Collaboration of Agile and Lean Methodology in the IT Industry

This report evaluates the collaboration of agile and lean methodologies in the IT industry. It analyzes the problems faced by the industry while implementing these methodologies and proposes a solution approach. The report is based on primary research conducted through a survey questionnaire.

Running Head: COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT
INDUSTRY
Collaboration of Agile and LeanMethodology in the IT Industry
Name of the Student
Harrisburg University
GRAD 695 PGMT

COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
Abstract
Purpose of the research: With change in customer requirements, the IT market becomes
dynamic. The IT industry is required to quickly respond to the changes. They must become agile
with an objective to develop features with short lead time as well as higher quality. Practices and
principles with collaboration of lean and agile methodologies in IT industry aim to increase
flexibility with regards to change in project requirements. Lean software development is aimed
to identify the wastes so as to focus on value adding project activities. The objective of this
report is to evaluate lean and agile methodologies in IT industry setting
Approach and method of the research: The agile and lean approaches are investigated through
use of survey questionnaire. As primary methods for data collection variety of approaches are
being used, such as survey questionnaire, study of the process documentation and use of
quantitative data.
Proposed solution approach: While investigating the study with help of primary data, the study
evaluates that between lean and agile methodologies, agile is amore popular method used in IT
industry. With regards to lean software development, the goal of this solution is stimulated by
the lean manufacturing along with product expansion, and valuates the worth in additional
improvement of agile development.
Conclusion based on the research: With regards to the agile methodology, it is found that the
relocation from the plan driven approach towards agile development approach is advantageous.
The researchers have identified concrete decisions in which agile solutions could support them.
Keywords: Agile methodologies, collaboration of lean, lean manufacturing, agile software
processes.
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Problem Statement and Justification...............................................................................................8
Statement of the problem.............................................................................................................8
Justification..................................................................................................................................8
Hypothesis...................................................................................................................................9
Limitations...................................................................................................................................9
Research deliverables..................................................................................................................9
Type of work................................................................................................................................9
High level diagram of the research work...................................................................................10
Literature Review -- Analysis of Related Work............................................................................12
SDLC methodology...................................................................................................................12
Agile methodology in IT industry.............................................................................................14
Principles of agile methodology................................................................................................16
Lean methodology in IT industry..............................................................................................17
Principles of lean principles.......................................................................................................18
Seven wastes of lean manufacturing..........................................................................................19
Proposed Solution Approach.........................................................................................................21
Study design...............................................................................................................................21
Develop a plan...........................................................................................................................21
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
Ethical issues.............................................................................................................................28
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................30
References......................................................................................................................................31
Appendix........................................................................................................................................33
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Introduction
The paper is based on the collaboration of agile and lean methodology in the IT industry.
The IT industry is provided with a high value to the customers, employees and markets.
Sandberg and Crnkovic (2017) discussed that agile and lean methodology in IT industry is
performing faster and producing high quality of business offerings. This particular paper is based
on analyzing the problems which are faced by the IT industry while implementing the agile and
lean methodology. In this paper, the problem discussed is that there is a gap to balance agile and
lean methodologies based on maintenance of project quality and cost effective project
work.There is problem of scaling in collaboration among the lean and agile methodologies based
on context of project management. The challenges are occurred to maintain balance on cost and
quality of products. At the time of supplying products in the market, the IT industry faces scaling
problem while collaboration of methodologies affects people in IT-based firms (Kupiainen,
Mantyla, &Itkonen, 2015). It would lead to solve and lead to compromise the quality of
products.
The project management methodologies are used with applicability to manage and
control incremental projects for different types of project. The methodologies are raising
popularity into the software development because of their simplicity and proven productivity into
the engineering practices. This paper differentiates lean and agile methodologies so that the
reader should understand the advantages and disadvantages of both methodologies individually
(Tripp, Saltz, & Turk, 2018). It also helps to understand which methodology is best suited for
software development in the IT industry.
The lean methodology can eliminate waste through business practices to select specific
valuable features of the system and deliver into small batches. It is emphasized with speed as
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
well as the competence of the development workflow and relied on feedback from the customers.
It is focused to make decisions and effective way to control the project cost (Rost et al., 2015).
This methodology is based on three main principles such as it can visualize the workflow, limits
the amount of work into progress and enhances the flow of work.
Abrahamsson et al., (2017) discussed that agile methodology is a method to manage
design as well as build activities of engineering and information technology. It aims to provide a
new product as well as service development in a flexible way to evolve throughout collaborative
efforts and cross-functional teams. Matharu et al., (2015) proposed that agile methodology is
people focused approach towards the software development. This methodology is aimed for
continuous improvement into quality so that the software development project can get successful
into the project work.
The agile and lean methodologies are increasing communication which allows the team
to share information with the clients. Both of the methodologies are used in this study to remedy
the problems. It enables transparency and provides the team with the ability to find the problems.
Agile as well as lean enables better relations among business users. It tends to provide a better
product, stronger team morale and lean to adopt changes in the business processes (Kupiainen,
Mantyla, &Itkonen, 2015). Collaboration among agile and lean methodology indicates of higher
contribution to theoretical aspects and explains the strategy of the supply chain related to the IT
industry.
The IT industry is created of the agile manifesto which highlighted the core value of the
agile(Matharu et al., 2015). It is a set of the engineering best practices planned to permit for rapid
release of a high quality of business products and services.
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
The commonly used terms in this paper are agile methodology, which is an approach in
project management used into software development. This method is assisted the project team in
responding to the unpredictability of the constructing software. Lean methodology term is used
into the business application. This concept is delivering more value with less waste into the
project context. Lean is such a systematic method to eliminate waste into the manufacturing
system (Rost et al., 2015). It is an act to reduce the waste and add customer-defined value to the
products furthermore services. The project management methodologies are allowed to control
entire processes through decision making as well as problem solving. It ensures the success of
the business processes and approaches.
The implementation of concepts of the agile as well as lean project management is done
to achieve effective along with productive work processes. By conducting workshops and
training, it helps to aware the individuals and workforces regarding the implementation of both
methodologies in IT industry (Sandberg &Crnkovic, 2017). According to most of the
researchers, investment in implementing those concepts is high, as it helps to prevent resources
to deplete at a fast rate.
Among the lean and agile methodologies, agile methodology is a better methodology to
be used in the IT industry. Into the agile development, testing is being integrated throughout the
project lifecycle that means there are regular checkups to observe the product is working
throughout the project development. As the product owner is involved, therefore the progress of
development is highly visible as well as flexible to make possible project changes. It is implied
of engagement along with customer satisfaction. Kupiainen, Mantyla and Itkonen (2015) pointed
out that agile methodology increases project control by sprint meetings in addition to
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transparency. This particular methodology eliminates chances of the project failures, such that no
such agile project can fail.
The ideas regarding lean software development are being drawn from the lean
manufacturing as well as lean product development. The lean production is focused on
production processes and focused on removing waste from its production processes. The waste is
defined as such things which are not contributed to creating value for the customers. Into the lean
product development, manufacturing processes for the mass production are the center of
attention and entire product development processes. Thum et al., (2014) stated that lean software
development shares principles as well as practices with agile software development.
In this study, a survey is researched in large to get an overview of the research
phenomenon about the population. As this research study is based on gaining an in-depth
understanding of research, therefore the questionnaire method is selected as the best to analyze
the selected research topic.In this study, the research contributions are used implementation of
agile software development to add benefit in lean practices. Overall, the comparison shows that
the survey was considered as a suitable research method to achieve the research contributions.
The research contributions are the use of the implementation of agile software development and
added benefit to use lean practices in the IT industry.
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
Problem Statement and Justification
Statement of the problem
Based on a selected research topic, the research question for this study is:
1. Howis awareness of lean and agile methodologies concerning collaboration maturity
model in the IT industry?
The IT industry is facing challenges while implementing advanced concepts such as agile
and lean project management. Most of the researchers state that lack of awareness to handle and
use those methodologies related to the techniques. The staff working in IT industry is not able to
keep updated with those methodologies to be used in software development. The selected
research question is clear and focused on the research topic as more awareness is required while
implementing those methodologies into the business process.
Justification
The IT industry is faced problems such as project delays, cost overruns as well as poor
quality of materials. The industry is complex along with dynamic, and there is an increase in
customer collaboration (Menezeset et al., 2018). The agile and lean methodologies are
implemented to solve those problems as agile methodology encourages collaboration and
engagement with the project stakeholders. It helps to counter of increasing complex
environment. Lean methodology helps to reduce non-value-added items and also increases of
customer's value. This methodology works with minimum resources and also helps to increase
business efficiency (Gousios, Pinzger, &Deursen, 2014). Most of the researchers suggested using
of agile methodology in IT industry for software development. Agile methodology is used in the
execution stage as it involves various iterations and takes stakeholders into project
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considerations. It is a fact that a new method is required from top management along with the
satisfaction of the project stakeholders.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis for this research study is H1: If there is an increase in collaboration of
lean and agile methodology then there is an increase in level of software quality.
Limitations
The agile software development is popular among the IT industry practitioners as it
benefits regarding decreasing the time to market as well as increasing development and product
quality. The agile methodology is found to have limitations to scale to an entire organization.
Lean methodology emerges into the software development as it is close to agile methods enhance
the software development processes and scales the agile (Ortu et al., 2018). It is required to
understand the lean thinking can join with established software engineering practices to attain of
best approaches. In this method, there is limited involvement of the customers and project
requirements to make sure that the final product is to meet with business needs.
Research deliverables
The deliverables of this study are the final research report, case studies on IT industries
used of agile and lean methodology for software development, guidelines for the students and
staffs.
Type of work
This research study is based on primary research where the data are collected through the
use of survey questionnaire methods. The questions related to selected research topic are
selected, and it is distributed to the employees of the IT industry. Based on the answers of the
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participants, it is analyzed if proper awareness is done regarding the implementation of agile and
lean methodologies in IT industry.
High level diagram of the research work
Figure 1: Steps of research work
(Source: Created by author)
From this study, it is analyzed that at first identification of a research topic is done where
the researcher main aim is to analyze the research requirements. The selected topic for this
research study is a collaboration of agile and lean methodology in IT industry. The problem
statement for this study is analyzed based on the research related gaps which is related to
implementation of software methodologies in IT industry. The literature study is reviewed so that
based on the data; primary research is conducted using survey questions based on a selected
research topic. The proposed approach is made using the feedback results of the participants.
Identify the
research topic
Research
requirements
Analyze the
problem statement
Literature reviewPerform a primary
research
Perform the survey
Analyse the data Proposed solution
approach
Findings of the
research study
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Finally, the findings of the study are done to analyze if the IT organization are aware of using
agile and lean methodologies into the business processes.
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Literature Review -- Analysis of Related Work
According to Fullerton, Kennedy and Widener (2014), success in the present marketplace
generally hinges upon the ability of the IT industry to deliver the entire value both to the
employees as well as to the customers of the organisation. It is found that the IT industry requires
moving much faster for delivering higher quality of the products as well as services to the
customers by giving the structure as well as stability to give a healthy organisational culture. It is
stated by Bhamu and Singh Sangwan (2014) that both agile, as well as lean project management
methodologies, are generally helpful for moving the entire business much faster for producing
higher quality of offerings in a very much sustainable as well as healthy work environment
(Yang, Kuo, Su, & Hou,2015). It is found that they are generally implemented quite differently
within the different teams, and thus there is some confusion related to the distinction between
various practices as well as methodologies that are mainly associated with them.
SDLC methodology
System development life cycle is one of the domains of competency that is mainly used
within the system of engineering, information system as well as software engineering for
elaborating the process for planning, testing as well as deploying an information system
(Rohani&Zahraee 2015). Three paradigms are liner approaches, iterative approaches as well as
component-based software development. It is identified that Nallusamy (2016), SDLC
methodology generally have clear objectives as well as stable requirements of the project so that
by using the approach, the IT industry can flourish effectively.
In the vocabulary of traditional discipline of engineering, the concept of software engineering is
the newest addition. Due to the growing technology in the business as well as IT industries, the
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business organizations are collaborating agile and lean methodology to meet the IT project
objectives (Rodríguez et al., 2018). The ongoing project complexity will be minimized rather
completely resolved with the successful utilization of two of these technologies. Within the IT
industry agile project management methodology has become one of the most important software
development approaches (Suomalainen, Kuusela&Tihinen, 2015). This approach is capable of
delivering quality software products to consumers successfully. Key abstractions for all flavours
of the agile methodology are applicable mainly for the change management. Through the
application and help of quality level practices the development process can become much easier
and at the same time, can also involve the consumers in the process of development. The large IT
industry has also acknowledged that the industrial challenges can be completely resolved with
lean methodology and agile development methodology.
According to Dingsoyr and Lassenius (2016), the approach agility is largely dependent
on different three basic dimensions such as innovations, flexibility and aggressiveness. The
flexibility of the approach helps to summarize and drive the IT industry towards its goal and
objectives by developing quality services and products. Lesser and Ban (2016) stated that there
are many IT companies which shows the success, failure and associated challenges for all the
software projects. In the case of waterfall methodologies this kind of issues is very high. The
percentage of failure is lesser in agile methodology than waterfall and lean methodology, and the
success rate is higher accordingly. Due to benefits in the delivery and quality of both services
and products most of the IT industry uses the concept of agile software development
methodology. It gives continuous development to gain appropriate defines visibility as well as
time for the market level demands (Fenton &Bieman, 2014). As agile methodology can provide
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continuous improvement to the consumers, thus most of the business owners use this specific
approach. Though, for both the IT and non-IT projects these methodologies are beneficial.
According to Buyukozkan et al. (2015), Lean practices are considered to be that practice that
generally aims to achieve the Lean principles. It is found that the selected practices for the proper
adoption include addressing bottlenecks, considering incentives, as well as measuring and
managing, are considered to be significant. As a result, they are selected as top priority practices
as per the criteria. On the other hand, it is found that in IT industry, lean manufacturing is used as
one of the improvement techniques that generally focus on the actual requirements as well as
needs of the customers by preventing the waste from being built within the entire system
(Jasti&Kodali, 2016). One of the most principles of Lean is the proper identification of value
that is mainly perceived with the help of the customers by providing what they generally want. In
addition to this, it is found that the use of lean methodology assists in managing the work that is
associated with the IT industry quite easily (Nallusamy et al., 2015). It is found that the lean
approach generally starts at the bottom of the organisation in which the management generally
helps in imposing changes on the entire work procedure.
Agile methodology in IT industry
Edwards Jr (2017) stated that Agile Methodology is one of the most significant
methodologies that are developed for integrating the management of the activities and aligning
the development of information management. The researchers and executives have been forming
the derivation for the process methodology of Agile for integrating the methods of execution of
the projects with the implication of the successful management of the operations (Mahadevan,
Kettinger, &Meservy, 2015). The inclusion of the agile methodology has been helpful for
deploying the utilisation of the activities and removing the factors for development. The removal
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development and inclusion management had been implied with the successful management of
the process. According to Kuhl (2014), the senior management had been assisted with the
continuation of the factors and deploying the management of comprehensive information
management. The project alignment is implied with list of phases such as initiation, planning,
developing, and closing. The project initiation starts with developing the information and
formation of the information management.
After analyzing the application of agile methodology different ranges of possible benefits are
identified associated with this. Agile methodologies provide various business opportunities to the
stakeholders to develop the project team. Through involving the clients in each of the project
phases, a high degree of project collaboration can be obtained between the project manager,
stakeholders and other project team members (Fenton & Bieman 2014). In order to understand
the demand and vision of the clients, the collaboration is very much crucial. In order to deliver a
higher quality of working software the ability of the project team members is very much
important. In other words, the agile methodology can also provide unique business opportunities
to the clients throughout the project progress phase. New additional features can be added to the
project with agile project methodology. Due to the fixed sprint of duration at the project
initiation phase, the project manager can predict the cost and time of the projects. Regarding the
priority features the decision approaching also becomes much easier (Tripp Saltz& Turk, 2018).
The project team needs to focus on the subset of features of the products in every project
iteration and delivery phase. It also gives opportunities to the project manager and the project
team members for a constant refine and reprioritization regarding the product backlog. Even
also for next iterations, the planning is possible for the changed backlogs. In order to introduce
the changes for a specific product and service, it can provide huge business opportunities
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(Antinyan et al., 2014). Moreover, it can be said that this approach allows business owners to
introduce needful changes to their product and services.
Principles of agile methodology
Following are principles of agile methodology in the IT industry such as:
1. The highest priority of the agile methodology is to satisfy the customers by
providing them continuous delivery of the software. By shortening time between
project documentation and customer reporting, the IT industry delivers what the
customer needs (Fenton&Bieman, 2014).
2. Agile processes can harness change in customer’s competitive advantages.
3. This methodology can deliver working software regularly from couple of weeks
to couple of months with preference of shorter timescale.
4. The agile processes must build bridge between business people and software
developers so that they can understand each other. Tools are used to facilitate
exchange of ideas so that from both side it is understandable (Jasti&Kodali,
2016).
5. The agile projects are built among motivated individuals and they are provided
with good working and supporting environment to perform their job.
6. Most effective method to convey information among the development team is
face-to-face conversation so that speed to achieve the information becomes faster.
It helps to create a collaborative environment.
7. The agile processes are promoted with sustainable development. The software
developers and users can maintain a steady speed until further notice (Lesser&
Ban, 2016).
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8. The agile methods are concerned to the technical excellence furthermore a good
design enhanced agility.
9. This method can cut unnecessary complexities to keep the project work simple.
The project management tools can cut busy work and control over project aspects
(Gousios, Pinzger&Deursen, 2014).
Lean methodology in IT industry
Bhamu and Singh Sangwan (2014) stated that lean principles are used to improve
software practices into large-scale IT industry. The lean software development results to adapt to
lean principles from the manufacturing to software development domains. Cherrafi et al., (2016)
pointed out that lean principles can reduce development time, usage of resources, reduce quality
problems and increase innovation. Compared to the lean manufacturing, the lean product
development is little recognized as well as argued about outside Toyota. According to Yang et
al., (2015), the outcome of a lean transformation is recognition of the management excellence,
ability to innovate along with massive growth into the profitability of the company. Elimination
of waste is a significant critical principle of lean manufacturing. The lean thinking believed that
not all necessary processes are in the IT Company can add value to the customers. Required
paperwork reduces the processes along with response time. Sundar, Balaji and Kumar (2014)
suggested that lean thinking is a paperwork which is not hiding of any quality issues related to
product.
Besides agile project management methodology, another known and widely used
management methodology is also available known as a lean project management methodology.
The project challenges that may interrupt the success of the project can be completely resolved
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with the implementation of this process (Nicholas, 2015). It keeps on sending a reminder to the
project team members regarding needful changes. One of the major components of lean is that it
can successfully deliver working visibility based on the project resources, goals and risks as well.
With the help of this approach, the project manager and the project team members of the IT team
gets details information regarding the project (Ciccullo et al., 2017). Due to huge competitive
advantages, the rate of commercial revenue for the specific projects also gets enhanced
(Nurdiani, Börstler& Fricker, 2016). Expect then the IT industry many other industries use the
process of lean project management methodology. In both the private and public sectors, the lean
methodology is very helpful. Certain issues can be resolved with the help of the lean
methodology.
Principles of lean principles
Following are principles of lean methodology in the IT industry which can improve
workplace efficiency such as:
Define value: In order to understand the principle defining the customer value, it is
required to understand about the value. The customer value is what the customer desires to pay.
The techniques like demographic information, web analytics, and surveys are used to determine
what the customers get valuable (Kupiainen, Maäntylaä, &Itkonen, 2015).
Map the value stream: Second principle is identifying as well as mapping value stream.
The goal is used of customer’s value as reference point and identified activities which can
contribute customer values (Fullerton, Kennedy, & Widener, 2014). By reduction and
elimination of unnecessary processes, it ensures that the customers can get what they want and
reduce the production cost.
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Create flow: After removal of waste from value stream, it ensures that flow of process
can run properly without delays. The value added activities are reconfiguration the production
steps, workload leveling, cross functional needs creation and training to the employees.
Establish pull: Inventory is considered as a waste in the production system. Pull based
system is limitation of inventory as well as work in process items which making sure that there is
smooth flow of information (Kumar& Yadav, 2017). The pull based system permits for just-in-
time delivery where the products are created at time that they are required and in just quantities
required.
Pursue perfection: The wastes are prevented through four steps like identifying customer
value, mapping value stream, creating flow and adopting the pull system (Kupiainen, Mäntylä,
&Itkonen, 2015). Each of the employees should be strived towards perfection while delivering
the products based on customer’s requirements.
Seven wastes of lean manufacturing
Gousios, Pinzger and Deursen(2014) stated that waste elimination is an effective way to
increase profitability in the IT industry. The seven wastes are consisted of:
Overproduction:It is highly costly as it prohibits smooth flow of the materials along with
degrades quality plus productivity. Overproduction manufacturing is being referred to as just in
case. It creates high lead time, results in higher cost for storage and makes difficult to detect the
defects.
Waiting:When the goods are not processing, then waste of waiting is occurred. More
than 99% of the product’s life is spent waiting to process (Bhamu& Singh Sangwan, 2014). Most
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of lead time of products is in waiting for next operations, as flow of material is poor and long
production runs.
Transport:Transporting the product among the processes is cost incursion that can add no
value to the product. The material handlers are used transport materials resulted to organizational
cost which can add no customer value (Ciccullo et al., 2017). Transportation is critical to reduce
because of perceived cost of moving equipments plus processes together.
Improper processing:The organizations are used of high precision equipmentswhere
simple tools are sufficient.
Unnecessary inventory:Work in progress is a result of overproduction as well as waiting.
Excess inventory can increase the lead time, delay in identification of issues and improper
communication.
Excess motion:This waste is related to health and safety issues which are becoming a
problem in the IT organization (Jasti&Kodali, 2016). The jobs with excessive motion are
analyzed and redesigned to improve with involvement of the personnel.
Defects:In order to have direct impact to bottom line, the quality defects are resulted in
rework. Associated costs are included of rescheduling, loss of capacity and quarantining
inventory.
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Proposed Solution Approach
Study design
Based on the behavioral or design science research, the main results which are expected
for this research study are based on the data which is collected through survey and interview
methods. The results are produced through the use of primary data collection method where the
employees working into the IT industry are selected to conduct the study. The data is collected
through the use of a survey questionnaire method where a list of questions based on a selected
research topic is distributed among the participants so that they can provide their own responses.
The focus of this study is to solve the problems with scaling of collaboration among lean
as well as agile methodologies occurs into the context of project management using the primary
data collection methods where the feedback and responses from the participants are taken to
argue on a selected research topic.
Develop a plan
The overall process which is used to answer to the questions is primary data collection.
The raw data are provided detailed insight of information based on a selected research topic. The
raw data is required to validate data sources based on validity and reliability. In order to collect
data, the researcher had evaluated responses from the participants and questions were extracted
from sensitive information based on the collaboration of agile and lean methodology in IT
industry. The sample size of this research study is 25. Based on the research methodology of this
project study, survey techniques are to be used to answer the research questions such as:
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Section 1: Demographic information
1. Please indicate the age group
Figure 1: Age group
From the above figure, it is analyzed that 44% of the participants from the age group of
26-39, therefore young participants are more interested to participate into the research study.
2. Please select your gender
Figure 2: Gender
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
From the above figure, it is analyzed that 60% of the participants those are interested to
give their responses are male and 40% of them are female. Therefore, there are maximum male
participants into the research study.
3. Please select your designation
Figure 3: Designation in the project
From the above figure, it is analyzed that 48% of the respondents those are provided their
responses are IT Engineer. As selected research topic is based on collaboration of agile and lean
methodology, therefore IT Engineer should have more idea on this study.
4. Are you familiar with the term agile and lean methodology?
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Figure 4: Familiar with agile and lean methodology
From the above figure, it is analyzed that most of the participants such as 92% of the
employees are familiar with the term agile and lean methodology.
Section 2:Collaboration of Agile and Lean Methodology in the IT Industry
1. How far do you agree that by managing expectations agile methodology is more benefited for
software development in IT industry?
Figure 5: Managing expectations agile methodology is more benefited for software
development in IT industry
From the above figure, it is analyzed that 52% of the respondents are agreed that agile
methodology is more benefited for software development in IT industry as it has higher product
quality, higher customer satisfaction, increased into project control and reduction of the project
risks.
2. How far do you agree that collaboration of agile and lean methodology increase productivity
and reduce development time?
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
Figure 6: Collaboration of agile and lean methodology increase productivity and reduce
development time
From the above figure, it is analyzed that 72% of the respondents are agreed that
collaboration of agile and lean methodology increases productivity and reduces development
time. Both the methods have revolutionized the information technology. It has greater success
rates into the software development, improves the quality, speed to market and boosts motivation
along with productivity of the IT teams.
3. How far do you agree that collaboration of methodologies increase communication and allow
teams to share information with clients?
Figure 7: Collaboration of methodologies increase communication
From the above figure, it is analyzed that 48% of the respondents are agreed that there is
collaboration of methodologies increase communication and allow teams to share information
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
with clients. The team can interact with the clients to make a difference in whether to get a deal.
The team members can realize how the communicational skills can affect the customers and
enhance an ability to understand the client.
4. How far do you agree that agile and lean enables better relationships between business and IT?
Figure 8: Agile and lean enables better relationships between business and IT
From the above figure, it is analyzed that lean and agile methodologies helps to build
better relations between business and IT for software delivery. Deployment of code allows the
team members practicing agile quickly to receive the feedback from the customers and use it for
influencing the project work. The team manages the flow of work in cross functional teams to
deliver one iteration at a time.
5. How far do you agree that the methodologies bring about quality and tend quick and cheap
services?
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
Figure 9: Methodologies bring about quality and tend quick and cheap services
From the above figure, it is analyzed that 48% of the respondents are agreed that agile
and lean methodologies bring good quality and tend quick and cheap services. The methods can
help the team to manage the project work and do work perfectly while delivering a higher quality
of products in the budget constraints.
6. How far do you agree that agile methodologies combined with lean principles requires
involvement of the business users?
Figure 10: Agile methodologies combined with lean principles requires involvement of the
business users
From the above figure, it is analyzed that 40% of the respondents are agreed that agile
methodologies when combined with lean principles require involvement of the business users.
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
The team work and reach to the inevitable changes which are coming into the project work. The
business users can enhance capability to work perfectly by presentation of data in visual way
rather than use of spreadsheet.
7. How far do you agree that poor resource planning and limited documentation limits the
implementation of agile and lean methodology?
Figure 11: Poor resource planning and limited documentation limits the implementation of
agile and lean methodology
From the above figure, it is analyzed that 52% of the respondents are agreed that poor
resource planning and limited documentation limits the implementation of agile and lean
methodology. It is goal of development team to deliver working code that provides value to the
customers. The team reacts to necessities unpredictability. The decisions affects the team
capabilities are delayed and the time spent into the planning activities is limited to what the
customers are required.
Ethical issues
In order to conduct this study, the researcher is involved to collect data and information
related to the organization; therefore they are dealing with the confidentiality of those data. The
researcher has ensured that the data are not published publicly. The researcher has not
28

COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
pressurized the participants to provide their feedback. Based on the ethical considerations, the
researcher is trying to follow the research ethics rules and regulations.
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
Conclusion
With regards to the future work, further studies are to be required on the agile software
development, and it is focused on large-scale software development. The rapid implementation is
required to study the understanding of the long-term effects based on benefits and challenges of
the approach. It is seen that agile and lean methodologies are beneficial to develop the software
products. This study provides the decision makers with understanding of how it is initiated to
develop agile and lean methodologies. It leads to successful implementation of system
development life cycle methodologies. The agile and lean software development has become
popular among the industrial practitioners as it benefits to decrease time-to-market along with
increase in development, flexibility in addition to the quality of product. The agile methodology
has limitations to scale entire organizations. Lean is a term which has emerged into software
development as a means to enhance software development processes. It is required to understand
how lean thinking is combined with well recognized software engineering observations to attain
the best of the approaches. The literature study revealed an idea to apply lean to software
development while agile manifesto is formulated. Collaboration of concepts of agile and lean
methodologies is done to achieve effective as well as creative work procedures. Conducting
workshops and training not only help the company spread awareness of these methodologies, but
also help to implement agile and lean concepts into the IT industry. Most of the experts say that
although the investment required to implement these concepts is higher, it helps in long run by
prevention of resources to deplete at faster rate. The purpose of this paper is to research and
spread awareness of the concepts such as lean in addition to agile among the project managers
working in the IT industry.
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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
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Appendix
Topic: Collaboration of Agile and Lean Methodology in the IT Industry
Survey Questions
Please note: The sample size for the survey questionnaire are 25 and the selected audiences are
employees working into the IT industry.
This questionnaire is designed to “Collaboration of Agile and Lean Methodology in the IT
Industry”. Your participation is much appreciated and your answers will be treated
confidentially and will be used for academic purpose only.
Section 1: Demographics Information
1. Please indicate the age group
 Under 25
 26-39
 40-49
 Above 50
2. Please select your gender
 Male
 Female
3. Please select your designation
 Project Manager
 IT Engineer
 Software developer
 System Analyst
33

COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
5. Are you familiar with the term agile and lean methodology?
 Yes
 No
Section 2: Collaboration of Agile and Lean Methodology in the IT Industry
We would like your impressions about your feedback. Choose the most suitable answer that
reflects on rating scale as strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree.
1. How far do you agree that by managing expectations agile methodology is more
benefited for software development in IT industry?
2. How far do you agree that collaboration of agile and lean methodology increase
productivity and reduce development time?
3. How far do you agree that collaboration of methodologies increase communication and
allow teams to share information with clients?
4. How far do you agree that agile and lean enables better relationships between business
and IT?
5. How far do you agree that the methodologies bring about quality and tend quick and
cheap services?
6. How far do you agree that agile methodologies combined with lean principles requires
involvement of the business users?
7. How far do you agree that poor resource planning and limited documentation limits the
implementation of agile and lean methodology?
34