Strategy, International Business and Society Research Community Seminar

Title: “Game of Scrums: The Effects of Agile Organisation on Creativity”

Date and time: Wednesday, 09 March 2022, 14:00-16:00

Location: NUBS 2.10

Presenter: Jonathan Sapsed

Authors: Jonathan Sapsed, Andrew Grantham and Juan Mateos-Garcia

Abstract:

The growth of digital technology has exposed creative organisations to the same uncertainties that are familiar to the software industry, prompting many to turn to Agile organisation and its many variants. Yet we know little about how practices like scrum teams, backlogs, and early prototyping affect the creative process and the subsequent outcomes for innovation. We report on an in-depth study of 16 video games developers, a creative industry with challenging software requirements, including over 80 interviews among artists, designers, producers, and programmers. We find Agile organisation has creativity-enhancing benefits, granting creatives greater autonomy and choice, but is prone to lead to over-iteration, dependency problems between sub-teams, and can undermine innovation strategy. We recommend the conditions where Agile organisation can work for wider contexts and where it needs greater management focus.