The impact of absorptive capacity on the ex-post adoption of agile methods: The case of Extreme Programming model

Agile development methods have emerged to overcome some of the process and product-related problems associated with traditional models. They are believed to be lightweight, people focused, adaptive and allow better information systems development (ISD) performance. Nevertheless, they require a significant capacity of absorbing new set of skills, knowledge and mindset changing. When using agile methods IS developers are faced with a challenge to quickly assimilate the mindset of these new methods and develop the ability to recognize information and apply it in context. This paper reports on two ex-post ISD project implementation. We integrate a central construct in the dynamic capability theory - absorptive capacity to explain agile method adoption and usage. The findings show that absorptive capacity, indeed, plays an important role in adopting and using agile method-Extreme Programming model. The implications of these findings for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.