Self-organization in agile ISD teams and the influence on exploration and exploitation

Agile information system development (ISD) teams face the ongoing challenge of balancing exploration and exploitation so as to be innovative while also achieving improvements in performance. Prior research has suggested that the self-organizing nature of agile ISD teams may contribute to the execution of these ideals. Yet, the literature is silent on what comprehensively constitutes a self-organizing agile ISD team and how characteristics of a self-organizing agile ISD team contribute to exploration and exploitation. This study draws on the body of research in ISD and management to identify characteristics of these teams. Using these characteristics, we then theorize how they facilitate exploration and exploitation. This research-in-progress paper contributes first by providing a more complete understanding of the structure of self-organizing teams. Second, it theoretically links self-organization to exploration and exploitation at a granular level