GRAD 695: Agile and Lean Methodologies Collaboration in IT Industry

This report, prepared by a student, investigates the collaboration of Agile and Lean methodologies within the IT industry. The research explores the challenges and benefits of integrating these approaches, focusing on enhancing project management practices. The study examines the advantages and disadvantages of both methodologies individually, providing a comparative analysis to determine the best fit for software development. The report includes a literature review covering SDLC, Agile, and Lean methodologies, along with their principles. A survey questionnaire is used for data collection, and the proposed solution focuses on the benefits of agile software development within lean practices. The conclusion highlights the advantages of transitioning to agile development and the importance of collaboration in improving software quality. The report also addresses limitations and ethical considerations, offering valuable insights for IT professionals seeking to optimize project outcomes. The keywords include Agile methodologies, collaboration of lean, lean manufacturing, agile software processes.

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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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
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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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
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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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
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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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
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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COLLABORATION OF AGILE AND LEAN METHODOLOGY IN THE IT INDUSTRY
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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