
1 2 3 4 5 Average 
completely mainly partly little not at all 
Our organization values a culture that. . . 
. . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 32.5 % 39.4 % 21.3 % 5.7 % 1.1 % 2.0 
. . . considers team work as integral part. 48.3 % 38.9 % 10.3 % 2.1 % 0.5 % 1.7 
. . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of 
29.7 % 41.2 % 25.2 % 3.4 % 0.5 % 2.0 
employees. 
. . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of 
innovative ideas. 
26.5 % 40.3 % 26.3 % 6.2 % 0.7 % 2.1 
. . . considers changing customer-related requirements as 
opportunities. 
30.9 % 41.2 % 22.0 % 5.0 % 0.9 % 2.0 
Our organization prefers. . . 
. . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than 
reacting to crisis or “fire-fighting”. 
28.4 % 38.2 % 22.2 % 9.2 % 2.1 % 2.2 
. . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or 
departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
39.4 % 30.4 % 18.3 % 9.4 % 2.5 % 2.1 
. . . face-to-face communication for conveying 
information within our organization. 
29.7 % 36.6 % 22.2 % 10.8 % 0.7 % 2.2 
. . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service 
features that go beyond the customer requirements. 
22.0 % 36.4 % 30.2 % 9.4 % 2.1 % 2.3 
. . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, 
preferences) to generate new opportunities. 
24.9 % 34.8 % 27.5 % 11.0 % 1.8 % 2.3 
Table 3.1.: Ratio and average regarding agile values and principles 
Our organization values a culture that... 
...harnesses change for competitive advantages. 
…considers team work as integral part. 
…accepts and supports decisions and 
proposals of employees. 
...is supportive of experimentation and the 
use of innovative ideas. 
…considers changing customer-related 
requirements as opportunities. 
Our organization prefers... 
…a proactive continuous improvement rather 
than reacting to crisis or "fire-fighting". 
...face-to-face communication for conveying 
information within our organization. 
...simplicity, i.e. skipping product and/or service features 
that go beyond the customer requirements. 
…market-related changes (e.g. new competitors, 
preferences) to generate new opportunities. 
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 
…the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or 
departments, e.g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
completely mainly partly little not at all 
Figure 3.1.: Distribution of answers regarding agile values and principles
3. Selected Results 11 
Additionally, two items are interesting because the proportion of respondents answering completely is larger 
for these than for the others. These are the items “Our organization values a culture that considers team 
work as integral part,” and “Our organization prefers the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or 
departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures.” Both items are related to the structural aspects 
of how the work is organized with and between the employees and managers. That is a positive sign 
because supporting teamwork and reducing hierarchical barriers are basic fundamentals for an organization 
to become agile (Sherehiy, Karwowski, & Layer, 2007; Nerur, Mahapatra, & Mangalaraj, 2005). 
3.1.2. Agile Conditions and IT/IS 
To become agile, it is not enough to simply “value” or “prefer” an organizational culture containing agility-related 
aspects. An organization has to establish the necessary infrastructure and environment to provide 
the base for an agile organization. Elements are an appropriate strategy that shapes the path to agility, 
effective communication processes throughout the whole organization, and informed, motivated, and skilled 
people, as well as suitable information systems and technologies that support the organization in all matters 
(Kettunen, 2009; Sharifi & Zhang, 1999; Sharifi, Colquhoun, Barclay, & Dann, 2001). 
Hence, the second part of the questionnaire focused on these issues, with five items related to general con-ditions 
and seven items asking about IT- and IS-specific conditions. Table 3.2 summarizes the distribution 
of answers over all participants and the average value for every item. An additional illustration is again 
given in figure 3.2. 
1 2 3 4 5 Average 
completely mainly partly little not at all 
Our organization has. . . 
. . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” 
communication processes. 
20.6 % 38.2 % 30.0 % 8.2 % 3.0 % 2.3 
. . . an intensive employee training program. 14.2 % 28.0 % 27.2 % 22.2 % 8.5 % 2.8 
. . . employees that have a good understanding of how 
23.1 % 45.5 % 23.3 % 6.9 % 1.1 % 2.2 
their own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. 
. . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all 
hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 
21.5 % 40.1 % 26.8 % 7.3 % 4.4 % 2.3 
. . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market 
changes from the very start. 
22.4 % 40.1 % 24.0 % 8.9 % 4.6 % 2.3 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . 
. . .make organizational information easily accessible to 
all employees. 
28.6 % 39.6 % 24.3 % 6.6 % 1.1 % 2.1 
. . . provide information helping our employees to quickly 
respond to changes. 
20.8 % 41.9 % 27.0 % 8.2 % 2.1 % 2.3 
. . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be 
competitive in the marketplace. 
23.8 % 42.8 % 26.3 % 5.7 % 1.3 % 2.2 
. . . enable decentralization in decision making. 18.5 % 30.7 % 33.0 % 12.8 % 5.0 % 2.6 
. . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or 
30.0 % 36.2 % 21.5 % 9.8 % 2.5 % 2.2 
business units. 
. . . are standardized or comparable amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
26.1 % 33.0 % 26.1 % 10.5 % 4.3 % 2.3 
. . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners 
into our processes. 
15.6 % 27.4 % 34.3 % 18.3 % 4.3 % 2.7 
Table 3.2.: Ratio and average regarding agile conditions and IT/IS 
In general, the obtained results reveal that the implementation of the mentioned conditions is also at an 
advanced stage, with averages between 2 (mainly) and 3 (partly). However, the average values, as well as
3. Selected Results 12 
Our organization has... 
...effective "top-down" and "bottom-up" 
communication processes. 
...an intensive employee training program. 
...employees that have a good understanding of how 
their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. 
…a strategy that is clearly communicated to all 
hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 
...a strategic vision that allows flexibility for 
market changes from the very start. 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... 
…make organizational information easily 
accessible to all employees. 
...provide information helping our employees 
to quickly respond to changes. 
…are appropriate to our needs and allow us 
to be competitive in the marketplace. 
...enable decentralization in decision making. 
...are integrated amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
…are standardized or comparable amongst 
different departments and/or business units. 
...enable us to fully integrate our customers 
and partners into our processes. 
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 
completely mainly partly little not at all 
Figure 3.2.: Distribution of answers regarding agile conditions and IT/IS 
the proportion of people answering with little or not at all (approximately 8 to 15 %), are slightly higher 
than the averages of agile values and principles (see section 3.1.1). That supports the assumption that it 
takes some effort from valuing an agile culture to take the actions needed. 
One result within the first set of items stands out. It is the item “Our organization has an intensive em-ployee 
training program.” This item achieved only an average of 2.8 (partly) and shows a clearly different 
distribution of answers. Only 42 % agree completely or mainly with this statement. However, continuous 
and purposeful training of employees is one essential component to creating an agile workforce and, as 
Sherehiy et al. state, “represents an investment into future success” (p. 448). 
Additionally, two other items only reach an average score that lies within the scope of partly. These are 
both IS-related aspects that “. . . enable decentralization in decision making” and “. . . enable [the organiza-tions] 
to fully integrate [their] customers and partners into [their] processes.” Both are tasks that are not 
easily fulfilled, so it is surprising that even approximately 19 % and 16 %, respectively, claim that their 
organization fulfills these requirements completely. 
3.1.3. Agile Capabilities 
The well-known “Lehigh-Report” from 1991 has already stated that “agility is accomplished by integrating 
three resources: technology, management, workforce” (Iacocca Institute, 1991, p. 8). Hence, the third part 
of the questionnaire focused on the capabilities that are needed within an agile organization. Capabilities 
enhancing agility enable an organization to cope with uncertainty and change and to stay competitive in
3. Selected Results 13 
1 2 3 4 5 Average 
all many some few none 
Our managers. . . 
. . .maintain an informal management style with focus on 
coaching and inspiring people. 
27.0 % 38.4 % 24.0 % 9.2 % 1.4 % 2.2 
. . . understand the value of IT investments from a 
company-wide perspective. 
31.6 % 37.1 % 22.2 % 7.8 % 1.4 % 2.1 
. . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. 24.7 % 36.6 % 26.1 % 11.4 % 1.1 % 2.3 
. . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or 
22.2 % 32.7 % 32.5 % 11.0 % 1.6 % 2.4 
services. 
. . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that 
may result from innovations in products, services, and/or 
processes. 
19.7 % 36.6 % 28.6 % 14.0 % 1.1 % 2.4 
. . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, 
financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and 
minimize threats. 
20.4 % 34.1 % 31.8 % 11.0 % 2.8 % 2.4 
. . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and 
knowledge among employees appropriately. 
20.8 % 36.8 % 28.8 % 11.4 % 2.1 % 2.4 
Our employees. . . 
. . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of 
our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. 
16.9 % 44.9 % 29.5 % 8.0 % 0.7 % 2.3 
. . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best 
opportunities which come up in our environment. 
10.1 % 35.7 % 41.7 % 12.4 % 0.2 % 2.6 
. . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality 
demanded by our customers. 
23.6 % 50.6 % 21.3 % 4.4 % 0.2 % 2.1 
. . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks 
when needed. 
16.0 % 48.7 % 26.3 % 8.7 % 0.2 % 2.3 
. . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and 
esteem. 
31.1 % 47.1 % 14.4 % 6.9 % 0.5 % 2.0 
. . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, 
apply and update knowledge. 
27.5 % 47.6 % 18.8 % 6.0 % 0.23 % 2.0 
. . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one 
another and to pass their knowledge to others. 
29.5 % 41.7 % 21.5 % 7.1 % 0.2 % 2.1 
. . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities 
purposeful. 
18.8 % 46.9 % 26.5 % 7.6 % 0.2 % 2.2 
. . . can re-organize continuously in different team 
configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly 
arising challenges. 
21.3 % 38.4 % 29.1 % 9.8 % 1.4 % 2.3 
. . . are self-motivated. 17.6 % 43.0 % 30.2 % 8.5 % 0.7 % 2.3 
. . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. 13.0 % 35.2 % 35.9 % 14.9 % 0.9 % 2.6 
Table 3.3.: Ratio and average regarding agile capabilities 
a volatile market environment. These are therefore a key aspect of an agile organization (Sharifi et al., 
2001; Tseng & Lin, 2011). However, the people of an organization rather than the organization itself 
possess capabilities. Thus, seven items addressed the capabilities of managers, while eleven items focused 
on the employees’ capabilities. Please note the changed answer scale asking how many of the managers and 
employees share the stated capabilities. 
Table 3.3 and figure 3.3 summarize the answers regarding agile capabilities. The average values over all 
participants are all between 2 (many) and 3 (some). Not many participants answered with few, and nearly 
nobody stated that none of the managers and employees share the stated capabilities. The distribution of 
answers is very similar for every item within both blocks. No item shows any conspicuous deviations. 
The two items with the worst average value of 2.6 each both address employees’ capabilities. They are 
namely that the employees “. . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come 
up in our environment” and “. . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner.” Although the dif-ference 
to the other items is not that huge, the latter is still interesting. An agile organization is characterized
3. Selected Results 14 
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 
all many some few none 
Our managers... 
...maintain an informal management style with 
focus on coaching and inspiring people. 
...understand the value of IT investments 
from a company‐wide perspective. 
...have the knowledge and skills 
necessary to manage change. 
...are able to quickly implement changes 
in products and/or services. 
...are able to recognize future competitive 
advantages that may result from innovations 
in products, services, and/or processes. 
...are able to flexibly deploy their resources 
(material, financial, human, ...) to make use 
of opportunities and minimize threats. 
...manage the sharing of information, know‐how, 
and knowledge among employees appropriately. 
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 
Our employees... 
...are able to act with a view to continuous 
improvement of our products, services, 
processes, and/or working methods. 
...are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best 
opportunities which come up in our environment. 
...are able to meet the levels of product and/or 
service quality demanded by our customers. 
...use a broad range of skills and can be 
applied to other tasks when needed. 
...communicate with each other with 
trust, goodwill, and esteem. 
...are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly 
access, apply and update knowledge. 
...are in general always willing to continuously 
learn from one another and to pass their 
knowledge to others. 
...obtain and develop appropriate technological 
capabilities purposeful. 
...can re‐organize continuously in different team 
configurations to meet changing requirements 
and the newly arising challenges. 
...are self‐motivated. 
...take responsibility and think in 
a business‐like manner. 
Figure 3.3.: Distribution of answers regarding agile capabilities
3. Selected Results 15 
by a culture that allows decision making at all hierarchical levels and distributes authority to all employees 
of the organization (Breu, Hemingway, Strathern, & Bridger, 2001; Goldman et al., 1995). However, the re-sults 
for the named item indicate that, despite the fact that an appropriate culture is valued (please compare 
item “Our organization values a culture that accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees” 
in section 3.1.1), the employees are to some extent reluctant to take responsibility. This is an important 
issue that should not be neglected. A similar phenomenon has already been identified with a case study at 
an agile software development company, where the employees had a tendency to let their own decisions be 
confirmed by management (Wendler & Gr¨aning, 2011). 
Another interesting aspect is the different distribution of answers between the two item blocks. Looking 
at the items for employees, one can see that the majority of respondents answered with many. At the 
managers’ side, however, the answers all, many, and some share relatively equal proportions. 
3.1.4. Agile Activities 
Finally, an organization may have a generally agile attitude and the needed capabilities may be available. 
These are prerequisites, but they do not automatically make an organization agile. In the end, the actions 
and activities that are carried out by the organization and its members determine the organization’s actual 
degree of agility. Similar to methodologies in the field of agile software development, the literature suggests 
a lot of practices determining what things and how these things have to be done (see appendix A.3 for related 
sources). Hence, the last and most comprehensive part of the questionnaire concentrated on this issue. 
Six items focused on the activities of employees, and another six items looked at the activities of the 
organization regarding its employees. Finally, another set of 16 items summarized the general activities of 
the whole organization. Please not that the answer scale changed again, now asking how often the activities 
are carried out. 
Again, table 3.4 and figures 3.4 and 3.5 deliver an overview of the answers regarding agile activities. The 
majority of answers lie in the area of always, often, and sometimes. The average values are seldom below 
2, i. e. “better” than often and never above 3 (sometimes). However, for some items, the proportion of 
participants answering with 4 (seldom) or 5 (never) is around 20%. This is higher than within the other parts 
of the questionnaire and may show some weaknesses in carrying out activities indicating agile behavior. 
First, two employee-related items attract attention with the lowest average values of 1.9 and 1.8, respec-tively, 
and less than 5 % of participants answering with seldom or never for both. These items are “Our 
employees work in small teams in their projects” and “Regarding our employees, we trust them to get their 
job done.” The items concerning self-organized teams and a close collaboration between different teams 
and departments are closely connected, and a relatively high proportion of participants stated always and 
often (approximately 70 to 75 %) for these items. This is positive because both a flexible structure with 
small teams and an environment of trust are important indicators for an agile organization especially in the 
software and IT services industry (Lindvall et al., 2002; Misra, Kumar, & Kumar, 2009; Nerur et al., 2005). 
To the contrary, up to approximately 25 % state that their employees seldom or never “rotate amongst 
different activities, tasks, positions, or departments.” This is critical because job rotation is useful to train 
employees in multiple skills and to enhance job enrichment, both important aspects for an agile workforce 
(Gunasekaran, 1999; V´azquez-Bustelo, Avella, & Fern´andez, 2007). Also, offering incentives to promote 
training and the alignment of incentives with team-based behavior is less developed.
3. Selected Results 16 
1 2 3 4 5 Average 
always often sometimes seldom never 
Our employees. . . 
. . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, 
and/or business units. 
26.5 % 49.2 % 16.7 % 7.1 % 0.5 % 2.1 
. . . organize themselves in their teams. 26.8 % 44.9 % 20.8 % 6.2 % 1.4 % 2.1 
. . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more 
14.7 % 33.9 % 37.3 % 13.0 % 1.1 % 2.5 
effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior 
accordingly. 
. . .work in small teams in their projects. 32.0 % 49.4 % 15.3 % 2.5 % 0.7 % 1.9 
. . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 24.7 % 41.7 % 20.6 % 9.6 % 3.4 % 2.3 
. . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or 
11.7 % 28.2 % 33.6 % 21.7 % 4.8 % 2.8 
departments. 
Regarding our employees, we. . . 
. . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all 
levels consequently. 
16.7 % 46.2 % 25.6 % 9.2 % 2.3 % 2.3 
. . . trust them to get their job done. 36.6 % 48.3 % 11.7 % 3.0 % 0.5 % 1.8 
. . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team 
21.5 % 28.8 % 26.1 % 15.8 % 7.8 % 2.6 
and their contribution to the overall organization. 
. . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade 
their skills and training. 
22.0 % 32.3 % 27.0 % 12.4 % 6.4 % 2.5 
. . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make 
decisions and take responsibility. 
23.8 % 38.9 % 23.6 % 10.8 % 3.0 % 2.3 
. . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s 
long-term future development. 
26.3 % 34.8 % 23.3 % 10.8 % 4.8 % 2.3 
In our organization, we. . . 
. . . scan and examine our environment systematically to 
anticipate change. 
18.8 % 37.5 % 30.9 % 10.3 % 2.5 % 2.4 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating 
our business strategy. 
13.7 % 37.3 % 34.8 % 11.2 % 3.0 % 2.5 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating 
our processes. 
12.1 % 34.1 % 34.8 % 15.6 % 3.4 % 2.6 
. . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of 
market- and/or customer-related changes. 
22.0 % 42.3 % 24.7 % 9.8 % 1.1 % 2.3 
. . . change authorities when tasks change. 15.6 % 30.9 % 32.7 % 16.3 % 4.6 % 2.6 
. . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different 
23.1 % 39.4 % 25.2 % 10.5 % 1.8 % 2.3 
functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. 
. . . encourage early involvement of several departments 
and/or functions in new product and/or service development. 
21.5 % 41.4 % 24.9 % 10.8 % 1.4 % 2.3 
. . . design our processes simultaneously to the development 
of new products and/or services. 
16.5 % 34.3 % 31.4 % 15.1 % 2.8 % 2.5 
. . . inform ourselves systematically about information 
technology innovations. 
28.8 % 38.7 % 22.9 % 8.7 % 0.9 % 2.1 
. . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a 
clear vision how IT contributes to business value. 
24.7 % 38.2 % 26.3 % 9.6 % 1.1 % 2.2 
. . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further 
tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 
18.5 % 41.4 % 25.6 % 12.6 % 1.8 % 2.4 
. . .monitor the performance of our partners and 
subcontractors very closely. 
25.4 % 35.0 % 23.6 % 13.5 % 2.5 % 2.3 
. . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria 
(rather than pure cost-based decisions). 
27.2 % 38.7 % 20.6 % 11.2 % 2.3 % 2.2 
. . . align all our activities to customer requirements and 
needs. 
31.1 % 43.9 % 18.1 % 5.3 % 1.6 % 2.0 
. . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of 
information on customers needs. 
23.1 % 38.7 % 25.9 % 10.3 % 2.1 % 2.3 
. . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback 
from our customers. 
35.5 % 39.8 % 17.2 % 5.7 % 1.8 % 2.0 
Table 3.4.: Ratio and average regarding agile activities
3. Selected Results 17 
Our employees... 
...collaborate closely with different teams, 
departments, and/or business units. 
...organize themselves in their teams. 
...reflect at regular intervals on how to become 
more effective in their team, then tune 
and adjust their behavior accordingly. 
...work in small teams in their projects. 
...form teams that are geographically 
closely located. 
...rotate amongst different activities, 
tasks, positions or departments. 
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 
Regarding our employees, we... 
...manage proposals, new ideas, and 
solutions from all levels consequently. 
...trust them to get their job done. 
...offer incentives not only for individuals, 
but for the team and their contribution 
to the overall organization. 
...offer incentives to encourage our employees 
to upgrade their skills and training. 
...encourage also employees at lower levels 
to make decisions and take responsibility. 
...develop employees skills with a view to the 
firm's long-term future development. 
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 
always often sometimes seldom never 
Figure 3.4.: Distribution of answers regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees)
3. Selected Results 18 
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 
always often sometimes seldom never 
In our organization, we... 
...scan and examine our environment 
systematically to anticipate change. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our business strategy. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our processes. 
...are quick to make appropriate decisions in the 
face of market- and/or customer-related changes. 
...change authorities when tasks change. 
...jointly and intensively operate throughout 
different functions and/or departments 
for strategic decision making. 
...encourage early involvement of several 
departments and/or functions in new 
product and/or service development. 
...design our processes simultaneously to the 
development of new products and/or services. 
...inform ourselves systematically about 
information technology innovations. 
...strategically invest in appropriate technologies 
and have a clear vision how IT contributes 
to business value. 
...focus on our core competencies and delegate 
further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 
...monitor the performance of our partners 
and subcontractors very closely. 
...select our partners and subcontractors by quality 
criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 
...align all our activities to customer 
requirements and needs. 
...encourage compilation and internal dissemination 
of information on customers needs. 
...closely collaborate with and encourage 
fast feedback from our customers. 
Figure 3.5.: Distribution of answers regarding agile activities (general)
3. Selected Results 19 
The items of general activities are relatively similar to each other. Activities that are carried out less 
frequently throughout all participating organizations are “. . . change authorities when tasks change” and 
“. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy,” with an average value of 
2.6 each. 
On the other hand, items concerning customer collaboration and customer satisfaction are assessed with a 
higher frequency of activity. Both aspects are important and are seen as key issues for every company, espe-cially 
in software development (Kettunen, 2009; Sherehiy et al., 2007). However, no single item regarding 
activities was answered by more than 40 % of the participants with always. This is quite surprising because 
all stated activities are known as practices that enhance the agility of an organization. This shows that these 
activities are not carried out on a regular basis and hence are not established in the majority of organizations 
in processes, instructions, strategies, etc. 
3.2. Differentiated Discussion by Subgroups 
This section discusses some details of the results concerning agile values and principles. Selected figures 
and tables will illustrate the findings. For additional tables and graphics showing more details, please 
refer to appendix A.4. Please note that a shorter bar (i. e. a lower average) generally represents a “better” 
assessment of the respective items and shows a higher dissemination of agile values, more people sharing 
particular capabilities, a more frequent execution of agility-related activities, and so on. 
3.2.1. Analysis by Role 
When comparing the answers given by respondents in different roles, the first noticeable aspect is that CEOs 
often answered in the “most positive” way (i. e. with the lowest average values) for nearly all items in the 
complete questionnaire. For instance, approximately 40 to 50 % of CEOs answered completely to the items 
dealing with values and principles. 
On the contrary, the group of Enterprise and IT Architects often answered in the “most critical” way. One 
particular example is the item “Our organization prefers the elimination of barriers between individuals 
and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures.” Architects assess this item with 2.6 on 
average and more than 50 % answered partly or less. On the other hand, CEOs score 1.4 on average, with 
more than 90 % answering mainly or better. This comparison is illustrated in figure 3.6. 
Furthermore, it is suspicious that CEOs very seldom answer in the “worst” two categories (little or not at 
all / few or none / seldom or never). For example, table 3.5 shows the distribution of CEOs’ answers to the 
first five items containing the general conditions. In most cases (with the exception of employee training), 
less than one percent of CEOs chose one of the last two categories. This marks a clear differentiation from 
all other groups where these percentages are higher. 
Similar distributions are observable for agile capabilities and activities, too. The difference between CEOs 
and other groups is mostly from 0.5 up to 1.0 points, and sometimes even greater. Generally, the differences 
between CEOs and others are relatively huge for items related to strategy, decentralization in decision 
making, and cooperation and communication issues. This is supported by the relatively huge deviation 
of the Architects’ answers for items that are about the elimination of barriers, managers coaching and
3. Selected Results 20 
Our organization prefers the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, 
e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 
Enterprise/IT Architect 
Chief Executive Officer 
Chief Executive Officer Enterprise/IT Architect 
completely 66.14% 20.65% 
mainly 29.13% 26.45% 
partly 3.94% 30.97% 
little 0.00% 18.71% 
not at all 0.79% 3.23% 
Figure 3.6.: Illustrative example for differences between CEOs and Architects 
1 2 3 4 5 
completely mainly partly little not at all 
Our organization has. . . 
. . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. 37.8 % 44.1 % 16.5 % 0.8 % 0.8 % 
. . . an intensive employee training program. 12.6 % 31.5 % 32.3 % 18.9 % 4.8 % 
. . . employees that have a good understanding of how their own job 
39.4 % 49.6 % 11.0 % 0.0 % 0.0 % 
relates to the firm’s overall activity. 
. . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in 
terms easily understood by all. 
35.4 % 52.0 % 11.0 % 0.8 % 0.8 % 
. . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from 
the very start. 
33.1 % 48.8 % 14.2 % 3.2 % 0.8 % 
Table 3.5.: Details regarding agile conditions rated by CEOs 
inspiring people, a long-term oriented employee development, and cooperation and involvement of several 
departments and functions in strategic decision-making and new product development. This emphasizes 
that there is room for improvement concerning these aspects, although the management board might regard 
them as sufficient. 
As mentioned above, Enterprise and IT Architects score a higher average for some of the items, but in most 
cases the averages of CIOs / CTOs, IT Managers, Architects, and others are close to each other. Hence, 
differences between the other groups (except CEOs) in the organization are of minor importance. 
Only very few items throughout the questionnaire show answers that do not confirm the observations above. 
One exception is the item “Our organization has an intensive employee training program.” This item is 
rather interesting because it shows the worst assessment from CIOs and CTOs (with nearly 50 % stating 
little or not at all). Yet this item simultaneously shows the best, nearly opposite rating, from IT Managers 
(see figure 3.7). This could indicate that the training programs do not optimally match the requirements of 
different stakeholders. 
Other exceptions are the items regarding the activities of employees (see figure A.4). Although CEOs still 
give the “best” assessment in most cases, the different roles (including CEOs) are much closer to each other 
for these items than for most other items. Hence, a consensus seems to exist about what the employees do 
and how they do it. However, the items containing the general activities of the organization and activities 
regarding employees (see figures A.4 and A.5) deliver very large differences as well. For instance, the 
items “In our organization, we jointly and intensively operate throughout the functions and/or departments
3. Selected Results 21 
Our organization has an intensive training program. 
IT/ITC Manager 
CIO/CTO 
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 
CIO/CTO IT/ITC Manager 
completely 8.33% 20.34% 
mainly 16.67% 27.12% 
partly 27.78% 28.81% 
little 33.33% 22.03% 
not at all 13.89% 1.69% 
Figure 3.7.: Details for difference between CIOs/CTOs and IT/ITC Managers regarding training 
3,0 
2,5 
2,0 
1,5 
1,0 
0,5 
0,0 
...jointly and intensively operate throughout 
different functions and/or departments 
for strategic decision making. 
...encourage early involvement of several 
departments and/or functions in new 
product and/or service development. 
In our organization, we... 
1.7 
1.8 
2.4 
2.2 2.3 
2.3 
2.7 
2.7 
2.3 2.3 
Figure 3.8.: Details for items focusing on cooperative activities by role 
for strategic decision making” and “. . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or func-tions 
in new product and/or service development” show an assessment that differs approximately 0.5 points 
between CEOs and CIOs/CTOs and again between IT Managers and Architects (see figure 3.8). However, 
an effective cooperation between departments and/or functions for strategic purposes has to be supported by 
management and employees in managing positions. The fact that the assessment is so differentiated shows 
that the perception of organizational activities, which are often also shaped by the participants themselves, 
is dependent on the actual role of the participants. 
In summary, it can be assumed that CEOs look at the overall agility of the company from a different and 
potentially more positive perspective than other members of the company. Generally, the more specialized 
the role of the participant, the more critically they assess the given items. However, it is also possible that 
these differences stem from the different sizes of the participating companies. Taking into account that the
3. Selected Results 22 
majority of participating CEOs are from small and micro companies (24.5 % of all participants), this is 
likely to result in an interactive effect of role and size. 
3.2.2. Analysis by Size 
Analyzing the data for the different sizes (measured by number of employees), a clear trend is that the 
smaller the company is, the better the participants assessed nearly all items, indicating a more agile atti-tude 
and behavior. This observation is consistent with the literature. It is assumed that organizational size 
(besides the environment and an organizational strategy) is one of the key contingencies allowing an organi-zation 
to fit changing circumstances over time (Sherehiy et al., 2007). Charbonnier-Voirin also found in her 
study that small entities allow organizations to be more reactive and sensitive and that sometimes processes 
are slowed down when organizations are larger (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011). 
Although the overall difference is not as large as expected, another issue confirms this trend. The proportion 
of participants from large organizations choosing the best value from the answer scales (completely, all, 
always) is in most cases smaller, and the proportion of people choosing answers like partly, not at all, 
never, etc. rises compared to smaller organizations (see figure 3.9 for an example). 
Our organization values a culture that is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. 
more than 250 
50 to 249 
10 to 49 
less than 10 
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 
less than 10 10 to 49 50 to 249 more than 250 
completely 43.16% 29.89% 25.29% 16.17% 
mainly 46.32% 43.68% 36.78% 36.53% 
partly 9.47% 24.14% 28.74% 35.93% 
little 1.05% 2.30% 8.05% 10.18% 
not at all 0.00% 0.00% 1.15% 1.20% 
Figure 3.9.: Illustrative example for size-dependent trend 
The results indicate that the organization’s size is an important factor influencing the efforts necessary to 
become agile, which must be taken seriously. The more complex and distinctive the structure and hierarchy 
of an organization is, the more problems arise hindering the way to organizational agility. This is further un-derscored 
by the observation that micro and small organizations (up to 50 employees) with a less distinctive 
structure often score similarly for many items, while medium and large organizations reach a clearly worse 
(i. e. higher) average value. Figure 3.10 illustrates this aspect with a sampling of examples from all over 
the questionnaire, pointing out some problems that arise as soon as a certain level of hierarchy exists. The 
main problem areas for large- and medium-sized organizations are internal communication and cooperation 
across departments and hierarchical levels, as well as customer collaboration. 
Another interesting size-related aspect is the area of employees’ capabilities. In principal, the size-dependent 
trend is again confirmed. However, especially for items concerning a trust-based communication among the
3. Selected Results 23 
total average 
less than 10 
10 to 49 
50 to 249 
more than 250 
Our organization prefers the elimination of barriers 
between individuals and/or departments, e.g. by 
flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
Our organization prefers face-to-face 
communication for conveying information 
within our organization. 
Our organization has employees that have a 
good understanding of how their own job relates 
to the firm's overall activity. 
Our managers are able to flexibly deploy their 
resources (material, financial, human, ...) to 
make use of opportunities and minimize threats. 
Regarding our employees, we manage 
proposals, new ideas, and solutions 
from all levels consequently. 
In our organization, we encourage early involve-ment 
of several departments and/or functions 
in new product and/or service development. 
In our organization, we encourage compilation 
and internal dissemination of information on 
customers needs. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Figure 3.10.: Examples demonstrating hierarchy-dependent problems 
less 10 50 more 
than 10 to 49 to 249 than 250 
Our employees. . . 
. . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. 52.6 % 41.4 % 21.8 % 15.0 % 
. . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update 
50.5 % 27.6 % 26.4 % 9.0 % 
knowledge. 
. . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass 
their knowledge to others. 
53.7 % 32.2 % 28.7 % 12.0 % 
Table 3.6.: Proportion of participants answering that all employees share particular capabilities (illustrative 
examples) 
employees and the principal willingness to continuously learn, large organization have suspiciously higher 
average values. This indicates that these important capabilities are less existent among their employees 
(see figure A.8 in appendix A.4.2). Additionally, the proportion of participants from large organizations 
stating that all employees share these capabilities is much lower than for smaller companies (see table 3.6). 
This is a critical aspect again because training programs are only one piece of the puzzle – capability and 
willingness to learn is equally important. Only when both aspects are well established can an appropriate 
form of organizational learning result, which again is an important element for organizational agility (Chan 
& Thong, 2009; V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007; Wendler, 2013). 
When speaking about training, the item “Our organization has an intensive training program” shows a 
surprising distribution because it is distributed against the identified size-related trend. This seems obvious 
initially because small firms often cannot afford such programs. Despite this, the fact that the results 
for smaller organizations normally indicate a higher agility within this survey raises the question of how 
important is the aspect of employee training to increasing agility (besides informal learning like mentoring 
or “learning by doing”). One explanation could be that intensive employee training programs are only
3. Selected Results 24 
In our organization, we... 
...focus on our core competencies and delegate 
further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 
...monitor the performance of our partners 
and subcontractors very closely. 
total average 
less than 10 
10 to 49 
50 to 249 
more than 250 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Figure 3.11.: Averages regarding partner-related activities 
an essential issue for larger firms because their structure hinders them from relying on informal training 
techniques. 
Partner-related activities reveal another interesting issue. For the items “In our organization, we focus on 
our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors” and “. . .monitor the 
performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely,” medium-sized organizations have the high-est 
average value (see figure 3.11). Although the differences between the sizes are not large here, this 
is still meaningful because these are the only items where medium-sized organizations score worst. This 
may indicate that medium-sized companies have the most problems managing their outsourcing relation-ships, 
maybe because they did not yet incorporate such processes as successfully as larger companies. The 
outsourcing relations of smaller companies, however, may not yet be as complex. 
However, some items show no or only negligible differences between the differently sized organizations. 
First of all, a culture supporting teamwork is always high rated, with approximately 40 to 60 % of partici-pants 
stating that their organization shares that idea completely. Also, looking at the IT-related conditions 
(see figure A.7), there is one item where almost no difference is observable: “Our organization has In-formation 
Systems and Technologies that enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our 
processes”. This indicates either that the technological requirements to integrate partners and customers are 
not satisfactory or that the organizations – no matter of what size – do not really want to integrate them into 
their own processes. Such a situation was discovered in a case study, where a kind of fear of sharing knowl-edge 
or losing bargaining power existed among the employees and managers of the company (Wendler & 
Gr¨aning, 2011). A last interesting aspect is also that the adaption to changing tasks by changing authorities 
shows nearly no differences between the differently sized organizations (see figure A.10). 
To summarize this section, the size of an organization seems to be an important factor influencing the 
potential organizational agility. It becomes clear that smaller companies have advantages in most aspects 
covered by the questionnaire. This is underscored by the fact that items directly related to the organizational 
structure reveal greater differences between the differently sized companies. But as the analysis shows, 
there are also activities where no differences exist. Hence, although size may determine the initial grade 
of organizational agility, this only means that larger firms have to extend more effort when improving their 
agility. 
3.2.3. Analysis by Location 
Analyzing the data differentiated by location allows for the observation of cultural differences within the 
different regions. As explained in Chapter 2, the data was divided into participating organizations from 
Europe, North America, Asia, and others (see A.1 for further details). Additionally, a detailed view on 
Germany is possible due to the high number of responses.
3. Selected Results 25 
Regarding our employees, we... 
...offer incentives not only for individuals, 
but for the team and their contribution 
to the overall organization. 
...offer incentives to encourage our employees 
to upgrade their skills and training. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
3.5 
In our organization, we... 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our business strategy. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our processes. 
...jointly and intensively operate throughout 
different functions and/or departments 
for strategic decision making. 
...monitor the performance of our partners 
and subcontractors very closely. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Figure 3.12.: Exemplary items showing higher average value for European organizations 
For most of the items, a clear differentiation or trend between the locations, or conspicuous deviations, is 
missing. This indicates that cultural influences are of minor importance in the field of software development 
and IT services. The reason may be that this is a rather globally oriented industry and, as figure 2.5 shows, 
many companies serve their customers worldwide. However, this does not imply that cultural differences 
are irrelevant, it just shows that they are less prevalent than one would expect. 
One observation is surprising: the European countries (without Germany) show a slightly worse assessment 
(i. e. a higher average value) for many items than all other regions. In particular, the difference between 
Germany and the other European countries is relatively high. Additionally, the unequal distribution of micro 
and small organizations seems to play a less important role here because the differences in the average values 
between participants from Germany and other locations worldwide are often very small. This deviation of 
European countries becomes particularly apparent when looking at the items asking about general activities 
and regarding employees (see figures A.14 and A.15). For instance, the items addressing the offering of 
skill-based incentives, the reactivity by updating strategies and processes, the internal collaboration for 
strategic decision making, or the monitoring of subcontractors show a clearly higher average value for 
European countries (see figure 3.12). 
The reason for this phenomenon cannot be easily uncovered by the survey data. One explanation may be 
that the results reflect the current economical situation in Europe, where Germany has a better economic 
situation than the European average. However, the data shows that the answers of German participants 
indicate a slightly higher agility, whereas other European countries seem to struggle more than others with 
adapting to new situations. Additionally, a slightly higher percentage of European participants chose the 
“worst” category of the answer scale (not at all, none, never) for the items. 
There are a few exceptions to this phenomenon: For instance, the item regarding the elimination of barriers 
shows the highest average value for participants from Asia. This is also true for IT-related items focusing 
on decentralization in decision making as well as integrated and standardized technologies among different 
departments. The items asking about the capabilities of employees and managers, as well as the items 
concerning the activities of employees, were answered in a relatively similar manner worldwide.
3. Selected Results 26 
Our organization values a culture that harnesses 
change for competitive advantages. 
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 
"abroad" 
worldwide 
own region 
national 
local 
local national own region worldwide "abroad" 
completely 15.63% 28.57% 31.36% 39.76% 28.57% 
mainly 37.50% 40.95% 39.83% 37.95% 57.14% 
partly 28.13% 23.81% 21.19% 18.67% 14.29% 
little 12.50% 5.71% 6.78% 3.01% 0.00% 
not at all 6.25% 0.95% 0.85% 0.60% 0.00% 
Our organization prefers market-related changes 
(e. g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opprtunities. 
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 
"abroad" 
worldwide 
own region 
national 
local 
local national own region worldwide "abroad" 
completely 18.75% 20.00% 25.42% 28.31% 42.86% 
mainly 28.13% 31.43% 36.44% 37.35% 28.57% 
partly 31.25% 36.19% 21.19% 25.90% 28.57% 
little 18.75% 9.52% 13.56% 8.43% 0.00% 
not at all 3.13% 2.86% 3.39% 0.00% 0.00% 
Figure 3.13.: Illustrative examples showing adaptability issues for organizations with local customers 
3.2.4. Analysis by Customers 
Finally, a differentiated analysis by the region of customers has been applied. The results are a bit unex-pected. 
Generally, the concept of agility, especially in the software development and IT service context, 
puts a lot of emphasis on aspects like frequent communication, close collaboration, and personal interac-tion 
with customers to ensure the delivery of products with expected quality and scope (Beck et al., 2001; 
Misra et al., 2009; Sarker & Sarker, 2009). With that in mind, one could assume that a customer nearby is 
a prerequisite for an agile organization or at least would enhance the actual organizational agility. 
Interestingly, in most cases the participants of companies that only serve local customers score the highest 
averages for the items, which indicates a worse organizational agility. At first, this looks like a contradiction. 
However, companies serving only local customers are often very specialized and thus can be too niche-oriented. 
With a too strong alignment to a few key customers, it is more difficult to adapt to changes in 
the environment. Figure 3.13 shows two illustrative examples underscoring this assumption. It becomes 
clear that the proportion of participants stating that their organization completely shares the stated values 
and principles gets smaller for organizations operating with local customers only. Simultaneously, the 
proportion of respondents stating little or not at all rises.
3. Selected Results 27 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... 
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 
...are integrated amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
...enable decentralization 
in decision making. 
...enable decentralization in decision making. 
...are integrated amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
completely 28.57% 28.57% 
mainly 14.29% 14.29% 
partly 14.29% 28.57% 
little 14.29% 0.00% 
not at all 28.57% 28.57% 
Figure 3.14.: Details about agile IT/IS for companies serving customers abroad 
Of course, companies with local customers have the opportunity to quickly communicate or physically meet 
with their customers if required. This is a reactive behavior confirming a good flexibility, but agility asks for 
proactivity instead of or in addition to reactivity (Conboy, 2009). Also, organizations serving customers in 
other regions of the world are in a much greater need to establish methods and processes to ensure a frequent 
and regulated collaboration with the customer (see Simons, 2006 for an illustrative example). This, in turn, 
actively supports the agility of these organizations. That is underscored by the fact that the integration of 
customers works best for organizations serving only customers “abroad”. It can be assumed that they don’t 
have the opportunity to arrange in person meetings on a regular basis for close cooperation and hence have 
to put more emphasis on a functioning and efficient (remote) integration of customers. 
The phenomenon described above is also present for many items concerning the capabilities of managers 
and employees as well as for some of the activity-related items (see figures A.18 to A.20). Activities 
concerning team- and skill-based incentives, as well as a long-term-oriented development of employees’ 
skills, peaks negatively for organizations with local customers. In addition, reaction to changes by updating 
strategies and processes shows the highest average values here and hence supports the assumption of a too 
specialized focus. 
Furthermore, there are also items showing the worst results for organizations with customers “abroad”. 
First, IT and IS are less integrated throughout the organization and so the ability to support a decentralized 
decision-making suffers (with nearly 30 % stating not at all). Figure 3.14 illustrates this aspect further. 
Looking at the capabilities for managers, two other items garner attention and underscore this observation: 
The item “Our managers understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective” shows 
a clearly higher average value for these organizations and may explain the lack of integrated IT systems. 
In addition, the capability to “quickly implement changes in products and/or services” is also assessed 
in a similar way (see figure A.18). Finally, activities concerning the change of authorities with changing 
tasks and internal cooperation reveal the worst assessment for these organizations (see figure A.20). An 
explanation could be that these companies often mainly serve as outsourcing partners. 
Items directly related to customers are of particular interest within this section. However, a closer look at the 
last three items of general activities reveals no deviations between the groups of different customer regions. 
Only the dissemination of information on customer needs shows a slightly better rating for organizations 
serving customers “abroad”, but this is more related to organizational learning than actual customer align-
3. Selected Results 28 
local national own world- “abroad” total 
region wide average 
In our organization, we. . . 
. . . align all our activities to customer requirements and 
needs. 
2.0 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.0 
. . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of 
information on customers needs. 
2.5 2.4 2.2 2.3 1.9 2.3 
. . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from 
our customers. 
2.0 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.0 
Table 3.7.: Average values of customer-related items by region of customers 
ment. This is rather surprising because it shows that the actual distance to the customer does not directly 
influence the customer-related organizational agility. This is illustrated by the average values in table 3.7. 
Summarizing the observations, it becomes clear that a close distance to the customers does not automatically 
lead to advantages regarding organizational agility. This is somehow inconsistent with theory. A missing 
proximity to the customer, which inhibits the possibility of personal interaction at short notice, is mostly 
seen as an obstacle for agility, especially in the software domain (Bleek &Wolf, 2008). But the results of the 
survey show that organizations with local or national customers do not automatically gain any advantages 
– on the contrary, the results even show a worse rating for many items by participants from companies 
only serving local customers. Therefore, the geographical distance seems to be less important than one 
might expect. Maybe organizations with customers farther away are even better at aligning their processes 
and actions to their customers because they are somehow forced to handle customer interaction in a more 
structured way. However, this question cannot be answered by the collected data.
4. Conclusion 
4.1. Summary 
This report gives a descriptive overview of the survey results. For all items, the average values have been 
calculated over the whole sample as well as for different subgroups regarding role of the participants, size 
and location of the organizations, and region of customers. Furthermore, the results have been compared 
and selected issues have been identified and discussed. The purpose of this document was to give a compre-hensive 
overview, particularly to the participants of the survey. Further statistical investigations will follow 
(see section 4.3). 
In general, the results indicate that the international software and IT services industry is relatively well 
set up regarding its organizational agility on average and should continue with its efforts to improve agile 
behavior. To be agile requires more than sticking to particular methodologies or programs. It starts with 
values, which are translated into an appropriate culture and strategy as well as aligned with staff sharing 
corresponding capabilities. Finally, all this has to be implemented in an environment that allows the people 
to display and develop their abilities and ensure that they are able to organize their everyday work with 
concrete activities supporting agile behavior. The survey covered all these aspects with various items from 
a comprehensive perspective on organizational agility. 
However, it turned out that concrete implementations fall behind general attitudes. The results indicate 
rather agile values and principles, but concrete conditions and circumstances only achieve less agile or at 
least equal values. That observation is the same regarding agile capabilities and activities, whereby the 
availability of capabilities gains slightly better scores than the concrete activities of the members of the 
organizations. In addition, these phenomena seem to be independent from cultural differences or organiza-tional 
size. 
Aspects that show a good realization across all participating organizations include a trustful environment 
and an emphasis on purposeful cooperation between employees within and between teams. Furthermore, 
a good alignment to customer needs and an overall willingness to continuously learn and update skills are 
visible. This is underscored by the fact that items belonging to the agility areas “Organizational Culture” 
and “Customer” (see figure 1.1) have the lowest values on average (and hence indicating a higher agility). 
Main problem areas are a lack of decentralization of decisions, which has the risk of undermining the culture 
of trust. This issue is accompanied with unclear strategies and a lack of including employees in strategic 
decisions. In addition, internal collaboration across departments and functions, as well as early involvement 
of all affected departments in strategic matters, shows room for improvement. Issues of further interest are 
compensation and incentives that are often not based on team results and peoples’ skills. Finally, although 
the satisfaction of customer needs is not a problem, the integration of customers and also partners into
4. Conclusion 30 
processes and activities reveals some weaknesses. Hence, activities affecting the area of “Workforce” and 
the concepts “Processes” and “Innovation” (see figure 1.1) show the lowest agility ratings. 
Furthermore, the analysis by subgroups revealed some interesting differences. First, CEOs seem to have 
a much more positive perception of nearly all items than other roles in an organization. This is surprising 
because all participants had managing or at least leading positions in their organizations and thus were able 
to answer the items from a comprehensive perspective. Although it is appropriate to assess agility from 
an organizational view, it still raises the question of whether other employees, for instance programmers 
or consultants, would show different results. A case study already refuted this assumption (Wendler & 
Gr¨aning, 2011), but it is open if this result could be repeated in a global context. 
The size of an organization turned out to be a very important factor influencing organizational agility. The 
analysis revealed that smaller organizations (up to 50 employees) benefit from a less complex structure 
and hence are faster to adjust to a changing environment. However, there was no evidence to suggest small 
organizations are automatically agile organizations. The results rather indicate that larger organizations have 
to put more emphasis on how to negate the disadvantages that result from their more complex structures, 
such as more indirect communication or more difficult internal cooperation. 
Unexpected results were obtained while analyzing the data differentiated by location and customer region. 
The observed differences were less distinctive, as expected. Concerning the location of the organizations, in 
most cases only European organizations showed a slightly worse assessment – especially when comparing 
German ones with other European countries. One assumption as a possible explanation was the current gen-eral 
economical situation; another assumption was that German companies may be more effective in what 
they do. But the results obtained imply that cultural differences play a less important role for organizational 
agility in the software and IT service industry. 
Regarding the region of customers, it turned out that customers located in geographic proximity do not lead 
to a higher organizational agility of the respective organizations. In contrast, the results from participants 
of companies only serving local customers reveal a worse grade of organizational agility. This may stem 
from the fact that these companies are often very specialized and niche-oriented and thus have difficulty 
adjusting to new situations. On the other hand, there exist no remarkable differences between companies 
with national (and local) customers and companies serving their customers over the whole continent or even 
worldwide. Hence, the geographical distance between an organization and its customers is also from less 
importance for organizational agility in the considered industry. 
4.2. Limitations 
The presented survey results suffer from some limitations that have to be taken into account when interpret-ing 
the results. First of all, the differently sized organizations are unequally distributed among the sampled 
countries. Hence, it cannot be excluded that this affects the results obtained by the analysis of the sub-groups. 
This was explicitly addressed in the respective sections of this report and will be further analyzed 
(see section 4.3). In addition, it was not possible to explicitly ask more than one person from each orga-nization, 
and thus this study risks key informant bias. However, the overall number of participants from 
different companies and in different roles helps to reduce this risk. Finally, the results presented here are of 
a purely descriptive nature. Of course, further analysis calculating significance, dependency, and coherent
4. Conclusion 31 
agility factors is necessary and will follow (see section 4.3). The purpose of this report was to provide first 
overview, fulfilled with the given statistics and interpretations. 
Although it was the goal of the survey to examine organizational agility, specifically in the software and 
IT service industry, it would also be interesting to see if the results are different in other industries. At 
the moment, though, it is not possible to transfer the findings to other industries. Analogously, the survey 
targeted only persons in managing or leading positions. This was appropriate to fulfill the aim of a com-prehensive 
assessment from an organizational perspective. However, data on the opinions and attitudes of 
other employees could deliver additional insights. 
4.3. Further Research 
The data obtained by the survey is currently being further analyzed. The next steps include a factor analysis 
to identify which items have a latent construct behind them and how the conceptual framework (figure 1.1) 
reflects this. In case of a successful identification of agility constructs, the available data can be used to 
further investigate the different subgroups in more detail and to search for significant differences. Finally, a 
cluster analysis could deliver additional insights. 
Besides, it would be interesting to replicate the survey (the complete list of items is given in appendices A.2 
and A.3) with different target groups, for instance employees or multiple responses from different roles in 
the same organizations. An application to other domains and industries may also yield interesting results, 
although the questionnaire would have to be adjusted.
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A. Appendix 
A.1. Participating Countries 
Region Country Quantity Ratio 
Europe Germany 178 40.7 % 
Sweden 11 2.5 % 
Italy 9 2.1 % 
Great Britain 8 1.8 % 
Netherlands 8 1.8 % 
Switzerland 8 1.8 % 
France 6 1.4 % 
Portugal 5 1.1 % 
Spain 4 0.9 % 
Ukraine 4 0.9 % 
Ireland 3 0.7 % 
Austria 2 0.5 % 
Bulgaria 2 0.5 % 
Denmark 2 0.5 % 
Greece 2 0.5 % 
Norway 2 0.5 % 
Romania 2 0.5 % 
Belgium 1 0.2 % 
Croatia 1 0.2 % 
Hungary 1 0.2 % 
North America USA 92 21.1 % 
Canada 12 2.7 % 
Asia India 14 3.2 % 
Malaysia 5 1.1 % 
Indonesia 3 0.7 % 
Pakistan 3 0.7 % 
Singapore 3 0.7 % 
United Arab Emirates 3 0.7 % 
Israel 2 0.5 % 
Japan 2 0.5 % 
Bangladesh 1 0.2 % 
China 1 0.2 % 
continued on next page . . .
A. Appendix VII 
Region Country Quantity Ratio 
Thailand 1 0.2 % 
Turkey 1 0.2 % 
Other Colombia 5 1.1 % 
Brazil 3 0.7 % 
Costa Rica 3 0.7 % 
Australia 2 0.5 % 
South Africa 2 0.5 % 
Argentina 1 0.2 % 
Chile 1 0.2 % 
Mexico 1 0.2 % 
Namibia 1 0.2 % 
New Zealand 1 0.2 % 
Uruguay 1 0.2 % 
n.a. 14 3.2 % 
TOTAL 437 100 % 
Table A.1.: Complete list of countries of participating organizations
A. Appendix VIII 
A.2. Complete Questionnaire 
A.2.1. English Version 
General Information 
What are the main fields of activity of your organization? [multiple answers possible] 
• Programming and Software Development 
• IT Services and Consultancy 
• Computer Facilities Management 
• Other, please specify [text box] 
What is your role in your organization? 
• Chief Executive Officer 
• Chief Information Officer 
• Chief Financial Officer 
• IT Manager, ICT Manager, or related 
• Enterprise Architect, IT Architect, or related 
• other, please specify [text box] 
Where is your organization located (if your organization has subsidies in different countries, please refer to 
your headquarter)? 
• Germany 
• USA 
• other, please specify [text box] 
In which regions are your customers located? [multiple answers possible] 
• regional 
• national 
• Europe 
• North America 
• Latin America / Caribbean 
• Asia / Pacific 
• Africa 
• no answer 
What is the approximate number of employees in your organization? 
• less than 10 
• 10 to 49 
• 50 to 249 
• 250 to 500 
• more than 500 
• no answer
A. Appendix IX 
Values and Principles – Organization 
Please state to what extend the following statements reflect the values and principles in your organization. 
[Scale: completely–mainly–partly–little–not at all] 
Our organization values a culture that. . . 
. . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 
. . . considers team work as integral part. 
. . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. 
. . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. 
. . . considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. 
Our organization prefers. . . 
. . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or “fire-fighting”. 
. . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple 
structures. 
. . . face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. 
. . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. 
. . . market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 
Conditions – Organization 
Please state to what extend the following conditions and circumstances are implemented in your organiza-tion. 
[Scale: completely–mainly–partly–little–not at all] 
Our organization has. . . 
. . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. 
. . . an intensive employee training program. 
. . . employees that have a good understanding of how their own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. 
. . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 
. . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . 
. . . make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. 
. . . provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. 
. . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. 
. . . enable decentralization in decision making. 
. . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. 
. . . are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. 
. . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. 
Capabilities – Employees and Managers 
Please state how many of your employees and managers share the following capabilities. [Scale: all–many– 
some–few–none]
A. Appendix X 
Our managers. . . 
. . . maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. 
. . . understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. 
. . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. 
. . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. 
. . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, ser-vices, 
and/or processes. 
. . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities 
and minimize threats. 
. . . manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. 
Our employees. . . 
. . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or 
working methods. 
. . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. 
. . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. 
. . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. 
. . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. 
. . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. 
. . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to 
others. 
. . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. 
. . . can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the 
newly arising challenges. 
. . . are self-motivated. 
. . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. 
Activities – Employees 
Please specify how often your employees carry out the following activities. [Scale: always–often–some-times– 
seldom–never] 
Our employees. . . 
. . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. 
. . . organize themselves in their teams. 
. . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in their team, then tune and adjust their 
behavior accordingly. 
. . . work in small teams in their projects. 
. . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 
. . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments.
A. Appendix XI 
Activities – Organization in general 
Please specify how often your organization carries out the following activities. [Scale: always–often– 
sometimes–seldom–never] 
Regarding our employees, we. . . 
. . . manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. 
. . . trust them to get their job done. 
. . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their contribution to the overall organiza-tion. 
. . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. 
. . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. 
. . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s long-term future development. 
In our organization, we. . . 
. . . scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. 
. . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. 
. . . change authorities when tasks change. 
. . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or departments for strategic decision 
making. 
. . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service 
development. 
. . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. 
. . . inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. 
. . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business 
value. 
. . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 
. . . monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. 
. . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 
. . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. 
. . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. 
. . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. 
Other 
Does your organization share additional activities, capabilities, values, etc. that make you more agile than 
others? If so, you may specify them here, if you wish. [Text Field] 
A.2.2. German Version 
Allgemeine Informationen 
Was sind die Hauptt¨atigkeitsbereiche Ihres Unternehmens? [Mehrfachantworten m¨oglich]
A. Appendix XII 
• Programmierung und Softwareentwicklung 
• IT-Dienstleistungen und Beratung 
• DV-Anlagenwartung und -betrieb 
• andere: [Textfeld] 
Was ist Ihre Rolle im Unternehmen? 
• Gesch¨aftsf¨uhrer (CEO) 
• IT-Vorstand (CIO) 
• Finanzvorstand (CFO) 
• IT Manager, IKT Manager oder vergleichbar 
• Unternehmensarchitekt, IT Architekt oder vergleichbar 
• andere: [Textfeld] 
Wo ist der Sitz Ihres Unternehmens (sollten Sie Niederlassungen in mehreren L¨andern haben, beziehen Sie 
sich bitte auf den Hauptsitz)? 
• Deutschland 
• USA 
• anderes: [Textfeld] 
In welcher Region befinden sich Ihre Kunden? [Mehrfachantworten m¨oglich] 
• regional 
• national 
• Europa 
• Nordamerika 
• Lateinamerika / Karibik 
• Asien / Pazifik 
• Afrika 
• keine Antwort 
Wie groß ist die ungef¨ahre Anzahl von Mitarbeitern in Ihrem Unternehmen? 
• weniger als 10 
• 10 bis 49 
• 50 bis 249 
• 250 bis 500 
• mehr als 500 
• keine Antwort 
Werte und Prinzipien – Unternehmen 
Bitte geben Sie an, in welchem Ausmaß die folgenden Aussagen die Werte und Prinzipien Ihres Unterneh-mens 
widerspiegeln. [Skala: v¨ollig–¨uberwiegend–teilweise–wenig–gar nicht] 
Unser Unternehmen sch¨atzt eine Unternehmenskultur, welche. . . 
. . . Ver¨anderungen f¨ur Wettbewerbsvorteilen nutzbar macht. 
. . . Teamarbeit als zentralen Bestandteil betrachtet.
A. Appendix XIII 
. . . die Entscheidungen und Vorschl¨age von Mitarbeitern akzeptiert und unterst¨utzt. 
. . . Experimentieren erlaubt und die Nutzung innovativer Ideen f¨ordert. 
. . . Ver¨anderungen von Kundenanforderungen als Chancen betrachtet. 
Unser Unternehmen bevorzugt. . . 
. . . proaktive und kontinuierliche Verbesserung anstatt Krisenmanagement und “Brandbek¨ampfung”. 
. . . die Eliminierung von Barrieren zwischen Individuen und/oder Abteilungen, z. B. durch flache Hierar-chien 
oder einfache Strukturen. 
. . . Kommunikation von Angesicht zu Angesicht zur Informationsweitergabe innerhalb des Unternehmens. 
. . . Einfachheit, d. h. den Verzicht auf Merkmale bei Produkten und/oder Dienstleistungen, welche die 
Kundenanforderungen ¨ubersteigen. 
. . . ein sich ¨anderndes Marktumfeld (z.B. Wettbewerber, Pr¨aferenzen) zur Generierung neuer Chancen. 
Bedingungen – Unternehmen 
Bitte geben Sie an, in welchem Ausmaß die folgenden Gegebenheiten in Ihrem Unternehmen ausgepr¨agt 
sind. [Skala: v¨ollig–¨uberwiegend–teilweise–wenig–gar nicht] 
Unser Unternehmen hat. . . 
. . . effektive Kommunikationsprozesse, sowohl “top-down” als auch “bottom-up”. 
. . . ein gut ausgepr¨agtes Weiterbildungsprogramm f¨ur Mitarbeiter. 
. . . Mitarbeiter, welche verstehen, wie ihre eigene Arbeit mit den Aktivit¨aten des Unternehmens zusam-menh 
¨angt. 
. . . eine Strategie, welche klar und leicht verst¨andlich ¨uber alle Hierarchieebenen kommuniziert wird. 
. . . eine strategische Vision, die Spielraum f¨ur Markt¨anderungen von Anfang an ber¨ucksichtigt. 
Unser Unternehmen besitzt Informationssysteme und Technologien, welche. . . 
. . . unternehmensbezogene Informationen allen Mitarbeitern leicht zug¨anglich machen. 
. . . Informationen zur Verf¨ugung stellen, welche unseren Mitarbeitern helfen, schnell auf Ver¨anderungen 
zu reagieren. 
. . . entsprechend unseren Bed¨urfnissen ausgestaltet sind und uns erlauben wettbewerbs- und ¨uberlebensf¨a-hig 
zu bleiben. 
. . . die Dezentralisierung von Entscheidungen erm¨oglichen. 
. . . ¨uber verschiedene Abteilungen und/oder Bereiche des Unternehmens hinweg integriert sind. 
. . . ¨uber verschiedene Abteilungen und/oder Bereiche des Unternehmens hinweg standardisiert oder ver-gleichbar 
sind. 
. . . uns die vollst¨andige Einbindung von Kunden und Partnern in unsere Prozesse erm¨oglichen. 
F¨ahigkeiten – Mitarbeiter und Manager 
Bitte geben Sie an, wie groß der Anteil Ihrer Mitarbeiter und Manager mit den folgenden F¨ahigkeiten ist. 
[Skala: alle–viele–einige–wenige–keine] 
Unsere Manager. . . 
. . . pflegen einen informellen F¨uhrungsstil, welcher auf Mentoring und Vorbildfunktion beruht.
A. Appendix XIV 
. . . verstehen den Wert von Investitionen in IT aus einer gesamtunternehmerischen Sicht. 
. . . haben das Wissen und die F¨ahigkeiten, um Ver¨anderungen zu steuern. 
. . . sind in der Lage, ¨Anderungen in Produkten und / oder Dienstleistungen schnell zu implementieren. 
. . . erkennen zuk¨unftige Wettbewerbsvorteile, die sich aus innovativen Produkten, Dienstleistungen und / 
oder Prozessen ergeben k¨onnen. 
. . . k¨onnen ihre Ressourcen (Materialien, Finanzen, Mitarbeiter, . . . ) flexibel verteilen, um aufkommende 
Chancen zu nutzen und Risiken zu minimieren. 
. . . koordinieren die Verteilung von Informationen,Wissen und Kenntnissen unter denMitarbeitern zweck-m 
¨aßig. 
Unsere Mitarbeiter. . . 
. . . sind in der Lage, mit einem Sinn f¨ur die kontinuierliche Verbesserung unserer Produkte, Dienstleistun-gen, 
Prozesse und/oder Arbeitsmethoden zu agieren. 
. . . sind in der Lage, die besten Chancen wahrzunehmen, zu identifizieren oder vorherzusehen, welche sich 
in unserem Umfeld ergeben. 
. . . sind in der Lage, die von Kunden geforderte Qualit¨at von Produkten und / oder Dienstleistungen zu 
erf¨ullen. 
. . . besitzen ein breites Spektrum an F¨ahigkeiten und k¨onnen f¨ur andere Aufgaben eingesetzt werden, falls 
n¨otig. 
. . . kommunizieren mit anderen vertrauensvoll, wohlwollend und wertsch¨atzend. 
. . . sind bereit zu Lernen und ihr Wissen stets abzurufen, anzuwenden und weiterzuentwickeln. 
. . . sind bereit von Kollegen zu lernen und ihr Wissen an andere weiterzugeben. 
. . . erwerben und entwickeln technologische F¨ahigkeiten und Kenntnisse zielgerichtet. 
. . . sind in der Lage, sich in verschiedenen Teamumgebungen neu zu organisieren, um ver¨anderten Anfor-derungen 
und neuen Herausforderungen zu begegnen. 
. . . sind intrinsisch motiviert. 
. . . ¨ubernehmen Verantwortung und denken unternehmerisch. 
Aktivit ¨aten – Mitarbeiter 
Bitte geben Sie an, wie oft die folgenden Aktivit¨aten von Ihren Mitarbeitern ausgef¨uhrt werden. [Skala: 
immer–oft–gelegentlich–selten–nie] 
Unsere Mitarbeiter. . . 
. . . arbeiten eng mit anderen Teams, Abteilungen und/oder Bereichen zusammen. 
. . . organisieren sich in ihren Teams selbst¨andig. 
. . . reflektieren in regelm¨aßigen Abst¨anden, wie ihr Team effektiver werden kann und passen ihr Verhalten 
entsprechend an. 
. . . arbeiten in kleinen Teams in ihren Projekten. 
. . . bilden Teams, welche geografisch eng beisammen liegen. 
. . . rotieren zwischen verschiedenen Aufgaben, T¨atigkeiten, Positionen oder Abteilungen.
A. Appendix XV 
Aktivit ¨aten – Unternehmen allgemein 
Bitte geben Sie an, wie oft die folgenden Aktivit¨aten in Ihrem Unternehmen ausgef¨uhrt werden. [Skala: 
immer–oft–gelegentlich–selten–nie] 
Mit Blick auf unsere Mitarbeiter. . . 
. . . steuern wir Vorschl¨age, neue Ideen und L¨osungen aus allen Ebenen bis zur Umsetzung konsequent. 
. . . vertrauen wir ihnen bei der Erledigung ihrer Arbeit. 
. . . bieten wir Anreize, welche sich nicht nur an der individuellen, sondern auch an der Teamleistung und 
dem Beitrag f¨ur das Gesamtunternehmen orientieren. 
. . . bieten wir Anreize, welche Mitarbeiter ermutigen, ihre F¨ahigkeiten und Kenntnisse auszubauen. 
. . . ermutigen wir auch die unteren Hierarchieebenen, Entscheidungen selbst zu treffen und Verantwortung 
zu ¨ubernehmen. 
. . . bilden wir Mitarbeiter mit einer langfristigen Perspektive f¨ur die Entwicklung des Unternehmens wei-ter. 
In unserem Unternehmen. . . 
. . . beobachten wir unsere Umgebung systematisch, um Ver¨anderungen zu prognostizieren. 
. . . reagieren wir auf bevorstehende Ver¨anderungen, indem wir umgehend unsere Strategie anpassen. 
. . . reagieren wir auf bevorstehende Ver¨anderungen, indem wir umgehend unsere Prozesse anpassen. 
. . . f¨allen wir wichtige Entscheidungen schnell, um Ver¨anderungen imMarkt und/oder von Kundenbed¨urf-nissen 
zu begegnen. 
. . . passen wir Weisungsbefugnisse an, sobald sich Aufgaben ¨andern. 
. . . arbeiten wir eng und intensiv ¨uber verschiedene Bereiche und/oder Abteilungen zusammen, um strate-gische 
Entscheidungen zu treffen. 
. . . unterst¨utzen wir die fr¨uhzeitige Einbindung verschiedener Bereiche und/oder Abteilungen in die Ent-wicklung 
neuer Produkte und/oder Dienstleistungen. 
. . . gestalten wir unsere Prozesse zeitgleich mit Entwicklung neuer Produkte und/oder Dienstleistungen. 
. . . informieren wir uns systematisch ¨uber IT-Innovationen. 
. . . investieren wir strategisch in angemessene Technologien und haben eine klare Vision, wie unsere IT 
einen Wert schafft. 
. . . fokussieren wir uns auf unsere Kernkompetenzen und delegieren andere Aufgaben an Partner und Sub-unternehmer. 
. . . ¨uberpr¨ufen wir die Leistung unserer Partner und Subunternehmer sorgf¨altig. 
. . . w¨ahlen wir unsere Partner und Subunternehmer vorrangig nach Qualit¨atskriterien aus (statt einer reinen 
Kostenbetrachtung). 
. . . richten wir alle Aktivit¨aten konsequent an Kundenanforderungen und -bed¨urfnissen aus. 
. . . unterst¨utzen wir die Sammlung und interne Verbreitung von Informationen ¨uber Kundenbed¨urfnisse. 
. . . arbeiten wir eng mit unseren Kunden zusammen und ermutigen sie zu schnellen R¨uckkopplungen. 
Weiteres 
Sind in Ihrem Unternehmen weitere T¨atigkeiten, F¨ahigkeiten, Werte, etc. vorhanden, welche Sie agiler ma-chen 
als andere? Wenn ja, dann k¨onnen Sie hier weitere Angaben machen, sofern Sie w¨unschen. [Textfeld]
A. Appendix XVI 
A.3. Item Sources and Related Literature 
Table A.2 shows all items of the questionnaire again and gives the literature sources from which they are 
taken. The reader may refer to these source to learn more about the concepts behind this items. Further-more, 
the corresponding concept of agility according Wendler (2013) is listed for every item used in the 
questionnaire (please see section 1.1 for more information). 
Item Agility Concept Related Sources 
Values & Principles – Our organization values a culture that. . . 
. . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. Change (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
. . . considers team work as integral part. Org. Culture (V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) 
. . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. Org. Culture (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. Org. Learning (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011; 
V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) 
. . . considers changing customer-related requirements as 
opportunities. 
Customer (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011; Misra et 
al., 2009) 
Values & Principles – Our organization prefers. . . 
. . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis 
or “fire-fighting”. 
Org. Abilities (Power et al., 2001) 
. . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or 
departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
Org. Culture (Power et al., 2001) 
. . . face-to-face communication for conveying information within our 
organization. 
Org. Culture (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features that go 
beyond the customer requirements. 
Product (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to 
generate new opportunities. 
Market (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011) 
Conditions & IT/IS – Our organization has. . . 
. . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. Processes (Power et al., 2001) 
. . . an intensive employee training program. Org. Learning (Hoyt et al., 2007) 
. . . employees that have a good understanding of how their own job 
relates to the firm’s overall activity. 
Workforce/Team (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011; Hoyt et 
al., 2007) 
. . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in 
terms easily understood by all. 
Strategy (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
. . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from 
the very start. 
Strategy (Zelbst et al., 2011) 
Conditions & IT/IS – Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . 
. . .make organizational information easily accessible to all 
employees. 
Org. Learning (Kassim & Zain, 2004; 
V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) 
. . . provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to 
changes. 
Technology/IS (Kassim & Zain, 2004; Zelbst et 
al., 2011) 
. . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the 
marketplace. 
Technology/IS (Power et al., 2001) 
. . . enable decentralization in decision making. Technology/IS (Kassim & Zain, 2004) 
. . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. Integration (Vazquez-´Bustelo et al., 2007) 
. . . are standardized or comparable amongst different departments 
Technology/IS (Sarker & Sarker, 2009) 
and/or business units. 
. . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our 
processes. 
Technology/IS (Kassim & Zain, 2004; 
V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) 
Capabilities – Our managers. . . 
continued on next page . . .
A. Appendix XVII 
Item Agility Concept Related Sources 
. . .maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching 
and inspiring people. 
Org. Culture (Zhang & Sharifi, 2007) 
. . . understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide 
perspective. 
Technology/IS (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011) 
. . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. Change (Zelbst et al., 2011) 
. . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. Product (Hoyt et al., 2007; Sharifi et al., 
2001) 
. . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result 
from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. 
Innovation (Zhang & Sharifi, 2007) 
. . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, 
human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. 
Org. Abilities (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
. . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge 
among employees appropriately. 
Integration (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
Capabilities – Our employees. . . 
. . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our 
products, services, processes, and/or working methods. 
Change (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
. . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities 
which come up in our environment. 
Workforce/Team (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
. . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality 
demanded by our customers. 
Quality (Zelbst et al., 2011) 
. . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when 
needed. 
Workforce/Team (Hoyt et al., 2007; Kassim & Zain, 
2004) 
. . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. Cooperation (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and 
Org. Learning (Misra et al., 2009; 
update knowledge. 
V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) 
. . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one 
another and to pass their knowledge to others. 
Org. Learning (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities 
purposeful. 
Org. Abilities (Sharifi et al., 2001) 
. . . can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to 
meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. 
Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . . are self-motivated. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) 
Activities – Our employees. . . 
. . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or 
Cooperation (Misra et al., 2009) 
business units. 
. . . organize themselves in their teams. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in 
Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) 
their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. 
. . .work in small teams in their projects. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . . form teams that are geographically closely located. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments. Workforce/Team (Vazquez-´Bustelo et al., 2007) 
Activities – Regarding our employees, we. . . 
. . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels 
Innovation (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
consequently. 
. . . trust them to get their job done. Org. Culture (Misra et al., 2009) 
. . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their 
contribution to the overall organization. 
Org. Culture (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
. . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills 
and training. 
Org. Learning (Hoyt et al., 2007) 
continued on next page . . .
A. Appendix XVIII 
Item Agility Concept Related Sources 
. . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and 
take responsibility. 
Org. Culture (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011; Kassim 
& Zain, 2004) 
. . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s long-term 
future development. 
Org. Learning (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
Activities – In our organization, we. . . 
. . . scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate 
change. 
Change (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our 
business strategy. 
Change (Sherehiy et al., 2007) 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our 
processes. 
Processes (Zelbst et al., 2011) 
. . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market-and/ 
or customer-related changes. 
Market (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011) 
. . . change authorities when tasks change. Org. Culture (Sherehiy et al., 2007) 
. . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions 
and/or departments for strategic decision making. 
Cooperation (V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) 
. . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or 
functions in new product and/or service development. 
Processes (V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) 
. . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of new 
products and/or services. 
Processes (V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) 
. . . inform ourselves systematically about information technology 
innovations. 
Technology/IS (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011) 
. . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear 
vision how IT contributes to business value. 
Technology/IS (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011; Sharifi 
et al., 2001) 
. . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our 
partners and subcontractors. 
Cooperation (Agarwal et al., 2007) 
. . .monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very 
closely. 
Cooperation (Hoyt et al., 2007) 
. . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather 
than pure cost-based decisions). 
Cooperation Experts (Pretest) 
. . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. Customer (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) 
. . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information 
on customers needs. 
Org. Learning (V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) 
. . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our 
customers. 
Customer (Misra et al., 2009) 
Table A.2.: Item sources and related agility concepts
A. Appendix XIX 
A.4. Additional Graphics and Statistics 
A.4.1. Details by Role 
This section gives a number of comprehensive tables and figures for every item differentiated by the role of 
the participants. They serve as additional information for chapter 3. 
CEO CIO/ IT/ITC Ent./IT Other total 
CTO Manager Architect average 
Our organization values a culture that. . . 
. . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 1.8 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.0 2.0 
. . . considers team work as integral part. 1.5 1.8 1.6 1.8 1.8 1.7 
. . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of 
1.6 2.1 2.0 2.3 2.1 2.0 
employees. 
. . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative 
ideas. 
1.7 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.1 
. . . considers changing customer-related requirements as 
opportunities. 
1.7 2.2 2.0 2.3 2.1 2.0 
Our organization prefers. . . 
. . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to 
crisis or “fire-fighting”. 
1.8 2.1 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.2 
. . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or 
departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
1.4 2.1 2.1 2.6 2.0 2.1 
. . . face-to-face communication for conveying information 
within our organization. 
1.8 2.1 2.2 2.5 2.1 2.2 
. . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features 
that go beyond the customer requirements. 
2.0 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.3 
. . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, 
preferences) to generate new opportunities. 
2.0 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.3 
Table A.3.: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by role
A. Appendix XX 
CEO CIO/ IT/ITC Ent./IT Other total 
CTO Manager Architect average 
Our organization has. . . 
. . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication 
processes. 
1.8 2.3 2.5 2.7 2.5 2.3 
. . . an intensive employee training program. 2.7 3.3 2.6 2.9 2.8 2.8 
. . . employees that have a good understanding of how their 
1.7 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.2 
own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. 
. . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical 
levels in terms easily understood by all. 
1.8 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.3 
. . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes 
from the very start. 
1.9 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . 
. . .make organizational information easily accessible to all 
employees. 
1.8 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.1 
. . . provide information helping our employees to quickly 
respond to changes. 
1.9 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.3 
. . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive 
in the marketplace. 
1.8 2.2 2.3 2.5 2,1 2.2 
. . . enable decentralization in decision making. 2.1 2.7 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.6 
. . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or 
1.9 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.1 2.2 
business units. 
. . . are standardized or comparable amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
2.1 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.3 
. . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into 
our processes. 
2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.7 
Table A.4.: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by role
A. Appendix XXI 
CEO CIO/ IT/ITC Ent./IT Other total 
CTO Manager Architect average 
Our managers. . . 
. . .maintain an informal management style with focus on 
coaching and inspiring people. 
1.6 2.2 2.3 2.7 2.2 2.2 
. . . understand the value of IT investments from a 
company-wide perspective. 
1.6 2.1 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.1 
. . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage 
change. 
1.7 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.3 
. . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or 
services. 
1.8 2.4 2.5 2.8 2.3 2.4 
. . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that 
may result from innovations in products, services, and/or 
processes. 
1.9 2.3 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.4 
. . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, 
financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and 
minimize threats. 
1.9 2.4 2.5 2.8 2.5 2.4 
. . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and 
knowledge among employees appropriately. 
1.8 2.3 2.6 2.7 2.4 2.4 
Our employees. . . 
. . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of 
our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. 
1.9 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.3 
. . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best 
opportunities which come up in our environment. 
2.3 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.6 
. . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality 
demanded by our customers. 
1.7 2.1 2.0 2.4 2.1 2.1 
. . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other 
tasks when needed. 
1.9 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.4 2.3 
. . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and 
esteem. 
1.6 2.0 2.0 2.3 2.1 2.0 
. . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, 
apply and update knowledge. 
1.6 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.0 
. . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from 
one another and to pass their knowledge to others. 
1.6 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.1 2.1 
. . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities 
purposeful. 
1.9 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.2 
. . . can re-organize continuously in different team 
configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly 
arising challenges. 
2.0 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.3 
. . . are self-motivated. 2.0 2.5 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.3 
. . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.6 
Table A.5.: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by role
A. Appendix XXII 
CEO CIO/ IT/ITC Ent./IT Other total 
CTO Manager Architect average 
Our employees. . . 
. . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, 
and/or business units. 
1.8 2.0 2.1 2.3 2.3 2.1 
. . . organize themselves in their teams. 1.9 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.1 
. . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective 
2.3 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.4 2.5 
in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. 
. . .work in small teams in their projects. 1.6 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.4 1.9 
. . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 2.2 2.4 2.0 2.4 2.5 2.3 
. . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or 
2.6 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.6 2.8 
departments. 
Regarding our employees, we. . . 
. . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels 
consequently. 
1.9 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.5 2.3 
. . . trust them to get their job done. 1.5 1.9 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.8 
. . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team 
2.2 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.6 2.6 
and their contribution to the overall organization. 
. . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade 
their skills and training. 
2.0 2.5 2.7 2.8 2.6 2.5 
. . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make 
decisions and take responsibility. 
1.7 2.5 2.5 2.7 2.3 2.3 
. . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s 
long-term future development. 
1.9 2.4 2.4 2.7 2.3 2.3 
In our organization, we. . . 
. . . scan and examine our environment systematically to 
anticipate change. 
2.1 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.3 2.4 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our 
business strategy. 
2.2 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.5 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our 
processes. 
2.3 2.6 2.7 2.9 2.7 2.6 
. . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of 
market- and/or customer-related changes. 
1.7 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.3 
. . . change authorities when tasks change. 2.2 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.6 
. . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different 
1.7 2.4 2.2 2.7 2.3 2.3 
functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. 
. . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or 
functions in new product and/or service development. 
1.8 2.3 2.3 2.7 2.3 2.3 
. . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of 
new products and/or services. 
2.1 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.6 2.5 
. . . inform ourselves systematically about information 
technology innovations. 
1.8 2.2 2.2 2.5 2.0 2.1 
. . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a 
clear vision how IT contributes to business value. 
1.8 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.1 2.2 
. . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks 
to our partners and subcontractors. 
2.0 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.4 
. . .monitor the performance of our partners and 
subcontractors very closely. 
2.0 2.5 2.2 2.6 2.4 2.3 
. . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria 
(rather than pure cost-based decisions). 
1.8 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.1 2.2 
. . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. 1.6 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.1 2.0 
. . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of 
1.8 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.3 
information on customers needs. 
. . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from 
our customers. 
1.5 2.0 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.0 
Table A.6.: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by role
A. Appendix XXIII 
Our organization values a culture that... 
...harnesses change for competitive 
…considers team work as integral part. 
…accepts and supports decisions and 
proposals of employees. 
...is supportive of experimentation 
and the use of innovative ideas. 
…considers changing customer-related 
requirements as opportunities. 
Our organization prefers... 
advantages. 
…a proactive continuous improvement rather 
than reacting to crisis or "fire-fighting". 
…the elimination of barriers between 
individuals and/or departments, e.g. 
by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
...face-to-face communication for conveying 
information within our organization. 
...simplicity, i.e. skipping product and/or 
service features that go beyond 
the customer requirements. 
…market-related changes (e.g. new competitors, 
preferences) to generate new opportunities. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 
total average 
Chief Executive Officer 
Chief Information/Technology Officer 
IT/ITC Manager 
Enterprise/IT Architect 
Other 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Figure A.1.: Averages regarding agile values and principles by role
A. Appendix XXIV 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Our organization has... 
...effective "top-down" and "bottom-up" 
communication processes. 
...an intensive employee training program. 
...employees that have a good understanding of how 
their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. 
…a strategy that is clearly communicated to all 
hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 
...a strategic vision that allows flexibility for 
market changes from the very start. 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... 
…make organizational information easily 
accessible to all employees. 
...provide information helping our employees 
to quickly respond to changes. 
…are appropriate to our needs and allow us 
to be competitive in the marketplace. 
...enable decentralization in decision making. 
...are integrated amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
…are standardized or comparable amongst 
different departments and/or business units. 
...enable us to fully integrate our customers 
and partners into our processes. 
total average 
Chief Executive Officer 
Chief Information/ 
Technology Officer 
IT/ITC Manager 
Enterprise/IT Architect 
Other 
Figure A.2.: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by role
A. Appendix XXV 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Our managers... 
...maintain an informal management style with 
focus on coaching and inspiring people. 
...understand the value of IT investments 
from a company-wide perspective. 
...have the knowledge and skills 
necessary to manage change. 
...are able to quickly implement changes 
in products and/or services. 
...are able to recognize future competitive 
advantages that may result from innovations 
in products, services, and/or processes. 
...are able to flexibly deploy their resources 
(material, financial, human, ...) to make use 
of opportunities and minimize threats. 
...manage the sharing of information, know-how, 
and knowledge among employees appropriately. 
Our employees... 
...are able to act with a view to continuous 
improvement of our products, services, 
processes, and/or working methods. 
...are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best 
opportunities which come up in our environment. 
...are able to meet the levels of product and/or 
service quality demanded by our customers. 
...use a broad range of skills and can be 
applied to other tasks when needed. 
...communicate with each other with 
trust, goodwill, and esteem. 
...are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly 
access, apply and update knowledge. 
...are in general always willing to continuously 
learn from one another and to pass their 
knowledge to others. 
...obtain and develop appropriate technological 
capabilities purposeful. 
...can re-organize continuously in different team 
configurations to meet changing requirements 
and the newly arising challenges. 
...are self-motivated. 
...take responsibility and think in 
a business-like manner. 
total average 
Chief Executive Officer 
Chief Information/ 
Technology Officer 
IT/ITC Manager 
Enterprise/IT Architect 
Other 
Figure A.3.: Averages regarding agile capabilities by role
A. Appendix XXVI 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Our employees... 
...collaborate closely with different teams, 
departments, and/or business units. 
...organize themselves in their teams. 
...reflect at regular intervals on how to become 
more effective in their team, then tune 
and adjust their behavior accordingly. 
...work in small teams in their projects. 
...form teams that are geographically 
closely located. 
...rotate amongst different activities, 
tasks, positions or departments. 
Regarding our employees, we... 
...manage proposals, new ideas, and 
solutions from all levels consequently. 
...trust them to get their job done. 
...offer incentives not only for individuals, 
but for the team and their contribution 
to the overall organization. 
...offer incentives to encourage our employees 
to upgrade their skills and training. 
...encourage also employees at lower levels 
to make decisions and take responsibility. 
...develop employees skills with a view to the 
firm's long-term future development. 
total average 
Chief Executive Officer 
Chief Information/ 
Technology Officer 
IT/ITC Manager 
Enterprise/IT Architect 
Other 
Figure A.4.: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by role
A. Appendix XXVII 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
In our organization, we... 
...scan and examine our environment 
systematically to anticipate change. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our business strategy. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our processes. 
...are quick to make appropriate decisions in the 
face of market- and/or customer-related changes. 
...change authorities when tasks change. 
...jointly and intensively operate throughout 
different functions and/or departments 
for strategic decision making. 
...encourage early involvement of several 
departments and/or functions in new 
product and/or service development. 
...design our processes simultaneously to the 
development of new products and/or services. 
...inform ourselves systematically about 
information technology innovations. 
...strategically invest in appropriate technologies 
and have a clear vision how IT contributes 
to business value. 
...focus on our core competencies and delegate 
further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 
...monitor the performance of our partners 
and subcontractors very closely. 
...select our partners and subcontractors by quality 
criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 
...align all our activities to customer 
requirements and needs. 
...encourage compilation and internal dissemination 
of information on customers needs. 
...closely collaborate with and encourage 
fast feedback from our customers. 
Figure A.5.: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by role
A. Appendix XXVIII 
A.4.2. Details by Size 
This section gives a number of comprehensive tables and figures for every item differentiated by the size 
(i. e. number of employees) of the participating organizations. They serve as additional information for 
chapter 3. 
less 10 50 more total 
than 10 to 49 to 249 than 250 average 
Our organization values a culture that. . . 
. . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.0 
. . . considers team work as integral part. 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.8 1.7 
. . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. 1.7 2.0 2.0 2,3 2.0 
. . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. 1.7 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.1 
. . . considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. 1.8 1.9 2.1 2.2 2.0 
Our organization prefers. . . 
. . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or 
1.8 2.1 2.3 2.4 2.2 
“fire-fighting”. 
. . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, 
e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
1.6 1.6 1.9 2.6 2.1 
. . . face-to-face communication for conveying information within our 
organization. 
1.8 1.8 2.2 2.5 2.2 
. . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond 
the customer requirements. 
2.0 2.1 2.4 2.6 2.3 
. . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to 
generate new opportunities. 
2.2 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.3 
Table A.7.: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by size
A. Appendix XXIX 
less 10 50 more total 
than 10 to 49 to 249 than 250 average 
Our organization has. . . 
. . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. 1.9 2.1 2.5 2.6 2.3 
. . . an intensive employee training program. 3.0 3.0 2.8 2.7 2.8 
. . . employees that have a good understanding of how their own job 
1.7 2.0 2.4 2.5 2.2 
relates to the firm’s overall activity. 
. . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in 
terms easily understood by all. 
1.8 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.3 
. . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the 
very start. 
1.9 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.3 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . 
. . .make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. 1.8 2.0 2.3 2.3 2.1 
. . . provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to 
2.0 2.1 2.4 2.5 2.3 
changes. 
. . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the 
marketplace. 
1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.2 
. . . enable decentralization in decision making. 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.6 
. . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. 1.9 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.2 
. . . are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or 
2.3 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.3 
business units. 
. . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our 
processes. 
2.6 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.7 
Table A.8.: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by size
A. Appendix XXX 
less 10 50 more total 
than 10 to 49 to 249 than 250 average 
Our managers. . . 
. . .maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and 
inspiring people. 
1.6 1.9 2.3 2.7 2.2 
. . . understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide 
perspective. 
1.6 1.8 2.2 2.5 2.1 
. . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. 1.7 2.0 2.4 2.7 2.3 
. . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. 1.8 2.0 2.5 2.8 2.4 
. . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result 
1.9 2.1 2.4 2.8 2.4 
from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. 
. . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, 
. . . ) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. 
2.0 2.1 2.4 2.8 2.4 
. . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among 
employees appropriately. 
1.8 2.2 2.4 2.8 2.4 
Our employees. . . 
. . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, 
services, processes, and/or working methods. 
1.9 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.3 
. . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which 
come up in our environment. 
2.3 2.6 2.5 2.7 2.6 
. . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded 
by our customers. 
1.7 2.0 2.0 2.3 2.1 
. . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when 
needed. 
2.0 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.3 
. . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. 1.7 1.8 2.0 2.4 2.0 
. . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and 
1.6 1.9 2.0 2.5 2.0 
update knowledge. 
. . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another 
and to pass their knowledge to others. 
1.6 1.9 2.0 2.6 2.1 
. . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. 1.9 2.1 2.2 2.5 2.2 
. . . can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet 
2.1 2.0 2.2 2.9 2.3 
changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. 
. . . are self-motivated. 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.3 
. . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. 2.0 2.5 2.6 2.4 2.6 
Table A.9.: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by size
A. Appendix XXXI 
less 10 50 more total 
than 10 to 49 to 249 than 250 average 
Our employees. . . 
. . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business 
units. 
1.8 1.9 1.9 2.3 2.1 
. . . organize themselves in their teams. 1.9 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.1 
. . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in their 
2.4 2.4 2.5 2.7 2.5 
team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. 
. . .work in small teams in their projects. 1.7 1.7 1.9 2.1 1.9 
. . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 2.3 2.0 2.1 2.4 2.3 
. . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments. 2.5 2.7 2.8 3.0 2.8 
Regarding our employees, we. . . 
. . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels 
1.9 2.1 2.5 2.6 2.3 
consequently. 
. . . trust them to get their job done. 1.6 1.6 1.8 2.0 1.8 
. . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their 
2.3 2.6 2.5 2.8 2.6 
contribution to the overall organization. 
. . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and 
training. 
2.1 2.3 2.5 2.8 2.5 
. . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take 
responsibility. 
1.8 2.1 2.3 2.7 2.3 
. . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s long-term future 
development. 
2.0 2.1 2.4 2.6 2.3 
In our organization, we. . . 
. . . scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.4 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business 
2.3 2.4 2.5 2.7 2.5 
strategy. 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. 2.4 2.4 2.7 2.8 2.6 
. . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or 
1.9 2.0 2.2 2.6 2.3 
customer-related changes. 
. . . change authorities when tasks change. 2.4 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.6 
. . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or 
1.9 2.0 2.3 2.6 2.3 
departments for strategic decision making. 
. . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions 
in new product and/or service development. 
2.0 2.0 2.4 2.6 2.3 
. . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of new 
products and/or services. 
2.2 2.3 2.6 2.8 2.5 
. . . inform ourselves systematically about information technology 
innovations. 
1.9 1.9 2.0 2.4 2.1 
. . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision 
how IT contributes to business value. 
1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.2 
. . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our 
partners and subcontractors. 
2.2 2.1 2.6 2.5 2.4 
. . .monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very 
closely. 
2.1 2.2 2.5 2.4 2.3 
. . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than 
pure cost-based decisions). 
2.0 2.0 2.3 2.4 2.2 
. . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. 1.8 1.7 2.1 2.3 2.0 
. . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on 
2.0 2.1 2.5 2.5 2.3 
customers needs. 
. . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our 
customers. 
1.7 1.6 2.1 2.3 2.0 
Table A.10.: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by size
A. Appendix XXXII 
total average 
less than 10 
10 to 49 
50 to 249 
more than 250 
Our organization values a culture that... 
...harnesses change for competitive 
…considers team work as integral part. 
…accepts and supports decisions and 
proposals of employees. 
...is supportive of experimentation 
and the use of innovative ideas. 
Our organization prefers... 
advantages. 
…a proactive continuous improvement rather 
than reacting to crisis or "fire-fighting". 
…the elimination of barriers between 
individuals and/or departments, e.g. 
by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
...face-to-face communication for conveying 
information within our organization. 
...simplicity, i.e. skipping product and/or 
service features that go beyond 
the customer requirements. 
…market-related changes (e.g. new competitors, 
preferences) to generate new opportunities. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
…considers changing customer-related 
requirements as opportunities. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 
Figure A.6.: Averages regarding agile values and principles by size
A. Appendix XXXIII 
Our organization has... 
...effective "top-down" and "bottom-up" 
communication processes. 
...an intensive employee training program. 
...employees that have a good understanding of how 
their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. 
…a strategy that is clearly communicated to all 
hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 
...a strategic vision that allows flexibility for 
market changes from the very start. 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... 
…make organizational information easily 
accessible to all employees. 
...provide information helping our employees 
to quickly respond to changes. 
…are appropriate to our needs and allow us 
to be competitive in the marketplace. 
...enable decentralization in decision making. 
...are integrated amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
…are standardized or comparable amongst 
different departments and/or business units. 
...enable us to fully integrate our customers 
and partners into our processes. 
0.0 
" $ $ % %  
Figure A.7.: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by size
A. Appendix XXXIV 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Our managers... 
...maintain an informal management style with 
focus on coaching and inspiring people. 
...understand the value of IT investments 
from a company-wide perspective. 
...have the knowledge and skills 
necessary to manage change. 
...are able to quickly implement changes 
in products and/or services. 
...are able to recognize future competitive 
advantages that may result from innovations 
in products, services, and/or processes. 
...are able to flexibly deploy their resources 
(material, financial, human, ...) to make use 
of opportunities and minimize threats. 
...manage the sharing of information, know-how, 
and knowledge among employees appropriately. 
Our employees... 
...are able to act with a view to continuous 
improvement of our products, services, 
processes, and/or working methods. 
...are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best 
opportunities which come up in our environment. 
...are able to meet the levels of product and/or 
service quality demanded by our customers. 
...use a broad range of skills and can be 
applied to other tasks when needed. 
...communicate with each other with 
trust, goodwill, and esteem. 
...are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly 
access, apply and update knowledge. 
...are in general always willing to continuously 
learn from one another and to pass their 
knowledge to others. 
...obtain and develop appropriate technological 
capabilities purposeful. 
...can re-organize continuously in different team 
configurations to meet changing requirements 
and the newly arising challenges. 
...are self-motivated. 
...take responsibility and think in 
a business-like manner. 
total average 
less than 10 
10 to 
() 
50 to 2 
() 
more than 250 
Figure A.8.: Averages regarding agile capabilities by size
A. Appendix XXXV 
Our employees... 
...collaborate closely with different teams, 
departments, and/or business units. 
...organize themselves in their teams. 
...reflect at regular intervals on how to become 
more effective in their team, then tune 
and adjust their behavior accordingly. 
...work in small teams in their projects. 
...form teams that are geographically 
closely located. 
...rotate amongst different activities, 
tasks, positions or departments. 
Regarding our employees, we... 
...manage proposals, new ideas, and 
solutions from all levels consequently. 
...trust them to get their job done. 
...offer incentives not only for individuals, 
but for the team and their contribution 
to the overall organization. 
...offer incentives to encourage our employees 
to upgrade their skills and training. 
...encourage also employees at lower levels 
to make decisions and take responsibility. 
...develop employees skills with a view to the 
firm's long-term future development. 
total average 
less than 10 
10 to 49 
50 to 249 
more than 250 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Figure A.9.: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by size
A. Appendix XXXVI 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
In our organization, we... 
...scan and examine our environment 
systematically to anticipate change. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our business strategy. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our processes. 
...are quick to make appropriate decisions in the 
face of market- and/or customer-related changes. 
...change authorities when tasks change. 
...jointly and intensively operate throughout 
different functions and/or departments 
for strategic decision making. 
...encourage early involvement of several 
departments and/or functions in new 
product and/or service development. 
...design our processes simultaneously to the 
development of new products and/or services. 
...inform ourselves systematically about 
information technology innovations. 
...strategically invest in appropriate technologies 
and have a clear vision how IT contributes 
to business value. 
...focus on our core competencies and delegate 
further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 
...monitor the performance of our partners 
and subcontractors very closely. 
...select our partners and subcontractors by quality 
criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 
...align all our activities to customer 
requirements and needs. 
...encourage compilation and internal dissemination 
of information on customers needs. 
...closely collaborate with and encourage 
fast feedback from our customers. 
total average 
less than 10 
10 to 
' 
50 to 2 
' 
more than 250 
Figure A.10.: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by size
A. Appendix XXXVII 
A.4.3. Details by Location 
This section gives a number of comprehensive tables and figures for every item differentiated by the location 
of the participating organizations. They serve as additional information for chapter 3. 
Germany Europe North Asia Other total 
w/o Germany America average 
Our organization values a culture that. . . 
. . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 2.0 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.3 2.0 
. . . considers team work as integral part. 1.6 1.9 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.7 
. . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of 
1.8 2.3 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.0 
employees. 
. . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of 
innovative ideas. 
2.1 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.2 2.1 
. . . considers changing customer-related requirements 
as opportunities. 
2.0 2.3 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 
Our organization prefers. . . 
. . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than 
reacting to crisis or “fire-fighting”. 
2.1 2.4 2.1 2.3 2,3 2.2 
. . . the elimination of barriers between individuals 
and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple 
structures. 
1.7 2.3 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.1 
. . . face-to-face communication for conveying 
information within our organization. 
2.0 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.2 
. . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service 
features that go beyond the customer requirements. 
2.3 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.3 
. . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, 
preferences) to generate new opportunities. 
2.4 2.4 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.3 
Table A.11.: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by location
A. Appendix XXXVIII 
Germany Europe North Asia Other total 
w/o Germany America average 
Our organization has. . . 
. . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” 
communication processes. 
2.2 2.7 2..4 2.2 2.2 2.3 
. . . an intensive employee training program. 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.7 2.8 
. . . employees that have a good understanding of how 
2.0 2.5 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.2 
their own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. 
. . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all 
hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 
2.2 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.3 
. . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market 
changes from the very start. 
2.3 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.3 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . 
. . .make organizational information easily accessible 
to all employees. 
2.0 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 
. . . provide information helping our employees to 
quickly respond to changes. 
2.2 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.3 
. . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be 
competitive in the marketplace. 
2.0 2.5 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.2 
. . . enable decentralization in decision making. 2.4 2.7 2.6 2.7 2.6 2.6 
. . . are integrated amongst different departments 
1.9 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.2 
and/or business units. 
. . . are standardized or comparable amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
2.2 2.5 2.4 2.6 2.4 2.3 
. . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and 
partners into our processes. 
2.7 2.7 2.6 2.8 2.6 2.7 
Table A.12.: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by location
A. Appendix XXXIX 
Germany Europe North Asia Other total 
w/o Germany America average 
Our managers. . . 
. . .maintain an informal management style with focus 
on coaching and inspiring people. 
1.9 2.4 2.3 2.6 2.4 2.2 
. . . understand the value of IT investments from a 
company-wide perspective. 
1.9 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.1 
. . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to 
manage change. 
2.0 2.6 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.3 
. . . are able to quickly implement changes in products 
and/or services. 
2.1 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.4 
. . . are able to recognize future competitive 
advantages that may result from innovations in 
products, services, and/or processes. 
2.2 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.4 
. . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources 
(material, financial, human, . . . ) to make use of 
opportunities and minimize threats. 
2.2 2.7 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.4 
. . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and 
knowledge among employees appropriately. 
2.2 2.7 2.4 2.5 2.3 2.4 
Our employees. . . 
. . . are able to act with a view to continuous 
improvement of our products, services, processes, 
and/or working methods. 
2.1 2.6 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.3 
. . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best 
opportunities which come up in our environment. 
2.5 2.8 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.6 
. . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or 
service quality demanded by our customers. 
1.9 2.3 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.1 
. . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to 
other tasks when needed. 
2.2 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.3 
. . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, 
and esteem. 
1.9 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.0 
. . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly 
access, apply and update knowledge. 
1.9 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.0 
. . . are in general always willing to continuously learn 
from one another and to pass their knowledge to 
others. 
1.8 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.1 
. . . obtain and develop appropriate technological 
capabilities purposeful. 
2.1 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.2 
. . . can re-organize continuously in different team 
configurations to meet changing requirements and the 
newly arising challenges. 
2.2 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.3 
. . . are self-motivated. 2.3 2.5 2.2 2.5 2.4 2.3 
. . . take responsibility and think in a business-like 
2.4 2.8 2.5 2.7 2,6 2.6 
manner. 
Table A.13.: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by location
A. Appendix XL 
Germany Europe North Asia Other total 
w/o Germany America average 
Our employees. . . 
. . . collaborate closely with different teams, 
departments, and/or business units. 
1.9 2.2 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.1 
. . . organize themselves in their teams. 1.9 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.1 
. . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more 
2.5 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.5 
effective in their team, then tune and adjust their 
behavior accordingly. 
. . .work in small teams in their projects. 1.8 2.0 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.9 
. . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 2.2 2.1 2.5 2.2 2.2 2.3 
. . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions 
2.8 2.9 2.8 2.8 2.5 2.8 
or departments. 
Regarding our employees, we. . . 
. . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from 
all levels consequently. 
2.3 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 
. . . trust them to get their job done. 1.7 2.0 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.8 
. . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for 
2.5 3.1 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.6 
the team and their contribution to the overall 
organization. 
. . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to 
upgrade their skills and training. 
2.3 2.9 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.5 
. . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make 
decisions and take responsibility. 
2.1 2.5 2.4 2.6 2.5 2.3 
. . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s 
long-term future development. 
2.2 2.6 2.4 2.1 2.4 2.3 
In our organization, we. . . 
. . . scan and examine our environment systematically 
to anticipate change. 
2.3 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.4 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our business strategy. 
2.4 2.8 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our processes. 
2.5 3.0 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.6 
. . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face 
of market- and/or customer-related changes. 
2.0 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.3 
. . . change authorities when tasks change. 2.5 2.9 2.7 2.5 2.7 2.6 
. . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different 
1.9 2.8 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.3 
functions and/or departments for strategic decision 
making. 
. . . encourage early involvement of several 
departments and/or functions in new product and/or 
service development. 
2.1 2.6 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.3 
. . . design our processes simultaneously to the 
development of new products and/or services. 
2.4 2.9 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.5 
. . . inform ourselves systematically about information 
technology innovations. 
2.0 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.1 
. . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and 
have a clear vision how IT contributes to business 
value. 
2.0 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.5 2.2 
. . . focus on our core competencies and delegate 
further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 
2.3 2.6 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.4 
. . .monitor the performance of our partners and 
subcontractors very closely. 
2.2 2.7 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 
. . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality 
criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 
2.1 2.5 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.2 
. . . align all our activities to customer requirements 
and needs. 
1.8 2.3 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.0 
. . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination 
of information on customers needs. 
2.2 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.4 2.3 
. . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast 
feedback from our customers. 
1.7 2.3 2.2 1.9 2.1 2.0 
Table A.14.: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by location
A. Appendix XLI 
total average 
Germany 
Europe without Germany 
North America 
Asia 
Other 
Our organization prefers... 
…a proactive continuous improvement rather 
than reacting to crisis or fire-fighting. 
…the elimination of barriers between 
individuals and/or departments, e.g. 
by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
...face-to-face communication for conveying 
information within our organization. 
...simplicity, i.e. skipping product and/or 
service features that go beyond 
the customer requirements. 
…market-related changes (e.g. new competitors, 
preferences) to generate new opportunities. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 
Our organization values a culture that... 
...harnesses change for competitive 
advantages. 
…considers team work as integral part. 
…accepts and supports decisions and 
proposals of employees. 
...is supportive of experimentation 
and the use of innovative ideas. 
…considers changing customer-related 
requirements as opportunities. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 
Figure A.11.: Averages regarding agile values and principles by location
A. Appendix XLII 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Our organization has... 
...effective top-down and bottom-up 
communication processes. 
...an intensive employee training program. 
...employees that have a good understanding of how 
their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. 
…a strategy that is clearly communicated to all 
hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 
...a strategic vision that allows flexibility for 
market changes from the very start. 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... 
…make organizational information easily 
accessible to all employees. 
...provide information helping our employees 
to quickly respond to changes. 
…are appropriate to our needs and allow us 
to be competitive in the marketplace. 
...enable decentralization in decision making. 
...are integrated amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
…are standardized or comparable amongst 
different departments and/or business units. 
...enable us to fully integrate our customers 
and partners into our processes. 
total average 
Germany 
Europe without Germany 
North America 
Asia 
Other 
Figure A.12.: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by location
A. Appendix XLIII 
total average 
Germany 
Europe without Germany 
North America 
Asia 
Other 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Our managers... 
...maintain an informal management style with 
focus on coaching and inspiring people. 
...understand the value of IT investments 
from a company-wide perspective. 
...have the knowledge and skills 
necessary to manage change. 
...are able to quickly implement changes 
in products and/or services. 
...are able to recognize future competitive 
advantages that may result from innovations 
in products, services, and/or processes. 
...are able to flexibly deploy their resources 
(material, financial, human, ...) to make use 
of opportunities and minimize threats. 
...manage the sharing of information, know-how, 
and knowledge among employees appropriately. 
Our employees... 
...are able to act with a view to continuous 
improvement of our products, services, 
processes, and/or working methods. 
...are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best 
opportunities which come up in our environment. 
...are able to meet the levels of product and/or 
service quality demanded by our customers. 
...use a broad range of skills and can be 
applied to other tasks when needed. 
...communicate with each other with 
trust, goodwill, and esteem. 
...are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly 
access, apply and update knowledge. 
...are in general always willing to continuously 
learn from one another and to pass their 
knowledge to others. 
...obtain and develop appropriate technological 
capabilities purposeful. 
...can re-organize continuously in different team 
configurations to meet changing requirements 
and the newly arising challenges. 
...are self-motivated. 
...take responsibility and think in 
a business-like manner. 
Figure A.13.: Averages regarding agile capabilities by location
A. Appendix XLIV 
total average 
Germany 
Europe without Germany 
North America 
Asia 
Other 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 
Our employees... 
...collaborate closely with di 
! 
ferent teams, 
departments, and/or business units. 
...organize themselves in their teams. 
...reflect at regular intervals on how to become 
more effective in their team, then tune 
and adjust their behavior accordingly. 
...work in small teams in their projects. 
...form teams that are geographically 
closely located. 
...rotate amongst different activities, 
tasks, positions or departments. 
Regarding our employees, we... 
...manage proposals, new ideas, and 
solutions from all levels consequently. 
...trust them to get their job done. 
...offer incentives not only for individuals, 
but for the team and their contribution 
to the overall organization. 
...offer incentives to encourage our employees 
to upgrade their skills and training. 
...encourage also employees at lower levels 
to make decisions and take responsibility. 
...develop employees skills with a view to the 
firm's long-term future development. 
Figure A.14.: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by location
A. Appendix XLV 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
In our organization, we... 
...scan and examine our environment 
systematically to anticipate change. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our business strategy. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our processes. 
...are quick to make appropriate decisions in the 
face of market- and/or customer-related changes. 
...change authorities when tasks change. 
...jointly and intensively operate throughout 
different functions and/or departments 
for strategic decision making. 
...encourage early involvement of several 
departments and/or functions in new 
product and/or service development. 
...design our processes simultaneously to the 
development of new products and/or services. 
...inform ourselves systematically about 
information technology innovations. 
...strategically invest in appropriate technologies 
and have a clear vision how IT contributes 
to business value. 
...focus on our core competencies and delegate 
further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 
...monitor the performance of our partners 
and subcontractors very closely. 
...select our partners and subcontractors by quality 
criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 
...align all our activities to customer 
requirements and needs. 
...encourage compilation and internal dissemination 
of information on customers needs. 
...closely collaborate with and encourage 
fast feedback from our customers. 
Figure A.15.: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by location
A. Appendix XLVI 
A.4.4. Details by Customers 
This section gives a number of comprehensive tables and figures for every item differentiated by the region 
of customers of the participating organizations. They serve as additional information for chapter 3. 
local national own world- “abroad” total 
region wide average 
Our organization values a culture that. . . 
. . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 2.6 2.1 2.1 1.9 1,9 2.0 
. . . considers team work as integral part. 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.4 1.7 
. . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of 
2.2 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.4 2.0 
employees. 
. . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative 
ideas. 
2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.1 
. . . considers changing customer-related requirements as 
opportunities. 
2.2 2.0 2.0 2.1 1,6 2.0 
Our organization prefers. . . 
. . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting 
to crisis or “fire-fighting”. 
2.5 2.2 2.2 2.1 1.9 2.2 
. . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or 
departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
2.3 1.9 2.0 2.1 1.6 2.1 
. . . face-to-face communication for conveying information 
within our organization. 
2.1 2.0 2.1 2.3 1.4 2.2 
. . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features 
that go beyond the customer requirements. 
2.4 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.0 2.3 
. . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, 
preferences) to generate new opportunities. 
2.6 2.4 2.3 2.1 1.9 2.3 
Table A.15.: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by region of customers
A. Appendix XLVII 
local national own world- “abroad” total 
region wide average 
Our organization has. . . 
. . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication 
processes. 
2.4 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.3 
. . . an intensive employee training program. 3.3 3.0 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.8 
. . . employees that have a good understanding of how their 
2.2 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.2 
own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. 
. . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical 
levels in terms easily understood by all. 
2.5 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.3 
. . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market 
changes from the very start. 
2.4 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . 
. . .make organizational information easily accessible to all 
employees. 
2.4 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.1 
. . . provide information helping our employees to quickly 
respond to changes. 
2.5 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.3 
. . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be 
competitive in the marketplace. 
2.3 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.2 
. . . enable decentralization in decision making. 2.7 2.5 2.5 2.5 3.0 2.6 
. . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or 
2.5 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.9 2.2 
business units. 
. . . are standardized or comparable amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
2.7 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 
. . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners 
into our processes. 
2.9 2.8 2.6 2.7 2.4 2.7 
Table A.16.: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by region of customers
A. Appendix XLVIII 
local national own world- “abroad” total 
region wide average 
Our managers. . . 
. . .maintain an informal management style with focus on 
coaching and inspiring people. 
2.4 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.0 2.2 
. . . understand the value of IT investments from a 
company-wide perspective. 
2.3 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.7 2.1 
. . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage 
change. 
2.4 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.3 
. . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or 
services. 
2.5 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.9 2.4 
. . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that 
may result from innovations in products, services, and/or 
processes. 
2.8 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.4 
. . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, 
financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and 
minimize threats. 
2.7 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 
. . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and 
knowledge among employees appropriately. 
2.5 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.4 
Our employees. . . 
. . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of 
our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. 
2.5 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.3 
. . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best 
opportunities which come up in our environment. 
2.7 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.6 
. . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service 
quality demanded by our customers. 
2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 
. . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other 
tasks when needed. 
2.2 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.1 2.3 
. . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and 
esteem. 
2.2 2.1 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.0 
. . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, 
apply and update knowledge. 
2.2 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.0 
. . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from 
one another and to pass their knowledge to others. 
2.3 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.1 
. . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities 
purposeful. 
2.4 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.2 
. . . can re-organize continuously in different team 
configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly 
arising challenges. 
2.5 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 
. . . are self-motivated. 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 1.7 2.3 
. . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. 2.8 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.6 
Table A.17.: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by region of customers
A. Appendix XLIX 
local national own world- “abroad” total 
region wide average 
Our employees. . . 
. . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, 
and/or business units. 
2.3 2.1 1.9 2.1 1.7 2.1 
. . . organize themselves in their teams. 2.4 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 
. . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more 
2.6 2.6 2.4 2.6 2.1 2.5 
effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior 
accordingly. 
. . .work in small teams in their projects. 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 
. . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 2.1 2.3 2.1 2.4 1.7 2.3 
. . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or 
3.0 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.1 2.8 
departments. 
Regarding our employees, we. . . 
. . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all 
levels consequently. 
2.5 2.3 2.3 2.3 1.9 2.3 
. . . trust them to get their job done. 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.8 
. . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team 
3.1 2.8 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.6 
and their contribution to the overall organization. 
. . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade 
their skills and training. 
2.8 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.7 2.5 
. . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make 
decisions and take responsibility. 
2.4 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.3 
. . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s 
long-term future development. 
2.8 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.3 
In our organization, we. . . 
. . . scan and examine our environment systematically to 
anticipate change. 
2.6 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.0 2.4 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating 
our business strategy. 
2.8 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.5 
. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating 
our processes. 
3.0 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.9 2.6 
. . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of 
market- and/or customer-related changes. 
2.5 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.6 2.3 
. . . change authorities when tasks change. 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.7 3.0 2.6 
. . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different 
2.3 2.2 2.2 2.4 2.9 2.3 
functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. 
. . . encourage early involvement of several departments 
and/or functions in new product and/or service development. 
2.5 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.7 2.3 
. . . design our processes simultaneously to the development 
of new products and/or services. 
2.8 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.5 
. . . inform ourselves systematically about information 
technology innovations. 
2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.1 
. . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a 
clear vision how IT contributes to business value. 
2.4 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.2 
. . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks 
to our partners and subcontractors. 
2.3 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.0 2.4 
. . .monitor the performance of our partners and 
subcontractors very closely. 
2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 
. . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria 
(rather than pure cost-based decisions). 
2.4 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.2 
. . . align all our activities to customer requirements and 
needs. 
2.0 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.0 
. . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of 
information on customers needs. 
2.5 2.4 2.2 2.3 1.9 2.3 
. . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from 
our customers. 
2.0 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.0 
Table A.18.: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by region of customers
A. Appendix L 
total average 
local 
national 
own region 
worldwide 
abroad 
3.0 
Our organization values a culture that... 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
...harnesses change for competitive 
…considers team work as integral part. 
…accepts and supports decisions and 
proposals of employees. 
...is supportive of experimentation 
and the use of innovative ideas. 
…considers changing customer-related 
requirements as opportunities. 
Our organization prefers... 
advantages. 
…a proactive continuous improvement rather 
than reacting to crisis or fire-fighting. 
…the elimination of barriers between 
individuals and/or departments, e.g. 
by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 
...face-to-face communication for conveying 
information within our organization. 
...simplicity, i.e. skipping product and/or 
service features that go beyond 
the customer requirements. 
…market-related changes (e.g. new competitors, 
preferences) to generate new opportunities. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 
Figure A.16.: Averages regarding agile values and principles by region of customers
A. Appendix LI 
total average 
local 
national 
own region 
worldwide 
abroad 
Our organization has... 
...effective top-down and bottom-up 
communication processes. 
...an intensive employee training program. 
...employees that have a good understanding of how 
their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. 
…a strategy that is clearly communicated to all 
hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 
...a strategic vision that allows flexibility for 
market changes from the very start. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 
Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... 
…make organizational information easily 
accessible to all employees. 
...provide information helping our employees 
to quickly respond to changes. 
…are appropriate to our needs and allow us 
to be competitive in the marketplace. 
...enable decentralization in decision making. 
...are integrated amongst different 
departments and/or business units. 
…are standardized or comparable amongst 
different departments and/or business units. 
...enable us to fully integrate our customers 
and partners into our processes. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Figure A.17.: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by region of customers
A. Appendix LII 
total average 
local 
national 
own region 
worldwide 
abroad 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
Our managers... 
...maintain an informal management style with 
focus on coaching and inspiring people. 
...understand the value of IT investments 
from a company-wide perspective. 
...have the knowledge and skills 
necessary to manage change. 
...are able to quickly implement changes 
in products and/or services. 
...are able to recognize future competitive 
advantages that may result from innovations 
in products, services, and/or processes. 
...are able to flexibly deploy their resources 
(material, financial, human, ...) to make use 
of opportunities and minimize threats. 
...manage the sharing of information, know-how, 
and knowledge among employees appropriately. 
Our employees... 
...are able to act with a view to continuous 
improvement of our products, services, 
processes, and/or working methods. 
...are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best 
opportunities which come up in our environment. 
...are able to meet the levels of product and/or 
service quality demanded by our customers. 
...use a broad range of skills and can be 
applied to other tasks when needed. 
...communicate with each other with 
trust, goodwill, and esteem. 
...are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly 
access, apply and update knowledge. 
...are in general always willing to continuously 
learn from one another and to pass their 
knowledge to others. 
...obtain and develop appropriate technological 
capabilities purposeful. 
...can re-organize continuously in different team 
configurations to meet changing requirements 
and the newly arising challenges. 
...are self-motivated. 
...take responsibility and think in 
a business-like manner. 
Figure A.18.: Averages regarding agile capabilities by region of customers
A. Appendix LIII 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 
total average 
local 
national 
own region 
worldwide 
abroad 
Our employees... 
...collaborate closely with different teams, 
departments, and/or business units. 
...organize themselves in their teams. 
...reflect at regular intervals on how to become 
more effective in their team, then tune 
and adjust their behavior accordingly. 
...work in small teams in their projects. 
...form teams that are geographically 
closely located. 
...rotate amongst different activities, 
tasks, positions or departments. 
Regarding our employees, we... 
...manage proposals, new ideas, and 
solutions from all levels consequently. 
...trust them to get their job done. 
...offer incentives not only for individuals, 
but for the team and their contribution 
to the overall organization. 
...offer incentives to encourage our employees 
to upgrade their skills and training. 
...encourage also employees at lower levels 
to make decisions and take responsibility. 
...develop employees skills with a view to the 
firm's long-term future development. 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 
Figure A.19.: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by region of customers
A. Appendix LIV 
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 
In our organization, we... 
...scan and examine our environment 
systematically to anticipate change. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our business strategy. 
...react to approaching changes by immediately 
updating our processes. 
...are quick to make appropriate decisions in the 
face of market- and/or customer-related changes. 
...change authorities when tasks change. 
...jointly and intensively operate throughout 
different functions and/or departments 
for strategic decision making. 
...encourage early involvement of several 
departments and/or functions in new 
product and/or service development. 
...design our processes simultaneously to the 
development of new products and/or services. 
...inform ourselves systematically about 
information technology innovations. 
...strategically invest in appropriate technologies 
and have a clear vision how IT contributes 
to business value. 
...focus on our core competencies and delegate 
further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 
...monitor the performance of our partners 
and subcontractors very closely. 
...select our partners and subcontractors by quality 
criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 
...align all our activities to customer 
requirements and needs. 
...encourage compilation and internal dissemination 
of information on customers needs. 
...closely collaborate with and encourage 
fast feedback from our customers. 
Figure A.20.: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by region of customers
FAKULTÄT WIRTSCHAFTSWISSENSCHAFTEN 
Bisher erschienene Titel in der Reihe: 
Dresdner Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsinformatik 
lfd.Nr. Autor/Autoren Titel 
1/94 Werner Esswein, 
Eric Schoop, 
Wolfgang Uhr 
Der Studiengang Wirtschaftsinformatik an der Fakultät 
Wirtschaftswissenschaften der Technischen Universität 
Dresden 
2/94 Eric Schoop, 
Stefan Papenfuß 
Beiträge zum computerunterstützten Lernen 
3/94 Werner Esswein, 
Klaus Körmeier 
Führung und Steuerung von Softwareprojekten im Kapsel- 
Modell 
4/94 Werner Esswein Entwurf integrierter Anwendungssysteme 
5/94 Gundula Heinatz CSCW und Software Engineering 
6/94 Marco Lehmann- 
Waffenschmidt, 
Klaus-Peter Schulz 
Umweltinformationssysteme in der öffentlichen 
Verwaltung 
7/94 Eric Schoop, 
Stefan Papenfuß, 
Jan L. Plass 
Echolot: Making an Abstract Hypertext Machine Concrete 
- A client/server architecture for authoring and learning 
business processes - 
8/95 Eric Schoop, 
Thomas Schraml 
Vom Durchfluß- zum Kreislaufbetrieb: Neuorientierung zu 
einem integrierten Umweltinformationsmanagement 
9/95 Gundula Heinatz COST14-CoTech Project P4 CSCW and Software 
Engineering Dresden, 22-23 May 95 Meeting Papers 
10/95 Eric Schoop, 
Thomas Schraml 
Vorschlag einer hypertext-orientierten Methode für eine 
strukturierte Umweltberichterstattung und -zertifizierung 
11/96 Eric Schoop, 
Uwe Jäger, 
Stefan Pabst 
Potentiale elektronischer Märkte 
12/96 Eric Schoop, 
Ralph Sonntag, 
Katrin Strobel, 
Torsten Förster, 
Sven Haubold, 
Berit Jungmann 
Vergleichende Übersicht von Angeboten der Bundesländer 
im Internet 
13/96 Eric Schoop, 
Hagen Malessa, 
Jan L. Plass, 
Stefan Papenfuß 
Architekturvorschlag für eine offene Hypermedia- 
Entwicklungsumgebung zur Erstellung verteilter 
Lernsysteme 
14/96 Silvia Brink 
Wolfgang Uhr 
Hypertextbasierte Lernumgebung Investitionsrechnung 
- Konzept und Evaluation - 
15/97 Thomas Schraml, 
Eric Schoop 
Umweltinformationsmanagement mit neuen Medien. 
Elektronische Berichterstattung durch Hypertext- 
Dokumente 
16/97 Eric Schoop Multimedia-Kommunikation: Chancen für KMU?
17/97 Eric Schoop Wachstum und Innovation: Herausforderung für ein 
Informationsmanagement mit neuen Medien 
18/97 Ralph Sonntag Automatisierung der Erstellung und Pflege von Umwelt-handbüchern 
sowie der enthaltenen 
Verfahrensregelungen 
19/97 Eric Schoop Document Engineering: Methodische Grundlage für ein 
integriertes Dokumentenmanagement 
20/97 Werner Esswein, 
Gundula Heinatz, 
Andreas Dietzsch 
WISE.xScape - ein Werkzeug zur Unterstützung 
informeller Kommunikation 
21/97 Werner Esswein, 
Gundula Heinatz 
Dokumentation von Leistungs- und Informationsprozessen 
im Krankenhaus für ein verbessertes 
Qualitätsmanagement 
22/97 Werner Esswein, 
Gundula Heinatz 
Einsatz von technischen Systemen zur Unterstützung von 
Koordination in Unternehmen 
23/97 Werner Esswein, 
Manuela Räbiger, 
Achim Selz 
Anforderungen an Data-Warehouse-Systeme 
24/97 Gerhard Marx Reaktionsfähigkeitsanalyse (RFA) 
25/97 Michael Schaffrath 
Wolfgang Uhr 
Symptomerkennung im Rahmen eines 
Entscheidungsunterstützungssystems 
26/98 Jens-Thorsten 
Rauer 
Strategische Erfolgspotentiale von Informations-infrastrukturen 
in der deutschen Assekuranz 
(Individualversicherungsbranchen) - die betriebliche 
Ressource Informationsverarbeitung 
27/98 Stefan Papenfuß Vorschlag für eine Informationsstruktur 
28/98 
Eric Schoop Strukturorientierte Dokumentenmanagement, Aufgaben, 
Methoden, Standard und Werkzeug 
29/98 Ralph Sonntag Jahresbericht 1994-1997 der Professuren für 
Wirtschaftsinformatik 
30/99 Ina Müller Integration technologiebezogener Informationen an der TU 
Dresden in ein Gründerinformationssystem 
31/99 Michael Zilker Einsatz und Nutzenkalküle von Virtual Reality-Projekten in 
Unternehmensprozessen Auswertung einer Befragung 
von VR-Anwendern und Ableitung eines 
Unterstützungsbedarfs durch ein computerbasiertes 
Beratungssystem 
32/00 Andreas Dietzsch 
Werner Esswein 
Modellierung komplexer Verwaltungsprozesse: 
Arbeitsbericht zum Projekt Finanz 2000 
33/01 Sabine Zumpe 
Werner Esswein 
Automatische Unterstützungssysteme für die 
Steuerberatung 
34/01 Jürgen Abrams 
Wolfgang Uhr 
B2B-Marktplätze – Phänomen und organisatorische 
Implikationen 
35/02 Ruben Gersdorf Verteiltes Content Management für den Document Supply 
in der Technischen Dokumentation 
36/02 Sabine Zumpe 
Werner Esswein 
Konzeptuelle Schnittstellenanalyse von eCommerce 
Applikationen
37/02 Ernest Kosilek 
Wolfgang Uhr 
Die kommunale elektronische Beschaffung 
Bericht zum Forschungsprojekt „KeB“ 
38/02 René Rottleb „Verzeichnissysteme – ein Stiefkind der Wirtschafts-informatik?“ 
39/02 Andrea Anders Ergonomische Dokumente: Wie lassen sich zielgruppen-spezifische 
Anforderungen an Lesbarkeit und 
Verständlichkeit sicherstellen? 
40/03 Anja Lohse Integration schwach strukturierter Daten in betriebs-wirtschaftliche 
Prozesse am Beispiel des Kundenservice 
41/03 Berit Jungmann Einsatz von XML zur Abbildung von Lerninhalten für 
E-Learning-Angebote: Standards, Anwendung, 
Handlungsbedarf 
42/03 Sabine Zumpe, 
Werner Esswein, 
Nicole Sunke, 
Manuela Thiele 
Virtuelle B2B-Marktplätze 
Entstehung, Existenz und Umwandlung 
43/04 Torsten Sommer Modellierung von standardisierten Behandlungsabläufen 
Begriffsanalyse als Voraussetzung zur Wahl einer 
geeigneten Modellierungssprache 
44/04 Eric Schoop Electronic Business – Herausforderungen im größer 
gewordenen Europa - Proceedings zum Europäischen 
Integrationsforum 2004 an der Fakultät Wirtschafts-wissenschaften 
der TU Dresden 
45/04 Andreas Hilbert 
Sascha Raithel 
Entwicklung eines Erklärungsmodells der Kundenbindung 
am Beispiel des High-Involvement-Produktes Automobil 
46/04 Andreas Hilbert 
Sascha Raithel 
Empirische Evaluation eines Kausalmodells zur Erklärung 
der Kundenbindung am Beispiel des High-Involvement- 
Produktes Automobil 
47/05 Sabine Zumpe 
Werner Esswein 
Nicole Sunke 
Manuela Thiele 
Die Qualität von Referenzmodellen im E-Commerce 
48/05 Daniel Kilper Ressourcenkritische Parameter XML-basierter Trans-aktionsstandards 
in mobilen Datennetzen: Eine Unter-suchung 
basierend auf der Informationellen Effizienz nach 
Hurwicz 
49/06 Frank Wenzke Angebot von Informationen für die Wettbewerberanalyse 
auf Unternehmenswebsites 
50/07 
Silke Adam 
Werner Esswein 
Untersuchung von Architekturframeworks zur 
Strukturierung von Unternehmensmodellen 
51/07 Markus Westner Information Systems Offshoring: A Review of the 
Literature 
52/08 Tobias von 
Martens 
Andreas Hilbert 
Kapazitätssteuerung im Dienstleistungsbereich unter 
Berücksichtigung des Kundenwertes 
53/09 Roy Wendler Reifegradmodelle für das IT-Projektmanagement
54/10 Christian Leyh 
Anne Betge 
Susanne 
Strahringer 
Nutzung von ERP-Systemen und RFIDTechnologie in klein-und 
mittelständischen Unternehmen - Eine explorative 
empirische Untersuchung sächsischer KMU 
55/10 André Gräning 
Roy Wendler 
Christian Leyh 
Susanne 
Strahringer 
Research about before Research with Standards 
56/10 Tagungsband des zwölften interuniversitären 
Doktorandenseminars 
57/10 Andreas Hartmann, 
Georg Lackermair 
Trends im B2C-Online-Handel 
Ergebnisse einer Expertenbefragung 
58/11 Michael Mohaupt, 
Andreas Hilbert 
Systematisierung und Berücksichtigung von 
Unsicherheiten im Revenue Management 
59/11 Christian Leyh, 
Pia Hübler 
Nutzung von ERP-Systemen in sächsischen klein- und 
mittelständischen Unternehmen 
Eine explorative empirische Untersuchung 
60/11 Christian Leyh, 
Henrique Gottwald 
Nutzung von ERP-Systemen in deutschen klein- und 
mittelständischen Unternehmen 
Eine explorative empirische Untersuchung 
61/11 René Michel, Igor 
Schnakenburg, 
Tobias von 
Martens, Andreas 
Hilbert 
Effektive Kundenselektion für Vertriebskampagnen auf 
Basis von Nettoscores 
62/11 Christian Leyh Verwendung von ERP-Systemen im Rahmen der 
Hochschullehre 
Auswertung einer Befragung deutscher Universitäten und 
Fachhochschulen 
63/12 Kerstin Förster, 
Roy Wendler 
Theorien und Konzepte zu Agilität in Organisationen 
64/12 Tobias Weiss, 
Andreas Hilbert 
Energy Intelligence 
Anwendung von Business Intelligence auf Daten aus dem 
Smart Metering 
65/12 Christian Leyh, 
Christian Hennig 
ERP – und Campus-Management-Systeme in der 
Hochschulverwaltung – Ergebnisse einer Befragung 
deutscher Universitäten und Fachhochschulen 
66/13 Tim Pidun Assessing the Success of Performance Measurement 
Systems 
67/13 Marcus Pfitzner Visualisierungstrends von Business Intelligence 
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WHAT CONSTITUTES AN AGILE ORGANIZATION? ? DESCRIPTIVE RESULTS OF AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

  • 1. FAKULTÄT WIRTSCHAFTSWISSENSCHAFTEN DRESDNER BEITRÄGE ZUR WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, NR. 68/14 WHAT CONSTITUTES AN AGILE ORGANIZATION? – DESCRIPTIVE RESULTS OF AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION ROY WENDLER THERESA STAHLKE HERAUSGEBER: DIE PROFESSOREN DER FACHGRUPPE WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK ISSN 0945-4837
  • 2. TECHNISCHE UNIVERSIT¨AT DRESDEN Faculty of Business Management and Economics Chair of Information Systems, esp. IS in Manufacturing and Commerce What Constitutes an Agile Organization? – Descriptive Results of an Empirical Investigation – Roy Wendler Theresa Stahlke contact: Technische Universit¨at Dresden, Faculty of Business Management and Economics Chair of Information Systems, esp. IS in Manufacturing and Commerce Helmholtzstr. 10, 01069 Dresden / Germany roy.wendler@tu-dresden.de Copyright notice: Linking or citing this document is welcomed without fee, provided that the original source is clearly cited. It is not allowed to make or distribute digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for profit or commercial advantage. Permission to make copies is only granted for personal or classroom use. Recommended citation: Wendler, R. & Stahlke, T. (2013). What Constitutes an Agile Organization? - Descriptive Results of an Empirical Investigation. Dresdner Beitr¨age zur Wirtschaftsinformatik, Nr. 68/14. Dresden: Technische Universit¨at Dresden. (online: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-130916
  • 3. Contents List of Figures III List of Tables V 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 Participants 5 3 Selected Results 9 3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.1.1 Agile Values and Principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.1.2 Agile Conditions and IT/IS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3.1.3 Agile Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3.1.4 Agile Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3.2 Differentiated Discussion by Subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.2.1 Analysis by Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.2.2 Analysis by Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 3.2.3 Analysis by Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.2.4 Analysis by Customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4 Conclusion 29 4.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 4.2 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 4.3 Further Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 References 32 A Appendix VI A.1 Participating Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI A.2 Complete Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIII A.2.1 English Version. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIII A.2.2 German Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XI A.3 Item Sources and Related Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XVI A.4 Additional Graphics and Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XIX A.4.1 Details by Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XIX A.4.2 Details by Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXVIII
  • 4. Contents II A.4.3 Details by Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXVII A.4.4 Details by Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLVI
  • 5. List of Figures Figure 1.1: Interdependencies between agility-related concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Figure 2.1: Respondents and participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Figure 2.2: Fields of activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Figure 2.3: Location vs. size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Figure 2.4: Location vs. role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Figure 2.5: Region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Figure 3.1: Distribution of answers regarding agile values and principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Figure 3.2: Distribution of answers regarding agile conditions and IT/IS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Figure 3.3: Distribution of answers regarding agile capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Figure 3.4: Distribution of answers regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) . 17 Figure 3.5: Distribution of answers regarding agile activities (general) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Figure 3.6: Illustrative example for differences between CEOs and Architects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Figure 3.7: Details for difference between CIOs/CTOs and IT/ITCManagers regarding train-ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Figure 3.8: Details for items focusing on cooperative activities by role. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Figure 3.9: Illustrative example for size-dependent trend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Figure 3.10: Examples demonstrating hierarchy-dependent problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Figure 3.11: Averages regarding partner-related activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Figure 3.12: Exemplary items showing higher average value for European organizations . . . . . 25 Figure 3.13: Illustrative examples showing adaptability issues for organizations with local customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Figure 3.14: Details about agile IT/IS for companies serving customers abroad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Figure A.1: Averages regarding agile values and principles by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXIII Figure A.2: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXIV Figure A.3: Averages regarding agile capabilities by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXV Figure A.4: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by role . . . . . . . . XXVI Figure A.5: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXVII Figure A.6: Averages regarding agile values and principles by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXII Figure A.7: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXIII Figure A.8: Averages regarding agile capabilities by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXIV Figure A.9: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by size . . . . . . . . XXXV Figure A.10: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXVI Figure A.11: Averages regarding agile values and principles by location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLI Figure A.12: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLII Figure A.13: Averages regarding agile capabilities by location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLIII
  • 6. List of Figures IV Figure A.14: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by location . . . . XLIV Figure A.15: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLV Figure A.16: Averages regarding agile values and principles by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . L Figure A.17: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . LI Figure A.18: Averages regarding agile capabilities by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LII Figure A.19: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIII Figure A.20: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIV
  • 7. List of Tables Table 2.1: Location and size (no. of employees) of participating organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Table 3.1: Ratio and average regarding agile values and principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Table 3.2: Ratio and average regarding agile conditions and IT/IS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Table 3.3: Ratio and average regarding agile capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Table 3.4: Ratio and average regarding agile activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Table 3.5: Details regarding agile conditions rated by CEOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Table 3.6: Proportion of participants answering that all employees share particular capabil-ities (illustrative examples) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Table 3.7: Average values of customer-related items by region of customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Table A.1: Complete list of countries of participating organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII Table A.2: Item sources and related agility concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XVIII Table A.3: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by role . . . . . . . . . . . . XIX Table A.4: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by role . . . . . . . . . . . . XX Table A.5: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXI Table A.6: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXII Table A.7: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by size . . . . . . . . . . . . XXVIII Table A.8: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by size . . . . . . . . . . . . XXIX Table A.9: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXX Table A.10: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXI Table A.11: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by location . . . . . . . XXXVII Table A.12: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by location. . . . . . . . XXXVIII Table A.13: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXIX Table A.14: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XL Table A.15: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by region of cus-tomers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLVI Table A.16: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by region of cus-tomers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XLVII Table A.17: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by region of customers . . . . . XLVIII Table A.18: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by region of customers . . . . . . . XLIX
  • 8. 1. Introduction For several years, businesses and organizations have faced an increasingly volatile environment, marked with challenges such as increased competition, globalized markets, and individualized customer require-ments. These challenges are accompanied by many changes in every organizational field. Such scenarios were already described in the 90s, for instance by Goldman, Nagel, and Preiss (1995) or the Iacocca In-stitute (1991). As a response, different concepts have emerged that should enable organizations to master these challenges. Agility is the most recent, but others like flexibility and leanness are mentioned often, too. Many research activities concerning agility and its related concepts have been conducted in the meantime. However, there currently exists no common understanding of what constitutes agility. This makes it difficult for both researcher and practitioner audiences to build upon the insights obtained thus far. On the one hand, researchers are missing a well-founded basis to develop the topic further, while on the other hand, practitioners cannot easily uncover what parts of their organizations have to be changed and in what respect they have to be changed to respond to new market challenges. This is of particular interest for organizations in the software and information technology (IT) service in-dustry. With the appearance of agile software developing methodologies in the early 2000s, or in a broader sense agile values and principles (see for instance Beck et al., 2001; Cockburn, 2007; Highsmith, 2002), the advantages of these new approaches became visible. However, it turned out to be difficult to transfer the experienced benefits beyond the team level (Abrahamsson, Conboy, & Wang, 2009; °Agerfalk, Fitzgerald, & Slaughter, 2009; Wendler & Gr¨aning, 2011), though this step is necessary so that the whole organization can benefit from agility. Hence, the report presented here is part of a research project aimed at identifying the structure and com-ponents of an agile organization within the software and IT service industry. To fulfill this aim, a survey from a comprehensive organizational perspective has been carried out that was based on a systematic com-parison of available agility frameworks. The purpose of this publication is to give an initial comprehensive overview over the collected data. Together with a comprehensive literature review conducted prior to this study (Wendler, 2013), it answers the research questions: What are potential components of an agile orga-nization? and To what extent are these components reflected by the software and IT service industry? The paper is structured as follows: Chapter 1 introduces the research background and acknowledges the people that contributed to the success of this survey. Chapter 2 provides tables and figures describing the actual participants of the survey, while Chapter 3 contains a descriptive analysis of the data obtained. For this, an overview is given in section 3.1, while section 3.2 discusses the results differentiated by various subgroups. The results are summarized in Chapter 4, and limitations are given as well as an outlook on on-going research. In addition, the report includes a comprehensive appendix covering a list of all participating countries, the complete questionnaire in English and German language, additional literature sources for the items, and a collection of additional tables and figures containing more details about the data.
  • 9. 1. Introduction 2 1.1. Background The concept of agility is nothing new. Early works that date back to the 1950s are already found within the social sciences (Parsons, Bales, & Shils, 1953). However, agility gained significantly more attention in the 1990s, especially after the so-called “Lehigh report” (Iacocca Institute, 1991) was published explaining a new concept of manufacturing strategies. This development was accompanied by the increasing emphasis on customer orientation and proactivity instead of reactivity. Later on, mainly after the year 2000, process orientation was an additional focus, which led to an examination of agility from an organizational perspec-tive (F¨orster & Wendler, 2012). Simultaneously, agility became well known within the software industry, whereby the “Agile Manifesto” (Beck et al., 2001) triggered extensive research in this field. “Agile” is defined by the dictionary as “having the faculty of quick motion; nimble, active, ready” (Simpson & Weiner, 1989, p. 255), whereby agility is the “quality of being agile” (Simpson & Weiner, 1989, p. 256). Given this explanation as a basis for understanding organizational agility, a variety of definitions have emerged today which are heavily influenced by context and application domain. A discussion of all available definitions is beyond the scope of this report. Different authors already list various definitions of agility (for instance Bernardes & Hanna, 2009; Gunasekaran & Yusuf, 2002). Another comprehensive collection is given in the appendix of F¨orster and Wendler (2012). An extensive definition appropriate to the context of this work was developed by Ganguly, Nilchiani, and Farr (2009) based on the work of Dove (1999, 2001). They define agility as “an effective integration of response ability and knowledge management in order to rapidly, efficiently and accurately adapt to any unexpected (or unpredictable) change in both proactive and reactive business / customer needs and oppor-tunities without compromising with the cost or the quality of the product / process” (Ganguly et al., 2009, p. 441). There are two other closely connected and underlying concepts: flexibility and leanness. Although both share some common ground with agility, they are not the same and should be distinguished. A detailed discussion is given in (Conboy, 2009), which is shortly summarized here. First, flexibility is very similar to agility. The main differences between flexibility and agility lie in issues like lack of speed and rapid action, continual change instead of a one-off change, a missing inclusion of knowledge and learning, and the application as single practices in specific parts of the company instead company-wide. The difference of leanness, however, is much more straight-forward. In contrast to agility, leanness is unsuitable to vari-ability and uncertainty and emphasizes simple cost reduction over value-related issues, mainly value for the customer (Conboy, 2009). However, it remains unclear what elements constitute the construct of organizational agility. In a previous work (Wendler, 2013), 28 agility frameworks were analyzed. The aim was to identify common ground and differences and to search for recurring concepts of agility. Finally, this procedure resulted in 33 concepts of agility that were heavily interdependent on each other (please refer to Wendler, 2013 for more details). The final model of all identified concepts and interdependencies is illustrated in figure 1.1 and forms the theoretical basis of this survey, which covered all identified concepts. The methodology of the survey is further described in section 1.2.
  • 10. 1. Introduction 3 Figure 1.1.: Interdependencies between agility-related concepts 1.2. Methodology To fulfill the research aims, we used a quantitative web-based survey. A quantitative approach seemed appropriate because the purpose of this study was to generate an understanding of organizational agility in a specific industry from a comprehensive and global view. Hence, it would be insufficient to investigate single organizations and time-consuming to collect data qualitatively. A survey allows for the collection of a huge amount of data from many entities within a relatively short time frame. Furthermore, much research has already been conducted, making measurement scales for agility available that can be applied to this study (see appendix A.3 for more details). The survey items emerged from a comprehensive literature review (see section 1.1 and Wendler, 2013) that identified 33 concepts of agility. These concepts were formulated as questionnaire items with support from already existent studies (see appendix A.3). To ensure an appropriate measurement, different scales were used, because as Tsourveloudis and Valavanis (2002) point out, the parameters affecting agility are not homogenous. In addition, we willfully relinquished agree/disagree scales, although many authors work with
  • 11. 1. Introduction 4 these. In our opinion, an organization is not agile when its employees and managers “agree” with statements describing agility or when they “think’ they are agile. Instead, it is the actions, capabilities, values, etc. of an organization that represent its agility. So, item-specific scales were developed to measure the dissemination of values and the implementation of conditions (fromcompletely to not at all), the distribution of capabilities among employees and managers (from all to none), and the frequency of activities (from always to never). This approach has already been used successfully by other authors (for instance Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) and has been proven to reduce errors and enhance the quality of the answers (Saris, Revilla, Krosnick, & Shaeffer, 2010). The complete questionnaire is given in appendix A.2. The target group of the survey was general and IT-related decision-makers (like CEOs, CTOs, Managers, and employees in leading positions) in organizations of the software- and IT service industry worldwide. Hence, a web-based survey was appropriate because the targeted respondents normally have a high affinity for web-based tasks. Furthermore, worldwide distribution of the survey was much easier by email than paper-based mail. To ensure that the respondents understood the items, the questionnaire was carefully pretested by academics and practitioners. The pretests resulted in a comprehensive revision of the original questionnaire. First, the questionnaire was shortened by deleting inappropriate or duplicate items. Further-more, items were reformulated to enhance understandability, clarity, and applicability to the topic. Finally, the questionnaire contained 68 items. The survey has mainly been distributed via newsletters of organizations representing a majority of compa-nies from the targeted industry (see section 1.3 for details). Furthermore, the survey has been advertised via forum posts, blogs, and website entries in appropriate communities and a sample of randomly drawn companies from databases like Amadeus (www.bvdinfo.com), Yellow Pages, and others were invited to participate via email. This approach, utilizing multiple channels, ensured that a sufficient number (437) of valid and complete responses could be collected (see Chapter 2 for more details). 1.3. Acknowledgments Many people helped to make this survey a success. We would like to thank all who supported us in any matter, especially our colleagues for their constructive discussions and tips. In addition, we thank all our academic and practitioner pretesters, especially Michael Maicher, CEO, Ardour Consulting Group GmbH (ardour.de) and Jens Frenzel, CTO, PROLOGA GmbH (prologa.de), who helped us to redefine unclear items. Furthermore, we thank everybody who distributed the survey among colleagues, forums, and newsletters, especially Damaris Bode, Global Community Director, Iasa Global (iasaglobal.org), and Hans-Peter Fr¨oschle, former CEO, itSMF Deutschland e.V. (itsmf.de), as well as Manuel Fischer, head of section Software and Dr. Mathias Weber, head of section IT Services, BITKOM Bundesverband Infor-mationswirtschaft, Telekommunikation und neue Medien e.V. (bitkom.org). Finally, we thank Russ Lewis, Senior Partner, Storm Consulting (storm-consulting.com) for fruitful discussions and new ideas for inter-preting the results of the survey.
  • 12. 2. Participants Altogether, the survey has been viewed by 1522 persons and 768 of them answered at least one question. Among those respondents, 490 completed the questionnaire. Unfortunately, 53 invalid responses had to be excluded from analysis because they do not belong to the focused industry of software development and IT services. Hence, 437 responses were included for further analysis (see figure 2.1). All following numbers, figures, and tables apply to these 437 responses. In addition, figure 2.1 shows the roles of all participants within their organization. More than one third of them are Enterprise and IT Architects, followed by Chief Executive Officers at nearly 30 %. Chief Informa-tion Officers, Chief Technology Officers, and other IT and ITC Managers sum up to more than 20 %. Roles summarized as Other include leading positions like Managerial Board Members, Chief Financial Officers, Technical Directors, or Senior Managers of Quality Management, Research & Development, Sales, IT, and others. In general, all participants hold leading or managerial positions in their organizations, and hence it is assured that they are able to assess their organization from an extensive point of view and are suitable to answer the survey questions. Figure 2.2 shows the fields of activity of the participating organizations. Most of them are nearly equally distributed within Programming and Software Development (43.1 %), and IT Services and Consultancy (41.6 %). Computer Facilities Management (6.5 %) is less represented. Other includes a mix of different industries, for instance banking, telecommunications, commerce, and advertising, among others. However, all are closely connected with the software and IT service industry or even operate in one of the other three fields, too. Over all, 239 organizations are active in more than one field of activity. Furthermore, the participants were asked to state the location of their organization or, in case of multina-tional companies, the location of their headquarters. As table 2.1 reveals, most companies are situated in Europe, especially Germany. Due to the high number of German participants, a differentiation between Germany and other European countries is possible. A high number of participating organizations are from Chief Executive Officer; 29.1% Chief Information / Technology Officer; 8.2% IT / ITC Manager; 13.5% Other; 13.7% Enterprise / IT Architect; 35.5% no answer; 754 completed, valid; 437 completed, invalid; 53 started; 278 [out of 437 valid responses] Figure 2.1.: Respondents and participants
  • 13. 2. Participants 6 43.1% 41.6% 6.5% 8.8% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Programming and Software Development IT Services and Consultancy Computer Facilities Management Other Figure 2.2.: Fields of activity Location Quantity Ratio No. of Employees Quantity Ratio Germany 178 40.7 % less than 10 95 21.7 % Europe (w/o Germany) 82 18.8 % 10 to 49 87 19.9 % North America 104 23.8 % 50 to 249 87 19.9 % Asia 39 8.9 % more than 250 167 38.2 % Other 34 7.8 % n.a. 1 0.2 % Table 2.1.: Location and size (no. of employees) of participating organizations North America, and 92 are situated in the United States of America. Altogether, organizations from 45 countries worldwide participated in the study. The complete list is given in table A.1 in appendix A.1. The countries were assigned to the regions according the United Nations Statistics Division (United Nations Statistics Division, 2013). The organizations were further distinguished by size, i. e. by their number of employees. For this, the classification of the European Union was used (The Commission of the European Communities, 2003) and the corresponding results are also given in table 2.1. Most of these organizations are huge companies with more than 250 employees. The rest are nearly equally distributed among medium, small, and micro enterprises. However, it is noticeable that the different sizes of participating organizations are unevenly distributed within the regions, as figure 2.3 shows. Most huge companies are situated in North America, whereas the majority of the participating small and medium-sized companies are German. This has an effect on the distribution of the role of the participants, too. The proportion of CEOs is much smaller the larger the organization becomes, and the persons answering the survey more often hold the role of Architects or IT Managers. Thus the roles are also unevenly distributed within the regions (see figure 2.4). This has to be taken into account when interpreting the results.
  • 14. 2. Participants 7 Europe Germany without Germany North America Asia Other 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% less than 10 13.5% 3.0% 3.0% 0.9% 1.4% 10 to 49 11.0% 2.3% 3.9% 1.1% 1.6% 50 to 249 10.5% 4.6% 2.1% 1.1% 1.6% more than 250 5.7% 8.9% 14.6% 5.7% 3.2% n.a. 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% Figure 2.3.: Location vs. size Germany Europe (without Germany) North America Asia Other 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% Chief Executive Officer 20.4% 3.4% 2.5% 1.6% 1.1% Chief Information/Technology Officer 3.2% 1.1% 2.1% 1.4% 0.5% IT/ITC Manager 6.4% 2.3% 3.0% 1.1% 0.7% Enterprise/IT Architect 3.2% 10.1% 13.3% 3.9% 5.0% Other 7.6% 1.8% 3.0% 0.9% 0.5% Figure 2.4.: Location vs. role
  • 15. 2. Participants 8 local; 7.3% national; 24.0% own region; 27.0% worldwide; 38.0% "abroad"; 1.6% n.a.; 2.1% Germany Europe (without Germany) North America Asia Other 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% local 3.7% 0.5% 2.1% 0.0% 1.1% national 14.0% 4.1% 3.4% 1.6% 0.9% own region 13.7% 4.8% 4.8% 1.8% 1.8% worldwide 9.4% 9.2% 12.6% 4.6% 2.3% "abroad" 0.0% 0.0% 0.7% 0.7% 0.2% n.a. 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 1.4% Figure 2.5.: Region of customers Finally, the respondents were asked to state the regions where they serve their customers. The companies were classified as follows: • local: companies that only serve customers in a local area • national: companies that serve customers in a local and/or national area • own region: companies that serve customers in their own region (Europe, North America, etc.) • worldwide: companies that serve customers in at least one additional region than the one where they are located (for instance, a German company with customers in Europe and North America) • “abroad”: companies that serve customers in any region but the one where they are located (for instance, an Indian company with customers in Europe and North America) The left side of figure 2.5 shows the numbers of the whole sample. The proportions of the different classes were found to be well distributed. Approximately one third (31.3 %) only serve local and national cus-tomers. 27 % serve customers in their own region. That means their customers are often farther away but the cooperation is not as complex as in worldwide operating companies (for instance, due to similar time zones). Most of the companies (38 %) are operating worldwide in at least two different regions. Finally, the numbers of companies that only have customers in other regions or that did not give sufficient information about their customers are very small. The right side of figure 2.5 distinguishes the region of customers between the locations of the participating organizations. It becomes clear that there is similar distribution within the different regions. The only exception is, again, a smaller proportion of companies operating worldwide within the German participants.
  • 16. 3. Selected Results Selected descriptive results of the survey are presented and discussed in this chapter. Section 3.1 gives the reader a summary of the results of all questions asked. For every part of the questionnaire, the distribution and ratio of all answers as well as the average value are given in a summarizing table and figure and are shortly described. Section 3.2 takes a closer look at various subgroups of participants regarding role, location, company size, or region of customers. Remarkable and interesting facts are discussed and interpreted. Furthermore, additional statistics and figures are given in appendix A.4. 3.1. Overview 3.1.1. Agile Values and Principles The first section of the questionnaire dealt with values and principles that are prevalent within the organi-zations. These questions help to determine the overall culture and the way of thinking of the company’s managers and employees. Table 3.1 summarizes the answers of all participants and averages each item. The table reveals that all items have an average around 2 (mainly). However, the given percentages for every item show that there are a variety of answers across the complete scale. This picture is further illustrated by figure 3.1. It shows that huge parts of the respondents answered the items with mainly or completely. This indicates a rather agile attitude in most of the participating organi-zations. Nevertheless, a proportion of approximately 20 to 30 % of the respondents state that they see the given values and principles only partly fulfilled. Finally, around 10 % say that their company shares these values and principles little or even not at all. Furthermore, one can recognize that the average values for the first five items, representing the general values of an organization (“. . . values a culture. . . ”), are slightly lower than for the second group of items, representing concrete aspects of implementations of such a culture (“. . . prefer. . . ”). Hence, one may con-clude that the majority of respondents states that their organization shares agile values but cannot put them into practice accordingly. The following is an illustrative example: nearly three quarters state that their company values a culture that “considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities” completely or mainly. But at the same time, more than 40 % stated that their company prefers “simplicity, i. e. skipping [...] features that go beyond the customer requirements” and “market-related changes [...] to generate new opportunities” partly at best. This indicates that there may be room for improvements regarding customer-related behavior.
  • 17. 3. Selected Results 10 1 2 3 4 5 Average completely mainly partly little not at all Our organization values a culture that. . . . . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 32.5 % 39.4 % 21.3 % 5.7 % 1.1 % 2.0 . . . considers team work as integral part. 48.3 % 38.9 % 10.3 % 2.1 % 0.5 % 1.7 . . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of 29.7 % 41.2 % 25.2 % 3.4 % 0.5 % 2.0 employees. . . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. 26.5 % 40.3 % 26.3 % 6.2 % 0.7 % 2.1 . . . considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. 30.9 % 41.2 % 22.0 % 5.0 % 0.9 % 2.0 Our organization prefers. . . . . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or “fire-fighting”. 28.4 % 38.2 % 22.2 % 9.2 % 2.1 % 2.2 . . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 39.4 % 30.4 % 18.3 % 9.4 % 2.5 % 2.1 . . . face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. 29.7 % 36.6 % 22.2 % 10.8 % 0.7 % 2.2 . . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. 22.0 % 36.4 % 30.2 % 9.4 % 2.1 % 2.3 . . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 24.9 % 34.8 % 27.5 % 11.0 % 1.8 % 2.3 Table 3.1.: Ratio and average regarding agile values and principles Our organization values a culture that... ...harnesses change for competitive advantages. …considers team work as integral part. …accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. ...is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. …considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. Our organization prefers... …a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or "fire-fighting". ...face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. ...simplicity, i.e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. …market-related changes (e.g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% …the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e.g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. completely mainly partly little not at all Figure 3.1.: Distribution of answers regarding agile values and principles
  • 18. 3. Selected Results 11 Additionally, two items are interesting because the proportion of respondents answering completely is larger for these than for the others. These are the items “Our organization values a culture that considers team work as integral part,” and “Our organization prefers the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures.” Both items are related to the structural aspects of how the work is organized with and between the employees and managers. That is a positive sign because supporting teamwork and reducing hierarchical barriers are basic fundamentals for an organization to become agile (Sherehiy, Karwowski, & Layer, 2007; Nerur, Mahapatra, & Mangalaraj, 2005). 3.1.2. Agile Conditions and IT/IS To become agile, it is not enough to simply “value” or “prefer” an organizational culture containing agility-related aspects. An organization has to establish the necessary infrastructure and environment to provide the base for an agile organization. Elements are an appropriate strategy that shapes the path to agility, effective communication processes throughout the whole organization, and informed, motivated, and skilled people, as well as suitable information systems and technologies that support the organization in all matters (Kettunen, 2009; Sharifi & Zhang, 1999; Sharifi, Colquhoun, Barclay, & Dann, 2001). Hence, the second part of the questionnaire focused on these issues, with five items related to general con-ditions and seven items asking about IT- and IS-specific conditions. Table 3.2 summarizes the distribution of answers over all participants and the average value for every item. An additional illustration is again given in figure 3.2. 1 2 3 4 5 Average completely mainly partly little not at all Our organization has. . . . . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. 20.6 % 38.2 % 30.0 % 8.2 % 3.0 % 2.3 . . . an intensive employee training program. 14.2 % 28.0 % 27.2 % 22.2 % 8.5 % 2.8 . . . employees that have a good understanding of how 23.1 % 45.5 % 23.3 % 6.9 % 1.1 % 2.2 their own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. . . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 21.5 % 40.1 % 26.8 % 7.3 % 4.4 % 2.3 . . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. 22.4 % 40.1 % 24.0 % 8.9 % 4.6 % 2.3 Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . . . .make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. 28.6 % 39.6 % 24.3 % 6.6 % 1.1 % 2.1 . . . provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. 20.8 % 41.9 % 27.0 % 8.2 % 2.1 % 2.3 . . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. 23.8 % 42.8 % 26.3 % 5.7 % 1.3 % 2.2 . . . enable decentralization in decision making. 18.5 % 30.7 % 33.0 % 12.8 % 5.0 % 2.6 . . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or 30.0 % 36.2 % 21.5 % 9.8 % 2.5 % 2.2 business units. . . . are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. 26.1 % 33.0 % 26.1 % 10.5 % 4.3 % 2.3 . . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. 15.6 % 27.4 % 34.3 % 18.3 % 4.3 % 2.7 Table 3.2.: Ratio and average regarding agile conditions and IT/IS In general, the obtained results reveal that the implementation of the mentioned conditions is also at an advanced stage, with averages between 2 (mainly) and 3 (partly). However, the average values, as well as
  • 19. 3. Selected Results 12 Our organization has... ...effective "top-down" and "bottom-up" communication processes. ...an intensive employee training program. ...employees that have a good understanding of how their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. …a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. ...a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... …make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. ...provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. …are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. ...enable decentralization in decision making. ...are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. …are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. ...enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% completely mainly partly little not at all Figure 3.2.: Distribution of answers regarding agile conditions and IT/IS the proportion of people answering with little or not at all (approximately 8 to 15 %), are slightly higher than the averages of agile values and principles (see section 3.1.1). That supports the assumption that it takes some effort from valuing an agile culture to take the actions needed. One result within the first set of items stands out. It is the item “Our organization has an intensive em-ployee training program.” This item achieved only an average of 2.8 (partly) and shows a clearly different distribution of answers. Only 42 % agree completely or mainly with this statement. However, continuous and purposeful training of employees is one essential component to creating an agile workforce and, as Sherehiy et al. state, “represents an investment into future success” (p. 448). Additionally, two other items only reach an average score that lies within the scope of partly. These are both IS-related aspects that “. . . enable decentralization in decision making” and “. . . enable [the organiza-tions] to fully integrate [their] customers and partners into [their] processes.” Both are tasks that are not easily fulfilled, so it is surprising that even approximately 19 % and 16 %, respectively, claim that their organization fulfills these requirements completely. 3.1.3. Agile Capabilities The well-known “Lehigh-Report” from 1991 has already stated that “agility is accomplished by integrating three resources: technology, management, workforce” (Iacocca Institute, 1991, p. 8). Hence, the third part of the questionnaire focused on the capabilities that are needed within an agile organization. Capabilities enhancing agility enable an organization to cope with uncertainty and change and to stay competitive in
  • 20. 3. Selected Results 13 1 2 3 4 5 Average all many some few none Our managers. . . . . .maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. 27.0 % 38.4 % 24.0 % 9.2 % 1.4 % 2.2 . . . understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. 31.6 % 37.1 % 22.2 % 7.8 % 1.4 % 2.1 . . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. 24.7 % 36.6 % 26.1 % 11.4 % 1.1 % 2.3 . . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or 22.2 % 32.7 % 32.5 % 11.0 % 1.6 % 2.4 services. . . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. 19.7 % 36.6 % 28.6 % 14.0 % 1.1 % 2.4 . . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. 20.4 % 34.1 % 31.8 % 11.0 % 2.8 % 2.4 . . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. 20.8 % 36.8 % 28.8 % 11.4 % 2.1 % 2.4 Our employees. . . . . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. 16.9 % 44.9 % 29.5 % 8.0 % 0.7 % 2.3 . . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. 10.1 % 35.7 % 41.7 % 12.4 % 0.2 % 2.6 . . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. 23.6 % 50.6 % 21.3 % 4.4 % 0.2 % 2.1 . . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. 16.0 % 48.7 % 26.3 % 8.7 % 0.2 % 2.3 . . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. 31.1 % 47.1 % 14.4 % 6.9 % 0.5 % 2.0 . . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. 27.5 % 47.6 % 18.8 % 6.0 % 0.23 % 2.0 . . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. 29.5 % 41.7 % 21.5 % 7.1 % 0.2 % 2.1 . . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. 18.8 % 46.9 % 26.5 % 7.6 % 0.2 % 2.2 . . . can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. 21.3 % 38.4 % 29.1 % 9.8 % 1.4 % 2.3 . . . are self-motivated. 17.6 % 43.0 % 30.2 % 8.5 % 0.7 % 2.3 . . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. 13.0 % 35.2 % 35.9 % 14.9 % 0.9 % 2.6 Table 3.3.: Ratio and average regarding agile capabilities a volatile market environment. These are therefore a key aspect of an agile organization (Sharifi et al., 2001; Tseng & Lin, 2011). However, the people of an organization rather than the organization itself possess capabilities. Thus, seven items addressed the capabilities of managers, while eleven items focused on the employees’ capabilities. Please note the changed answer scale asking how many of the managers and employees share the stated capabilities. Table 3.3 and figure 3.3 summarize the answers regarding agile capabilities. The average values over all participants are all between 2 (many) and 3 (some). Not many participants answered with few, and nearly nobody stated that none of the managers and employees share the stated capabilities. The distribution of answers is very similar for every item within both blocks. No item shows any conspicuous deviations. The two items with the worst average value of 2.6 each both address employees’ capabilities. They are namely that the employees “. . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment” and “. . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner.” Although the dif-ference to the other items is not that huge, the latter is still interesting. An agile organization is characterized
  • 21. 3. Selected Results 14 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% all many some few none Our managers... ...maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. ...understand the value of IT investments from a company‐wide perspective. ...have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. ...are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. ...are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. ...are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, ...) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. ...manage the sharing of information, know‐how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Our employees... ...are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. ...are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. ...are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. ...use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. ...communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. ...are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. ...are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. ...obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. ...can re‐organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. ...are self‐motivated. ...take responsibility and think in a business‐like manner. Figure 3.3.: Distribution of answers regarding agile capabilities
  • 22. 3. Selected Results 15 by a culture that allows decision making at all hierarchical levels and distributes authority to all employees of the organization (Breu, Hemingway, Strathern, & Bridger, 2001; Goldman et al., 1995). However, the re-sults for the named item indicate that, despite the fact that an appropriate culture is valued (please compare item “Our organization values a culture that accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees” in section 3.1.1), the employees are to some extent reluctant to take responsibility. This is an important issue that should not be neglected. A similar phenomenon has already been identified with a case study at an agile software development company, where the employees had a tendency to let their own decisions be confirmed by management (Wendler & Gr¨aning, 2011). Another interesting aspect is the different distribution of answers between the two item blocks. Looking at the items for employees, one can see that the majority of respondents answered with many. At the managers’ side, however, the answers all, many, and some share relatively equal proportions. 3.1.4. Agile Activities Finally, an organization may have a generally agile attitude and the needed capabilities may be available. These are prerequisites, but they do not automatically make an organization agile. In the end, the actions and activities that are carried out by the organization and its members determine the organization’s actual degree of agility. Similar to methodologies in the field of agile software development, the literature suggests a lot of practices determining what things and how these things have to be done (see appendix A.3 for related sources). Hence, the last and most comprehensive part of the questionnaire concentrated on this issue. Six items focused on the activities of employees, and another six items looked at the activities of the organization regarding its employees. Finally, another set of 16 items summarized the general activities of the whole organization. Please not that the answer scale changed again, now asking how often the activities are carried out. Again, table 3.4 and figures 3.4 and 3.5 deliver an overview of the answers regarding agile activities. The majority of answers lie in the area of always, often, and sometimes. The average values are seldom below 2, i. e. “better” than often and never above 3 (sometimes). However, for some items, the proportion of participants answering with 4 (seldom) or 5 (never) is around 20%. This is higher than within the other parts of the questionnaire and may show some weaknesses in carrying out activities indicating agile behavior. First, two employee-related items attract attention with the lowest average values of 1.9 and 1.8, respec-tively, and less than 5 % of participants answering with seldom or never for both. These items are “Our employees work in small teams in their projects” and “Regarding our employees, we trust them to get their job done.” The items concerning self-organized teams and a close collaboration between different teams and departments are closely connected, and a relatively high proportion of participants stated always and often (approximately 70 to 75 %) for these items. This is positive because both a flexible structure with small teams and an environment of trust are important indicators for an agile organization especially in the software and IT services industry (Lindvall et al., 2002; Misra, Kumar, & Kumar, 2009; Nerur et al., 2005). To the contrary, up to approximately 25 % state that their employees seldom or never “rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions, or departments.” This is critical because job rotation is useful to train employees in multiple skills and to enhance job enrichment, both important aspects for an agile workforce (Gunasekaran, 1999; V´azquez-Bustelo, Avella, & Fern´andez, 2007). Also, offering incentives to promote training and the alignment of incentives with team-based behavior is less developed.
  • 23. 3. Selected Results 16 1 2 3 4 5 Average always often sometimes seldom never Our employees. . . . . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. 26.5 % 49.2 % 16.7 % 7.1 % 0.5 % 2.1 . . . organize themselves in their teams. 26.8 % 44.9 % 20.8 % 6.2 % 1.4 % 2.1 . . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more 14.7 % 33.9 % 37.3 % 13.0 % 1.1 % 2.5 effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. . . .work in small teams in their projects. 32.0 % 49.4 % 15.3 % 2.5 % 0.7 % 1.9 . . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 24.7 % 41.7 % 20.6 % 9.6 % 3.4 % 2.3 . . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or 11.7 % 28.2 % 33.6 % 21.7 % 4.8 % 2.8 departments. Regarding our employees, we. . . . . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. 16.7 % 46.2 % 25.6 % 9.2 % 2.3 % 2.3 . . . trust them to get their job done. 36.6 % 48.3 % 11.7 % 3.0 % 0.5 % 1.8 . . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team 21.5 % 28.8 % 26.1 % 15.8 % 7.8 % 2.6 and their contribution to the overall organization. . . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. 22.0 % 32.3 % 27.0 % 12.4 % 6.4 % 2.5 . . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. 23.8 % 38.9 % 23.6 % 10.8 % 3.0 % 2.3 . . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s long-term future development. 26.3 % 34.8 % 23.3 % 10.8 % 4.8 % 2.3 In our organization, we. . . . . . scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. 18.8 % 37.5 % 30.9 % 10.3 % 2.5 % 2.4 . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. 13.7 % 37.3 % 34.8 % 11.2 % 3.0 % 2.5 . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. 12.1 % 34.1 % 34.8 % 15.6 % 3.4 % 2.6 . . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. 22.0 % 42.3 % 24.7 % 9.8 % 1.1 % 2.3 . . . change authorities when tasks change. 15.6 % 30.9 % 32.7 % 16.3 % 4.6 % 2.6 . . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different 23.1 % 39.4 % 25.2 % 10.5 % 1.8 % 2.3 functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. . . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. 21.5 % 41.4 % 24.9 % 10.8 % 1.4 % 2.3 . . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. 16.5 % 34.3 % 31.4 % 15.1 % 2.8 % 2.5 . . . inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. 28.8 % 38.7 % 22.9 % 8.7 % 0.9 % 2.1 . . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. 24.7 % 38.2 % 26.3 % 9.6 % 1.1 % 2.2 . . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 18.5 % 41.4 % 25.6 % 12.6 % 1.8 % 2.4 . . .monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. 25.4 % 35.0 % 23.6 % 13.5 % 2.5 % 2.3 . . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 27.2 % 38.7 % 20.6 % 11.2 % 2.3 % 2.2 . . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. 31.1 % 43.9 % 18.1 % 5.3 % 1.6 % 2.0 . . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. 23.1 % 38.7 % 25.9 % 10.3 % 2.1 % 2.3 . . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. 35.5 % 39.8 % 17.2 % 5.7 % 1.8 % 2.0 Table 3.4.: Ratio and average regarding agile activities
  • 24. 3. Selected Results 17 Our employees... ...collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. ...organize themselves in their teams. ...reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. ...work in small teams in their projects. ...form teams that are geographically closely located. ...rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Regarding our employees, we... ...manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. ...trust them to get their job done. ...offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their contribution to the overall organization. ...offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. ...encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. ...develop employees skills with a view to the firm's long-term future development. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% always often sometimes seldom never Figure 3.4.: Distribution of answers regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees)
  • 25. 3. Selected Results 18 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% always often sometimes seldom never In our organization, we... ...scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. ...are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. ...change authorities when tasks change. ...jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. ...encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. ...design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. ...inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. ...strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. ...focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. ...monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. ...select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). ...align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. ...encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. ...closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. Figure 3.5.: Distribution of answers regarding agile activities (general)
  • 26. 3. Selected Results 19 The items of general activities are relatively similar to each other. Activities that are carried out less frequently throughout all participating organizations are “. . . change authorities when tasks change” and “. . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy,” with an average value of 2.6 each. On the other hand, items concerning customer collaboration and customer satisfaction are assessed with a higher frequency of activity. Both aspects are important and are seen as key issues for every company, espe-cially in software development (Kettunen, 2009; Sherehiy et al., 2007). However, no single item regarding activities was answered by more than 40 % of the participants with always. This is quite surprising because all stated activities are known as practices that enhance the agility of an organization. This shows that these activities are not carried out on a regular basis and hence are not established in the majority of organizations in processes, instructions, strategies, etc. 3.2. Differentiated Discussion by Subgroups This section discusses some details of the results concerning agile values and principles. Selected figures and tables will illustrate the findings. For additional tables and graphics showing more details, please refer to appendix A.4. Please note that a shorter bar (i. e. a lower average) generally represents a “better” assessment of the respective items and shows a higher dissemination of agile values, more people sharing particular capabilities, a more frequent execution of agility-related activities, and so on. 3.2.1. Analysis by Role When comparing the answers given by respondents in different roles, the first noticeable aspect is that CEOs often answered in the “most positive” way (i. e. with the lowest average values) for nearly all items in the complete questionnaire. For instance, approximately 40 to 50 % of CEOs answered completely to the items dealing with values and principles. On the contrary, the group of Enterprise and IT Architects often answered in the “most critical” way. One particular example is the item “Our organization prefers the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures.” Architects assess this item with 2.6 on average and more than 50 % answered partly or less. On the other hand, CEOs score 1.4 on average, with more than 90 % answering mainly or better. This comparison is illustrated in figure 3.6. Furthermore, it is suspicious that CEOs very seldom answer in the “worst” two categories (little or not at all / few or none / seldom or never). For example, table 3.5 shows the distribution of CEOs’ answers to the first five items containing the general conditions. In most cases (with the exception of employee training), less than one percent of CEOs chose one of the last two categories. This marks a clear differentiation from all other groups where these percentages are higher. Similar distributions are observable for agile capabilities and activities, too. The difference between CEOs and other groups is mostly from 0.5 up to 1.0 points, and sometimes even greater. Generally, the differences between CEOs and others are relatively huge for items related to strategy, decentralization in decision making, and cooperation and communication issues. This is supported by the relatively huge deviation of the Architects’ answers for items that are about the elimination of barriers, managers coaching and
  • 27. 3. Selected Results 20 Our organization prefers the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Enterprise/IT Architect Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer Enterprise/IT Architect completely 66.14% 20.65% mainly 29.13% 26.45% partly 3.94% 30.97% little 0.00% 18.71% not at all 0.79% 3.23% Figure 3.6.: Illustrative example for differences between CEOs and Architects 1 2 3 4 5 completely mainly partly little not at all Our organization has. . . . . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. 37.8 % 44.1 % 16.5 % 0.8 % 0.8 % . . . an intensive employee training program. 12.6 % 31.5 % 32.3 % 18.9 % 4.8 % . . . employees that have a good understanding of how their own job 39.4 % 49.6 % 11.0 % 0.0 % 0.0 % relates to the firm’s overall activity. . . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 35.4 % 52.0 % 11.0 % 0.8 % 0.8 % . . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. 33.1 % 48.8 % 14.2 % 3.2 % 0.8 % Table 3.5.: Details regarding agile conditions rated by CEOs inspiring people, a long-term oriented employee development, and cooperation and involvement of several departments and functions in strategic decision-making and new product development. This emphasizes that there is room for improvement concerning these aspects, although the management board might regard them as sufficient. As mentioned above, Enterprise and IT Architects score a higher average for some of the items, but in most cases the averages of CIOs / CTOs, IT Managers, Architects, and others are close to each other. Hence, differences between the other groups (except CEOs) in the organization are of minor importance. Only very few items throughout the questionnaire show answers that do not confirm the observations above. One exception is the item “Our organization has an intensive employee training program.” This item is rather interesting because it shows the worst assessment from CIOs and CTOs (with nearly 50 % stating little or not at all). Yet this item simultaneously shows the best, nearly opposite rating, from IT Managers (see figure 3.7). This could indicate that the training programs do not optimally match the requirements of different stakeholders. Other exceptions are the items regarding the activities of employees (see figure A.4). Although CEOs still give the “best” assessment in most cases, the different roles (including CEOs) are much closer to each other for these items than for most other items. Hence, a consensus seems to exist about what the employees do and how they do it. However, the items containing the general activities of the organization and activities regarding employees (see figures A.4 and A.5) deliver very large differences as well. For instance, the items “In our organization, we jointly and intensively operate throughout the functions and/or departments
  • 28. 3. Selected Results 21 Our organization has an intensive training program. IT/ITC Manager CIO/CTO 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% CIO/CTO IT/ITC Manager completely 8.33% 20.34% mainly 16.67% 27.12% partly 27.78% 28.81% little 33.33% 22.03% not at all 13.89% 1.69% Figure 3.7.: Details for difference between CIOs/CTOs and IT/ITC Managers regarding training 3,0 2,5 2,0 1,5 1,0 0,5 0,0 ...jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. ...encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. In our organization, we... 1.7 1.8 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.7 2.7 2.3 2.3 Figure 3.8.: Details for items focusing on cooperative activities by role for strategic decision making” and “. . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or func-tions in new product and/or service development” show an assessment that differs approximately 0.5 points between CEOs and CIOs/CTOs and again between IT Managers and Architects (see figure 3.8). However, an effective cooperation between departments and/or functions for strategic purposes has to be supported by management and employees in managing positions. The fact that the assessment is so differentiated shows that the perception of organizational activities, which are often also shaped by the participants themselves, is dependent on the actual role of the participants. In summary, it can be assumed that CEOs look at the overall agility of the company from a different and potentially more positive perspective than other members of the company. Generally, the more specialized the role of the participant, the more critically they assess the given items. However, it is also possible that these differences stem from the different sizes of the participating companies. Taking into account that the
  • 29. 3. Selected Results 22 majority of participating CEOs are from small and micro companies (24.5 % of all participants), this is likely to result in an interactive effect of role and size. 3.2.2. Analysis by Size Analyzing the data for the different sizes (measured by number of employees), a clear trend is that the smaller the company is, the better the participants assessed nearly all items, indicating a more agile atti-tude and behavior. This observation is consistent with the literature. It is assumed that organizational size (besides the environment and an organizational strategy) is one of the key contingencies allowing an organi-zation to fit changing circumstances over time (Sherehiy et al., 2007). Charbonnier-Voirin also found in her study that small entities allow organizations to be more reactive and sensitive and that sometimes processes are slowed down when organizations are larger (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011). Although the overall difference is not as large as expected, another issue confirms this trend. The proportion of participants from large organizations choosing the best value from the answer scales (completely, all, always) is in most cases smaller, and the proportion of people choosing answers like partly, not at all, never, etc. rises compared to smaller organizations (see figure 3.9 for an example). Our organization values a culture that is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. more than 250 50 to 249 10 to 49 less than 10 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% less than 10 10 to 49 50 to 249 more than 250 completely 43.16% 29.89% 25.29% 16.17% mainly 46.32% 43.68% 36.78% 36.53% partly 9.47% 24.14% 28.74% 35.93% little 1.05% 2.30% 8.05% 10.18% not at all 0.00% 0.00% 1.15% 1.20% Figure 3.9.: Illustrative example for size-dependent trend The results indicate that the organization’s size is an important factor influencing the efforts necessary to become agile, which must be taken seriously. The more complex and distinctive the structure and hierarchy of an organization is, the more problems arise hindering the way to organizational agility. This is further un-derscored by the observation that micro and small organizations (up to 50 employees) with a less distinctive structure often score similarly for many items, while medium and large organizations reach a clearly worse (i. e. higher) average value. Figure 3.10 illustrates this aspect with a sampling of examples from all over the questionnaire, pointing out some problems that arise as soon as a certain level of hierarchy exists. The main problem areas for large- and medium-sized organizations are internal communication and cooperation across departments and hierarchical levels, as well as customer collaboration. Another interesting size-related aspect is the area of employees’ capabilities. In principal, the size-dependent trend is again confirmed. However, especially for items concerning a trust-based communication among the
  • 30. 3. Selected Results 23 total average less than 10 10 to 49 50 to 249 more than 250 Our organization prefers the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e.g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. Our organization prefers face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. Our organization has employees that have a good understanding of how their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. Our managers are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, ...) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. Regarding our employees, we manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. In our organization, we encourage early involve-ment of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. In our organization, we encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Figure 3.10.: Examples demonstrating hierarchy-dependent problems less 10 50 more than 10 to 49 to 249 than 250 Our employees. . . . . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. 52.6 % 41.4 % 21.8 % 15.0 % . . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update 50.5 % 27.6 % 26.4 % 9.0 % knowledge. . . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. 53.7 % 32.2 % 28.7 % 12.0 % Table 3.6.: Proportion of participants answering that all employees share particular capabilities (illustrative examples) employees and the principal willingness to continuously learn, large organization have suspiciously higher average values. This indicates that these important capabilities are less existent among their employees (see figure A.8 in appendix A.4.2). Additionally, the proportion of participants from large organizations stating that all employees share these capabilities is much lower than for smaller companies (see table 3.6). This is a critical aspect again because training programs are only one piece of the puzzle – capability and willingness to learn is equally important. Only when both aspects are well established can an appropriate form of organizational learning result, which again is an important element for organizational agility (Chan & Thong, 2009; V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007; Wendler, 2013). When speaking about training, the item “Our organization has an intensive training program” shows a surprising distribution because it is distributed against the identified size-related trend. This seems obvious initially because small firms often cannot afford such programs. Despite this, the fact that the results for smaller organizations normally indicate a higher agility within this survey raises the question of how important is the aspect of employee training to increasing agility (besides informal learning like mentoring or “learning by doing”). One explanation could be that intensive employee training programs are only
  • 31. 3. Selected Results 24 In our organization, we... ...focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. ...monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. total average less than 10 10 to 49 50 to 249 more than 250 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Figure 3.11.: Averages regarding partner-related activities an essential issue for larger firms because their structure hinders them from relying on informal training techniques. Partner-related activities reveal another interesting issue. For the items “In our organization, we focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors” and “. . .monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely,” medium-sized organizations have the high-est average value (see figure 3.11). Although the differences between the sizes are not large here, this is still meaningful because these are the only items where medium-sized organizations score worst. This may indicate that medium-sized companies have the most problems managing their outsourcing relation-ships, maybe because they did not yet incorporate such processes as successfully as larger companies. The outsourcing relations of smaller companies, however, may not yet be as complex. However, some items show no or only negligible differences between the differently sized organizations. First of all, a culture supporting teamwork is always high rated, with approximately 40 to 60 % of partici-pants stating that their organization shares that idea completely. Also, looking at the IT-related conditions (see figure A.7), there is one item where almost no difference is observable: “Our organization has In-formation Systems and Technologies that enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes”. This indicates either that the technological requirements to integrate partners and customers are not satisfactory or that the organizations – no matter of what size – do not really want to integrate them into their own processes. Such a situation was discovered in a case study, where a kind of fear of sharing knowl-edge or losing bargaining power existed among the employees and managers of the company (Wendler & Gr¨aning, 2011). A last interesting aspect is also that the adaption to changing tasks by changing authorities shows nearly no differences between the differently sized organizations (see figure A.10). To summarize this section, the size of an organization seems to be an important factor influencing the potential organizational agility. It becomes clear that smaller companies have advantages in most aspects covered by the questionnaire. This is underscored by the fact that items directly related to the organizational structure reveal greater differences between the differently sized companies. But as the analysis shows, there are also activities where no differences exist. Hence, although size may determine the initial grade of organizational agility, this only means that larger firms have to extend more effort when improving their agility. 3.2.3. Analysis by Location Analyzing the data differentiated by location allows for the observation of cultural differences within the different regions. As explained in Chapter 2, the data was divided into participating organizations from Europe, North America, Asia, and others (see A.1 for further details). Additionally, a detailed view on Germany is possible due to the high number of responses.
  • 32. 3. Selected Results 25 Regarding our employees, we... ...offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their contribution to the overall organization. ...offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 In our organization, we... ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. ...jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. ...monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Figure 3.12.: Exemplary items showing higher average value for European organizations For most of the items, a clear differentiation or trend between the locations, or conspicuous deviations, is missing. This indicates that cultural influences are of minor importance in the field of software development and IT services. The reason may be that this is a rather globally oriented industry and, as figure 2.5 shows, many companies serve their customers worldwide. However, this does not imply that cultural differences are irrelevant, it just shows that they are less prevalent than one would expect. One observation is surprising: the European countries (without Germany) show a slightly worse assessment (i. e. a higher average value) for many items than all other regions. In particular, the difference between Germany and the other European countries is relatively high. Additionally, the unequal distribution of micro and small organizations seems to play a less important role here because the differences in the average values between participants from Germany and other locations worldwide are often very small. This deviation of European countries becomes particularly apparent when looking at the items asking about general activities and regarding employees (see figures A.14 and A.15). For instance, the items addressing the offering of skill-based incentives, the reactivity by updating strategies and processes, the internal collaboration for strategic decision making, or the monitoring of subcontractors show a clearly higher average value for European countries (see figure 3.12). The reason for this phenomenon cannot be easily uncovered by the survey data. One explanation may be that the results reflect the current economical situation in Europe, where Germany has a better economic situation than the European average. However, the data shows that the answers of German participants indicate a slightly higher agility, whereas other European countries seem to struggle more than others with adapting to new situations. Additionally, a slightly higher percentage of European participants chose the “worst” category of the answer scale (not at all, none, never) for the items. There are a few exceptions to this phenomenon: For instance, the item regarding the elimination of barriers shows the highest average value for participants from Asia. This is also true for IT-related items focusing on decentralization in decision making as well as integrated and standardized technologies among different departments. The items asking about the capabilities of employees and managers, as well as the items concerning the activities of employees, were answered in a relatively similar manner worldwide.
  • 33. 3. Selected Results 26 Our organization values a culture that harnesses change for competitive advantages. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% "abroad" worldwide own region national local local national own region worldwide "abroad" completely 15.63% 28.57% 31.36% 39.76% 28.57% mainly 37.50% 40.95% 39.83% 37.95% 57.14% partly 28.13% 23.81% 21.19% 18.67% 14.29% little 12.50% 5.71% 6.78% 3.01% 0.00% not at all 6.25% 0.95% 0.85% 0.60% 0.00% Our organization prefers market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opprtunities. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% "abroad" worldwide own region national local local national own region worldwide "abroad" completely 18.75% 20.00% 25.42% 28.31% 42.86% mainly 28.13% 31.43% 36.44% 37.35% 28.57% partly 31.25% 36.19% 21.19% 25.90% 28.57% little 18.75% 9.52% 13.56% 8.43% 0.00% not at all 3.13% 2.86% 3.39% 0.00% 0.00% Figure 3.13.: Illustrative examples showing adaptability issues for organizations with local customers 3.2.4. Analysis by Customers Finally, a differentiated analysis by the region of customers has been applied. The results are a bit unex-pected. Generally, the concept of agility, especially in the software development and IT service context, puts a lot of emphasis on aspects like frequent communication, close collaboration, and personal interac-tion with customers to ensure the delivery of products with expected quality and scope (Beck et al., 2001; Misra et al., 2009; Sarker & Sarker, 2009). With that in mind, one could assume that a customer nearby is a prerequisite for an agile organization or at least would enhance the actual organizational agility. Interestingly, in most cases the participants of companies that only serve local customers score the highest averages for the items, which indicates a worse organizational agility. At first, this looks like a contradiction. However, companies serving only local customers are often very specialized and thus can be too niche-oriented. With a too strong alignment to a few key customers, it is more difficult to adapt to changes in the environment. Figure 3.13 shows two illustrative examples underscoring this assumption. It becomes clear that the proportion of participants stating that their organization completely shares the stated values and principles gets smaller for organizations operating with local customers only. Simultaneously, the proportion of respondents stating little or not at all rises.
  • 34. 3. Selected Results 27 Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% ...are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. ...enable decentralization in decision making. ...enable decentralization in decision making. ...are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. completely 28.57% 28.57% mainly 14.29% 14.29% partly 14.29% 28.57% little 14.29% 0.00% not at all 28.57% 28.57% Figure 3.14.: Details about agile IT/IS for companies serving customers abroad Of course, companies with local customers have the opportunity to quickly communicate or physically meet with their customers if required. This is a reactive behavior confirming a good flexibility, but agility asks for proactivity instead of or in addition to reactivity (Conboy, 2009). Also, organizations serving customers in other regions of the world are in a much greater need to establish methods and processes to ensure a frequent and regulated collaboration with the customer (see Simons, 2006 for an illustrative example). This, in turn, actively supports the agility of these organizations. That is underscored by the fact that the integration of customers works best for organizations serving only customers “abroad”. It can be assumed that they don’t have the opportunity to arrange in person meetings on a regular basis for close cooperation and hence have to put more emphasis on a functioning and efficient (remote) integration of customers. The phenomenon described above is also present for many items concerning the capabilities of managers and employees as well as for some of the activity-related items (see figures A.18 to A.20). Activities concerning team- and skill-based incentives, as well as a long-term-oriented development of employees’ skills, peaks negatively for organizations with local customers. In addition, reaction to changes by updating strategies and processes shows the highest average values here and hence supports the assumption of a too specialized focus. Furthermore, there are also items showing the worst results for organizations with customers “abroad”. First, IT and IS are less integrated throughout the organization and so the ability to support a decentralized decision-making suffers (with nearly 30 % stating not at all). Figure 3.14 illustrates this aspect further. Looking at the capabilities for managers, two other items garner attention and underscore this observation: The item “Our managers understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective” shows a clearly higher average value for these organizations and may explain the lack of integrated IT systems. In addition, the capability to “quickly implement changes in products and/or services” is also assessed in a similar way (see figure A.18). Finally, activities concerning the change of authorities with changing tasks and internal cooperation reveal the worst assessment for these organizations (see figure A.20). An explanation could be that these companies often mainly serve as outsourcing partners. Items directly related to customers are of particular interest within this section. However, a closer look at the last three items of general activities reveals no deviations between the groups of different customer regions. Only the dissemination of information on customer needs shows a slightly better rating for organizations serving customers “abroad”, but this is more related to organizational learning than actual customer align-
  • 35. 3. Selected Results 28 local national own world- “abroad” total region wide average In our organization, we. . . . . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.0 . . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.3 1.9 2.3 . . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.0 Table 3.7.: Average values of customer-related items by region of customers ment. This is rather surprising because it shows that the actual distance to the customer does not directly influence the customer-related organizational agility. This is illustrated by the average values in table 3.7. Summarizing the observations, it becomes clear that a close distance to the customers does not automatically lead to advantages regarding organizational agility. This is somehow inconsistent with theory. A missing proximity to the customer, which inhibits the possibility of personal interaction at short notice, is mostly seen as an obstacle for agility, especially in the software domain (Bleek &Wolf, 2008). But the results of the survey show that organizations with local or national customers do not automatically gain any advantages – on the contrary, the results even show a worse rating for many items by participants from companies only serving local customers. Therefore, the geographical distance seems to be less important than one might expect. Maybe organizations with customers farther away are even better at aligning their processes and actions to their customers because they are somehow forced to handle customer interaction in a more structured way. However, this question cannot be answered by the collected data.
  • 36. 4. Conclusion 4.1. Summary This report gives a descriptive overview of the survey results. For all items, the average values have been calculated over the whole sample as well as for different subgroups regarding role of the participants, size and location of the organizations, and region of customers. Furthermore, the results have been compared and selected issues have been identified and discussed. The purpose of this document was to give a compre-hensive overview, particularly to the participants of the survey. Further statistical investigations will follow (see section 4.3). In general, the results indicate that the international software and IT services industry is relatively well set up regarding its organizational agility on average and should continue with its efforts to improve agile behavior. To be agile requires more than sticking to particular methodologies or programs. It starts with values, which are translated into an appropriate culture and strategy as well as aligned with staff sharing corresponding capabilities. Finally, all this has to be implemented in an environment that allows the people to display and develop their abilities and ensure that they are able to organize their everyday work with concrete activities supporting agile behavior. The survey covered all these aspects with various items from a comprehensive perspective on organizational agility. However, it turned out that concrete implementations fall behind general attitudes. The results indicate rather agile values and principles, but concrete conditions and circumstances only achieve less agile or at least equal values. That observation is the same regarding agile capabilities and activities, whereby the availability of capabilities gains slightly better scores than the concrete activities of the members of the organizations. In addition, these phenomena seem to be independent from cultural differences or organiza-tional size. Aspects that show a good realization across all participating organizations include a trustful environment and an emphasis on purposeful cooperation between employees within and between teams. Furthermore, a good alignment to customer needs and an overall willingness to continuously learn and update skills are visible. This is underscored by the fact that items belonging to the agility areas “Organizational Culture” and “Customer” (see figure 1.1) have the lowest values on average (and hence indicating a higher agility). Main problem areas are a lack of decentralization of decisions, which has the risk of undermining the culture of trust. This issue is accompanied with unclear strategies and a lack of including employees in strategic decisions. In addition, internal collaboration across departments and functions, as well as early involvement of all affected departments in strategic matters, shows room for improvement. Issues of further interest are compensation and incentives that are often not based on team results and peoples’ skills. Finally, although the satisfaction of customer needs is not a problem, the integration of customers and also partners into
  • 37. 4. Conclusion 30 processes and activities reveals some weaknesses. Hence, activities affecting the area of “Workforce” and the concepts “Processes” and “Innovation” (see figure 1.1) show the lowest agility ratings. Furthermore, the analysis by subgroups revealed some interesting differences. First, CEOs seem to have a much more positive perception of nearly all items than other roles in an organization. This is surprising because all participants had managing or at least leading positions in their organizations and thus were able to answer the items from a comprehensive perspective. Although it is appropriate to assess agility from an organizational view, it still raises the question of whether other employees, for instance programmers or consultants, would show different results. A case study already refuted this assumption (Wendler & Gr¨aning, 2011), but it is open if this result could be repeated in a global context. The size of an organization turned out to be a very important factor influencing organizational agility. The analysis revealed that smaller organizations (up to 50 employees) benefit from a less complex structure and hence are faster to adjust to a changing environment. However, there was no evidence to suggest small organizations are automatically agile organizations. The results rather indicate that larger organizations have to put more emphasis on how to negate the disadvantages that result from their more complex structures, such as more indirect communication or more difficult internal cooperation. Unexpected results were obtained while analyzing the data differentiated by location and customer region. The observed differences were less distinctive, as expected. Concerning the location of the organizations, in most cases only European organizations showed a slightly worse assessment – especially when comparing German ones with other European countries. One assumption as a possible explanation was the current gen-eral economical situation; another assumption was that German companies may be more effective in what they do. But the results obtained imply that cultural differences play a less important role for organizational agility in the software and IT service industry. Regarding the region of customers, it turned out that customers located in geographic proximity do not lead to a higher organizational agility of the respective organizations. In contrast, the results from participants of companies only serving local customers reveal a worse grade of organizational agility. This may stem from the fact that these companies are often very specialized and niche-oriented and thus have difficulty adjusting to new situations. On the other hand, there exist no remarkable differences between companies with national (and local) customers and companies serving their customers over the whole continent or even worldwide. Hence, the geographical distance between an organization and its customers is also from less importance for organizational agility in the considered industry. 4.2. Limitations The presented survey results suffer from some limitations that have to be taken into account when interpret-ing the results. First of all, the differently sized organizations are unequally distributed among the sampled countries. Hence, it cannot be excluded that this affects the results obtained by the analysis of the sub-groups. This was explicitly addressed in the respective sections of this report and will be further analyzed (see section 4.3). In addition, it was not possible to explicitly ask more than one person from each orga-nization, and thus this study risks key informant bias. However, the overall number of participants from different companies and in different roles helps to reduce this risk. Finally, the results presented here are of a purely descriptive nature. Of course, further analysis calculating significance, dependency, and coherent
  • 38. 4. Conclusion 31 agility factors is necessary and will follow (see section 4.3). The purpose of this report was to provide first overview, fulfilled with the given statistics and interpretations. Although it was the goal of the survey to examine organizational agility, specifically in the software and IT service industry, it would also be interesting to see if the results are different in other industries. At the moment, though, it is not possible to transfer the findings to other industries. Analogously, the survey targeted only persons in managing or leading positions. This was appropriate to fulfill the aim of a com-prehensive assessment from an organizational perspective. However, data on the opinions and attitudes of other employees could deliver additional insights. 4.3. Further Research The data obtained by the survey is currently being further analyzed. The next steps include a factor analysis to identify which items have a latent construct behind them and how the conceptual framework (figure 1.1) reflects this. In case of a successful identification of agility constructs, the available data can be used to further investigate the different subgroups in more detail and to search for significant differences. Finally, a cluster analysis could deliver additional insights. Besides, it would be interesting to replicate the survey (the complete list of items is given in appendices A.2 and A.3) with different target groups, for instance employees or multiple responses from different roles in the same organizations. An application to other domains and industries may also yield interesting results, although the questionnaire would have to be adjusted.
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  • 43. A. Appendix A.1. Participating Countries Region Country Quantity Ratio Europe Germany 178 40.7 % Sweden 11 2.5 % Italy 9 2.1 % Great Britain 8 1.8 % Netherlands 8 1.8 % Switzerland 8 1.8 % France 6 1.4 % Portugal 5 1.1 % Spain 4 0.9 % Ukraine 4 0.9 % Ireland 3 0.7 % Austria 2 0.5 % Bulgaria 2 0.5 % Denmark 2 0.5 % Greece 2 0.5 % Norway 2 0.5 % Romania 2 0.5 % Belgium 1 0.2 % Croatia 1 0.2 % Hungary 1 0.2 % North America USA 92 21.1 % Canada 12 2.7 % Asia India 14 3.2 % Malaysia 5 1.1 % Indonesia 3 0.7 % Pakistan 3 0.7 % Singapore 3 0.7 % United Arab Emirates 3 0.7 % Israel 2 0.5 % Japan 2 0.5 % Bangladesh 1 0.2 % China 1 0.2 % continued on next page . . .
  • 44. A. Appendix VII Region Country Quantity Ratio Thailand 1 0.2 % Turkey 1 0.2 % Other Colombia 5 1.1 % Brazil 3 0.7 % Costa Rica 3 0.7 % Australia 2 0.5 % South Africa 2 0.5 % Argentina 1 0.2 % Chile 1 0.2 % Mexico 1 0.2 % Namibia 1 0.2 % New Zealand 1 0.2 % Uruguay 1 0.2 % n.a. 14 3.2 % TOTAL 437 100 % Table A.1.: Complete list of countries of participating organizations
  • 45. A. Appendix VIII A.2. Complete Questionnaire A.2.1. English Version General Information What are the main fields of activity of your organization? [multiple answers possible] • Programming and Software Development • IT Services and Consultancy • Computer Facilities Management • Other, please specify [text box] What is your role in your organization? • Chief Executive Officer • Chief Information Officer • Chief Financial Officer • IT Manager, ICT Manager, or related • Enterprise Architect, IT Architect, or related • other, please specify [text box] Where is your organization located (if your organization has subsidies in different countries, please refer to your headquarter)? • Germany • USA • other, please specify [text box] In which regions are your customers located? [multiple answers possible] • regional • national • Europe • North America • Latin America / Caribbean • Asia / Pacific • Africa • no answer What is the approximate number of employees in your organization? • less than 10 • 10 to 49 • 50 to 249 • 250 to 500 • more than 500 • no answer
  • 46. A. Appendix IX Values and Principles – Organization Please state to what extend the following statements reflect the values and principles in your organization. [Scale: completely–mainly–partly–little–not at all] Our organization values a culture that. . . . . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. . . . considers team work as integral part. . . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. . . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. . . . considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. Our organization prefers. . . . . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or “fire-fighting”. . . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. . . . face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. . . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. . . . market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. Conditions – Organization Please state to what extend the following conditions and circumstances are implemented in your organiza-tion. [Scale: completely–mainly–partly–little–not at all] Our organization has. . . . . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. . . . an intensive employee training program. . . . employees that have a good understanding of how their own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. . . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. . . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . . . . make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. . . . provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. . . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. . . . enable decentralization in decision making. . . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. . . . are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. . . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. Capabilities – Employees and Managers Please state how many of your employees and managers share the following capabilities. [Scale: all–many– some–few–none]
  • 47. A. Appendix X Our managers. . . . . . maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. . . . understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. . . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. . . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. . . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, ser-vices, and/or processes. . . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. . . . manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. Our employees. . . . . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. . . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. . . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. . . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. . . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. . . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. . . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. . . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. . . . can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. . . . are self-motivated. . . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. Activities – Employees Please specify how often your employees carry out the following activities. [Scale: always–often–some-times– seldom–never] Our employees. . . . . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. . . . organize themselves in their teams. . . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. . . . work in small teams in their projects. . . . form teams that are geographically closely located. . . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments.
  • 48. A. Appendix XI Activities – Organization in general Please specify how often your organization carries out the following activities. [Scale: always–often– sometimes–seldom–never] Regarding our employees, we. . . . . . manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. . . . trust them to get their job done. . . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their contribution to the overall organiza-tion. . . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. . . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. . . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s long-term future development. In our organization, we. . . . . . scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. . . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. . . . change authorities when tasks change. . . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. . . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. . . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. . . . inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. . . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. . . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. . . . monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. . . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). . . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. . . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. . . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. Other Does your organization share additional activities, capabilities, values, etc. that make you more agile than others? If so, you may specify them here, if you wish. [Text Field] A.2.2. German Version Allgemeine Informationen Was sind die Hauptt¨atigkeitsbereiche Ihres Unternehmens? [Mehrfachantworten m¨oglich]
  • 49. A. Appendix XII • Programmierung und Softwareentwicklung • IT-Dienstleistungen und Beratung • DV-Anlagenwartung und -betrieb • andere: [Textfeld] Was ist Ihre Rolle im Unternehmen? • Gesch¨aftsf¨uhrer (CEO) • IT-Vorstand (CIO) • Finanzvorstand (CFO) • IT Manager, IKT Manager oder vergleichbar • Unternehmensarchitekt, IT Architekt oder vergleichbar • andere: [Textfeld] Wo ist der Sitz Ihres Unternehmens (sollten Sie Niederlassungen in mehreren L¨andern haben, beziehen Sie sich bitte auf den Hauptsitz)? • Deutschland • USA • anderes: [Textfeld] In welcher Region befinden sich Ihre Kunden? [Mehrfachantworten m¨oglich] • regional • national • Europa • Nordamerika • Lateinamerika / Karibik • Asien / Pazifik • Afrika • keine Antwort Wie groß ist die ungef¨ahre Anzahl von Mitarbeitern in Ihrem Unternehmen? • weniger als 10 • 10 bis 49 • 50 bis 249 • 250 bis 500 • mehr als 500 • keine Antwort Werte und Prinzipien – Unternehmen Bitte geben Sie an, in welchem Ausmaß die folgenden Aussagen die Werte und Prinzipien Ihres Unterneh-mens widerspiegeln. [Skala: v¨ollig–¨uberwiegend–teilweise–wenig–gar nicht] Unser Unternehmen sch¨atzt eine Unternehmenskultur, welche. . . . . . Ver¨anderungen f¨ur Wettbewerbsvorteilen nutzbar macht. . . . Teamarbeit als zentralen Bestandteil betrachtet.
  • 50. A. Appendix XIII . . . die Entscheidungen und Vorschl¨age von Mitarbeitern akzeptiert und unterst¨utzt. . . . Experimentieren erlaubt und die Nutzung innovativer Ideen f¨ordert. . . . Ver¨anderungen von Kundenanforderungen als Chancen betrachtet. Unser Unternehmen bevorzugt. . . . . . proaktive und kontinuierliche Verbesserung anstatt Krisenmanagement und “Brandbek¨ampfung”. . . . die Eliminierung von Barrieren zwischen Individuen und/oder Abteilungen, z. B. durch flache Hierar-chien oder einfache Strukturen. . . . Kommunikation von Angesicht zu Angesicht zur Informationsweitergabe innerhalb des Unternehmens. . . . Einfachheit, d. h. den Verzicht auf Merkmale bei Produkten und/oder Dienstleistungen, welche die Kundenanforderungen ¨ubersteigen. . . . ein sich ¨anderndes Marktumfeld (z.B. Wettbewerber, Pr¨aferenzen) zur Generierung neuer Chancen. Bedingungen – Unternehmen Bitte geben Sie an, in welchem Ausmaß die folgenden Gegebenheiten in Ihrem Unternehmen ausgepr¨agt sind. [Skala: v¨ollig–¨uberwiegend–teilweise–wenig–gar nicht] Unser Unternehmen hat. . . . . . effektive Kommunikationsprozesse, sowohl “top-down” als auch “bottom-up”. . . . ein gut ausgepr¨agtes Weiterbildungsprogramm f¨ur Mitarbeiter. . . . Mitarbeiter, welche verstehen, wie ihre eigene Arbeit mit den Aktivit¨aten des Unternehmens zusam-menh ¨angt. . . . eine Strategie, welche klar und leicht verst¨andlich ¨uber alle Hierarchieebenen kommuniziert wird. . . . eine strategische Vision, die Spielraum f¨ur Markt¨anderungen von Anfang an ber¨ucksichtigt. Unser Unternehmen besitzt Informationssysteme und Technologien, welche. . . . . . unternehmensbezogene Informationen allen Mitarbeitern leicht zug¨anglich machen. . . . Informationen zur Verf¨ugung stellen, welche unseren Mitarbeitern helfen, schnell auf Ver¨anderungen zu reagieren. . . . entsprechend unseren Bed¨urfnissen ausgestaltet sind und uns erlauben wettbewerbs- und ¨uberlebensf¨a-hig zu bleiben. . . . die Dezentralisierung von Entscheidungen erm¨oglichen. . . . ¨uber verschiedene Abteilungen und/oder Bereiche des Unternehmens hinweg integriert sind. . . . ¨uber verschiedene Abteilungen und/oder Bereiche des Unternehmens hinweg standardisiert oder ver-gleichbar sind. . . . uns die vollst¨andige Einbindung von Kunden und Partnern in unsere Prozesse erm¨oglichen. F¨ahigkeiten – Mitarbeiter und Manager Bitte geben Sie an, wie groß der Anteil Ihrer Mitarbeiter und Manager mit den folgenden F¨ahigkeiten ist. [Skala: alle–viele–einige–wenige–keine] Unsere Manager. . . . . . pflegen einen informellen F¨uhrungsstil, welcher auf Mentoring und Vorbildfunktion beruht.
  • 51. A. Appendix XIV . . . verstehen den Wert von Investitionen in IT aus einer gesamtunternehmerischen Sicht. . . . haben das Wissen und die F¨ahigkeiten, um Ver¨anderungen zu steuern. . . . sind in der Lage, ¨Anderungen in Produkten und / oder Dienstleistungen schnell zu implementieren. . . . erkennen zuk¨unftige Wettbewerbsvorteile, die sich aus innovativen Produkten, Dienstleistungen und / oder Prozessen ergeben k¨onnen. . . . k¨onnen ihre Ressourcen (Materialien, Finanzen, Mitarbeiter, . . . ) flexibel verteilen, um aufkommende Chancen zu nutzen und Risiken zu minimieren. . . . koordinieren die Verteilung von Informationen,Wissen und Kenntnissen unter denMitarbeitern zweck-m ¨aßig. Unsere Mitarbeiter. . . . . . sind in der Lage, mit einem Sinn f¨ur die kontinuierliche Verbesserung unserer Produkte, Dienstleistun-gen, Prozesse und/oder Arbeitsmethoden zu agieren. . . . sind in der Lage, die besten Chancen wahrzunehmen, zu identifizieren oder vorherzusehen, welche sich in unserem Umfeld ergeben. . . . sind in der Lage, die von Kunden geforderte Qualit¨at von Produkten und / oder Dienstleistungen zu erf¨ullen. . . . besitzen ein breites Spektrum an F¨ahigkeiten und k¨onnen f¨ur andere Aufgaben eingesetzt werden, falls n¨otig. . . . kommunizieren mit anderen vertrauensvoll, wohlwollend und wertsch¨atzend. . . . sind bereit zu Lernen und ihr Wissen stets abzurufen, anzuwenden und weiterzuentwickeln. . . . sind bereit von Kollegen zu lernen und ihr Wissen an andere weiterzugeben. . . . erwerben und entwickeln technologische F¨ahigkeiten und Kenntnisse zielgerichtet. . . . sind in der Lage, sich in verschiedenen Teamumgebungen neu zu organisieren, um ver¨anderten Anfor-derungen und neuen Herausforderungen zu begegnen. . . . sind intrinsisch motiviert. . . . ¨ubernehmen Verantwortung und denken unternehmerisch. Aktivit ¨aten – Mitarbeiter Bitte geben Sie an, wie oft die folgenden Aktivit¨aten von Ihren Mitarbeitern ausgef¨uhrt werden. [Skala: immer–oft–gelegentlich–selten–nie] Unsere Mitarbeiter. . . . . . arbeiten eng mit anderen Teams, Abteilungen und/oder Bereichen zusammen. . . . organisieren sich in ihren Teams selbst¨andig. . . . reflektieren in regelm¨aßigen Abst¨anden, wie ihr Team effektiver werden kann und passen ihr Verhalten entsprechend an. . . . arbeiten in kleinen Teams in ihren Projekten. . . . bilden Teams, welche geografisch eng beisammen liegen. . . . rotieren zwischen verschiedenen Aufgaben, T¨atigkeiten, Positionen oder Abteilungen.
  • 52. A. Appendix XV Aktivit ¨aten – Unternehmen allgemein Bitte geben Sie an, wie oft die folgenden Aktivit¨aten in Ihrem Unternehmen ausgef¨uhrt werden. [Skala: immer–oft–gelegentlich–selten–nie] Mit Blick auf unsere Mitarbeiter. . . . . . steuern wir Vorschl¨age, neue Ideen und L¨osungen aus allen Ebenen bis zur Umsetzung konsequent. . . . vertrauen wir ihnen bei der Erledigung ihrer Arbeit. . . . bieten wir Anreize, welche sich nicht nur an der individuellen, sondern auch an der Teamleistung und dem Beitrag f¨ur das Gesamtunternehmen orientieren. . . . bieten wir Anreize, welche Mitarbeiter ermutigen, ihre F¨ahigkeiten und Kenntnisse auszubauen. . . . ermutigen wir auch die unteren Hierarchieebenen, Entscheidungen selbst zu treffen und Verantwortung zu ¨ubernehmen. . . . bilden wir Mitarbeiter mit einer langfristigen Perspektive f¨ur die Entwicklung des Unternehmens wei-ter. In unserem Unternehmen. . . . . . beobachten wir unsere Umgebung systematisch, um Ver¨anderungen zu prognostizieren. . . . reagieren wir auf bevorstehende Ver¨anderungen, indem wir umgehend unsere Strategie anpassen. . . . reagieren wir auf bevorstehende Ver¨anderungen, indem wir umgehend unsere Prozesse anpassen. . . . f¨allen wir wichtige Entscheidungen schnell, um Ver¨anderungen imMarkt und/oder von Kundenbed¨urf-nissen zu begegnen. . . . passen wir Weisungsbefugnisse an, sobald sich Aufgaben ¨andern. . . . arbeiten wir eng und intensiv ¨uber verschiedene Bereiche und/oder Abteilungen zusammen, um strate-gische Entscheidungen zu treffen. . . . unterst¨utzen wir die fr¨uhzeitige Einbindung verschiedener Bereiche und/oder Abteilungen in die Ent-wicklung neuer Produkte und/oder Dienstleistungen. . . . gestalten wir unsere Prozesse zeitgleich mit Entwicklung neuer Produkte und/oder Dienstleistungen. . . . informieren wir uns systematisch ¨uber IT-Innovationen. . . . investieren wir strategisch in angemessene Technologien und haben eine klare Vision, wie unsere IT einen Wert schafft. . . . fokussieren wir uns auf unsere Kernkompetenzen und delegieren andere Aufgaben an Partner und Sub-unternehmer. . . . ¨uberpr¨ufen wir die Leistung unserer Partner und Subunternehmer sorgf¨altig. . . . w¨ahlen wir unsere Partner und Subunternehmer vorrangig nach Qualit¨atskriterien aus (statt einer reinen Kostenbetrachtung). . . . richten wir alle Aktivit¨aten konsequent an Kundenanforderungen und -bed¨urfnissen aus. . . . unterst¨utzen wir die Sammlung und interne Verbreitung von Informationen ¨uber Kundenbed¨urfnisse. . . . arbeiten wir eng mit unseren Kunden zusammen und ermutigen sie zu schnellen R¨uckkopplungen. Weiteres Sind in Ihrem Unternehmen weitere T¨atigkeiten, F¨ahigkeiten, Werte, etc. vorhanden, welche Sie agiler ma-chen als andere? Wenn ja, dann k¨onnen Sie hier weitere Angaben machen, sofern Sie w¨unschen. [Textfeld]
  • 53. A. Appendix XVI A.3. Item Sources and Related Literature Table A.2 shows all items of the questionnaire again and gives the literature sources from which they are taken. The reader may refer to these source to learn more about the concepts behind this items. Further-more, the corresponding concept of agility according Wendler (2013) is listed for every item used in the questionnaire (please see section 1.1 for more information). Item Agility Concept Related Sources Values & Principles – Our organization values a culture that. . . . . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. Change (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) . . . considers team work as integral part. Org. Culture (V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) . . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. Org. Culture (Misra et al., 2009) . . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. Org. Learning (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011; V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) . . . considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. Customer (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011; Misra et al., 2009) Values & Principles – Our organization prefers. . . . . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or “fire-fighting”. Org. Abilities (Power et al., 2001) . . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. Org. Culture (Power et al., 2001) . . . face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. Org. Culture (Misra et al., 2009) . . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. Product (Misra et al., 2009) . . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. Market (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011) Conditions & IT/IS – Our organization has. . . . . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. Processes (Power et al., 2001) . . . an intensive employee training program. Org. Learning (Hoyt et al., 2007) . . . employees that have a good understanding of how their own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. Workforce/Team (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011; Hoyt et al., 2007) . . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. Strategy (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) . . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. Strategy (Zelbst et al., 2011) Conditions & IT/IS – Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . . . .make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. Org. Learning (Kassim & Zain, 2004; V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) . . . provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. Technology/IS (Kassim & Zain, 2004; Zelbst et al., 2011) . . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. Technology/IS (Power et al., 2001) . . . enable decentralization in decision making. Technology/IS (Kassim & Zain, 2004) . . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. Integration (Vazquez-´Bustelo et al., 2007) . . . are standardized or comparable amongst different departments Technology/IS (Sarker & Sarker, 2009) and/or business units. . . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. Technology/IS (Kassim & Zain, 2004; V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) Capabilities – Our managers. . . continued on next page . . .
  • 54. A. Appendix XVII Item Agility Concept Related Sources . . .maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. Org. Culture (Zhang & Sharifi, 2007) . . . understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. Technology/IS (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011) . . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. Change (Zelbst et al., 2011) . . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. Product (Hoyt et al., 2007; Sharifi et al., 2001) . . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. Innovation (Zhang & Sharifi, 2007) . . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. Org. Abilities (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) . . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. Integration (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) Capabilities – Our employees. . . . . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. Change (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) . . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. Workforce/Team (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) . . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. Quality (Zelbst et al., 2011) . . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. Workforce/Team (Hoyt et al., 2007; Kassim & Zain, 2004) . . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. Cooperation (Misra et al., 2009) . . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and Org. Learning (Misra et al., 2009; update knowledge. V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) . . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. Org. Learning (Misra et al., 2009) . . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. Org. Abilities (Sharifi et al., 2001) . . . can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) . . . are self-motivated. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) . . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) Activities – Our employees. . . . . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or Cooperation (Misra et al., 2009) business units. . . . organize themselves in their teams. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) . . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. . . .work in small teams in their projects. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) . . . form teams that are geographically closely located. Workforce/Team (Misra et al., 2009) . . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments. Workforce/Team (Vazquez-´Bustelo et al., 2007) Activities – Regarding our employees, we. . . . . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels Innovation (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) consequently. . . . trust them to get their job done. Org. Culture (Misra et al., 2009) . . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their contribution to the overall organization. Org. Culture (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) . . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. Org. Learning (Hoyt et al., 2007) continued on next page . . .
  • 55. A. Appendix XVIII Item Agility Concept Related Sources . . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. Org. Culture (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011; Kassim & Zain, 2004) . . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s long-term future development. Org. Learning (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) Activities – In our organization, we. . . . . . scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. Change (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. Change (Sherehiy et al., 2007) . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. Processes (Zelbst et al., 2011) . . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market-and/ or customer-related changes. Market (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011) . . . change authorities when tasks change. Org. Culture (Sherehiy et al., 2007) . . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. Cooperation (V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) . . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. Processes (V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) . . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. Processes (V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) . . . inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. Technology/IS (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011) . . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. Technology/IS (Lu & Ramamurthy, 2011; Sharifi et al., 2001) . . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. Cooperation (Agarwal et al., 2007) . . .monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. Cooperation (Hoyt et al., 2007) . . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). Cooperation Experts (Pretest) . . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. Customer (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011) . . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. Org. Learning (V´azquez-Bustelo et al., 2007) . . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. Customer (Misra et al., 2009) Table A.2.: Item sources and related agility concepts
  • 56. A. Appendix XIX A.4. Additional Graphics and Statistics A.4.1. Details by Role This section gives a number of comprehensive tables and figures for every item differentiated by the role of the participants. They serve as additional information for chapter 3. CEO CIO/ IT/ITC Ent./IT Other total CTO Manager Architect average Our organization values a culture that. . . . . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 1.8 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.0 2.0 . . . considers team work as integral part. 1.5 1.8 1.6 1.8 1.8 1.7 . . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of 1.6 2.1 2.0 2.3 2.1 2.0 employees. . . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. 1.7 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.1 . . . considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. 1.7 2.2 2.0 2.3 2.1 2.0 Our organization prefers. . . . . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or “fire-fighting”. 1.8 2.1 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.2 . . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 1.4 2.1 2.1 2.6 2.0 2.1 . . . face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. 1.8 2.1 2.2 2.5 2.1 2.2 . . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. 2.0 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.3 . . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 2.0 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.3 Table A.3.: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by role
  • 57. A. Appendix XX CEO CIO/ IT/ITC Ent./IT Other total CTO Manager Architect average Our organization has. . . . . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. 1.8 2.3 2.5 2.7 2.5 2.3 . . . an intensive employee training program. 2.7 3.3 2.6 2.9 2.8 2.8 . . . employees that have a good understanding of how their 1.7 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.2 own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. . . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 1.8 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.3 . . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. 1.9 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . . . .make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. 1.8 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.1 . . . provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. 1.9 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.3 . . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. 1.8 2.2 2.3 2.5 2,1 2.2 . . . enable decentralization in decision making. 2.1 2.7 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.6 . . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or 1.9 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.1 2.2 business units. . . . are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. 2.1 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.3 . . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.7 Table A.4.: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by role
  • 58. A. Appendix XXI CEO CIO/ IT/ITC Ent./IT Other total CTO Manager Architect average Our managers. . . . . .maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. 1.6 2.2 2.3 2.7 2.2 2.2 . . . understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. 1.6 2.1 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.1 . . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. 1.7 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.3 . . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. 1.8 2.4 2.5 2.8 2.3 2.4 . . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. 1.9 2.3 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.4 . . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. 1.9 2.4 2.5 2.8 2.5 2.4 . . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. 1.8 2.3 2.6 2.7 2.4 2.4 Our employees. . . . . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. 1.9 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.3 . . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. 2.3 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.6 . . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. 1.7 2.1 2.0 2.4 2.1 2.1 . . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. 1.9 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.4 2.3 . . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. 1.6 2.0 2.0 2.3 2.1 2.0 . . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. 1.6 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.0 . . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. 1.6 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.1 2.1 . . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. 1.9 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.2 . . . can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. 2.0 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.3 . . . are self-motivated. 2.0 2.5 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.3 . . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.6 Table A.5.: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by role
  • 59. A. Appendix XXII CEO CIO/ IT/ITC Ent./IT Other total CTO Manager Architect average Our employees. . . . . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. 1.8 2.0 2.1 2.3 2.3 2.1 . . . organize themselves in their teams. 1.9 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.1 . . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.4 2.5 in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. . . .work in small teams in their projects. 1.6 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.4 1.9 . . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 2.2 2.4 2.0 2.4 2.5 2.3 . . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or 2.6 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.6 2.8 departments. Regarding our employees, we. . . . . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. 1.9 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.5 2.3 . . . trust them to get their job done. 1.5 1.9 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.8 . . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team 2.2 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.6 2.6 and their contribution to the overall organization. . . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. 2.0 2.5 2.7 2.8 2.6 2.5 . . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. 1.7 2.5 2.5 2.7 2.3 2.3 . . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s long-term future development. 1.9 2.4 2.4 2.7 2.3 2.3 In our organization, we. . . . . . scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. 2.1 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.3 2.4 . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. 2.2 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.5 . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. 2.3 2.6 2.7 2.9 2.7 2.6 . . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. 1.7 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.3 . . . change authorities when tasks change. 2.2 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.6 . . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different 1.7 2.4 2.2 2.7 2.3 2.3 functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. . . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. 1.8 2.3 2.3 2.7 2.3 2.3 . . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. 2.1 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.6 2.5 . . . inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. 1.8 2.2 2.2 2.5 2.0 2.1 . . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. 1.8 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.1 2.2 . . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 2.0 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.4 . . .monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. 2.0 2.5 2.2 2.6 2.4 2.3 . . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 1.8 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.1 2.2 . . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. 1.6 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.1 2.0 . . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of 1.8 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.3 information on customers needs. . . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. 1.5 2.0 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.0 Table A.6.: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by role
  • 60. A. Appendix XXIII Our organization values a culture that... ...harnesses change for competitive …considers team work as integral part. …accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. ...is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. …considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. Our organization prefers... advantages. …a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or "fire-fighting". …the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e.g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. ...face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. ...simplicity, i.e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. …market-related changes (e.g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 total average Chief Executive Officer Chief Information/Technology Officer IT/ITC Manager Enterprise/IT Architect Other 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Figure A.1.: Averages regarding agile values and principles by role
  • 61. A. Appendix XXIV 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Our organization has... ...effective "top-down" and "bottom-up" communication processes. ...an intensive employee training program. ...employees that have a good understanding of how their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. …a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. ...a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... …make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. ...provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. …are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. ...enable decentralization in decision making. ...are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. …are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. ...enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. total average Chief Executive Officer Chief Information/ Technology Officer IT/ITC Manager Enterprise/IT Architect Other Figure A.2.: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by role
  • 62. A. Appendix XXV 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Our managers... ...maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. ...understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. ...have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. ...are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. ...are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. ...are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, ...) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. ...manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. Our employees... ...are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. ...are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. ...are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. ...use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. ...communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. ...are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. ...are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. ...obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. ...can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. ...are self-motivated. ...take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. total average Chief Executive Officer Chief Information/ Technology Officer IT/ITC Manager Enterprise/IT Architect Other Figure A.3.: Averages regarding agile capabilities by role
  • 63. A. Appendix XXVI 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Our employees... ...collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. ...organize themselves in their teams. ...reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. ...work in small teams in their projects. ...form teams that are geographically closely located. ...rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments. Regarding our employees, we... ...manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. ...trust them to get their job done. ...offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their contribution to the overall organization. ...offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. ...encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. ...develop employees skills with a view to the firm's long-term future development. total average Chief Executive Officer Chief Information/ Technology Officer IT/ITC Manager Enterprise/IT Architect Other Figure A.4.: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by role
  • 64. A. Appendix XXVII 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 In our organization, we... ...scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. ...are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. ...change authorities when tasks change. ...jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. ...encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. ...design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. ...inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. ...strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. ...focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. ...monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. ...select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). ...align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. ...encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. ...closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. Figure A.5.: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by role
  • 65. A. Appendix XXVIII A.4.2. Details by Size This section gives a number of comprehensive tables and figures for every item differentiated by the size (i. e. number of employees) of the participating organizations. They serve as additional information for chapter 3. less 10 50 more total than 10 to 49 to 249 than 250 average Our organization values a culture that. . . . . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.0 . . . considers team work as integral part. 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.8 1.7 . . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. 1.7 2.0 2.0 2,3 2.0 . . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. 1.7 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.1 . . . considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. 1.8 1.9 2.1 2.2 2.0 Our organization prefers. . . . . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or 1.8 2.1 2.3 2.4 2.2 “fire-fighting”. . . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 1.6 1.6 1.9 2.6 2.1 . . . face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. 1.8 1.8 2.2 2.5 2.2 . . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. 2.0 2.1 2.4 2.6 2.3 . . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.3 Table A.7.: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by size
  • 66. A. Appendix XXIX less 10 50 more total than 10 to 49 to 249 than 250 average Our organization has. . . . . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. 1.9 2.1 2.5 2.6 2.3 . . . an intensive employee training program. 3.0 3.0 2.8 2.7 2.8 . . . employees that have a good understanding of how their own job 1.7 2.0 2.4 2.5 2.2 relates to the firm’s overall activity. . . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 1.8 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.3 . . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. 1.9 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.3 Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . . . .make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. 1.8 2.0 2.3 2.3 2.1 . . . provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to 2.0 2.1 2.4 2.5 2.3 changes. . . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.2 . . . enable decentralization in decision making. 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.6 . . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. 1.9 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.2 . . . are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.3 business units. . . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. 2.6 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.7 Table A.8.: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by size
  • 67. A. Appendix XXX less 10 50 more total than 10 to 49 to 249 than 250 average Our managers. . . . . .maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. 1.6 1.9 2.3 2.7 2.2 . . . understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. 1.6 1.8 2.2 2.5 2.1 . . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. 1.7 2.0 2.4 2.7 2.3 . . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. 1.8 2.0 2.5 2.8 2.4 . . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result 1.9 2.1 2.4 2.8 2.4 from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. . . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. 2.0 2.1 2.4 2.8 2.4 . . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. 1.8 2.2 2.4 2.8 2.4 Our employees. . . . . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. 1.9 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.3 . . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. 2.3 2.6 2.5 2.7 2.6 . . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. 1.7 2.0 2.0 2.3 2.1 . . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.3 . . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. 1.7 1.8 2.0 2.4 2.0 . . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and 1.6 1.9 2.0 2.5 2.0 update knowledge. . . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. 1.6 1.9 2.0 2.6 2.1 . . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. 1.9 2.1 2.2 2.5 2.2 . . . can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet 2.1 2.0 2.2 2.9 2.3 changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. . . . are self-motivated. 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.3 . . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. 2.0 2.5 2.6 2.4 2.6 Table A.9.: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by size
  • 68. A. Appendix XXXI less 10 50 more total than 10 to 49 to 249 than 250 average Our employees. . . . . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. 1.8 1.9 1.9 2.3 2.1 . . . organize themselves in their teams. 1.9 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.1 . . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in their 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.7 2.5 team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. . . .work in small teams in their projects. 1.7 1.7 1.9 2.1 1.9 . . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 2.3 2.0 2.1 2.4 2.3 . . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments. 2.5 2.7 2.8 3.0 2.8 Regarding our employees, we. . . . . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels 1.9 2.1 2.5 2.6 2.3 consequently. . . . trust them to get their job done. 1.6 1.6 1.8 2.0 1.8 . . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their 2.3 2.6 2.5 2.8 2.6 contribution to the overall organization. . . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.8 2.5 . . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. 1.8 2.1 2.3 2.7 2.3 . . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s long-term future development. 2.0 2.1 2.4 2.6 2.3 In our organization, we. . . . . . scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.4 . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.7 2.5 strategy. . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. 2.4 2.4 2.7 2.8 2.6 . . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or 1.9 2.0 2.2 2.6 2.3 customer-related changes. . . . change authorities when tasks change. 2.4 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.6 . . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or 1.9 2.0 2.3 2.6 2.3 departments for strategic decision making. . . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. 2.0 2.0 2.4 2.6 2.3 . . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. 2.2 2.3 2.6 2.8 2.5 . . . inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.4 2.1 . . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.2 . . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 2.2 2.1 2.6 2.5 2.4 . . .monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. 2.1 2.2 2.5 2.4 2.3 . . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 2.0 2.0 2.3 2.4 2.2 . . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. 1.8 1.7 2.1 2.3 2.0 . . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on 2.0 2.1 2.5 2.5 2.3 customers needs. . . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. 1.7 1.6 2.1 2.3 2.0 Table A.10.: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by size
  • 69. A. Appendix XXXII total average less than 10 10 to 49 50 to 249 more than 250 Our organization values a culture that... ...harnesses change for competitive …considers team work as integral part. …accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. ...is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. Our organization prefers... advantages. …a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or "fire-fighting". …the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e.g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. ...face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. ...simplicity, i.e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. …market-related changes (e.g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 …considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 Figure A.6.: Averages regarding agile values and principles by size
  • 70. A. Appendix XXXIII Our organization has... ...effective "top-down" and "bottom-up" communication processes. ...an intensive employee training program. ...employees that have a good understanding of how their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. …a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. ...a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... …make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. ...provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. …are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. ...enable decentralization in decision making. ...are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. …are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. ...enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. 0.0 " $ $ % % Figure A.7.: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by size
  • 71. A. Appendix XXXIV 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Our managers... ...maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. ...understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. ...have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. ...are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. ...are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. ...are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, ...) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. ...manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. Our employees... ...are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. ...are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. ...are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. ...use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. ...communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. ...are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. ...are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. ...obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. ...can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. ...are self-motivated. ...take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. total average less than 10 10 to () 50 to 2 () more than 250 Figure A.8.: Averages regarding agile capabilities by size
  • 72. A. Appendix XXXV Our employees... ...collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. ...organize themselves in their teams. ...reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. ...work in small teams in their projects. ...form teams that are geographically closely located. ...rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments. Regarding our employees, we... ...manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. ...trust them to get their job done. ...offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their contribution to the overall organization. ...offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. ...encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. ...develop employees skills with a view to the firm's long-term future development. total average less than 10 10 to 49 50 to 249 more than 250 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Figure A.9.: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by size
  • 73. A. Appendix XXXVI 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 In our organization, we... ...scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. ...are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. ...change authorities when tasks change. ...jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. ...encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. ...design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. ...inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. ...strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. ...focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. ...monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. ...select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). ...align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. ...encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. ...closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. total average less than 10 10 to ' 50 to 2 ' more than 250 Figure A.10.: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by size
  • 74. A. Appendix XXXVII A.4.3. Details by Location This section gives a number of comprehensive tables and figures for every item differentiated by the location of the participating organizations. They serve as additional information for chapter 3. Germany Europe North Asia Other total w/o Germany America average Our organization values a culture that. . . . . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 2.0 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.3 2.0 . . . considers team work as integral part. 1.6 1.9 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.7 . . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of 1.8 2.3 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.0 employees. . . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. 2.1 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.2 2.1 . . . considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. 2.0 2.3 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 Our organization prefers. . . . . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or “fire-fighting”. 2.1 2.4 2.1 2.3 2,3 2.2 . . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 1.7 2.3 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.1 . . . face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. 2.0 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.2 . . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.3 . . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.3 Table A.11.: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by location
  • 75. A. Appendix XXXVIII Germany Europe North Asia Other total w/o Germany America average Our organization has. . . . . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. 2.2 2.7 2..4 2.2 2.2 2.3 . . . an intensive employee training program. 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.7 2.8 . . . employees that have a good understanding of how 2.0 2.5 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.2 their own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. . . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 2.2 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.3 . . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.3 Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . . . .make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. 2.0 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 . . . provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.3 . . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. 2.0 2.5 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.2 . . . enable decentralization in decision making. 2.4 2.7 2.6 2.7 2.6 2.6 . . . are integrated amongst different departments 1.9 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.2 and/or business units. . . . are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. 2.2 2.5 2.4 2.6 2.4 2.3 . . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.8 2.6 2.7 Table A.12.: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by location
  • 76. A. Appendix XXXIX Germany Europe North Asia Other total w/o Germany America average Our managers. . . . . .maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. 1.9 2.4 2.3 2.6 2.4 2.2 . . . understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. 1.9 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.1 . . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. 2.0 2.6 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.3 . . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. 2.1 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.4 . . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. 2.2 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.4 . . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. 2.2 2.7 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.4 . . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. 2.2 2.7 2.4 2.5 2.3 2.4 Our employees. . . . . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. 2.1 2.6 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.3 . . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. 2.5 2.8 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.6 . . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. 1.9 2.3 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.1 . . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.3 . . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.0 . . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. 1.9 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.0 . . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. 1.8 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.1 . . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. 2.1 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.2 . . . can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.3 . . . are self-motivated. 2.3 2.5 2.2 2.5 2.4 2.3 . . . take responsibility and think in a business-like 2.4 2.8 2.5 2.7 2,6 2.6 manner. Table A.13.: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by location
  • 77. A. Appendix XL Germany Europe North Asia Other total w/o Germany America average Our employees. . . . . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. 1.9 2.2 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.1 . . . organize themselves in their teams. 1.9 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.1 . . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.5 effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. . . .work in small teams in their projects. 1.8 2.0 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.9 . . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 2.2 2.1 2.5 2.2 2.2 2.3 . . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions 2.8 2.9 2.8 2.8 2.5 2.8 or departments. Regarding our employees, we. . . . . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 . . . trust them to get their job done. 1.7 2.0 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.8 . . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for 2.5 3.1 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.6 the team and their contribution to the overall organization. . . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. 2.3 2.9 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.5 . . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. 2.1 2.5 2.4 2.6 2.5 2.3 . . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s long-term future development. 2.2 2.6 2.4 2.1 2.4 2.3 In our organization, we. . . . . . scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. 2.3 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.4 . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. 2.4 2.8 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. 2.5 3.0 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.6 . . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. 2.0 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.3 . . . change authorities when tasks change. 2.5 2.9 2.7 2.5 2.7 2.6 . . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different 1.9 2.8 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.3 functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. . . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. 2.1 2.6 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.3 . . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. 2.4 2.9 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.5 . . . inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. 2.0 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.1 . . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. 2.0 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.5 2.2 . . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 2.3 2.6 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.4 . . .monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. 2.2 2.7 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 . . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 2.1 2.5 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.2 . . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. 1.8 2.3 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.0 . . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. 2.2 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.4 2.3 . . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. 1.7 2.3 2.2 1.9 2.1 2.0 Table A.14.: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by location
  • 78. A. Appendix XLI total average Germany Europe without Germany North America Asia Other Our organization prefers... …a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or fire-fighting. …the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e.g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. ...face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. ...simplicity, i.e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. …market-related changes (e.g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 Our organization values a culture that... ...harnesses change for competitive advantages. …considers team work as integral part. …accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. ...is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. …considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 Figure A.11.: Averages regarding agile values and principles by location
  • 79. A. Appendix XLII 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Our organization has... ...effective top-down and bottom-up communication processes. ...an intensive employee training program. ...employees that have a good understanding of how their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. …a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. ...a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... …make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. ...provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. …are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. ...enable decentralization in decision making. ...are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. …are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. ...enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. total average Germany Europe without Germany North America Asia Other Figure A.12.: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by location
  • 80. A. Appendix XLIII total average Germany Europe without Germany North America Asia Other 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Our managers... ...maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. ...understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. ...have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. ...are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. ...are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. ...are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, ...) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. ...manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. Our employees... ...are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. ...are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. ...are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. ...use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. ...communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. ...are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. ...are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. ...obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. ...can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. ...are self-motivated. ...take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. Figure A.13.: Averages regarding agile capabilities by location
  • 81. A. Appendix XLIV total average Germany Europe without Germany North America Asia Other 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 Our employees... ...collaborate closely with di ! ferent teams, departments, and/or business units. ...organize themselves in their teams. ...reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. ...work in small teams in their projects. ...form teams that are geographically closely located. ...rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments. Regarding our employees, we... ...manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. ...trust them to get their job done. ...offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their contribution to the overall organization. ...offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. ...encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. ...develop employees skills with a view to the firm's long-term future development. Figure A.14.: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by location
  • 82. A. Appendix XLV 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 In our organization, we... ...scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. ...are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. ...change authorities when tasks change. ...jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. ...encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. ...design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. ...inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. ...strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. ...focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. ...monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. ...select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). ...align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. ...encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. ...closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. Figure A.15.: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by location
  • 83. A. Appendix XLVI A.4.4. Details by Customers This section gives a number of comprehensive tables and figures for every item differentiated by the region of customers of the participating organizations. They serve as additional information for chapter 3. local national own world- “abroad” total region wide average Our organization values a culture that. . . . . . harnesses change for competitive advantages. 2.6 2.1 2.1 1.9 1,9 2.0 . . . considers team work as integral part. 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.4 1.7 . . . accepts and supports decisions and proposals of 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.4 2.0 employees. . . . is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.1 . . . considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. 2.2 2.0 2.0 2.1 1,6 2.0 Our organization prefers. . . . . . a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or “fire-fighting”. 2.5 2.2 2.2 2.1 1.9 2.2 . . . the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e. g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. 2.3 1.9 2.0 2.1 1.6 2.1 . . . face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.3 1.4 2.2 . . . simplicity, i. e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.0 2.3 . . .market-related changes (e. g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 2.6 2.4 2.3 2.1 1.9 2.3 Table A.15.: Comparison of averages regarding agile values and principles by region of customers
  • 84. A. Appendix XLVII local national own world- “abroad” total region wide average Our organization has. . . . . . effective “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication processes. 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.3 . . . an intensive employee training program. 3.3 3.0 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.8 . . . employees that have a good understanding of how their 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.2 own job relates to the firm’s overall activity. . . . a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.3 . . . a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that. . . . . .make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. 2.4 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.1 . . . provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.3 . . . are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.2 . . . enable decentralization in decision making. 2.7 2.5 2.5 2.5 3.0 2.6 . . . are integrated amongst different departments and/or 2.5 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.9 2.2 business units. . . . are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. 2.7 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 . . . enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. 2.9 2.8 2.6 2.7 2.4 2.7 Table A.16.: Comparison of averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by region of customers
  • 85. A. Appendix XLVIII local national own world- “abroad” total region wide average Our managers. . . . . .maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. 2.4 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.0 2.2 . . . understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. 2.3 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.7 2.1 . . . have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. 2.4 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.3 . . . are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. 2.5 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.9 2.4 . . . are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. 2.8 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.4 . . . are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, . . . ) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. 2.7 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 . . .manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.4 Our employees. . . . . . are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. 2.5 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.3 . . . are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.6 . . . are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 . . . use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.1 2.3 . . . communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. 2.2 2.1 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.0 . . . are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.0 . . . are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. 2.3 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.1 . . . obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.2 . . . can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. 2.5 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 . . . are self-motivated. 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 1.7 2.3 . . . take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. 2.8 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.6 Table A.17.: Comparison of averages regarding agile capabilities by region of customers
  • 86. A. Appendix XLIX local national own world- “abroad” total region wide average Our employees. . . . . . collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. 2.3 2.1 1.9 2.1 1.7 2.1 . . . organize themselves in their teams. 2.4 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 . . . reflect at regular intervals on how to become more 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.6 2.1 2.5 effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. . . .work in small teams in their projects. 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 . . . form teams that are geographically closely located. 2.1 2.3 2.1 2.4 1.7 2.3 . . . rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or 3.0 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.1 2.8 departments. Regarding our employees, we. . . . . .manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.3 1.9 2.3 . . . trust them to get their job done. 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.8 . . . offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team 3.1 2.8 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.6 and their contribution to the overall organization. . . . offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. 2.8 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.7 2.5 . . . encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.3 . . . develop employees skills with a view to the firm’s long-term future development. 2.8 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.3 In our organization, we. . . . . . scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.0 2.4 . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. 2.8 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.5 . . . react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. 3.0 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.9 2.6 . . . are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. 2.5 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.6 2.3 . . . change authorities when tasks change. 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.7 3.0 2.6 . . . jointly and intensively operate throughout different 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.4 2.9 2.3 functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. . . . encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.7 2.3 . . . design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. 2.8 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.5 . . . inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.1 . . . strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. 2.4 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.2 . . . focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.0 2.4 . . .monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 . . . select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.2 . . . align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.0 . . . encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.3 1.9 2.3 . . . closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.0 Table A.18.: Comparison of averages regarding agile activities by region of customers
  • 87. A. Appendix L total average local national own region worldwide abroad 3.0 Our organization values a culture that... 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 ...harnesses change for competitive …considers team work as integral part. …accepts and supports decisions and proposals of employees. ...is supportive of experimentation and the use of innovative ideas. …considers changing customer-related requirements as opportunities. Our organization prefers... advantages. …a proactive continuous improvement rather than reacting to crisis or fire-fighting. …the elimination of barriers between individuals and/or departments, e.g. by flat hierarchies or simple structures. ...face-to-face communication for conveying information within our organization. ...simplicity, i.e. skipping product and/or service features that go beyond the customer requirements. …market-related changes (e.g. new competitors, preferences) to generate new opportunities. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 Figure A.16.: Averages regarding agile values and principles by region of customers
  • 88. A. Appendix LI total average local national own region worldwide abroad Our organization has... ...effective top-down and bottom-up communication processes. ...an intensive employee training program. ...employees that have a good understanding of how their own job relates to the firm's overall activity. …a strategy that is clearly communicated to all hierarchical levels in terms easily understood by all. ...a strategic vision that allows flexibility for market changes from the very start. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 Our organization has Information Systems and Technologies that... …make organizational information easily accessible to all employees. ...provide information helping our employees to quickly respond to changes. …are appropriate to our needs and allow us to be competitive in the marketplace. ...enable decentralization in decision making. ...are integrated amongst different departments and/or business units. …are standardized or comparable amongst different departments and/or business units. ...enable us to fully integrate our customers and partners into our processes. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Figure A.17.: Averages regarding agile conditions and IT/IS by region of customers
  • 89. A. Appendix LII total average local national own region worldwide abroad 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Our managers... ...maintain an informal management style with focus on coaching and inspiring people. ...understand the value of IT investments from a company-wide perspective. ...have the knowledge and skills necessary to manage change. ...are able to quickly implement changes in products and/or services. ...are able to recognize future competitive advantages that may result from innovations in products, services, and/or processes. ...are able to flexibly deploy their resources (material, financial, human, ...) to make use of opportunities and minimize threats. ...manage the sharing of information, know-how, and knowledge among employees appropriately. Our employees... ...are able to act with a view to continuous improvement of our products, services, processes, and/or working methods. ...are able to sense, perceive, or anticipate the best opportunities which come up in our environment. ...are able to meet the levels of product and/or service quality demanded by our customers. ...use a broad range of skills and can be applied to other tasks when needed. ...communicate with each other with trust, goodwill, and esteem. ...are ready to learn and are prepared to constantly access, apply and update knowledge. ...are in general always willing to continuously learn from one another and to pass their knowledge to others. ...obtain and develop appropriate technological capabilities purposeful. ...can re-organize continuously in different team configurations to meet changing requirements and the newly arising challenges. ...are self-motivated. ...take responsibility and think in a business-like manner. Figure A.18.: Averages regarding agile capabilities by region of customers
  • 90. A. Appendix LIII 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 total average local national own region worldwide abroad Our employees... ...collaborate closely with different teams, departments, and/or business units. ...organize themselves in their teams. ...reflect at regular intervals on how to become more effective in their team, then tune and adjust their behavior accordingly. ...work in small teams in their projects. ...form teams that are geographically closely located. ...rotate amongst different activities, tasks, positions or departments. Regarding our employees, we... ...manage proposals, new ideas, and solutions from all levels consequently. ...trust them to get their job done. ...offer incentives not only for individuals, but for the team and their contribution to the overall organization. ...offer incentives to encourage our employees to upgrade their skills and training. ...encourage also employees at lower levels to make decisions and take responsibility. ...develop employees skills with a view to the firm's long-term future development. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 Figure A.19.: Averages regarding agile activities (of and regarding employees) by region of customers
  • 91. A. Appendix LIV 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 In our organization, we... ...scan and examine our environment systematically to anticipate change. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our business strategy. ...react to approaching changes by immediately updating our processes. ...are quick to make appropriate decisions in the face of market- and/or customer-related changes. ...change authorities when tasks change. ...jointly and intensively operate throughout different functions and/or departments for strategic decision making. ...encourage early involvement of several departments and/or functions in new product and/or service development. ...design our processes simultaneously to the development of new products and/or services. ...inform ourselves systematically about information technology innovations. ...strategically invest in appropriate technologies and have a clear vision how IT contributes to business value. ...focus on our core competencies and delegate further tasks to our partners and subcontractors. ...monitor the performance of our partners and subcontractors very closely. ...select our partners and subcontractors by quality criteria (rather than pure cost-based decisions). ...align all our activities to customer requirements and needs. ...encourage compilation and internal dissemination of information on customers needs. ...closely collaborate with and encourage fast feedback from our customers. Figure A.20.: Averages regarding agile activities (general) by region of customers
  • 92. FAKULTÄT WIRTSCHAFTSWISSENSCHAFTEN Bisher erschienene Titel in der Reihe: Dresdner Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsinformatik lfd.Nr. Autor/Autoren Titel 1/94 Werner Esswein, Eric Schoop, Wolfgang Uhr Der Studiengang Wirtschaftsinformatik an der Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften der Technischen Universität Dresden 2/94 Eric Schoop, Stefan Papenfuß Beiträge zum computerunterstützten Lernen 3/94 Werner Esswein, Klaus Körmeier Führung und Steuerung von Softwareprojekten im Kapsel- Modell 4/94 Werner Esswein Entwurf integrierter Anwendungssysteme 5/94 Gundula Heinatz CSCW und Software Engineering 6/94 Marco Lehmann- Waffenschmidt, Klaus-Peter Schulz Umweltinformationssysteme in der öffentlichen Verwaltung 7/94 Eric Schoop, Stefan Papenfuß, Jan L. Plass Echolot: Making an Abstract Hypertext Machine Concrete - A client/server architecture for authoring and learning business processes - 8/95 Eric Schoop, Thomas Schraml Vom Durchfluß- zum Kreislaufbetrieb: Neuorientierung zu einem integrierten Umweltinformationsmanagement 9/95 Gundula Heinatz COST14-CoTech Project P4 CSCW and Software Engineering Dresden, 22-23 May 95 Meeting Papers 10/95 Eric Schoop, Thomas Schraml Vorschlag einer hypertext-orientierten Methode für eine strukturierte Umweltberichterstattung und -zertifizierung 11/96 Eric Schoop, Uwe Jäger, Stefan Pabst Potentiale elektronischer Märkte 12/96 Eric Schoop, Ralph Sonntag, Katrin Strobel, Torsten Förster, Sven Haubold, Berit Jungmann Vergleichende Übersicht von Angeboten der Bundesländer im Internet 13/96 Eric Schoop, Hagen Malessa, Jan L. Plass, Stefan Papenfuß Architekturvorschlag für eine offene Hypermedia- Entwicklungsumgebung zur Erstellung verteilter Lernsysteme 14/96 Silvia Brink Wolfgang Uhr Hypertextbasierte Lernumgebung Investitionsrechnung - Konzept und Evaluation - 15/97 Thomas Schraml, Eric Schoop Umweltinformationsmanagement mit neuen Medien. Elektronische Berichterstattung durch Hypertext- Dokumente 16/97 Eric Schoop Multimedia-Kommunikation: Chancen für KMU?
  • 93. 17/97 Eric Schoop Wachstum und Innovation: Herausforderung für ein Informationsmanagement mit neuen Medien 18/97 Ralph Sonntag Automatisierung der Erstellung und Pflege von Umwelt-handbüchern sowie der enthaltenen Verfahrensregelungen 19/97 Eric Schoop Document Engineering: Methodische Grundlage für ein integriertes Dokumentenmanagement 20/97 Werner Esswein, Gundula Heinatz, Andreas Dietzsch WISE.xScape - ein Werkzeug zur Unterstützung informeller Kommunikation 21/97 Werner Esswein, Gundula Heinatz Dokumentation von Leistungs- und Informationsprozessen im Krankenhaus für ein verbessertes Qualitätsmanagement 22/97 Werner Esswein, Gundula Heinatz Einsatz von technischen Systemen zur Unterstützung von Koordination in Unternehmen 23/97 Werner Esswein, Manuela Räbiger, Achim Selz Anforderungen an Data-Warehouse-Systeme 24/97 Gerhard Marx Reaktionsfähigkeitsanalyse (RFA) 25/97 Michael Schaffrath Wolfgang Uhr Symptomerkennung im Rahmen eines Entscheidungsunterstützungssystems 26/98 Jens-Thorsten Rauer Strategische Erfolgspotentiale von Informations-infrastrukturen in der deutschen Assekuranz (Individualversicherungsbranchen) - die betriebliche Ressource Informationsverarbeitung 27/98 Stefan Papenfuß Vorschlag für eine Informationsstruktur 28/98 Eric Schoop Strukturorientierte Dokumentenmanagement, Aufgaben, Methoden, Standard und Werkzeug 29/98 Ralph Sonntag Jahresbericht 1994-1997 der Professuren für Wirtschaftsinformatik 30/99 Ina Müller Integration technologiebezogener Informationen an der TU Dresden in ein Gründerinformationssystem 31/99 Michael Zilker Einsatz und Nutzenkalküle von Virtual Reality-Projekten in Unternehmensprozessen Auswertung einer Befragung von VR-Anwendern und Ableitung eines Unterstützungsbedarfs durch ein computerbasiertes Beratungssystem 32/00 Andreas Dietzsch Werner Esswein Modellierung komplexer Verwaltungsprozesse: Arbeitsbericht zum Projekt Finanz 2000 33/01 Sabine Zumpe Werner Esswein Automatische Unterstützungssysteme für die Steuerberatung 34/01 Jürgen Abrams Wolfgang Uhr B2B-Marktplätze – Phänomen und organisatorische Implikationen 35/02 Ruben Gersdorf Verteiltes Content Management für den Document Supply in der Technischen Dokumentation 36/02 Sabine Zumpe Werner Esswein Konzeptuelle Schnittstellenanalyse von eCommerce Applikationen
  • 94. 37/02 Ernest Kosilek Wolfgang Uhr Die kommunale elektronische Beschaffung Bericht zum Forschungsprojekt „KeB“ 38/02 René Rottleb „Verzeichnissysteme – ein Stiefkind der Wirtschafts-informatik?“ 39/02 Andrea Anders Ergonomische Dokumente: Wie lassen sich zielgruppen-spezifische Anforderungen an Lesbarkeit und Verständlichkeit sicherstellen? 40/03 Anja Lohse Integration schwach strukturierter Daten in betriebs-wirtschaftliche Prozesse am Beispiel des Kundenservice 41/03 Berit Jungmann Einsatz von XML zur Abbildung von Lerninhalten für E-Learning-Angebote: Standards, Anwendung, Handlungsbedarf 42/03 Sabine Zumpe, Werner Esswein, Nicole Sunke, Manuela Thiele Virtuelle B2B-Marktplätze Entstehung, Existenz und Umwandlung 43/04 Torsten Sommer Modellierung von standardisierten Behandlungsabläufen Begriffsanalyse als Voraussetzung zur Wahl einer geeigneten Modellierungssprache 44/04 Eric Schoop Electronic Business – Herausforderungen im größer gewordenen Europa - Proceedings zum Europäischen Integrationsforum 2004 an der Fakultät Wirtschafts-wissenschaften der TU Dresden 45/04 Andreas Hilbert Sascha Raithel Entwicklung eines Erklärungsmodells der Kundenbindung am Beispiel des High-Involvement-Produktes Automobil 46/04 Andreas Hilbert Sascha Raithel Empirische Evaluation eines Kausalmodells zur Erklärung der Kundenbindung am Beispiel des High-Involvement- Produktes Automobil 47/05 Sabine Zumpe Werner Esswein Nicole Sunke Manuela Thiele Die Qualität von Referenzmodellen im E-Commerce 48/05 Daniel Kilper Ressourcenkritische Parameter XML-basierter Trans-aktionsstandards in mobilen Datennetzen: Eine Unter-suchung basierend auf der Informationellen Effizienz nach Hurwicz 49/06 Frank Wenzke Angebot von Informationen für die Wettbewerberanalyse auf Unternehmenswebsites 50/07 Silke Adam Werner Esswein Untersuchung von Architekturframeworks zur Strukturierung von Unternehmensmodellen 51/07 Markus Westner Information Systems Offshoring: A Review of the Literature 52/08 Tobias von Martens Andreas Hilbert Kapazitätssteuerung im Dienstleistungsbereich unter Berücksichtigung des Kundenwertes 53/09 Roy Wendler Reifegradmodelle für das IT-Projektmanagement
  • 95. 54/10 Christian Leyh Anne Betge Susanne Strahringer Nutzung von ERP-Systemen und RFIDTechnologie in klein-und mittelständischen Unternehmen - Eine explorative empirische Untersuchung sächsischer KMU 55/10 André Gräning Roy Wendler Christian Leyh Susanne Strahringer Research about before Research with Standards 56/10 Tagungsband des zwölften interuniversitären Doktorandenseminars 57/10 Andreas Hartmann, Georg Lackermair Trends im B2C-Online-Handel Ergebnisse einer Expertenbefragung 58/11 Michael Mohaupt, Andreas Hilbert Systematisierung und Berücksichtigung von Unsicherheiten im Revenue Management 59/11 Christian Leyh, Pia Hübler Nutzung von ERP-Systemen in sächsischen klein- und mittelständischen Unternehmen Eine explorative empirische Untersuchung 60/11 Christian Leyh, Henrique Gottwald Nutzung von ERP-Systemen in deutschen klein- und mittelständischen Unternehmen Eine explorative empirische Untersuchung 61/11 René Michel, Igor Schnakenburg, Tobias von Martens, Andreas Hilbert Effektive Kundenselektion für Vertriebskampagnen auf Basis von Nettoscores 62/11 Christian Leyh Verwendung von ERP-Systemen im Rahmen der Hochschullehre Auswertung einer Befragung deutscher Universitäten und Fachhochschulen 63/12 Kerstin Förster, Roy Wendler Theorien und Konzepte zu Agilität in Organisationen 64/12 Tobias Weiss, Andreas Hilbert Energy Intelligence Anwendung von Business Intelligence auf Daten aus dem Smart Metering 65/12 Christian Leyh, Christian Hennig ERP – und Campus-Management-Systeme in der Hochschulverwaltung – Ergebnisse einer Befragung deutscher Universitäten und Fachhochschulen 66/13 Tim Pidun Assessing the Success of Performance Measurement Systems 67/13 Marcus Pfitzner Visualisierungstrends von Business Intelligence Oberflächen