"Agile Meets Non-Agile": Implications of Adopting Agile Practices at Enterprises

The question of how to increase speed and flexibility in times of digital disruption is essential to virtually any company. While previous research focuses on agility as software development practice or as form for organizing start-ups, little knowledge exists about agility at enterprises and its implications. Agile practices are currently adopted at enterprises in large-scale. While first steps towards agility are made quickly, we observed that specific challenges emerge when enterprises adopt agile practices. Drawing on results of an explorative study with ten global companies and on socio-technical systems theory, we reveal that adopting agile practices has far-reaching implications on products, processes, technology, people, and structure. This study contributes to agility research with specific insights on enterprise agility and its implications. While enterprises need to increase speed and flexibility to master digital transformation, an early incorporation of the implications of adopting agile practices fosters its sustainable implementation.