Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
A Perspective of Leadership Requirement in Scrum Based Software Development - A Case Study
Blekinge Institute of Technology, Faculty of Computing, Department of Software Engineering.
2018 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

Context. Software Development has been witnessing great innovations over past few years with good number of technologies, tools and practices invading the industry. Client demands and collaboration in the development process are also seen increasing. So many new practices and methodologies are coming up and Agile is one of prominent practices adopted by many. Even in Agile, Scrum methodology is picking up more demand presently. As Software Development process and practices are changing so are the leadership styles in the same. Leadership is critical for success of any team. This study intended to explore this model and requirement of leadership in Scrum based Software Development in a practical scenario.

Objectives. Leadership, which is essential in any Software project, differs from Traditional Methodology to Scrum Methodology of Agile practices in Software Development. Through a case study, the author attempted to investigate and explore the perspective of Leadership requirement in Scrum based Software Development in a practical scenario. The study aimed to gather and analyze the Leadership model implemented in two domestic projects in an Indian company, involved in two distinctive domains, and sum up the impressions gained in the same. The study aimed to assess whether the gathered knowledge adds up to the existing body of knowledge on the phenomenon or on the contrary whether any suggestions for improvement can be given to the case units.

Methods. Case Study method was chosen for undertaking this explorative study. A literature review was conducted prior to the case study to gain knowledge on the phenomenon, which also answered one of the Research Questions and helped partially the other. A multiple case study was conducted through semi structured personal interviews, tools analysis and direct observation in the case units. Qualitative data analysis was made using Grounded Theory on this three orders of collected data. The results were compared with the Literature and conformity or variance analyzed. This comparative analysis is used for making recommendations to the case units for improvement or for additions to the existing body of knowledge.

Results. Through the results of Literature Review, Leadership models in Software Development including Agile Scrum were summed up. And through the results of the case study, the leadership models and features implemented in the case units have been identified. These results are further validated and contrasted with the results of the literature review. How the literature models and the case unit models of leadership differed is studied. The justification for the implemented leadership model in the practical situation is also analyzed. Following, a review of the models employed at the case environments, the perspective of leadership in the two Scrum based Software Development projects is summed up. At the end, it is assessed what effect the case study would have on the existing body of knowledge on the phenomenon and modifications that can be proposed to the case units based on the results and analysis.

Conclusion. It is concluded that the Case Units are implementing Situational Leadership and Transformational Leadership in a mixed way. Telling and Selling models in Situational Leadership are prominent while Participating and Delegating are ranking less. Some of the important features of Transformational Leadership like Self Management, Organizational Consciousness, Adaptability and Proactive are in implementation but not all features of the model are assumed. Even Scrum is implemented in a modified way, extending only controlled autonomy with higher monitoring and it had a direct effect on the leadership. On the whole it is directive leadership that is in play with co-existence of collaborative one situationally.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2018.
Series
Blekinge Institute of Technology Licentiate Dissertation Series, ISSN 1650-2140
Keywords [en]
Software Development, Scrum methodology, Leadership types, Data Collection, Analysis, Results
National Category
Software Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:bth-17793OAI: oai:DiVA.org:bth-17793DiVA, id: diva2:1303510
Subject / course
PA2534 Master's Thesis (120 credits) in Software Engineering
Educational program
PAAXA Master of Science Programme in Software Engineering
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2019-05-20 Created: 2019-04-09 Last updated: 2019-05-20Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(3652 kB)729 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 3652 kBChecksum SHA-512
2f72f1a28b22ae9b87fe499804139acb9b795079eb13335ccb0f983c71fccaf66532f514100f21c4bf0a452e1b6a4eafd6bfb0bc183e9983189704aff6b14f64
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf
BTH2019Varanasi(2249 kB)322 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT02.pdfFile size 2249 kBChecksum SHA-512
eb7674758b60db7a70e402bf99cd2d1130858c333616209ab0978b4e253a27a13c21d6c306871bbecc1c3b90c4f3b04935d7a98fba47484174602bfd82cc4ebd
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

By organisation
Department of Software Engineering
Software Engineering

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 1052 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 804 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf