Agile Hybrid Model for Management Information Systems · Agile Hybrid Model for Management...

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Naeem, H. Agile Hybrid Model for Management ..................... 118

International Journal of Informatics, Technology & Computers

ISSN: 2317-3793, Volume 1, Issue 1, page 118 - 127 Zambrut

Agile Hybrid Model for

Management Information

Systems

Humairah Naeem

Humairah Naeem

University Institute of Information Technology

Pir Mehr Ali Shah – Arid Agriculture University

Rawalpindi, Pakistan

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Management Information System

The direction of enterprises is changing continuously due to the changing trends in a market. The

management function is facing an increasing number of challenges for maintaining a track of all the

diverse organizational sources (Nowduri, 2014). The diverse changes put a pressure on the

organizations to make their decisions more efficiently. Especially operational, tactical and strategic

decisions at different levels of organization should be extra active and successful (Kornkaew, 2012).

So, the highly competitive environment demands the evolution of Information Systems. An

information system (IS) is a combination of different components like data, software, hardware,

procedures and people. These components help to increase competitiveness and to gain valuable

and timely information. Information System (IS) becomes Management Information System (MIS)

when this system helps the managers in decision making (Kornkaew, 2012).

Abstract: Due to the changing trends in market many organizations now use the information systems to gain

competitive advantage in market. Many different agile approaches like Scrum, XP, Lean etc. are used for the

development of such software and systems. Hence, it is called Agile information system development (AISD). The

hybrid approach facilitates the whole development life cycle of Information systems by combining two or more

methodologies. According to some researchers, it gives the better results by overcoming the weaknesses of the

methodologies and by improving their advantages.The purpose of this research is to understand the concept of

Management Information Systems, how the combination of Scrum and XP are used for the development and

management of Information systems. It also investigates the issues which are still uncovered. The literature

review is carried out to study the previous work on it and to find out the issues faced by these approaches. The

survey is conducted to evaluate the proposed approach. The comparative analysis is also performed to analyze

and compare the previous researches with proposed work.

Keywords: Agile, Hybrid Methodologies, Scrum and XP, Management Information System (MIS), Information

System (IS)

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According to (Nowduri, 2014) the MIS is primary to the functioning of the corporation as it collects

uncooked information from numerous ends, converts it into beneficial records, and sends it to the

components of the enterprise. Thereby pleasing the information needs of individuals, teams and

management respectively.

Figure 1: Components of Information System (Source: Kornkaew, 2012)

In line with Figure 1, the major factors of IS include hardware, computer code, statistics,

approaches, and individuals. Hardware includes pcs, garage disks, keyboards even a software is

applicable to phrase-processing programs. Records or information includes texts, phrases, sentences,

and paragraphs in reviews. Also, methods check with the methods for the use of this system and

involved tasks. The final factor is humans. The critical function of 5 components is this IS being most

effective computers and applications however it also specializes in the meeting of hardware, computer

code, facts, strategies. So, information device means a machine of verbal exchange among human

beings (Kornkaew, 2012).

1.2 The Need of Hybrid Approaches for Information System (Is) or Management Information

System Development

One development methodology is not suitable for all the organizations due to changing

environment and every project need a distinctive technique to fulfill the dreams and goals. It

approaches “one length is not match for all”. Every approach has its personal pros and cons. By

combining the advantages and by ignoring or reducing the weaknesses of two or more procedures a

better software program or a system can be accomplished (Castilla, 2014). Due to which corporations

are transferring towards the exceptional hybrid methods that integrate two or extra software

methodologies thereby improving the whole improvement.

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2. LITERATURE GAP

Table 1. Literature Summary

2.1 Problem Statement

The existing Scrum/XP hybrid approaches focuses on the single perspective prioritization approach

for the classification of requirements (Sharma & Wadhwa, 2015). They also lack practices about full

Title Author Contribution Weaknesses

Empirical

Evaluation of the

Proposed

eXSCRUM

Model (2012)

M.Rizwan

Jameel Qureshi

Combines the scrum

and XP by removing

their drawbacks.

Introduces the Sprint

zero activity (Pre-

sprint activity) to

provide the estimated

and prioritized

attributes.

No approval is taken

from the customer at

the end of each

iteration which reduces

the customer

satisfaction level.

IXSCRUM-A

Framework

Combining Scrum

and XP (2013)

Chhavi

Malhotra,

Anuradha Chug

Performs testing

again and again to

reduce defects.

Includes code

refactoring for

quality product.

• Lack of planning about

enterprise objectives.

eXSRUP: Hybrid

Software

Development Model

Integrating Extreme

Programing, Scrum

& Rational Unified

Process (2015)

Nidhi Sharma,

ManojWadhwa

Combines the Scrum,

XP and RUP by

considering their

strengths.

Improves the

productivity,

performance and

completion time.

Roles and artifacts of

the proposed

framework are not

defined properly.

Single dimension

prioritization take

place.

A Comparative

Analysis of

DXPRUM and

DSDM (2017)

Muhammad

Fahad

et al.

Combines XP and

Scrum with DSDM.

Apply the project in

real time and

compares the result

with traditional

methodologies.

Prioritization

technique is not

mentioned for the

classification of

requirements in system

backlog phase.

No design centered

approach is

implemented.

Agile Methodology:

Hybrid Approach

Scrum and

XP (2017)

Farrukh Musa,

Muhammad Ali

Tariq

Takes the customer

approval in each

iteration.

Saves client money

and time.

Testing, design and

development approach

is not followed.

Doesn’t cover the

whole SDLC.

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life cycle (Musa & Tariq, 2017). Furthermore, the current work focuses more on development and

testing during iteration rather than using any design centered approach (Fahad et al., 2017). So these

issues needs to be addressed properly.

2.2 Description of Framework

This research proposed a framework with the aim to mitigate the issues which are still uncovered

by the hybrid approaches of XP and Scrum. The framework includes the engineering approaches of XP

which are combined with the management approach of Scrum. Further it also defines the roles along

with the whole cycle. The framework includes the following phases.

2.3 Feasibility Study

The primary objectives of this phase are to 1) identify the business scope of the new system 2)

develop preliminary cost and schedule estimates based on the stakeholder concurrence, 3) identify the

business need for the project, 4) understand the requirements according to the business case for the

project, 5) establish a vision for the solution the business modeling discipline is highly utilized in this

phase. The main activities of the business modeling discipline in this phase include: 1) create a list of

business benefits, system objectives and system capabilities, 2) describe the problem or need, 3)

consider business process, workflow, and interfaces to other systems, and 4) analyze the various system

stakeholders.

2.4 Product Attribute

The product attribute is the user stories or the user requirements elicited in the previous phase.

2.5 Estimation

The product attributes are then estimated based on the effort required to bulit the requirements. The

cost related to each requiremnt is also estimated in this phase.

2.6 Requirement Prioritization

After estimation the requirements are prioritized by using VIEWPOINT technique. The viewpoint

technique considers the viewpoints of every stakeholder so that the requirements are identified from

different perspectives. This technique is based on the assumptions that the entire system cannot be

covered with the single perspective. Now there is a need to prioritize the VIEWPOINTS based on their

criticality.

Figure 2: Viewpoint Technique for Requirement prioritization

2.7 Product Backlog

The product backlog is the list of requirements after estimation and prioritization needs to develop.

The development of these requirements splitted in the form of short iterations called sprints.

Identify VIEWPOINTS

Prioritize VIEWPOINTS

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2.8 Sprint Development Cycle

Sprint development cycle involves 5 phases:

Plan: The planning phase involves the planning of a sprint that which requirements needs to be covered in

the sprint taken by the team according to the priority.

Design: The design includes the two types of diagrams the class diagram for the front end (interface) and

object diagram for the backend (database). The design includes an XP practice simple design to

Keep It Simple (K.I.S).

Coding: The coding is done after the design phase which involves the pair programming, code review, code

refactoring and coding standards.

Testing: The testing involves the unit testing. Every feature/attribute of the product is designed, applied and

tested with in the sprint improvement cycle.

Demo: After performing all the phases now, the last step is to take the customer approval so that rather than

to change large amount of code according to the customer requirement, the approval is taken from

him.

2.9 Integration

The requirements approved by the customer are integrated into the system by using the

continuous integration practice of XP. So that the working attributes are only integrated into the

system. Otherwise the changed requirements become a part of product attribute which is again

estimated and prioritized.

2.10 Sprint Review

After each sprint the sprint review meeting is conducted to check the progress of the team the

issues faced by them during development and the planning of next sprint.

2.11 Deployment

The working system is deployed to the customer which is then further maintained if required.

2.12 Roles

The roles and responsibilities are taken from Scrum.

• Product Owner: The product/project owner is the voice of stakeholders. They deliver value to business and write a

requirement in form of user stories and prioritize them then adds them to product backlog. They are

the ones who manage, control the product backlog list.

• Scrum Master: He/ She implement the regulations and make sure that product is accomplished smoothly. He /she

make certain that the project is performed in keeping with the practices, values and regulations of

scrum and it progresses as planned. Scum grasp interacts with the development group as well as

with the client and the control at some point of the task.

• Scrum Team: Scrum team is the team that has authority to decide on the necessary actions and to organize itself to

achieve the goals of sprint. The team estimates the effort, creates and review the sprint backlog.

• Developer, Customer and Tester: They serve their respective roles but according to the sprint and

work is divided in each iteration.

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Figure 3: Proposed Framework

3. METHODOLOGY

After proposing a framework, to check the effects of new proposed approach by combining Scrum

and XP there is a need to evaluate the proposed framework. This section discusses the evaluation of

proposed framework by using a survey technique and then its results are discussed. Its affect is checked

on software industry by taking the views of software developers and project managers. After that the

comparative analysis is performed.

3.1 Survey based evaluation

The survey is conducted online by using a Survey Monkey tool which is very useful to create

surveys and to track the results from anywhere and from any device.

The research includes the 11 questions which are related to the framework to analyze the related

unsolved issues. The total respondents are 55. Different software people including software developers,

software engineers, project managers and system developers answered the survey questions to evaluate

to the proposed work. They preferred the hybrid use of Scrum a management methodology and XP a

development methodology to develop and to manage the system or software.

3.2 Survey Conduction

The data is collected through the Linkedin, Facebook, Messenger and by email. As there are

different ways to collect responses from people like by sending a web link, through email, social media,

and website. The collectors are added according to the choice. There is a link of every way to send it to

the appropriate people which help them to fill out the questionnaire.

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4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Survey results

Table 2 shows the results of survey which includes mean, Std deviation and variance of each

question.

Table 2: Results of Survey

Questions Mean Std. Deviation Variance

Q1 13.75 2.061 4.25

Q2 11 5.33 28.5

Q3 13.75 5.72 32.83

Q4 18.333 4.163 17.33

Q5 11 2.64 6.972

Q6 11.4 3.12 9.7344

Q7 11 2.67 7.12

Q8 11 3.11 9.67

Q9 11 2.71 7.344

Q10 11 4.28 18.31

Q11 11 2.99 8.94

Figure 4: Statistical Analysis of Each Question

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11

Survey Result

Mean Std. Deviation Variance

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Figure 5: Responses of Questions

4.2 Comparative analysis

As seen in the table below, the proposed model is examined after comparison with few existing

models, to obtain the results. This assessment is based on some known factors.

Table 3: Comparative Analysis

Characteristics Proposed

Model eXSCRUM IXSCRUM eXSRUP DXPRUM

Customer approval

during iteration Yes

No

No

No

No

Covering whole

SDLC Yes

No

No

Yes

No

Design centered

approach Yes

No

No

No

No

Multiple dimension

prioritization Yes

No

No

No

Yes

5. CONCLUSION

The direction of organizations is changing continuously due to the changing trends in a market. It

puts a pressure on the organizations to make their decisions more efficiently. Especially operational,

tactical and strategic decisions at different levels of organization should be more efficient and effective.

Due to this reason, many organizations now use the information systems to gain competitive advantage

in market. Management Information System (MIS) is an of information system that helps the managers

to make tactical decisions more effectively (ArtitKornkae, 2012).

Many different agile approaches like Scrum, XP, Lean etc. are used for the development of such

software and systems. Hence, it is called Agile information system development (AISD). The hybrid

approach facilitates the whole development life cycle of Information systems by combining two or

more methodologies. According to some researchers, it gives the better results by overcoming the

weaknesses of the methodologies and by improving their advantages.

The primary focus of this research is to understand the concept of Management Information

Systems, how the combination of Scrum and XP are used for the development and management of

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Agree Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Responses of Questions

Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11

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Information systems. It also investigates the issues which are still uncovered by their hybrid

combination. The literature review is carried out to study the previous work on it and to find out the

issues faced by these approaches. The framework is proposed which includes the engineering

approaches of XP, combined with the management approach of Scrum. Further it also defines the roles

along with the whole cycle. It mitigates the issues which are uncovered.

After proposing a framework, it is evaluated by conducting an online survey. The survey is

conducted by using a Survey Monkey tool which is very useful to create surveys and to track the results

from anywhere and from any device. The survey includes the 11 questions. Different software people

including software developers, software engineers, project managers and system developers answered

the survey questions. The respondents of each question are 55. Their responses are shown by using a

bar chart.

6. SUMMARY

Due to the changing environment many organizations now use the information systems to gain

competitive advantage in market. Many different agile approaches like Scrum, XP, Lean etc. are used

for the development of such software and systems. Hence, it is called Agile information system

development (AISD). The hybrid approach facilitates the whole development life cycle of Information

systems by combining two or more methodologies.

The hybrid technique of Scrum and XP is likewise utilized by enterprises in recent times. It

includes the great practices of XP like pair programming, continuous integration, code assessment,

coding standards, collective code ownership, refactoring and so on. Alongside, the control technique of

Scrum which involves product backlog, sprints, each day standup conferences, sprint review and sprint

retrospective.

Distinctive researchers work on their hybrid combinations to advantage extra benefit from them and

to limit their boundaries.

This thesis tried to understand the concept of Management Information Systems, how the

combination of Scrum and XP are used for the development and management of Information systems.

It also investigates the issues which are still uncovered by their hybrid approach. The literature review

is carried out to study the previous work on it and to find out the issues faced by these approaches. The

survey is conducted to evaluate the proposed approach. Finally the results are shown which shows that

previous issues are covered.

7. REFERENCES

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