Effectiveness of Agile Project Management Methodology

Research Project Proposal – Agile Methodology 1
EFFECTIVENESS OF AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY
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Research Project Proposal – Agile Methodology 2
Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................ 3
2. Literature Review.................................................................................................... 3
3. Purpose Statement................................................................................................... 6
4. Research Question and/or Hypothesis..........................................................................6
5. Research Methodology.............................................................................................. 7
6. Research Procedure(s).............................................................................................. 8
References............................................................................................................. 11

Research Project Proposal – Agile Methodology 3
1. Introduction
The reference published research article for this research project proposal is the one titled “Does
Agile work? – A quantitative analysis of agile project success”. The authors of this article sought
to investigate if agile approaches can improve the possibility of project success. They collected
data from 1,002 projects spread across different industries and countries. The study concluded
that agile approaches have a positive impact on the two parameters of project success
investigated: stakeholder satisfaction and project efficiency (Serrador & Pinto, 2015). Agile
manifesto was articulated in 2001 by 17 professionals, and has since then brought unprecedented
changes not only to the software industry but also in the other industries (Dingsyr, et al.,
2012). However, it is worth noting that adoption of agile methodologies has numerous benefits
and constraints (Shankarmani, et al., 2012). This research project proposal is about the
effectiveness of agile project management methodology.
2. Literature Review
Agile project management methodology is a practice of executing a project by iterations –
breaking down the project into small sections and executing them incrementally until the project
is completed (Niederman, et al., 2018). There are more than 20 different agile project
management methodologies (Rasnacis & Berzisa, 2017). Some of the benefits of agile
methods include: improves stakeholder engagement, enhance stakeholder satisfaction, improves
transparency, predictable and early project delivery, predictable schedule and costs, flexible
prioritization, allows for new changes, focuses on the client or end users and business value,
improves quality, and gives the project team purpose. Gustavsson (2016) conducted a study to
investigate the benefits of adopting agile project management methods in non-software
development projects. He analyzed 21 case studies and found that the benefits of agile methods

Research Project Proposal – Agile Methodology 4
in non-software development projects are related to client interaction, team work, flexibility and
productivity. Similar results were reiterated by Vijayasarathy & Turk (2010) who carried out a
study and found that some of the benefits of using agile methods include: increased team
efficiency, higher effectiveness, higher satisfaction, earlier detection and deletion of faults,
increased transparency and quality, high project details visibility, higher ability to scale, and
improved ability to adjust to changes. These study adds to the existing information about the
benefits of agile methods to the software and non-software development projects. It showed that
adoption of agile methods can help complete projects successfully in varied industries.
Adoption of agile project management methods started in the software industry. Some of the
agile methods that are widely used include: scrum method, crystal clear method, extreme
programming (XP), lean method, Kanban method, crystal methodology, feature-driven
development (FDD), and dynamic systems development method (DSDM). According to
Madampe (2017), agile methods are suitable for software industry because they allow the
software developers to use feedback from clients in (Madampe, 2017) refining their solutions
so that the final products delivered satisfy the clients’ requirements. This study is useful for the
current research project because it demonstrates how adoption of agile project management
methodology benefits various stakeholders involved in software development projects. The same
knowledge can be used to extrapolate how agile methods can help to successfully complete non-
software development projects.
According to a study by Hajjdiab & Taleb (2011), successful adoption of agile
methodologies can help to improve the quality, processes and outcomes of a project. However,
adoption of these technologies come with a wide range of special challenges and requires
significant organizational changes. The researchers of the study comprehensively discussed