Agile change approach for collaborative software development contexts: a systematic literature review
[EN]This systematic literature review examines how agile solutions can drive organizational change in collaborative open-source software (OSS) contexts. Motivated by persistent challenges in governance, alignment, contribution lifecycles, workflow, leadership, and measurement, the review asks which...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de documento: | artigo |
| Estado: | Versão publicada |
| Data de publicação: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universidad de Salamanca (USAL) |
| Repositório: | GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/168243 |
| Acesso em linha: | http://hdl.handle.net/10366/168243 |
| Access Level: | Acceso aberto |
| Palavra-chave: | Free software Open-source Non-proprietary software Agile culture Agile methodologies Agile methods Agile frameworks Agile scaling Agile software development |
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Agile change approach for collaborative software development contexts: a systematic literature reviewGonzález-Blázquez, José LuisGarcía-Holgado, AliciaGarcía-Peñalvo, Francisco J.Free softwareOpen-sourceNon-proprietary softwareAgile cultureAgile methodologiesAgile methodsAgile frameworksAgile scalingAgile software development[EN]This systematic literature review examines how agile solutions can drive organizational change in collaborative open-source software (OSS) contexts. Motivated by persistent challenges in governance, alignment, contribution lifecycles, workflow, leadership, and measurement, the review asks which prescriptive and non-prescriptive agile approaches are being applied when organizations collaborate with OSS communities, and how these approaches mitigate those issues. The study first conducts an umbrella review (2000–2024) to confirm the gap and scope, then performs a main systematic review across digital libraries using inclusion, exclusion, and quality criteria. The synthesis maps findings to a conceptual framework of nine problem areas and two change paths. Results show a dominance of prescriptive methods, especially Scrum, LeSS, SAFe, and Kanban, for workflow transparency, dependency management, and coordination, while governance and leadership models remain underexplored. Building on this evidence, the paper proposes: (1) a prescriptive change approach for low-maturity organizations that integrates holacratic governance with Scrum/LeSS, Communities of Practice, Design Thinking for innovation, Management 3.0 leadership, and KPI-oriented cultures; and (2) a non-prescriptive approach for mature organizations based on unFIX's fractal organizational design, forums and collaboration patterns, delegation levels, and outcome-focused metrics to extend co-evolution with communities. The dual pathway enables organizations to select and sequence interventions that align with their paradigm and maturity, thereby bridging organizational and community boundaries to foster sustained agility. The review highlights open research needs on governance mechanisms, leadership in symbiotic ecosystems, and empirical evaluations of combined scaling approaches beyond SAFe, as well as longitudinal studies on alignment, dependency management, and measurement cultures in high-variability OSS environments.Elsevier202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10366/168243reponame:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamancainstname:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)InglésAtribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:gredos.usal.es:10366/1682432026-06-07T06:28:51Z |
| dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Agile change approach for collaborative software development contexts: a systematic literature review |
| title |
Agile change approach for collaborative software development contexts: a systematic literature review |
| spellingShingle |
Agile change approach for collaborative software development contexts: a systematic literature review González-Blázquez, José Luis Free software Open-source Non-proprietary software Agile culture Agile methodologies Agile methods Agile frameworks Agile scaling Agile software development |
| title_short |
Agile change approach for collaborative software development contexts: a systematic literature review |
| title_full |
Agile change approach for collaborative software development contexts: a systematic literature review |
| title_fullStr |
Agile change approach for collaborative software development contexts: a systematic literature review |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Agile change approach for collaborative software development contexts: a systematic literature review |
| title_sort |
Agile change approach for collaborative software development contexts: a systematic literature review |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
González-Blázquez, José Luis García-Holgado, Alicia García-Peñalvo, Francisco J. |
| author |
González-Blázquez, José Luis |
| author_facet |
González-Blázquez, José Luis García-Holgado, Alicia García-Peñalvo, Francisco J. |
| author_role |
author |
| author2 |
García-Holgado, Alicia García-Peñalvo, Francisco J. |
| author2_role |
author author |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
Free software Open-source Non-proprietary software Agile culture Agile methodologies Agile methods Agile frameworks Agile scaling Agile software development |
| topic |
Free software Open-source Non-proprietary software Agile culture Agile methodologies Agile methods Agile frameworks Agile scaling Agile software development |
| description |
[EN]This systematic literature review examines how agile solutions can drive organizational change in collaborative open-source software (OSS) contexts. Motivated by persistent challenges in governance, alignment, contribution lifecycles, workflow, leadership, and measurement, the review asks which prescriptive and non-prescriptive agile approaches are being applied when organizations collaborate with OSS communities, and how these approaches mitigate those issues. The study first conducts an umbrella review (2000–2024) to confirm the gap and scope, then performs a main systematic review across digital libraries using inclusion, exclusion, and quality criteria. The synthesis maps findings to a conceptual framework of nine problem areas and two change paths. Results show a dominance of prescriptive methods, especially Scrum, LeSS, SAFe, and Kanban, for workflow transparency, dependency management, and coordination, while governance and leadership models remain underexplored. Building on this evidence, the paper proposes: (1) a prescriptive change approach for low-maturity organizations that integrates holacratic governance with Scrum/LeSS, Communities of Practice, Design Thinking for innovation, Management 3.0 leadership, and KPI-oriented cultures; and (2) a non-prescriptive approach for mature organizations based on unFIX's fractal organizational design, forums and collaboration patterns, delegation levels, and outcome-focused metrics to extend co-evolution with communities. The dual pathway enables organizations to select and sequence interventions that align with their paradigm and maturity, thereby bridging organizational and community boundaries to foster sustained agility. The review highlights open research needs on governance mechanisms, leadership in symbiotic ecosystems, and empirical evaluations of combined scaling approaches beyond SAFe, as well as longitudinal studies on alignment, dependency management, and measurement cultures in high-variability OSS environments. |
| publishDate |
2025 |
| dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2025 2025 2025 |
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
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article |
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publishedVersion |
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http://hdl.handle.net/10366/168243 |
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http://hdl.handle.net/10366/168243 |
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Inglés |
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Inglés |
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Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
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openAccess |
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application/pdf |
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Elsevier |
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Elsevier |
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reponame:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca instname:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL) |
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Universidad de Salamanca (USAL) |
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GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca |
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