Multi-Scenario Empirical Assessment of Agile Governance Theory: A Technical Report

TL;DR

This study empirically evaluates Agile Governance Theory across multiple organizations and scenarios, confirming its relevance and potential to improve organizational agility and decision-making clarity.

Contribution

It operationalizes AGT into testable hypotheses and validates them through extensive scenario-based survey data from practitioners worldwide.

Findings

Supported key components of AGT with empirical data

Confirmed mediation role of governance capabilities in agile organizations

Demonstrated AGT's practical utility in clarifying decision channels

Abstract

Context: Agile Governance Theory (AGT) has emerged as a potential model for organizational chains of responsibility across business units and teams. Objective: This study aims to assess how AGT is reflected in practice. Method: AGT was operationalized down into 16 testable hypotheses. All hypotheses were tested by arranging eight theoretical scenarios with 118 practitioners from 86 organizations and 19 countries who completed an in-depth explanatory scenario-based survey. The feedback results were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Results: The analyses supported key theory components and hypotheses, such as mediation between agile capabilities and business operations through governance capabilities. Conclusion: This study supports the theory and suggests that AGT can assist teams in gaining a better understanding of their organization governance in an agile context. A better understanding can help remove delays and misunderstandings that can come about with unclear decision-making channels, which can jeopardize the fulfillment of the overall strategy.