Managing Inherent Conflicts in Agile Distributed Development: Evidence from Product Development

Abstract: Increasingly, software is being developed following agile approaches in a distributed setup. An agile setting is typically characterized by flexibility, in order to accommodate changing customer demands for continuous delivery of business value. A distributed setting brings about multiple demands for stability, in terms of a push for clear specification of requirements and design, and a big picture product definition. Therefore, implementing agile distributed development projects results in an inherent conflict that must be reconciled. We conducted two case studies of such projects in the domain of product development to examine the nature of conflict as well as the mitigating mechanisms followed by the software teams. Our findings reveal that the domain of engagement drives the need for flexibility, and the specific distributed team configuration drives the demand for stability. Furthermore, the software teams achieve a balance between them through the project context, which is characterized by an interaction of performance related and social elements.