Socio-Technical Principles and Agile Values in the Software Industry: A Technical Report

This technical report explores the implementation of a new socio-technical work system in an ERP software company serving the healthcare sector, by addressing a knowledge gap in how such companies integrate socio-technical principles with agile values. Using a four-month action research approach, we developed, evaluated, and refined a socio-technical work system integrating social and technical elements. Findings show that software companies face difficulties incorporating some socio-technical principles related to agile values and data-oriented performance, such as “minimal critical specification”, “variance control”, “information flow” and “support congruence”, and reveal that the difficulties of transitioning from an organization based on traditional/bureaucratic principles to an organization based on an organic structure (adhocratic, for example) are still not sufficiently known nor understood. This study also highlights current conflicts in the software industry related to (a) an expectation of agile and data-oriented performance, and (b) a reality rooted in the bureaucratic tradition of work organization.