Invesstigating Important Aspects for Agile Adoption in Malaysia

Presenter: Jeeson Daniel J

Authors: Ani Liza Asnawi, Andrew M Gravell & Garry B Wills

University of Southampton, UK

{ala08r, amg, gbw}@ecs.soton.ac.uk

Factor Analysis: Investigating Important Aspects for Agile Adoption in Malaysia

International Conference on Agile and Lean Software Development AgileIndia2012, Bengaluru

mailto:%[email protected]






OBJECTIVETo identify clusters of the variables (or

items) and how they are inter-related to produce factors.

From here, dimensions and meanings of the variables from the questionnaire can be identified.

Factor analysis can help to provide a summary for data inter-relationship and places those variables into their groups accordingly.


Data Collection and AnalysisOnline Questionnaire.Received 207 responses. For factor analysis: 27 questions regarding

the adoption and completed responses equal to 88.

Each variables has a six point Likert-type scale ; strongly disgaree (1) to strongly agree (6).


Sample Size and Strength of Relationship

The suitability to conduct factor analysis needs to be checked.

Keiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) – a measure of sampling adequacy ranges from 0 to 1.

From the data, KMO of 0.755 was obtained – (value from 0.7 to 0.8 are good) [1].


Factor ExtractionIt is one of the procedures in factor analysis.Involves determining the smallest number of

factors (or components) that can best represent the inter-relations among the sets of variables.

Here, principal component analysis is use as the extraction method.

In order to determine how many number of factors are extracted, eigenvalues (or Kaiser criterion) and scree plot can be referred to [2].


Factor Extraction: Determine How Many Factors to Retain:(1) EIGENVALUES rules

Component

Eigenvalues (Total)

Eigenvalues (% of Variance)

Eigenvalues (cumulative %)

1 7.852 29.080 29.080

2 2.534 9.385 38.465

3 1.937 7.173 45.637

4 1.638 6.067 51.704

5 1.543 5.716 57.420

6 1.182 4.378 61.798

7 1.080 4.000 65.798

8 1.028 3.809 69.607

9 0.890 3.295 72.902

. . . .

. . . .

27 0.093 0.344 100.000Table 1: Eigenvalues and Total Variance Explained

Factor Extraction: Determine How Many Factors to Retain:(2) SCREE PLOT

0 5 10 15 20 25 300

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Series1

Factor (or Component) Number

Eig

envalu

e

Figure 1: Scree Plot

Factor Rotation and InterpretationAfter deciding the number of factors to be

retained, the next step is to interpret the variables that are loaded in those factors or components .

For this purpose: the factors are ‘rotated’. Rotation provides a method for interpretation and

from here the interpretability of the factors can be improved. There are two ways in doing rotation : (i) orthogonal (varimax) or (ii) oblique (oblimin)

Oblique rotation used in this analysis.Oblique rotation produces 2 matrices – (i) pattern

matrix and (ii) structure matrix.


The Related Variables with Their Loadings (Taken from Pattern Matrix)

Factor 11. Software developers have responsibility

related to the organisation’s Agile activities=0.816

2. Software developers are actively involve in setting goals for Agile activities=0.805

3. In our software development, identifying project scope and suitability of project is important when using Agile methods =0.674

4. In our organisation we are encouraged to be open and transparent at all levels=0.497

5. Our organisational environment is a personal place where people share a lot of themselves=0.564

Factor 21. We have mixed races in our

organisation/team (Malay, Indian, Chinese and other races) = 0.845

2. In our organisation, we communicate in the English language = 0.810

3. In my experience, a mind set change when using Agile is important as Agile practice is different from other software methodologies=0.434

Factor 31. In our software development, customers

are actively involved in setting goals for our Agile activities=0.680

2. In my experience, practitioners with professional skills are needed when practicing Agile=0.656

3. In our software development, customers have responsibility related to the organisation’s Agile activities=0.615

4. In my experience, when practicing Agile, customers also have knowledge of the methods=0.556

Factor 41. I see customers’ satisfaction when using

Agile methods=0.8812. Our software development becomes

easier because both parties (customers and developers) are working together when using Agile=0.867

3. I see Agile boost developers’ morale=0.585

4. In sotware development, Agile methods provide quicker results=0.495

Factor 51. In my experience, training helps the

correct practice of Agile methods in our organisation= -0.879

2. In my experience, continuous learning helps knowledge transfer occuring when using Agile methods= -0.811

Factor 61. In my experience, Agile methods are

suitable for certain technologies= -0.943

2. In my experience, tools are important to support the usage of Agile methods= -0.507

3. Our organisation emphasises on achievement and goal accomplishment where aggresiveness and winning are common themes= -0.414

(removed from the factor)

Factor 71. Our organisational environment is a

personal place where people share a lot of themselves = 0.614

2. In my experience, I think, knowledge about Agile should be widely increased in the country= -0.530

Factor 81. In my experience, knowing roles and

responsibilities is essential when practicing Agile methods = 0.694

2. In my experience, attitude (such as team spirit and team commitment) is required from everyone when developing software using Agile= 0.515

3. In our software development, Agile methods provide quicker results = 0.493

Table 2: The Related Variables and Their Loadings

Meanings for the 8 factorsInterpretation and Meaning for the 8 Factors

Factor 1: Developers’ Involvement and Organisational-related Aspect

Factor 2:Organisational Culture and People Related Aspects

Factor 3: Customers’ Involvement when Practicing Agile methods

Factor 4: Benefits/Impact when using Agile methods

Factor 5: Disagreement over the Importance of Training and Learning when using Agile methods in Malaysia.

Factor 6: Lack of Importance of Technical and Technological Aspects when using Agile methods in Malaysia

Factor 7: Importance of Sharing, Knowledge-related Aspects

Factor 8: Team Commitment and Clarity of Purpose

Discussion and Conclusion Factor analysis identified that organisational and software

developers’ involvement as the top factor important in using Agile.

The results also shows ‘language’ as one of the important aspects when adopting Agile methods.

In terms of the impact and benefits Agile can deliver, high loadings (more than 0.8) were found in customer satisfaction and the ease of software development as a result of collaboration between developers and customers.

The results from factor analysis, for the factors (or dimension) important for Agile adoption can help software practitioners to consider these aspects when planning to use the methods –following their organisation and people suitability.


References[1] H. F. Kaiser, "An Index of Factorial

Simplicity," Psychometrika, vol. 39, pp. 31-36, 1974.

[2] A. Field, Discovering statistics using SPSS (introducing statistical methods series): Sage, 2009.

Thank you!Any questions please email to

[email protected] International Conference on Agile and Lean Software Development AgileIndia2012, Bengaluru

Invesstigating Important Aspects for Agile Adoption in Malaysia

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