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Software organizations are increasingly combining agile methodologies and distributed software development (DSD) for efficiently and effectively built software products. There are numerous challenges associated with scaling agile methods in a distributed environment. Our study is intended to explore and prioritize the challenges for scaling agile practices in the DSD environment. This study was divided into 3 stages. In the first stage, 22 challenges were identified from literature review and grouped into 4 categories: management, team, technology, and process based on discussion with experts. In the second stage, an online questionnaire study was conducted to validate the identified challenges. Finally, analytic hierarchy process method was used to prioritize challenges and their categories based on their relative importance. The results highlighted that management is a most significant category as compared with the other categories.Similarly, lack of management commitments, lack of effective communication, lack of knowledge sharing, etc are identified as the most significant challenges that need to be focused by the organizations for scaling agile methodologies. On the basis of the research findings, we could conclude that the identified challenges along with their categories provide a robust framework to scale agile methodologies in the DSD environment. KEYWORDSagile development, AHP, challenges, distributed software development, multiple-criteria decision making INTRODUCTIONOver the last 2 decades, a variety of models and processes have been developed for the effective management of software development activities.Among these, agile is the most significant process that has been introduced to provide opportunities to manage the dynamic behavior of system development activities. 1,2 Agile is a lightweight software development approach that promotes continuous iterations of development and testing throughout the software development life cycle. 2 Various agile methods have been developed, and the most popular among these are extreme programming (XP), crystal, scrum, adaptive software development, and feature-driven development. 3 The underlying philosophy of agile methods is derived from the agile manifesto developed by several system development experts who designed different methodologies on the basis of similar ideals. 2 This philosophy primarily focuses on teamwork, the importance of individuals and their interactions, early product delivery, collaboration with the customers, and effective responses to change requirements. 4 Agile methods were originally designed for small and single-team projects. 2,3 However, few research studies have claimed the successful implementation of agile methods in a distributed environment in large-scale organizations. 3,5 Despite some successful implementations of agile methods, Abbreviations: ANA, antinuclear antibodies; APC, antigen-presenting cells; IRF, interferon regulatory factor J Softw Evol Proc. 2018;30:e1979. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/smr

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The media and consumer research groups have been keeping the Millennials in spotlight for many years now; perhaps it is time to turn some of the attention on Gen Z, which began its foray into mainstream consumption. This exploratory study examines the shopping orientation of Gen Z online shoppers using the generational cohort theory (GCT) as a framework and provides insights to e-retailers to understand how this generation approaches the online shopping. The penetration of Internet and accelerated growth of online shopping have enthused the e-retailers to offer a wide range of goods at greater efficiency than the traditional players. By cluster analysis (K-means) of nine online shopping orientation factors (two were eliminated prior due to low factor loading scores), four segments were identified: (a) ‘Economic-quality seekers’, (b) ‘Convenience shoppers’, (c) ‘Deal hunting-convenience seekers’ and (d) ‘Brand and quality conscious shoppers’, and the study profiled each segment based on the demographic data through chi-square analysis. Finally, implications for online retailers and marketing practitioners are enumerated towards the end of the article.