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on Project, Program and Portfolio Management |
| By: | Brühl, Volker |
| Abstract: | The importance of agile methods has increased in recent years, not only to manage software development processes but also to establish flexible and adaptive organisational structures, which are essential to deal with disruptive changes and build successful digital business strategies. This paper takes an industry-specific perspective by analysing the dissemination, objectives and relative popularity of agile frameworks in the German banking sector. The data provides insights into expectations and experiences associated with agile methods and indicates possible implementation hurdles and success factors. Our research provides the first comprehensive analysis of agile methods in the German banking sector. The comparison with a selected number of fintechs has revealed some differences between banks and fintechs. We found that almost all banks and fintechs apply agile methods in IT-related projects. However, fintechs have relatively more experience with agile methods than banks and use them more intensively. Scrum is the most relevant framework used in practice. Scaled agile frameworks are so far negligible in the German banking sector. Acceleration of projects is apparently the most important objective of deploying agile methods. In addition, agile methods can contribute to cost savings and lead to improved quality and innovation performance, though for banks it is evidently more challenging to reach their respective targets than for fintechs. Overall our findings suggest that German banks are still in a maturing process of becoming more agile and that there is room for an accelerated adoption of agile methods in general and scaled agile frameworks in particular. |
| Keywords: | Agile Methods,Scrum,Banking,FinTechs |
| JEL: | G20 G21 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cfswop:669&r= |
| By: | Chen, Yunnan |
| Abstract: | Explore Yunnan Chen's analysis of railway construction as a manifestation of China's economic statecraft in Africa. As African leaders have eagerly leveraged the railway sector, this paper looks through the lens of African agency to examine the case of Ethiopia's Chinese-financed railway projects, including the Addis- Djibouti Railway, contrasting it to Ethiopia's experience with subsequent European/Turkish financed projects. Chen shows the opportunities, missed and taken, by Ethiopian actors in leveraging external partners, focusing on areas of technology and skills transfer. Ultimately, the different financing arrangements entail different relationships—one politicized, one commercial—offering different scopes of bargaining power: while the political relationship offers greater flexibility regarding financing, the commercial project has been more successful for exercising agency in relation to contractors. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cariwp:202143&r= |
| By: | Farzad Pourbabaee |
| Abstract: | I introduce a dynamic model of random search where ex ante heterogeneous agents with unknown abilities match with a variety of projects. There is incomplete yet symmetric information about the agents' types. Interpreting the posterior belief about the agents' ability as their reputation, I study the outcomes of the economy (namely the endogenous matching sets and the steady-state distributions) when the success or failure of the projects create feedback effects: reputational externalities and spillovers in the population of projects. In the former case when the meeting rate of each agent is inversely impacted by the distribution of other agents' reputation, the proportion of agents who are both high ability and inactive is inefficiently high, and the projects suffer from early termination. When there are positive spillovers from the low-type to the high-type projects, increased levels of search frictions could save the market from breakdown caused by the rational neglect of spillover effect in the agents' matching decisions. |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2201.01813&r= |
| By: | Djouak, Amar; Ceria, Clarisse |
| Abstract: | Long criticized, pluriactivity is now perceived as an alternative agricultural strategy and it is becoming a subject of support policies in certain territories. But having an off-farm professional activity can generate significant work overload and organisational problems that might be complicated to manage in the long term. This study focuses on pluriactivity as a dynamic strategy that evolves over time due to family circumstances and job opportunities. We differentiate the initial project of pluriactivity and the strategies farmers use in order to manage overwork. We use an original qualitative approach and 28 interviews of pluriactive farmers in “Nord Pas de Calais” (NPdC), region located in northern France. We find that even if the main motivations of pluriactivity are patrimonial and economic, the initial projects of pluriactivity vary a lot, for some farmers pluriactivity is a patrimonial investment or passion for farming project but for others pluriactivity is intended to be a short-run strategy until the farms gets bigger and more profitable. Then farmers develop different strategies that lead to develop the farm or they reduce farm activities because they cannot give more time to the farm. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2021–09–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:haaepa:316600&r= |
| By: | Todd Honeycutt; Amal Harrati; Andrew Langan; Gina Livermore; R. Vincent Pohl |
| Abstract: | This report for the SSI Youth Solutions project presents plans for evaluating the interventions proposed in each of the project’s 12 papers. |
| Keywords: | Supplemental Security Income, youth with disabilities, employment, program and policy interventions, evaluation |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:0f920ef705d7488b8eddf917922404fb&r= |