Marthe Nordengen Berntzen

简介

I am a postdoctoral fellow in Software Engineering at the Department of Informatics. I defended my thesis "Coordination Mechanisms in Large-Scale Agile Software Development" in August 2023. At the SE group at ifi, I research and teach large-scale systems development methodology, product development, coordination and agile teams. In addition, I lead the research project Kairos, a four-year research project that investigates how humans and artificial intelligence can collaborate effectively and ethically in Norwegian businesses.

代表成果

• Scientific articles and book chapters
• Barbala, Astri Moksnes; Berntzen, Marthe Nordengen & Moe, Nils Brede (2025). Social capital in large-scale agile software product management: A multi-case study. Information and Software Technology. ISSN 0950-5849. 187. doi: 10.1016/j.infsof.2025.107841. Full text in Research Archive Show summary Context Large fintech organizations are increasingly adopting agile methodologies to enhance product development capabilities. However, implementing agile at scale presents unique challenges, particularly related to collaboration essential for successful software product management (SPM). Social capital, comprising structural, cognitive, and relational dimensions, may play a crucial role in facilitating the collaboration needed to overcome these challenges. Objectives We examine the role of social capital in large-scale agile SPM, focusing on how it facilitates coordination, collaboration, and, ultimately, success, in complex, product-focused environments. Methods We employ a multi-case study approach, comprising 33 interviews, observations, and document analysis, analyzing two Scandinavian fintech companies that have adopted large-scale agile practices organized around product areas. Results Our findings, viewed through the lens of social capital theory, show that its three dimensions help explain how large-scale organizations adopting SPM manage dependencies and enable product-focused coordination. Specifically, the structural dimension helps illuminate how networks are formed; the cognitive dimension clarifies how shared understanding of product visions and development practices emerges; and the relational dimension highlights how trust is cultivated among product development actors across multiple operational levels (i.e., product team, product area, organizational, and external levels). Together, these dimensions offer insight into how agile practices are effectively implemented at scale. Conclusion Our study finds that social capital is a critical enabler of effective SPM in large-scale agile contexts. Its three dimensions support the collaboration and relational networks necessary for agility at scale. These insights suggest that fostering social capital should be prioritized in agile transformations to address the sociotechnical complexities inherent in large-scale SPM.
• Berntzen, Marthe (2025). A Relational Coordination Theory Perspective on Communication Tools in the Digital Workplace. In Orel, Marko; Černe, Matej & Wong, Sut I (Ed.), Humanizing the Digital Workspace: Creativity, Innovation and Leadership in the Age of Technology | SpringerLink. Springer Nature. ISSN 9783031769016. p. 63–81. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-76902-3_3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary In the digital workplace, digital communication tools provide a means for efficient communication, thereby facilitating knowledge and information sharing across spatial, geographical, and temporal borders. Moreover, work teams often use such collaboration tools to coordinate interdependent work elements. Although such tools are not new in themselves, recent years have seen marked developments in which tools are available and how they are used, and their functionality is constantly being further developed. Many knowledge workers today are familiar with using tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, or other real-time chat software for communication with colleagues and other stakeholders, and new AI tools are about to make further changes in digital collaboration. This chapter takes a coordination approach to digital communication, presenting digital communication tools as coordination mechanisms that are essential for efficient digital collaboration. Specifically, we use relational coordination theory, which posits that work relationships characterized by high levels of shared knowledge, shared goals, mutual respect, and high-quality communication experience more efficient coordination. Moreover, although digital communication tools enable coordination, research has also shown there are many challenges related to digital collaboration. Some of these challenges may be mitigated by the relational coordination concepts. This chapter presents relational coordination theory as a lens for understanding digital coordination and collaboration by summarizing existing knowledge on relational coordination in the digital workplace. From this, it proposes a conceptual model with related propositions to inspire future research on the role of digital tools in collaborative settings.
• Barbala, Astri Moksnes; Moe, Nils Brede & Berntzen, Marthe Nordengen (2025). Social Capital in Software Product Management: A Case Study From a Large-Scale Agile Context. In Marchesi, Lodovica; Goldman, Alfredo; Lunesu, Maria Ilaria; Przybyłek, Adam; Aguiar, Ademar; Morgan, Lorraine; Wang, Xiaofeng & Pinna, Andrea (Ed.), Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming – Workshops: XP 2024 Workshops, Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, June 4–7, 2024, Revised Selected Papers. Springer. ISSN 9783031727818. p. 90–99. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-72781-8_10. Full text in Research Archive Show summary Although large-scale agile software development increasingly is being organized in product areas, little research has to date looked into the skills needed for central roles to succeed with software product management (SPM) in a large-scale setting. Addressing this research gap, this paper provides insights into the skills and competencies deemed essential among Product Managers and Product Owners in ScanBank, a Scandinavian fintech organization counting over 10,000 employees. Our findings reveal that establishing and maintaining social networks are found to be paramount for successfully performing SPM-related tasks in a large-scale agile organizational context. We utilized a model for social capital consisting of three different dimensions to analyze our data material and highlight the value of social capabilities in enhancing collaboration and efficiency within large-scale agile SPM.
• Ulfsnes, Rasmus; Berntzen, Marthe; Moe, Nils Brede; Barbala, Astri Moksnes; Sporsem, Tor Thorsrud & Stray, Viktoria (2024). Exploring the Organizational Models for Data Science in Agile Software Development: Challenges and Strategies from a Multi-Case Study. In Bui, Tung X. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 57th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). ISSN 9780998133171. p. 7249–7258. doi: 10.24251/HICSS.2023.870. Full text in Research Archive Show summary In an increasingly fast-paced and dynamic world with exponentially more data, more roles are required in agile software development. At the same time, the development team needs to maintain speed and autonomy. The challenges surrounding the organization of cross-functional teams are thus exacerbated. Through a multi-case study with interviews from five organizations, we show how agile companies use different models of organizing data scientists. We find that there are specific challenges related to each of these organizational models and that some challenges are shared among all the organizational models. Challenges include difficulty coordinating development strategies and a lack of resources. In addition, we identify strategies used to overcome the challenges, including coordinating mechanisms for platform teams, communities of practice for data scientists, and the development of shared playbooks.
• Berntzen, Marthe; Engdal, Silje Alette; Gellein, Maja & Moe, Nils Brede (2024). Coordination in Agile Product Areas: A Case Study from a Large FinTech Organization. In Šmite, Darja; Guerra, Eduardo; Wang, Xiaofeng; Marchesi, Michele & Gregory, Peggy (Ed.), Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 25th International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2024, Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, June 4–7, 2024, Proceedings. Springer. ISSN 9783031611544. p. 36–52. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-61154-4_3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary Product teams organized into product areas are becoming more and more prevalent in large-scale agile. While such arrangements are thought to improve the development process and overall product delivery, it is still not clear how this form of organizing alleviates the coordination challenges commonly associated with large-scale agile. In this paper, we report on a case study from a product area in a large FinTech organization. Through analyzing interviews, observations, and strategic documents, we describe how organizing into a product area with vertical and horizontal teams supported inter-team coordination. Fur- ther, we describe seventeen coordination mechanisms used in the product area. Our findings have three main contributions. First, we propose that the product area represent a distinct organizational level that can support coordination in large scale development settings. Second, we found that the team types used in the product area represent different team typologies. Third, pull requests and pair program- ming were used as inter-team coordination mechanisms, and our findings suggest that pair programming to some extent could replace the PR mechanism to further improve product area coordination.
• Moe, Nils Brede; Berntzen, Marthe; Barbala, Astri Moksnes & Stray, Viktoria (2024). Software Product Management in Large-Scale Agile. In Šmite, Darja; Guerra, Eduardo; Wang, Xiaofeng; Marchesi, Michele & Gregory, Peggy (Ed.), Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 25th International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2024, Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, June 4–7, 2024, Proceedings. Springer. ISSN 9783031611544. p. 53–69. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-61154-4_4. Full text in Research Archive Show summary Large-scale agile software development is increasingly being orga- nized with product management. Although product management is familiar to software engineering, we need research-based knowledge about organizing prod- uct management in an agile development context. This study focuses on product management challenges and configurations in a Nordic fintech organization with 10,000 employees. We conducted 19 interviews with participants involved in core product management activities. The study identifies ten key factors that hinder product management performance in a large-scale agile product company. Further, we present six product management configurations used in the fintech organiza- tion. The most suitable setup depends on the product lifecycle stage, product size, and development team setup. Our summary of the product management configura- tions and challenges can guide software product managers working in large-scale agile companies.
• Berntzen, Marthe; Stray, Viktoria; Moe, Nils Brede & Hoda, Rashina (2023). Responding to change over time: A longitudinal case study on changes in coordination mechanisms in large-scale agile. Empirical Software Engineering. ISSN 1382-3256. 28. doi: 10.1007/s10664-023-10349-0. Full text in Research Archive Show summary Abstract Context Responding to change and continuously improving processes, practices, and products are core to agile software development. It is no different in large-scale agile, where multiple software development teams need to respond both to changes in their external environments and to changes within the organization. Objective With this study, we aim to advance knowledge on coordination in large-scale agile by developing a model of the types of organizational changes that influence coordination mechanisms. Method We conducted a longitudinal case study in a growing large-scale agile organization, focusing on how external and internal changes impact coordination over time. We collected our data through 62 days of fieldwork across one and a half years. We conducted 37 interviews, observed 118 meetings at all organizational levels, collected supplementary material such as chat logs and presentations, and analyzed the data using thematic analysis. Results Our findings demonstrate how external events, such as onboarding new clients, and internal events, such as changes in the team organization, influence coordination mechanisms in the large-scale software development program. We find that external and internal change events lead to the introduction of new coordination mechanisms, or the adjustment of existing ones. Further, we find that continuous scaling requires continuous change and adjustment. Finally, we find that having the right mechanisms in place at the right time strengthens resilience and the ability to cope with change in coordination needs in complex large-scale environments. Conclusions Our findings are summarized in an empirically based model that provides a practical approach to analyzing change, aimed at supporting both researchers and practitioners dealing with change in coordination mechanisms in large-scale agile development contexts.
• Gustavsson, Tomas; Berntzen, Marthe & Stray, Viktoria (2022). Changes to team autonomy in large-scale software development: a multiple case study of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) implementations. International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management. ISSN 2182-7796. 10(1), p. 29–46. doi: 10.12821/ijispm100102. Full text in Research Archive Show summary Large-scale transformations of agile ways of working have received more attention in the industry in recent years. Some organizations have developed their own solutions for scaling, whereas many have chosen trademarked frameworks. In large-scale agile software development, many developers and development teams carry out work simultaneously. When autonomous teams need to coordinate toward a common goal, they must sacrifice some level of autonomy. Development, testing, and integrations need to be coordinated with other teams and aligned with an organization´s programs or portfolio. Through the conducting of 28 interviews and 17 on-site visits, this multiple case study explored how team autonomy changed in three agile software development organizations that implemented the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). The positive changes to team autonomy that they experienced as a result included getting a better overview, making better long-term decisions, giving and receiving help, and signaling limitations. We found two negative impacts on team autonomy: limited feature choice and enforced refinement. The study extends previous research on large-scale agile software development and improves our understanding of impacts on team autonomy.