{"title":"Towards continuous strategy in software business","authors":"T. Suomalainen, Jenni Myllykoski","doi":"10.1504/IJASM.2019.10022804","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the strategic planning in software-intensive businesses. As software-intensive businesses are going beyond agile and lean software development towards continuous deployment, it requires both continuous planning throughout the organisation and a link between strategy and software development. A better understanding of the strategic planning practices among software companies is needed to enable continuous deployment. However, the current literature does not yet address this issue. We conducted a multiple-case study involving three companies by interviewing 24 people in various roles and at different organisational levels. This study reveals an emerging need for continuous strategy in all cases. With a continuous strategy, we refer to the view that strategic planning can be an ongoing process without a predefined planning cycle. The case companies in our study were in different phases in adopting practices of continuous strategy. This paper highlights the reasons behind continuous strategy and describes the current practices of continuous strategy. Continuous strategy is especially vital for software companies dealing with turbulent business environments, but adopting the practices of continuous strategy is challenging. This study concludes that the main challenges are related to planning practices, transparency, communication and organisational structure.","PeriodicalId":38028,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Agile Systems and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2019-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Agile Systems and Management","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJASM.2019.10022804","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Multidisciplinary","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This paper examines the strategic planning in software-intensive businesses. As software-intensive businesses are going beyond agile and lean software development towards continuous deployment, it requires both continuous planning throughout the organisation and a link between strategy and software development. A better understanding of the strategic planning practices among software companies is needed to enable continuous deployment. However, the current literature does not yet address this issue. We conducted a multiple-case study involving three companies by interviewing 24 people in various roles and at different organisational levels. This study reveals an emerging need for continuous strategy in all cases. With a continuous strategy, we refer to the view that strategic planning can be an ongoing process without a predefined planning cycle. The case companies in our study were in different phases in adopting practices of continuous strategy. This paper highlights the reasons behind continuous strategy and describes the current practices of continuous strategy. Continuous strategy is especially vital for software companies dealing with turbulent business environments, but adopting the practices of continuous strategy is challenging. This study concludes that the main challenges are related to planning practices, transparency, communication and organisational structure.
期刊介绍:
The objective of IJASM is to establish an effective channel of communication between academia, industry and persons concerned with the design and development of systems. Change is eternal and perpetual, irrespective of type of system. Systems created in the course of the advance of human civilization need to be functionally and operationally sustainable amid changes in technological, political, socio-economical, financial, cultural and other environmental challenges. IJASM aims to promote and harmonize knowledge developments in the emerging fields of agile systems research, sustainability and vulnerability analysis, risk assessments methodologies, complex systems science, e-organisation and e-supply chain management, with emphasis on the international dimension, particularly breaking cultural barriers, and on national contexts, globalisation and new business practices. As such, we aim to publish papers presenting new research, innovative theoretical approaches, changes in agile management paradigms, and action (both examples of successes and failures as long as there are important lessons to be learned) from leading scholars and practitioners. Papers generally fall into two broad categories: those grounded in theory and/or papers using scientific research methods (e.g., reports of original empirical studies, models, critical reviews of existing empirical research, theory pieces that clearly extend current thinking); and those focusing on innovative agile approaches that are based on well reasoned extensions of existing research, experiential knowledge, or exemplary cases (e.g., thought pieces, case studies, etc).