Running head: BUSINESS FOUNDATION INFORMATION 1
BUSINESS FOUNDATION INFORMATION 6
Case study: Latureae business model
Introduction
Latureae is a company that deals with health and wellness products in the Australian market. The company takes in raw materials form a bank of 2000 suppliers to create products that take care of 100000 customers a week. This is possible because the company has good relationships with supermarkets, specialist health food stores, and health care professionals. Thus they link it to a wide customer base making it ideal to manufacture products that are in massive demand. This analysis looks into what is it that propels the business and what is it that can be done to even better its activities and services.
I will look at the primary activities of the business, the secondary activities, and subactivities as well as any links between the activities. I will then look at possible opportunities for Laturaea to employ and better their services.
The primary activities
The company has a broad range of primary activities through its processing chain that makes it possible to serve the customers with the end products which are healthy and nutritional supplements. The activities include the following:
Inbound logistics
The company has a number of all activities that it undertakes to create its full range of products. It undertakes the sourcing of raw materials from its customers whereby it uses different means of transport like the trucks and bikes to bring the materials to the production floor. It in makes use of trucks bikes and different means to ensure that the supplies reach the company on time and in the best natural condition.
The company utilizes a set of cooling facilities as most of the raw materials are green plants. This keeps them from going bad (Bischoff, 2011). Given that the company has over 2000 suppliers in Australia, it ensures that it stays in good relations with them which are the main contributor of value creation.
The subactivities include maintaining the trucks by servicing them and replacing worn out parts as well as training the drivers on the changes in the routes of picking the supplies.
Production
This is the process through which the company processes the raw supplies into their finished healthcare products. Here the company conducts activities such as quality checking. This ensures that they are of good quality and hygienic. The processing will entail measuring the quantities per production amount. Also in the reduction process, the company conditions the working machines so that they may function based on the incoming materials and the desired outcome.
Subactivities here include setting up the production machines through cleaning and repairs as well as setting up hardware used in the operating systems.
So as to ensure that there is value creation at t.
Running head BUSINESS FOUNDATION INFORMATION .docx
1. Running head: BUSINESS FOUNDATION INFORMATION
1
BUSINESS FOUNDATION INFORMATION
6
Case study: Latureae business model
Introduction
Latureae is a company that deals with health and wellness
products in the Australian market. The company takes in raw
materials form a bank of 2000 suppliers to create products that
take care of 100000 customers a week. This is possible because
the company has good relationships with supermarkets,
specialist health food stores, and health care professionals. Thus
they link it to a wide customer base making it ideal to
manufacture products that are in massive demand. This analysis
looks into what is it that propels the business and what is it that
can be done to even better its activities and services.
I will look at the primary activities of the business, the
secondary activities, and subactivities as well as any links
between the activities. I will then look at possible opportunities
for Laturaea to employ and better their services.
The primary activities
The company has a broad range of primary activities through its
processing chain that makes it possible to serve the customers
with the end products which are healthy and nutritional
supplements. The activities include the following:
Inbound logistics
The company has a number of all activities that it undertakes to
2. create its full range of products. It undertakes the sourcing of
raw materials from its customers whereby it uses different
means of transport like the trucks and bikes to bring the
materials to the production floor. It in makes use of trucks bikes
and different means to ensure that the supplies reach the
company on time and in the best natural condition.
The company utilizes a set of cooling facilities as most of the
raw materials are green plants. This keeps them from going bad
(Bischoff, 2011). Given that the company has over 2000
suppliers in Australia, it ensures that it stays in good relations
with them which are the main contributor of value creation.
The subactivities include maintaining the trucks by servicing
them and replacing worn out parts as well as training the drivers
on the changes in the routes of picking the supplies.
Production
This is the process through which the company processes the
raw supplies into their finished healthcare products. Here the
company conducts activities such as quality checking. This
ensures that they are of good quality and hygienic. The
processing will entail measuring the quantities per production
amount. Also in the reduction process, the company conditions
the working machines so that they may function based on the
incoming materials and the desired outcome.
Subactivities here include setting up the production machines
through cleaning and repairs as well as setting up hardware used
in the operating systems.
So as to ensure that there is value creation at this point of
production, the setting of the operating systems of machines is
the main factor here.
3. Outbound logistics
Latureae after it has completed its manufacturing of the
products; it has to get the products to the market. The company
has a storage system where the products stay waiting for their
transportation and delivery. The company works on the storage
system to ensure that is clean, proper temperature, more
spacious and hazard free. The company also has an inventory
management system that ensures all the products are stable in
terms of quantity s that the storage space does not become so
less that it becomes very difficult for movement activities to
take place.
The company has a fleet of delivery trucks and pickup cars that
take the products to the supermarkets, the wellness centers as
well as do deliveries for customers who make online orders. The
subactivities s includes working on delivery charts based on the
incoming orders and packaging the products based on the
desired quantities.
Value is created by the delivery systems which have to be
maintained to ensure that the deliveries are seamless and very
efficient.
Marketing and sales
So that the company expands its services to reach a larger
market, it invests in marketing as well as sales activities. The
company uses its solid e-commerce platform to market itself to
the target market. This company's marketing department takes
care of its advertisements in the local media and social media
channels (Reese, Waage, Gerwin & Koch, 2016). It has hire
sales reps that get out into the prospective market to get
customers to understand and buy their products. Sub-activities
here include researching on which prospects are more
convertible making huge profits.
4. The value is created by making sure that the company is
differentiated and stand out of the competition.
Services
Here the company has to offer services of its customers that will
ensure that the relationships with them last for long. Some of
the services include replacement of broken or badly delivered
orders, exchange of orders and offering technical advice to the
customers.
The secondary activities
Latureae in its model has stated that is a national
manufacturing, distribution, and an advisory firm. Thus these
elements of company management require physical locations
within which they are conducted. This brings me to a list of
activities that I will refer to them as support activities and are
as follows
Human resource management
Under human resource management, the company hires
employees who help it in the production operations. It also
trains the employees to ensure that they understand fully what
they are required to do on their respective assignments. The
company is offering education or skill training to its existing
employees to ensure that they understand the latest
developments in the company systems. The need to have very
competent staffs who serves the company for a very long period
of time is what creates the value
Firm structure
The company is innovating better ways to package its products.
This is to ensure that they use very less material while ensuring
5. that the safety and quality of their products are not
compromised. This will reduce costs while ensuring that more
funds are allocated to research and development (Reese, Waage,
Gerwin & Koch, 2016). What creates value here is the need to
have an environment that supports work and employees
Technology development
Latureae is working constantly developing new innovations that
will see it having new and professional product range. This will
help its products have a wide selection of products that are
going to handle the different health issues that they have. Also,
the company is also looking at ways of producing technological
wearable as they are the current frontier in the market. Through
the use of internet like social media to conduct marketing, the
company has been able to make extra large volumes of sales.
Subactivities here include purchasing as well as the installation
of the modern IT software and hardware which enables the
researchers as well as the IT staff to come up with new systems
for the company.
Therefore through innovation and optimizations, the company is
able to adapt as well as look for more technological resources to
help in the production process.
Procurement
So that a product may be produced and then made sure that it
reaches the market, there are so many things that are being done
to ensure that the processes are very smooth and without much
delays. The company therefore in part if it’s daily operation has
the responsibility of talking to its large pool of suppliers in
terms of managing the relationships (Porter, 2004). The
company also has to source for quality and affordable prices for
its raw materials and this means that it has to negotiate with its
6. suppliers. Subactivities here include updating the delivery
notices, updating the respective journal accounts and verifying
the inventories.
Given that it has to deal with companies that are the business
that forms part of its customers, the company has to get into
purchase agreements with the acquired customers. The suppliers
who comply with the purchase agreements are required to be
paid promptly and thus makes the company to work on its
payments system every time.
Links between value creation and subactivities
Looking at the business model of Latureae, I can account for
just a few links to value creation and the subactivities. Looking
at most of the primary activities as well as the secondary
activities, most of the implementations are possible when the
data is evaluated and found out that a certain need requires
which can be solution. Through the analysis of trends and
establishing any existing loopholes, they need to increase sales,
they need to reduce supply cost is based on actual real data.
Conclusion
In summary, it can be seen that latureae is successful to
develops its products and services as per porter’s value chain
model focusing all primary and secondary activities. To be
successful in market they focuses on new advancement and
launching of natural health products, increase online sales
volume, proper data management system. Therefore, every
organsation should use porter;s value chain model to maximize
the value offered to customers.
References
Bischoff, A. L. (2011). Porter's value chain and the rea analysis
as an accounting information system. Place of publication not
identified: Grin Verlag Ohg.
7. Porter, M. E. (2004). Competitive advantage: Creating and
sustaining superior performance. New York: Free Press.
Reese, J., Waage, M., Gerwin, K., & Koch, S. (2016). Value
chain analysis: Conceptual framework and simulation
experiments.
Robben, X., & Probert, C. (2015). Michael Porter's value chain:
[increase value and beat the competition].
Schmitz, H. (2005). Value chain analysis for policy-makers and
practitioners. Geneva: International Labour Organization.
Nhyma Pakhrin Tamang
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Nhyma Pakhrin Tamang
[Type text]
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Lastname 1
Student Name
Instructor Name
ENGL 1302-??
Date (formatted as January 22, 2019)
ENGL 1302 Essay #2: Poetry Analysis
For your second short essay, critically read and analyze
three poems of your choice from our textbook. Though not a
requirement to do so, I recommend that you choose three poems
from a particular portion of the poetry unit in our book. For
example, you would select three poems from the section on
speakers and narrators, or three from the section on setting, or
theme, or word choice, or symbol, etc. This will make your
8. analysis a bit more straightforward. However, it is entirely
possible that you might choose to analyze any poem as you see
fit, regardless of where it is categorized in the book.
For your essay, focus on one element of poetry (based on
your readings in our textbook: word choice, form/structure,
speaker/POV, setting, symbol, etc.) and analyze it closely as it
pertains to the poems you have selected. Sometimes other
elements may factor into your analysis, but your analysis should
stay clearly focused on that primary element of poetry.
Your essay will be no more than 2 to 2 ½ pages but must
reveal critical thinking about the literary situation. Format your
essay according to MLA guidelines (like this sheet):
· MLA-style paper heading, pagination
· Times New Roman, 12-point font
· Double-spaced lines with no extra space between paragraphs
· Appropriate citation of any quoted material
· MLA-style works cited page for any cited sources
I will not grade any essay that does not observe MLA
conventions; if you turn in an essay that is not MLA
appropriate, I will reject it and reduce your grade by 10% for
every day that it is late until you have it correctly formatted and
resubmitted. The assessment rubric for this paper is based on a
maximum possible score of 100:
10 pts: The essay is guided by an articulate thesis that frames
the work by identifying the element of poetry being analyzed
30 pts: The essay presents a clear and critical analysis of one
element of poetry in the selected literature
20 pts: The essay uses specific evidence from the chosen text
to illustrate the analysis
30 pts: The essay organization guides the audience through
the analysis and justifies the analysis in a logical structure.
10 pts: Correct MLA formatting, including the Works Cited
page, in an essay of no less than 2 full pages with minimal (5 or
fewer) grammar and mechanics errors
_________
100 points total
9. This essay must be submitted to Blackboard on or before
April 14, 2019, no later than 11:59pm. You must not
procrastinate, and you must think ahead to avoid technological
problems. I will not offer a grace period. Beginning at 12:00 on
April 15, I will deduct 10% of your grade for every day that the
paper is late. Any instance of plagiarism, whether accidental or
intentional, may result in a grade of zero for this assignment
and will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students. I
want to hear your voice and your unique, original perspective
on the literature that you select.
1 | P a g e
Going Agile – A Case Study
Dwayne Read
Software Process Consultant
Strategic Systems
[email protected]
Grey Properjohn
Systems Analyst
Snowden Technologies
[email protected]
10. Abstract
This case study examines the approach undertaken by Snowden
Technologies in adopting a
range of agile techniques into their product and custom software
solutions for the mining
industry. The catalyst to adopt various agile techniques
stemmed from the growth of the
development team (30+) and the need to further integrate the
development activities across
multiple offices. This required a clearer and more consistent
approach to the software
development process.
Snowden Technologies involved the users (Developers, Project
Managers, Team Leaders,
Geologists, etc) upfront and proritised the project’s scope
resulting in the selection of specific
techniques from a range of agile methodologies (XP, FDD,
Scrum, Crystal, DSDM, RAD/JAD).
Implementation of the techniques paralleled various agile
principles through the use of scoped
releases, development iterations and feedback through regular
reflections. The selected agile
11. techniques (e.g. iterative development, Domain Object Models,
code inspection, automated
testing) were incorporated into a consistent software process
with various “value add”
techniques (e.g. CUT complete, code coverage, code analysis)
that integrated with the
development tools.
The key lessons learnt from the this approach were that to
incrementally introduce agile
techniques was very effective; embedding the process elements
into the development tools
helped to reinforce the techniques; and it proved that the agile
techniques and PRINCE 2 for
project management could be customised to collaborate into an
effective solution. The latter
required some compromises from the “pure” agile view such as
to allow a project schedule to
define all Work Packages (Iterations) at the start of each Stage
(Releases).
1. Keywords
Agile, methodology, software process, change management,
project management, brain-
12. storming, reflection, iterative development, JAD, Domain
Object Model, architecture, code
inspection, automated testing, Team Foundation Server, TFS,
PRINCE 2.
2. Background
Snowden Technologies is a division of the Snowden Group that
provides global consultancy
services and software solutions to the mining industry, and has
a development capacity of over
thirty developers located in Perth (head office), Brisbane and
Johannesburg. The reliance on
delivering quality software solutions to its clients has continued
to increase over recent years to
the point that being able to rapidly respond to the needs and
unique/specific requirements of
clients is a critical success factor to the business.
2 | P a g e
3. Motivation to Go Agile
The driving force to initiate and implement the new agile
techniques originated from
13. expansion of Snowden’s development capacity which presented
the necessity for a clearer
defined and (multi) team oriented approach to its software
development activities. Key areas
identified by Snowden developers and managers that were
targeted as part of this approach
were:
1. Specification and scope definition
2. Estimation (essentially reducing the non-billable hours)
3. Minimising defects and instigating code quality reporting
4. Establishing standard and consistent practices across teams
and offices
5. Improving system deployment and build processes
6. Providing feedback mechanisms (within and across teams)
7. Initiating mentoring programs (sharing skill sets)
The need to address these key software development areas were
being compounded by
the ongoing growth of the team (in a time of very competitive
recruitment) and the need
to improve the Project Management process. Four separate
improvement projects had
been identified by the business as focus areas, one of which was
14. the Agile Project (the
other three were Project Management (PRINCE 2), SPI (the
Snowden Project Index
reporting tool), and Team Foundation Server (TFS)). The
intention was that the Agile
Project would be able to address the majority of the identified
key areas by selecting and
tailoring the techniques from a range of industry proven agile
methodologies. The
techniques would define the "Snowden Technologies Agile"
methodology, herein referred
to as STAg.
4. Approach
The starting point was a brainstorming session (based on the
typical Cause-Effect diagram
technique) conducted with all developers to examine the causes
behind the identified
problems. As a facilitated brainstorming session, all
participants contributed their ideas,
of which, 99 tentative causes were identified in the session. The
"top 10" causes were then
examined in more detail in terms of the impact, influence, cost,
effort and duration.
15. Figure 1: Brainstorming Output with Highest Priority Causes
Highlighted
3 | P a g e
From this, a prioritised list of the "top 10" was determined and
the higher priority items became
the basis of the selection of the agile techniques (from the likes
of eXtreme Programming (XP)
[1], Scrum [2], FDD [3], Crystal [4], DSDM [5] and even
RAD/JAD [6]).
Project teams were formed for all four improvement projects,
with the Agile and TFS project
teams merging within the first month due to the overlap of
process and tool. There was a total of
four staff involved in the Agile Project (one lead ~50% to 80%
of his time, and 3 "consulting"
16. staff, one being an external agile consultant).
Consistency of concepts and terminology between the Agile
Project and the Project
Management/PRINCE 2 project was deemed important to ensure
a clear message was
communicated to all. As such, close and regular communication
between the projects (with two
individuals common to both) was ensured. As a result, the Agile
Project used the PM/PRINCE
2 concept and terminology for "Stages" (Releases from XP [1])
and “Work Packages”
(Iterations from XP).
Following the Agile principle [7] of "satisfy the customer
through early and continuous
delivery" (plus wanting to avoid any "big bang") the definition,
templating and training of
techniques were undertaken as (2-4 week) Work Packages
(Iterations), with introduction of
these techniques primarily undertaken through pilot projects.
This was the vehicle to trial the
selected techniques and mentor the handful of developers and
team leads involved, who
17. eventually would become "seeds" of this knowledge in the next
project they worked on.
Some techniques (such as code inspection) were rolled out
across all active developments using
in-house workshops, where the immediate benefits were more
obvious. Several in-house
training sessions were also conducted to provide the developers
with overviews of the "Best of
Agile" techniques (including a customised version for
Snowden’s other development offices),
plus an overview of automated build and
test processes that formed part of the
second stage of STAg
Following the agile principle [7] of
"business people and developer must
work together", working groups of 3-5
employees were used for various
techniques to ensure that a suitable
cross-section of inputs and ideas were
brought together. There were working
18. groups for the Code Inspection, Coding
Standards and Estimation.
Focused feedback from the pilot
project team members was sought, via
Figure 2: Stages and Work Packages Define the Fundamental
Scope and Schedule Controls
(other activities are derived from the PRINCE 2 Project
Management methodology)
Figure 3: Reflection Sessions Proved Useful to Adjust the
Direction and for Positive Reinforcement
4 | P a g e
Reflection workshops, on a monthly basis, with global feedback
from all developers sought via
the weekly Tec meeting with the Agile Project as an agenda
item, and also through direct
communications with the Agile Project team members. These
feedback mechanisms were the
start of establishing a continuous improvement philosophy.
5. Process Flow
19. A "road-map" of the development process showing the
relationship of the selected
techniques was produced in the first Work Package for the
project. This is seen as the
equivalent of the "logical architecture" model and also captures
the high level
requirements of the proposed implemented methodology. This
agile view, Figure 4, also
served as a planning and progress "information radiator" (as per
the Crystal
methodology [4]), by highlighting the techniques that were
being introduced for a given
Stage of the Agile Project. Figure 4 shows the process road-map
at the time of writing this
paper. This includes a handful of techniques from the Project
Management / PRINCE 2
process (e.g. High Level Requirements, Project Brief, Authorise
Project/Stage, Stage Test
Plan and Stage Acceptance Testing) which serves to give further
context in the
developers’ view.
20. The STAg methodology process road-map captures the complete
suite of activities,
which were prioritised and implemented, mostly via pilot
projects incrementally. The
implementation of each activity included the creation of “cheat
sheet(s)” which are one
page summaries of each technique(s) employed with examples
of the output, and
templates where applicable. The effectiveness of the activities
introduced to date are
listed below in the order of implementation.
Figure 4: Snowden Technologies’ Agile (STAg) Process Road-
map
21. 5 | P a g e
Technique
Priority
(Stage-
Wrk Pkg)
Number of: Effectiveness
Notes
Cheat
Sheets Templates
Quality Mgnt
Daily Brief 1-2 1 - Medium High Ideal communication
Reflection 1-2 1 1 Medium High Good for feedback and
morale
Code
Inspection
1-3 1 2 V. High Medium Immediate roll-out,
progress indicator
22. Code
Analysis
1-4 1 - High Low A high number of issues
initially
Check In 1-4 1 - Medium Low More of a “given”
Coding
Standards
1-4 2 2 Medium Low To ensure consistency
Estimation 1-5 2 1 Medium High Project and Stage
estimates using
Wideband Delphi
CUT
Complete
1-6 1 1 High High Ensures Code Insp, auto-
test, code analysis, etc
Test
Harness
2-1 1 1 V. High Medium Automated testing is
23. seen as a must
6. The People Side
The highest priority cause of development issues identified in
the initial brainstorming
session was "communication". Snowden’s main driver for
establishing clear
communication channels derived from the agile principle that
the focus should be on
"individuals and interactions over processes and tools" from the
Agile Manifesto [7]. As
such, two key aspects were focused on to improve the
communication:
1. All developers, project managers and domain experts were
involved throughout
the Agile Project. This includes working groups, feedback
sessions, training
sessions, weekly Tec meetings and "Seeds" roles within project
teams)
2. Agile techniques that actually facilitate (or at least prompt
for) focused
communications (e.g. JAD sessions, Work Package
prioritisation, design sessions,
code inspections, daily briefs and Domain Object Model
walkthrough) were
selected to form part of the STAg.
24. The implementation of this communication approach was
conducted in the Stage One
Work Package named "Communication", and its deliverables
included rollout of the Daily
Brief, Reflection meetings and Role Identification (including
the "Seed" role). Outlining
the project roles and their lines of communication through the
Role Identification
deliverable helped to reinforce each of the related activities.
The established project roles and their relationships are shown
in Figure 5, with the
grayed/italic roles proposed for later adoption.
6 | P a g e
25. After the initial roll-out of the techniques, a focus group was
established to help
facilitate the introduction and mentoring of subsequent
techniques across the three
development sites. This group was named the Technical
Operations Management Group
or “TOM Group”
7. Tools
Initially, there was a separate improvement project focused on
the primary
development tool set - Microsoft's Team Foundation Server
(TFS). It soon became
obvious that the process needed to be the primary focus and that
the tools needed to
support, automate and reinforce elements of this. As such, the
two improvement projects
26. were merged with the emphasis to integrate the applicable
process elements into the tools.
The following activities (from Figure 4) relate to the use of the
tools in the context of the
STAg methodology:
• Check In and Check Out
• Test Harness (automated) -
TFS has an NUnit style
automated test framework
• Code Analysis
• Code Coverage
• CUT Complete
• Continuous Integration
Build
• Email Notification of
Failure
• Nightly Build
• Weekly Build
Project
Manager
Technical
Coordinator
28. Internal Project TeamClient Project Team
To End User
Legend
Current
Role
Reports To
Communicates With
Communicates Heavily
To Architect
To Architect
To Domain Expert
Planned
Role
Quality Assurance
Domain Expert
Client Internal
Executive
Client Internal
Seed
29. Figure 5: Team Structure - Focused Roles/Responsibilities
Helped to Reinforce the Activities
Figure 6: CUT Complete Implemented as an
Extension to TFS
TFS provided Snowden the ability to modify
incorporating and reinforcing the
and Unit Test) implemented in Stage One
tools with consistency in naming conventions, tailored training,
etc to help reinforce the related
activities.
8. Lessons Learnt
In qualifying the lessons learnt for this paper, we have
30. Reflection on both the approach
the STAg methodology. As such, the "Keep/Problem/Try"
used to "reflect" on the lessons learnt:
8.1. Keep
8.1.1 Implementing Agile Techniques:
• Involvement of all developers,
experts are a must.
• Focus on the gradual introduction of techniques
4 weeks duration) and pilot
• Establish a clear "road
• Develop cheat sheets
example(s).
• Reflection sessions
• A clear (and simple) role definition to
identify resourcing
8.1.2 Applied Agile Techniques:
• Code Inspection -
and communication tool
quality of the code with minimal effort (we
found an additional
31. maintenance defects in the first month).
Figure 7: Automated Testing = TFS Test Harness + Naming
the ability to modify and extend its behavior, which proved
ideal for
incorporating and reinforcing the new STAg activities,
especially the “CUT complete” (Code
implemented in Stage One. Other elements simply required the
use of
tools with consistency in naming conventions, tailored training,
etc to help reinforce the related
In qualifying the lessons learnt for this paper, we have
effectively
on both the approach taken and the selection of agile techniques
. As such, the "Keep/Problem/Try" (from Crystal
used to "reflect" on the lessons learnt:
Agile Techniques:
Involvement of all developers, team leaders, project managers
are a must.
radual introduction of techniques - utilising Work Packages (
) and pilot projects.
lear "road-map" of the techniques - ideal information radiator
32. heat sheets - one page (A5) summary of each technique with
Reflection sessions - focused feedback every 4 to 6 weeks with
key staff
r (and simple) role definition to
resourcing short-falls.
Applied Agile Techniques:
- powerful peer review
and communication tool, that improves the
quality of the code with minimal effort (we
found an additional 387 run-time and 664
maintenance defects in the first month).
: Automated Testing = TFS Test Harness + Naming Convention
+ TFS Result Window
Figure 8: Summary of Some of the
Defects Found in Code Inspections
7 | P a g e
extend its behavior, which proved ideal for
STAg activities, especially the “CUT complete” (Code
ther elements simply required the use of in-built
33. tools with consistency in naming conventions, tailored training,
etc to help reinforce the related
effectively presented a
and the selection of agile techniques employed in
[4]) prompts are
project managers and domain
ork Packages (at 2-
ideal information radiator.
one page (A5) summary of each technique with
focused feedback every 4 to 6 weeks with key staff.
Convention + TFS Result Window
: Summary of Some of the
Defects Found in Code Inspections
8 | P a g e
• Automated build and test - specs the code and provides the
best form of
regression testing.
• Daily briefs – a vehicle for good communication!
34. • Work Packages - frequent closure on subset of scope - good
for team morale.
• Static Code Analysis – an integrated tool and process
providing easy
identification of code problems.
• Reflection sessions - positive reinforcement and adjustments
where required.
• CUT complete - tool integration and definitive statement of
quality and progress.
8.2. Problems (with some explanation)
• Communication and Scope Definition – The implementation of
the first Work
Package was delayed due to a misunderstanding of the business’
expectations of the
deliverables by the project team.
A couple of elements caused this situation:
a. There was no formal briefing or introduction to the projects’
expectations and
objectives within the team (there was no real "ownership” or
“big picture” view
of the project);
b. The project team did not have a clear understanding of the
scope of their
35. deliverables to be able to communicate effectively amongst each
other and with
other developers in the business.
This was resolved initially in the first Reflection session by
showing concrete
examples of what was required to be produced (templates, cheat
sheets, etc) and by
providing positive feedback on the direction. Getting closure on
the first work
packages from each project (which delivered the "road-map")
was also an effective
reinforcement of the intended approach. It still took an another
2-3 weeks before the
idea that the group was to actually define the scope of their
projects (drawing from
industry techniques and methodologies) - but when they did
then the true
"ownership" began.
• Information radiators – The use of Microsoft SharePoint and
pin-up boards as
information radiators were not as effective as we hoped. They
are still useful, but
the regular Tec meetings are by far the most effective forum to
share the
36. information and seek feedback. In addition, reflection sessions
complimented this
well. Ultimately, "face-to-face”, albeit involving video-
conferencing, is the best.
• Other offices – The understanding and up-take of techniques
in Snowden’s other
development offices were initially limited. Having only two
developers involved in
teleconferencing sessions and video recordings of in-house
training is now seen as
inadequate. One senior developer was involved in pilots, yet
due to location was
isolated when the sharing of knowledge was paramount. If the
"seeds" had been
identified and available for mentoring "face-to-face" the
techniques would have
rolled across offices easier.
• Alignment with management practices and tools - The
evolutionary development
style of iterative development (Work Packages being scoped and
planned every 2-3
weeks) was a difficult one for the Project Management planning
view to handle. A
compromise was developed that required the Work Packages to
be identified at the
37. start of the Stage for planning purposes (although this is not
considered agile). The
(re)prioritization of the later Work Packages would occur to
still give the
opportunity to ensure the focus is on the highest risk and most
important set of
features for the next Work Package.
9 | P a g e
There is concern that the initial Work Package allocation will
bias the subsequent
prioritization session and therefore lose some of the benefit of
this approach (but at
least the highest priority elements will still be in the initial
Work Packages at the
start of the Stage). There was also the alignment with the in-
house project
management system (SPI) and accounting systems through the
integration of
reporting requirements and mapping of Stages and Work
Packages to a relatively
restrictive (and fixed) structure.
38. 8.3. Try
• Create a defined set of objectives for any improvement
program (at a Stage level)
• Establish more working groups – although a trade off, and we
see it still needs to be
selective, but we should (and will) have more working groups to
define and refine
particular techniques. This was done for the Coding Standards,
Code Inspection and
Estimation activities and worked well by getting a variety of
inputs and ownership.
• Ensure the "Seeds" are more involved in the working groups
as they need to "own"
and represent the techniques moving forward.
• Increase the communication and visibility to all developers on
the progress and
direction of the techniques being implemented.
• Establish a continuous improvement environment - this is
more an ethos and
openness to improve the way we work, but so long as we
maintain the Reflection
session (and follow through on the agreed actions) then this
should be sustainable.
• An exchange program between the team members. There were
a few visits by staff
from other offices which facilitated a much deeper exchange of
knowledge and
39. techniques as well as building up a stronger relationship.
9. Summary
Overall, the approach used so far in tailoring and introducing a
selection of agile
techniques has worked well. The most fundamental lesson learnt
has been to involve as
many of the “users” (developers, team leaders, etc) as possible
throughout the entire
improvement project. It's also been critical that it is done in
small, digestible slices (i.e.
Iterations / Work Packages) and to seek and give feedback all
the way through.
Having the target areas for improvement provided a clearer
view for the adoption of
particular agile and value add techniques. We selected the
techniques from a range of
industry agile methodologies, some common, some fairly
unique, but all of them to
improve our target areas. What has been selected and tailored to
date is working and
working well. Testimony to this is the very successful delivery
of the single and multi-
team projects that piloted the initial techniques:
40. “… it was a very successful trip… big smile on his face and
feeling very proud… [the
projects] were within 5% of the budget – both delivered on
time!”
Rayleen Riske, Project Manager and Geologist
The STAg diagram is a key information radiator providing an
ongoing reference point
for the context of our development activities on a given project
as well as identification of
further improvements we wish to incorporate.
The realization that the integration and alignment of our agile
software development
methodology with the project management methodology and
development tools was
important as the three perspectives need to complement each
other.
10 | P a g e
Not only have we established a "continuous improvement"
mindset, but we have
reinforced this through explicitly embedding feedback
mechanisms throughout the STAg
41. methodology itself.
10. Acknowledgements
The author’s would like to acknowledge the contributions of the
following colleagues
that have been and continue to be involved in the Agile Project
(in alphabetical order):
Jeffrey Alexander
Paul Fox
Peter Gibbes
Chris Gilbert
Mark Holst
Rayleen Riske
and all the developers, team leaders and project managers that
have been involved.
11. References
[1] K. Beck, eXtreme Programming Explained – Embrace
Change, 2nd Ed., Addison Wesley, 2004
[2] Advanced Development Methods Inc., “Controlled Chaos:
Living on the Edge”, 1996
[3] S. Palmer, and J. Felsing, A Practical Guide to Feature-
Driven Development, Prentice Hall, 2002
42. [4] A. Cockburn, Crystal Clear: A Human-Powered
Methodology for Small Teams, Addison Wesley, 2004
[5] DSDM Consortium and J. Stapleton, DSDM: Business
Focused Development, 2nd Ed., Addison Wesley, 2003
[6] J. Wood and D. Silver, Joint Application Development,
Wiley, 1995
[7] K. Beck, et al., “Manifesto for Agile Software
Development”, www.agilemanifesto.org , 2001
Latureae-BriefingDoc.docx 1
September 16, 2018
Introduction
Latureae is a health and wellness company with a difference,
bringing wellness to everybody.
Latureae was established in 2000, at the start of the new
millennium which, the firm believes, was a great
sign for a bright future in wellness. With a national
manufacturing, distribution, and an advisory arm and a
strong culture for education and customer engagement, Latureae
is well placed to service the wellness needs
of all Australians. It develops products and services to deliver a
natural approach to health, based on in-depth
43. expertise in vitamins, minerals, herbs and nutrients.
Objectives
Strategic organisational objectives are to:
• become a leader in the market through new innovations and
product development
• maintain employee skills levels to grow the skill base through
training and mentoring
• contribute to sustainable development, health and welfare of
the communities we operate in
• maintain competitive edge by increasing market share.
Operational objectives– over the next 12 months:
• Generate a 15% growth in revenues and earnings with a
sustained marketing approach.
• Reduce employee turnover by 25% by introducing a new
employee assistance program.
• Increase online sales volume by 15% in the next 12 months by
increasing/developing social media
campaigns.
• Reduce packaging use by 20% over the next 12 months.
• Examine and redevelop data management to take the business
forward into the next 5 years.
Who are we?
44. The following organisational chart details the hierarchical
make-up of the Latureae company.
Latureae-BriefingDoc.docx 2
September 16, 2018
Customers
Our main corporate customers are supermarkets, specialist
health food stores and health care professionals
who work with patients and clients to maintain wellness. We
also have an ecommerce income stream for
more mainstream products which don’t need as much
professional support.
We serve around 100,000 customers every week and value every
single one. We know they have endless
choices about where to spend their health dollar, we must work
hard to reward their loyalty.
Suppliers
We work with local and national suppliers to gather the most
sustainable, raw ingredients with the integrity
required to maintain our high production standards. We have
over 2,000 suppliers currently with different
levels of organic status and supplier accreditation.
What’s in our future?
According to Startup Health, a leading New York City-based
accelerator and networking platform, 2014 was
45. dubbed as “the year digital health broke out”. A record year for
funding with $6.5 billion invested in new
healthcare ventures, a 125% increase over 2013.
http://healthitmhealth.com/2016-year-digital-health-
bubble/ Accessed 14/9/18
CEO - Edward
Karing
COO - Oscar
Seng
CFO - Francis
Kipi
Receivable Payables Payroll
CMO - Mark
Fung
Head of Sales -
Santos James
Supermarket
clients
Retail clients
Production
46. Manager -
Percy Ramos
Development
team
Procurement Quality
Head Customer
service - Cat
Abdul
Supermarket
clients
Retail clients
People and
Teams - Pia
Tancred
CIO - India
Gonzales
Senior Business
Analyst - Saul
Bryant
Latureae-BriefingDoc.docx 3
47. September 16, 2018
What does this mean for Latureae?
Latureae’ s wide portfolio means we are ideal to meet the
community need of these hot topics into the
medical mainstream:
• health reforms which disrupt business models
• an aging population who are demanding more (and better) care
• the adoption of technology — such as wearables
• practitioner only healthcare options.
In line with our mission of - Wellness for everybody – we plan
to develop:
• a new professional product range
• an updated ‘Accessible’ product range for every day wellness
and beneficial health supplements for
the whole family.