Innovation Alphabet
Agile
in a nutshell
Agile is an approach to software development designed to respond to change. Teams quickly analyze the context in which they operate, identify uncertainties, and figure out how to adapt. Interaction between individuals comes before processes and tools. Collaboration with the customer is more important than negotiating contracts.
Application Fields
• Management: Agile methodology can extend to the implementation of any work. It can help manage any type of project, usually done in small steps, through continuous communication between the team and the client. The method provides for strong flexibility, which allows for very quick changes.
• Feedback: By relying on a constant handoff between client and developer (of software or other projects), the level of feedback will be high and immediate. The approach results in a productivity booster because it speeds up the work to be done, breaking it down into smaller but consumable successive increments of progress.
• Time optimization: Forming cross-functional, multidisciplinary teams ensures the skills and background necessary to waste as few resources as possible, detect immediately what needs to be corrected or improved, and get the job done.
Industries
• Agile in research & development
The California-based company Salesforce is particularly well known for its software solutions offered in Customer Relationship Management. In 2006, it decided to adopt an agile strategy in its entire research and development department, starting with training its employees to align their mindsets with the company’s values. After all, we can define a methodology as the set of conventions that a team agrees to follow. The Manifesto for Agile Software Development puts the development of working software before exhaustive documentation.
• Agile in marketing
Northern Arizona University decided to adopt the agile development strategy to improve its marketing campaigns. The method made it possible to break down large projects and allocate their parts to the respective managers within the teams. Annual plans were replaced by short-term “bursts”, allowing them to accomplish jobs within two weeks. Productivity has increased by 400% and cost savings of 20% of the budget have been realized. But the most important result is the increase in customer satisfaction.
• Agile in browser development
Mozilla is the company that made the Firefox browser in 2002. The marketing department decided to apply agile methodology to improve the end results. As an effect of reorganizing its work from relevant KPIs, the team experienced a significant increase in retention rate.
• Agile in manufacturing
Agile manufacturing is about being able to operate in an increasingly globalized, technology-driven and customer-centric marketplace. Dell Computing implemented a new ERP to integrate its seven manufacturing facilities and outsourced operations. Using an information and communication infrastructure that facilitated collaboration and standardization, Dell succeeded in improving reliability and reducing downtime in its most mature factory by 75%.
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Business Functions
• Agile in support of marketing
Deakin University, Australia, needed an organizational strategy for launching four new projects, each within a short distance from the other. Adopting agile methodology not only made the goal a reality, but also saved a lot of time in meetings and increased productivity. In fact, Agile solves at least three major problems related to marketing organizations: the first is making sure everyone understands what they are trying to do. The second is about reducing noise and interruptions. The third is increasing speed and complexity in advertising models.
• Agile in support of lead acquisition
Semrush is an SaaS platform that helps its clients increase online visibility. Since the company decided to use the agile methodology, it has seen a marked improvement in performance: Semrush has seen an increase of 500,000 users in just 8 months and its market has grown by about 90 percent.
• Agile in support of employee experience
Site Strategics is a digital marketing agency offering SEO, social media marketing and website development solutions. Its adoption of the agile method, through its focus on the people who do the work and how they work together, has enabled employees to complete high-quality professional goals, providing them with an enjoyable and stimulating employee experience.
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Check out more of the Innovation Alphabet:
3D Printing
3D Printing
“3D printing” is a process carried out by an electronic device which, instead of resorting to the canonical ink, it molds almost any kind of material: from concrete to living tissue, most usually plastic, but also metal. And the operating principle is similar to that of a traditional printer. The creation of three-dimensional models can lead to the redesign of a company’s production capabilities.
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5G
5G
5G is the new frontier of cellular telephony. It was designed to improve (or completely replace) previous generations of mobile networks. The 5th generation features lower latency, ensuring flawless performance of business applications and many other digital experiences – thus enabling the new cultural generations to furiously play Fortnite away from home.
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Advanced Analytics
Advanced Analytics
The term “Advanced Analytics” refers to the ability to autonomously or semi-autonomously analyze data and content to identify correlations, develop analyses, predictions, and recommendations. It is not just a matter of collecting information and then organizing it into watertight compartments: the ultimate goal is to identify a dialogue pattern from a data-driven perspective.
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Agile
Agile
Agile is an approach to software development designed to respond to change. Teams quickly analyze the context in which they operate, identify uncertainties faced, and figure out how to adapt to always move forward. Interaction between individuals comes before processes and tools; collaboration with the customer is more important than negotiating contracts.
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Ansoff Matrix
Ansoff Matrix
The Ansoff Matrix is a marketing planning model that arises from the intersection of new and existing products and markets. It derives four possible strategies for expanding the company’s market, which are built around four variables with a changeable factor of risks and possibilities: existing product, new product, existing market, new market.
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Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is not strictly defined. Basically, it is a computer system able to make decisions in an independent and flexible way. A good AI application can perform everyday tasks better than an average person (e.g., identifying other people from their photos on social media or beating the best chess player). Nothing to fear, then. Unless you are a chess champion.
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Artificial Scarcity
Artificial Scarcity
We often tend to desire what we cannot have. Or what we are in danger of losing: Artificial Scarcity is a strategy that flaunts a limited number of items that do not correspond to actual availability. The goal is to stimulate the perception in consumers that the stock of items is about to run out and thus create a need based on the “fear of being cut off” or the intention to buy the item in order to resell it at a higher price.
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Attack Surface
Attack Surface
The term attack surface refers to the part of a system that may be subject to attack or breach by hackers. The smaller that surface is, the easier it will be to protect it. Indeed, the Internet is an ocean of deep, dark waters: those who navigate it must be aware that they are exposing themselves to a flood of digital risks. Yet, ironically, we do not need a big boat to shelter us.
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Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality is an ever-evolving technology that overlays multimedia information on top of our common sensory horizon to gain a deeper understanding of our surroundings. No, it doesn’t allow you to step out of the Matrix dream simulation, nor can it be accessed by swallowing a red pill. But neither is it the disturbing experience of the Playtest episode of Black Mirror.
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Balanced Scorecard
Balanced Scorecard
In business, as in life, you need balance. The Balanced Scorecard is a holistic tool for strategic management. It offers, in fact, the possibility of assessing corporate performance in its wholeness. An overview that embraces four perspectives: the business/financial side, customers and stakeholders, internal processes, and learning and growth.
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