Today, markets are characterized by constant change. To cope with this, many companies are applying agile methods. This article investigates how agile methods potentially affect the achievement of corporate goals in general and those in the financial industry in particular, taking the most widely used agile method, Scrum, as an example.
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The agile organizational model of the Swedish music and video streaming service Spotify has been the talk of the town for some time now. Many banks, including Commerzbank and ING, are basing their organizational structure on the Spotify model. But what actually distinguishes the model? And what is the truth behind the statement that Spotify itself has not used the model at all?
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On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Agile Manifesto, I would like to take another look at the central concepts of the document. Because even after this long time, the values and principles contained represent the basic tenets of the agile working method and can be found in many different agile methods, such as Scrum, Kanban or SAFe.
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The culture of a company is the beliefs, values and behaviors that shape the social and psychological environment of the organization. As a 2017 Capgemini change management study shows, the companies that transform most successfully are also those that involve their employees in the transformation process from start to finish and thus actively promote a change in corporate culture. Many studies from science and practice also make it clear that the path to an agile culture is not an easy one. In a recent article, the consulting firm McKinsey has published four lessons learned from its experience with clients around the world that offer a good approach to how companies can foster the development of an agile culture.
Continue reading » The ever-increasing digitalization confronts companies with dynamically changing environmental conditions requiring them to regularly adapt their product and service portfolios and business models to changing circumstances. In order to meet this requirement, an agile organizational culture is indispensable.
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Multinational companies have extensive and complex supply chains to operate as efficiently as possible. Within these production networks there is little room for error and preventive stress tests are rarely carried out. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how fragile such structures can be and what consequences can arise if too little attention is paid to risk exposure (Sneader & Lund, 2020).
But how could companies have better prepared for an unexpected event like the COVID-19 pandemic? And how relevant is organizational agility and resilience in this context?
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The economy and society in general have benefited greatly from increasing digitization and access to ICT. However, this development also has its downsides. In recent years, both scientific studies and practical reports have increasingly pointed out that the use of ICT in both private and organizational contexts can lead to strong stress perceptions among the respective users. This specific form of stress is called technostress. This blog post explains the causes and effects of technostress and suggests measures companies can take to minimize technostress for their employees.
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It is an open secret that turbulent times have begun for banks and financial service providers. The market environment is more volatile than ever before – external conditions change often, quickly and extensively. How can banks nevertheless be successful in this environment? The key is agility, which can only succeed if the leadership style, which has a significant influence on the personal attitude, mindset and behavior of employees, is also appropriately agile. The question that arises in this context is: What characterizes an agile leadership style and how can the transformation to this leadership style be successful?
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