Towards A Double-Edged Sword: Modelling the Impact in Agile Software Development

TL;DR

This paper introduces the Agile Influence and Impact Model, combining causal models to systematically analyze how cultural and other factors influence agile practices and their outcomes in software development.

Contribution

It presents a novel integrated model that systematically describes factors affecting agile practices and their impacts, addressing cultural influences and application success.

Findings

The model clarifies how cultural factors influence agile implementation.

It helps predict the impact of various factors on agile outcomes.

Provides a systematic framework for understanding agile success and challenges.

Abstract

Agile methods are state of the art in software development. Companies worldwide apply agile to counter the dynamics of the markets. We know, that various factors like culture influence the successfully application of agile methods in practice and the sucess is differing from company to company. To counter these problems, we combine two causal models presented in literature: The Agile Practices Impact Model and the Model of Cultural Impact. In this paper, we want to better understand the two facets of factors in agile: Those influencing their application and those impacting the results when applying them. This papers core contribution is the Agile Influence and Imact Model, describing the factors influencing agile elements and the impact on specific characteristics in a systematic manner.