Agile in non-information technology companies: a KONE case study with distributed teams

Abstract

The Agile Mindset, principle, and frameworks have been gaining more popularity in industries outside the IT world because of its methodologies that encourage companies to put the customer in the center, experiment, and perform continuous improvement. Agile was initially encouraged for co-located teams. However, this is not realistic when big companies want to apply it across an entire organization. KONE is a Finnish market leader in the People Flow® business who manufactures elevators, escalators, automated doors, and digital services to improve the urban movement, with more than 60,000 employees globally. This study aimed to understand the practical learnings and benefits that KONE had gained when teams started to experiment with Agile in distributed teams. This study also highlights KONE's main challenges throughout this journey and some recommendations for companies adopting Agile with a distributed setup. The research provides some understanding of some of the popular Agile frameworks used in the market and what configures a distributed team. Additionally, it provides some pillars of leadership and culture as these are critical elements for when companies want to change their operating model, with some empirical evidence collected through interviews with nine KONE employees. The results point that, though a company can benefit by applying only some Agile tools and frameworks, the most relevant results and improvements come from when corporations go beyond them by incorporating Agile culture, value, and mindset in their daily lives. This shift requires dedication at all company levels, strong and trained leaders who know and understand the Agile core principles, and courageous employees who feel safe to experiment, fail, and learn while applying new ways of working.