E017 is a three-unit graduate course in WGU's Master of Science, Information Technology programs. It appears in both the standard and the Product Management versions, and WGU lists no prerequisites.
The guidebook describes it as giving technology leaders a framework for adapting to changing business needs. Agile approaches help teams reduce the impact of change and keep up their pace despite uncertainty, unexpected contingencies or changes in client requests.
The challenge is that agile is easy to describe and hard to apply to a specific organization. Evaluators look for reasoning about leadership and culture, not a list of ceremonies copied from a handbook.
Course at a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| University | Western Governors University (WGU) |
| Course | E017, Agile Processes and Culture in Technology |
| Competency units | 3 |
| Level | Graduate |
| Programs | MS Information Technology; MS Information Technology, Product Management |
| Prerequisites | None listed |
What E017 Covers
| Competency (WGU wording, summarized) | What it asks of you |
|---|---|
| Apply a leadership framework within an agile environment | Show how a leader guides an agile team in a business scenario |
| Evaluate how agile leadership, teams and processes improve results and efficiency | Judge the benefits using evidence from the scenario |
| Strategise how to foster an agile culture through leadership | Plan how values and behaviors will change across the organization |
The guidebook also says students learn how agile processes can improve efficiency and apply an agile framework to a business scenario.
Key Concepts Explained
Process Versus Culture
Adopting daily stand-ups does not make an organization agile. Culture is about how people behave when plans change: whether they share bad news early, whether teams may decide locally, and whether leaders reward learning.
Leading Rather than Directing
In an agile setting, a leader removes obstacles, clarifies goals and trusts teams to decide how to meet them. A strong answer explains what the leader stops doing as well as what they start.
Illustration: A department delivers a large release every nine months and discovers requirements have changed. A leader proposes four-week cycles with a demo to stakeholders at the end of each. To strengthen the culture, she asks managers to review work in demos rather than in status reports, which changes the conversation from compliance to learning.
Measuring Improvement
Say how you would know agile is helping: shorter delivery time, fewer late surprises or improved stakeholder satisfaction. Pick measures that fit the scenario.
Typical Assignments and How to Approach Them
| Task element | What it tests | How to approach it |
|---|---|---|
| Applying an agile framework | Fit to the scenario | Choose a framework, then adapt it to the team, size and constraints |
| Leadership approach | Role clarity | Describe how the leader behaves and why |
| Evaluating results | Evidence-based judgment | Compare before and after using measures from the case |
| Culture strategy | Change thinking | Set steps, owners and signs of progress |
Planning a Culture Change Section
The culture competency is where answers are often thin. A reliable approach is to move through four steps: describe the current behaviors, define the behaviors you want, name the leadership actions that bridge the gap, and set signals that show progress.
| Step | Example of what to write |
|---|---|
| Current behavior | Teams wait for sign-off before changing plans |
| Desired behavior | Teams adjust within agreed limits and report openly |
| Leadership action | Set decision limits, praise early reporting, join reviews |
| Signal of progress | Shorter time to decide, more issues raised early |
Using Evidence to Evaluate Agile
The second competency asks you to evaluate whether agile leadership, teams and processes improve results. Evaluation needs evidence, and the scenario usually contains some: delivery times, defect counts, customer complaints, turnover or the speed of decisions.
Pick the two or three facts that matter most and compare the situation before and after the change you propose.
Be balanced. Agile can raise visibility and responsiveness, but it can also stall when stakeholders are unavailable or when regulation demands heavy documentation. A short note on these limits, with a way to manage each, shows judgment.
| Possible benefit | Evidence to look for | Possible limit |
|---|---|---|
| Faster feedback | Time from request to first demo | Stakeholders too busy to review |
| Less rework | Defects found late | Short cycles without quality checks |
| Higher engagement | Team survey or turnover figures | Unclear authority to decide |
Where Students Get Stuck
- Listing ceremonies. Describing sprints and stand-ups without linking them to the scenario's problem scores poorly.
- Treating culture as a slogan. Name behaviors and the leadership actions that change them.
- No evidence. When evaluating results, use facts from the case.
- Ignoring limits. Agile does not suit every constraint; acknowledge where it needs adapting.
Study Tips for E017
- Pick one scenario from your own work and practice describing its culture in behaviors.
- Write the rubric lines as headings and answer each directly.
- Keep your examples specific: team size, product, release rhythm.
- Use the planning tool report to decide which competency needs most time.
How We Help with E017
Send the scenario, the task instructions and the rubric. A writer can prepare a custom analysis, explain how to connect leadership and culture, or review your draft. This is tutoring and reference material; submit your own work under WGU's academic integrity policy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
WGU lists none.
The guidebook lists 3.
The course is designed for technology leaders and teaches the framework, but real examples from work make answers stronger.
Applying a leadership framework in an agile environment, evaluating how agile improves results, and strategising how to foster an agile culture.
The guidebook speaks of applying an agile framework to a business scenario; check your task for any specific one.
Yes. We check the link to the scenario, evidence and rubric match, and explain what to change.