Balancing short-term feature delivery with long-term innovation requires organizational ambidexterity.
Organizations must strategically allocate resources and adapt processes to simultaneously pursue immediate market demands and future technological advancements.
Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology) · 2015
Key Findings
- 01Conflict between Agile Software Development and software reuse.
- 02Complexity in balancing short-term and long-term goals among diverse stakeholders.
- 03Tendency to develop systems that do not sustain long-term feature delivery due to an unbalanced focus on short-term objectives.
Application
Design takeaway
Designers and product managers must advocate for and implement strategies that foster both immediate product success and long-term technological foresight within their organizations.
How to apply
When developing product roadmaps, ensure dedicated time and resources are allocated for exploratory research and development of future capabilities, alongside the delivery of current features.
Project actions
- 01Consider how your design project addresses both immediate user needs and potential future enhancements.
- 02Think about how your design could be adapted or iterated upon over time.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Grounded in extensive empirical data from multiple real-world organizations.
- +Employs a robust qualitative research methodology (Grounded Theory) to uncover complex organizational dynamics.
Limitations
It's difficult to measure 'ambidexterity' directly in a small design project; focus on how your design allows for both current use and future adaptation.
Reliability & validity
The use of multiple case studies and mixed data collection methods (qualitative and quantitative) enhances the reliability and validity of the findings by providing triangulation.
Think critically
How can a design team, even within a larger organization focused on short-term goals, effectively advocate for and implement long-term innovation strategies?
Design Principles
"Organizational ambidexterity: Design for concurrent exploration and exploitation of opportunities."
In rapidly evolving sectors like software engineering, a singular focus on short-term gains can stifle long-term growth and adaptability. Design practice needs to consider how products and services can evolve, incorporating mechanisms for both incremental updates and disruptive innovation.
What This Means for Your Design
Companies need to be good at two things at once: making money now and inventing new things for later. It's hard because these two goals can fight each other.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use this research to justify the need for a dual approach in your design process: one for immediate functionality and another for future-proofing or innovation.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
(2015). Ambidexterity in large-scale software engineering. Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology). Retrieved from https://designdex.org/study/43fe78d6-3443-4074-a561-2d14eb583f50/balancing-short-term-feature-delivery-with-long-term-innovation-requires-organizational-ambidexterity
Paragraph starter
This research highlights the critical challenge of organizational ambidexterity in large software firms, where balancing short-term feature delivery with long-term innovation is essential for sustained success. The study identifies conflicts between agile development and reuse, stakeholder goal complexity, and an overemphasis on immediate results as key impediments. This underscores the need for design projects to incorporate strategies that support both current functionality and future adaptability.
Source
Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology)
Ambidexterity in large-scale software engineering
journal · 2015
View sourceQuestions about this research
- What does the research say about balancing short-term feature delivery with long-term innovation requires organizational ambidexterity?
- Designers and product managers must advocate for and implement strategies that foster both immediate product success and long-term technological foresight within their organizations. Evidence: Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology) (2015).
- Why does "Balancing short-term feature delivery with long-term innovation requires organizational ambidexterity." matter for design?
- In rapidly evolving sectors like software engineering, a singular focus on short-term gains can stifle long-term growth and adaptability. Design practice needs to consider how products and services can evolve, incorporating mechanisms for both incremental updates and disruptive innovation.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Designers and product managers must advocate for and implement strategies that foster both immediate product success and long-term technological foresight within their organizations.
- What were the main findings?
- Conflict between Agile Software Development and software reuse.. Complexity in balancing short-term and long-term goals among diverse stakeholders.. Tendency to develop systems that do not sustain long-term feature delivery due to an unbalanced focus on short-term objectives.
- What research method was used?
- Grounded Theory approach with multiple case studies. with 7 large software organizations.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2015 journal from Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology).
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When developing product roadmaps, ensure dedicated time and resources are allocated for exploratory research and development of future capabilities, alongside the delivery of current features.
- What are the limitations?
- Findings are specific to large software organizations developing embedded software and may not generalize to all industries or company sizes.
- Is there evidence that software engineering affects design outcomes?
- Large software companies struggle to be 'ambidextrous' – simultaneously innovating for the future while delivering current products – due to conflicts between agile methods and reuse, managing diverse stakeholder goals, and an overemphasis on immediate results. In rapidly evolving sectors like software engineering, a s Source: Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology) (2015).
- Where does this long-term research apply?
- Large-scale software engineering, specifically embedded software development. It sits within innovation & design research on designdex.org.
Related research topics
software engineering design research · evidence on software engineering · does software engineering improve design outcomes · long-term studies for designers · software engineering and long-term findings · innovation & design research evidence