Navigating the Path to Organizational Agility : An Action Research Study on the Interplay of Structure, Culture, and Knowledge Work in the pursuit of Digital Transformation

Abstract

This project thesis explores the challenges and strategies for achieving organizational agility through the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). Despite four years of SAFe adoption, expected benefits in agility and time-to-market improvements had not materialized in the organization under study. The study identifies cultural, structural, and leadership barriers hindering effective SAFe implementation. Using action Research, key interventions including job enrichment, standardized tooling, fostering psychological safety, application of systems thinking, a scaffolding was sought to be created within a program that would eventually strengthen the foundational culture and build true agile thinking. The findings highlight the importance of aligning organizational culture with agile first principles, first principles of systems thinking, lean principles, among others; it underscores the need for continuous learning ; cross-functional thinking, coaching to achieve true business agility.