Human Resources' Role in an Agile Transformation

109 Pages·2017·2.79 MB·English

by  Högfeldt, Madeleine

Human Resources’ Role in an Agile
Transformation
–
A Case Study at Volvo Cars

Master’s Thesis in Quality and Operations Management

MADELEINE HÖGFELDT

LOUISE LINDWALL

Department of Technology Management and Economics
Division of Innovation and R&D Management
CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
Gothenburg, Sweden 2018
Report No. E 2018:007

MASTER’S THESIS E2018:007

Human Resources’ Role in an Agile
Transformation

MADELEINE HÖGFELDT
LOUISE LINDWALL

Supervisor Chalmers University of Technology:
Gouthanan Pushpananthan

Supervisors Organisations:
Johanna Hartman
Eric Landén
Niclas Pettersson

Department of Technology Management and Economics
Division of Innovation and R&D Management
CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
Gothenburg, Sweden 2018
Human Resources’ Role in an Agile Transformation

MADELEINE HÖGFELDT
LOUISE LINDWALL

© MADELEINE HÖGFELDT & LOUISE LINDWALL, 2018.

Master’s Thesis E2018:007

Department of Technology Management and Economics
Division of Innovations and R&D Management
Chalmers University of Technology
SE-412 96 Göteborg
Sweden
Telephone [phone]

Cover:
[Word-cloud representing the most frequently mentioned words during the conducted interviews]

Chalmers Reproservice
Göteborg, Sweden 2018
ABSTRACT
The role of Human Resources (HR) varies significantly depending on company size, industry,
and organisational structure. The traditional HR department found in many waterfall
organisations get weighed down by administrative tasks, including general management of
personnel and process follow-up. A trend within HR is identified where they take a proactive
role in the organisation, aligning their work with the overarching goal and mission of the firm.
Today, organisations seek to reinvent their work methods by adapting an Agile philosophy to
increase flexibility and meet the demands on an increasingly competitive market. The
transformation means a shift from a rigid control structure, to a more flexible and adaptive
process. This will imply cultural changes to support the structural changes. Volvo Car
Cooperation (VCC) is undergoing an Agile transformation, creating turbulence across all
divisions. The outcome will result in a major organisational change where the employees will
be the enabler of the Agile philosophy. Thus, overseeing HR’s contribution in the
transformation is considered a necessity. Their competence with people and soft skills is of
great interest in making the transformation smoother.
This thesis examines two aspects within an Agile transformation. Firstly, the main challenges
with an Agile transformation regarding people in change. Secondly, initiatives where HR can
increase their support within the transformation. A study of Volvo Cars combined with an
exploratory literature study complements the scope of the thesis. A total of 17 semi-structured
interviews at VCC and an additional three interviews with Agile experts were conducted.
The study results in four overarching discussion issues, addressed specifically to identify HR’s
potential contribution. This led to ten initiatives for HR: Map current competence to meet
future needs within the organisation; Coach and train leaders within soft values including
leadership-styles, group dynamics, and feedback; Create an information hub that is appropriate
cross-sectional; Enable an information package process; Identify unspoken demands to predict
future requirements; Facilitate knowledge-sharing events; Facilitate the creation and utilisation
of education packages; Identify and eliminate governing control mechanisms; Lead by example
through increased presence and visibility in the organisation; Identify and implement necessary
rules to enhance desired behaviour.

Key Words: Human Resources; Agile Transformation; Change Management; People in
Change; Teams; Leadership; Cultural and Organisational Change
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Writing a master thesis is a journey, where some paths lead to dead-ends, others to complicated
junctions. Along the way, we have crossed roads with lots of interesting people and gained new
and valuable knowledge. This journey completes our studies at Chalmers and has been an
exciting time spent together with Knowit and Volvo Cars.
The areas of HR and Agile are both new to us, which has been exciting to explore and will
hopefully be of use in our future work. It has been exciting to be in the centre of the
transformation, dealing with an area that is highly valued by Volvo Cars today. We are grateful
for the encouragements and warm welcome from many at Volvo Cars.
Firstly, thank you to Volvo Car Cooperation, and especially our supervisor Niclas Pettersson,
for enabling this thesis and helping us create a network of contacts to use in our research.
Additionally, we would also like to address a big thank you to everyone we had the chance to
interview, both at VCC and our external experts. The time and insight from each interviewee
shaped the core of our research, for which we are very grateful.
Secondly, we would like to address a special thank you to our supervisors at Knowit, Johanna
Hartmann and Eric Landén, who has made this thesis possible from the start. You have
introduced the Agile philosophy to us which has been of great help in our study. We are also
thankful for the moral support throughout all stages of the thesis.
Also, a warm thank you to all the co-workers at Knowit, that always made us feel welcome
and helped us along the way.
At Chalmers, thank you to our supervisor, Gouthanan Pushpananthan, for giving us great
insight in the technicalities of writing a report, as well as motivational support from the start to
end.
Lastly, a big thank you Viktor, Martin, Måns, Johan, and Lovisa for a great time at the office!

Louise & Madeleine, 2018-06-03

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CONTENTS
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Purpose ............................................................................................................................. 4
1.3 Problem Analysis ............................................................................................................. 4
1.4 Delimitations .................................................................................................................... 4
2. Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................ 7
2.1 Human Resources ............................................................................................................. 7
2.2 Change Management ........................................................................................................ 9
2.3 Teams ............................................................................................................................. 14
2.4 Culture ............................................................................................................................ 17
2.5 Knowledge Management................................................................................................ 20
2.6 Leadership Styles ........................................................................................................... 22
2.7 The Agile Philosophy ..................................................................................................... 27
3. Method ............................................................................................................................... 35
3.1 Research Strategy & Design .......................................................................................... 35
3.2 Research Process ............................................................................................................ 36
3.3 Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 37
3.4 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................. 39
3.5 Research Quality ............................................................................................................ 40
3.6 Ethics .............................................................................................................................. 41
4. Empirical Data ................................................................................................................... 43
4.1 Case Organisation .......................................................................................................... 43
4.2 Transformation Process .................................................................................................. 45
4.3 Human Resources’ Support With the Transformation Process ...................................... 51
4.4 Redefining Culture ......................................................................................................... 52
4.5 Measurements................................................................................................................. 56
4.6 Knowledge Management................................................................................................ 58
4.7 Experts within Agile Transformation & HR .................................................................. 62
5. Analysis.............................................................................................................................. 71
5.1 Communication as an Enabler in the Transformation Process ...................................... 71
5.2 Using Culture to Create Trust ........................................................................................ 74
5.3 Empowerment is a Key in Measurement ....................................................................... 76
5.4 Knowledge Management to Enhance Commitment....................................................... 78
6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 81
6.1 Discussion Issue One ..................................................................................................... 82
6.2 Discussion Issue Two ..................................................................................................... 83
6.3 Discussion Issue Three ................................................................................................... 83
6.4 Discussion Issue Four..................................................................................................... 84
6.5 Conclusion of the Discussion Issues .............................................................................. 85
7. Recommendations for Further Research ............................................................................ 87
Sources ............................................................................................................................................. i
Appendix A ................................................................................................................................... vii
Appendix B .................................................................................................................................... ix