Agility as a Matter of Degree: An Empirical Study of the Determinants of Agility in Projects

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-230
Author(s):  
Anine Andresen ◽  
Shanga Mohammad ◽  
Andreas Wald
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Dynamic Environments ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Team Size ◽  
Customer Involvement ◽  
Agile Project Management ◽  
Planning Approach ◽  
Rapid Changes

Agile project management (APM) is supposed to facilitate the response to rapid changes in complex and dynamic environments by applying an iterative planning approach, close customer involvement, and self-organizing teams. The literature has often considered the choice between APM and traditional project management (TPM) as binary and equated the use of APM methods with the desired outcome, i.e. project agility. In this paper, we challenge the assumption of binarity of APM and TPM and focus on project agility as an outcome. We argue that project agility is a matter of degree and is influenced by internal and external determinants. Building on Qumer and Henderson-Sellers’ (2008) four-dimensional analysis tool (4-DAT) framework, we develop a set of hypotheses of the determinants of project agility that are tested empirically using a cross-industry sample of project managers in Nordic countries. In line with the existing literature, we find customer involvement, organizational culture, and less upfront project planning to be positively related to the degree of agility in projects. However, we do not find significant effects of team size and complexity of the environment.

scholarly journals Költség- és időcsökkentési eljárások alkalmazása a projekttervezésben és a nyomon követésben = Application of cost and time reduction procedures in project planning and the follow-up

2015 ◽  
pp. 45-57
Author(s):  
Zsolt Tibor Kosztyán
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Network Planning ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Agile Project Management ◽  
Time Reduction ◽  
Time Demands

A válság okozta megszorítások a projektek költségvetését sem hagyták változatlanul. Nagyon sokszor nemcsak a jövőbeni projekttervek költségvetését kell átgondolni, hanem a már futó projektek költségvetését is újra kell szabni. E tanulmány ilyen esetekben nyújthat módszertani támogatást. A szerző ebben a kutatásban négy költség- és időcsökkentő módszert hasonlít össze. Ismerteti, hogy ezeket az eljárásokat milyen módon lehet ötvözni, illetve mikor, melyiket célszerű alkalmazni. Az eljárások között van olyan módszer, amely a hagyományos projektmenedzsment (pl. építési, beruházási projektek menedzselésének) eszköztárát gazdagítja, de találkozhatunk olyan eljárásokkal is, amelyek az agilis projektszemléleten alapuló módszerek körét szélesítik. A bemutatott módszerek nemcsak a hálótervezési, hanem a mátrixos projekttervezési eljárások esetén is alkalmazhatók. ____ Due to the effects of the crisis, budgets of present as well as future projects are decreasing steadily. In this study four different methods are introduced for minimising budget and time demands. These introduced methods support not only the traditional but also the agile project management. Furthermore these methods can be used not only in case of network planning, but also for matrix-based project planning.

Agile Approaches for Successfully Managing and Executing Projects in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Alexius A. Emejom ◽  
Carl Burgess ◽  
Donna Pepper ◽  
Joan Adkins
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Space Station ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
Project Outcomes ◽  
Agile Project Management ◽  
Project Management Institute ◽  
Agile Practices

The fourth industrial revolution utilizes artificial intelligence by automating large quantities of numbers to increase the chances of project success. The Project Management Institute lists examples of project outcomes, including but not limited to the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, the Panama Canal, and the placement of the International Space Station into Earth's orbit. This chapter highlights how the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) impacted the evolution of agile project management practices. It discusses how these could be applied in conjunction with traditional waterfall project management or as a standalone approach. Topics discussed include a definition and elements of project management, waterfall vs. agile project management, transitioning to agile methods, developments in agile project management, agile practices, and leading agile projects and project managers.

Agile Approaches for Successfully Managing and Executing Projects in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

2021 ◽  
pp. 1529-1547
Author(s):  
Alexius A. Emejom ◽  
Carl Burgess ◽  
Donna Pepper ◽  
Joan Adkins
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Space Station ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
Project Outcomes ◽  
Agile Project Management ◽  
Project Management Institute ◽  
Agile Practices

The fourth industrial revolution utilizes artificial intelligence by automating large quantities of numbers to increase the chances of project success. The Project Management Institute lists examples of project outcomes, including but not limited to the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, the Panama Canal, and the placement of the International Space Station into Earth's orbit. This chapter highlights how the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) impacted the evolution of agile project management practices. It discusses how these could be applied in conjunction with traditional waterfall project management or as a standalone approach. Topics discussed include a definition and elements of project management, waterfall vs. agile project management, transitioning to agile methods, developments in agile project management, agile practices, and leading agile projects and project managers.

Attock Refinery Upgradation Project

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 77-101
Author(s):  
Ahmed Nawaz Tariq ◽  
Arif Iqbal Rana
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Personal Relationships ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Northern Pakistan ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Project Monitoring ◽  
And Control

This case is about a major expansion and upgradation project undertaken at a refinery in Northern Pakistan in the 1990s. The project was the biggest expansion project since the company's inception in the 1920s. The project was carried out by a Japanese contractor, and was marked by changes in CEO's and Project Managers. Despite the vicissitudes in relationships between the construction team and company management, the project was completed in time and within budget. The case looks at project management from the client's perspective. It can be used in a module on Project Termination, or Project Monitoring and Control in a course on Project Management). The case highlights the importance of project planning, and monitoring; the management of inter-personal relationships; and 'post-mortem' analysis and learning from projects.

The Impact of the Project Manager on Project Management Planning Processes

2002 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 58-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomo Globerson ◽  
Ofer Zwikael
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Project Management ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Project Manager ◽  
Risk Management Process ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Tools And Techniques ◽  
The Impact

If a project is to be successfully completed, both planning and execution must be properly implemented. Poor planning will not allow appropriate execution and control processes or achievement of the project's targets. The objective of the study reported in this paper is to evaluate the impact of the project manager on the quality of project planning processes within the nine knowledge areas defined by A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) and to determine ways of increasing the effectiveness of the manager's intervention. Participants in the study evaluated their use of the 21 processes that relate to planning, out of the 39 processes required for proper project management. The results of the study reveal risk management and communications as the processes with the lowest planning quality. Poor quality in these areas results when project managers lack the formal tools and techniques for dealing with communications and the functional managers are not equipped with the tools and techniques that will allow them to effectively contribute to the risk management process. Improving quality planning processes requires the development of new tools in areas such as communications, as well as organizational training programs designed for the functional managers.

scholarly journals USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN FUTURE PROJECT MANAGERS' TRAINING

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oksana V. Dubinina ◽  
Lesia D. Hrytsiak
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Education Management ◽  
Management Project ◽  
Management Students ◽  
Future Project

The article clarifies the concepts of project and project management, substantiates the use of information systems and technologies in training specialists in project management (project manager and program manager), discusses the characteristics and functions of project management information systems as well as describes the materials and methods of project implementation and the advantages of using IT for project creation. The author outlines the contents of project managers' training at the University of Education Management Educational-Scientific Institute of Management and Psychology and claims that future project managers must know the main characteristics and functionalities of and be trained to use the MS Project, Oracle Primavera, etc. The project management students also have to be able to determine the purpose of and tools for a calendar network model development, to formulate requirements for project management software in solving specific problems as well as to use software for project planning, monitoring and analysis.

scholarly journals Agile Project Management: Feasible Methodology in Construction Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 5210-5213
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Fast Response ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Construction Technology ◽  
Agile Project Management ◽  
Technology Changes ◽  
Rapid Changes

The business characteristics in the construction environment has changed considerably over the previous 2 years because of rapid changes in info and construction technology, changes in market conditions, improved consumer needs (i.e. fast response, lower fees, greater customization etc.), item proliferation with uncertain and shorter life cycles, intensified off shoring and outsourcing methods, and improved competition from local to worldwide arena. This paper research on AM is actually centered on improving the systematic methodologies to study. The Scrum method designed for software development sector has to be defined to comply with construction business first. Artifacts, events, and the roles of scrum framework shall be connected to the stakeholders, group meetings, and documents applying in the construction business. The developed model then supported to the conduct the case study. The study was conducted to the donor funded task that is sealed the time and project budget with its top limit

scholarly journals Complexity and Project Management: A General Overview

Complexity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
José R. San Cristóbal ◽  
Luis Carral ◽  
Emma Diaz ◽  
José A. Fraguela ◽  
Gregorio Iglesias
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Goal Attainment ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Project Organization ◽  
General Overview ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Project Outcomes ◽  
Project Complexity ◽  
Clear Identification

As projects have become more and more complex, there has been an increasing concern about the concept of project complexity. An understanding of project complexity and how it might be managed is of significant importance for project managers because of the differences associated with decision-making and goal attainment that are related to complexity. Complexity influences project planning and control; it can hinder the clear identification of goals and objectives, it can affect the selection of an appropriate project organization form, or it can even affect project outcomes. Identifying the different concepts associated to project complexity, its main factors and characteristics, the different types of project complexity, and the main project complexity models, can be of great support in assisting the global project management community. In this paper, we give a general overview of how complexity has been investigated by the project management community and propose several ideas to address this topic in the future.

A Research Study on How Project Management Can Help Improve Lean Six Sigma

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Galli
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Cost Reduction ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Project Completion

Today, project managers are challenged with improving efficiency and overall productivity while working on certain tasks. They must be flexible and understand how to use tools and methods to improve results. While Lean Six Sigma (LSS) provides an overall data driven process to detect and improve system defects, project management has tools to evaluate and create a defined plan and manage a project. This article examines LSS alongside Project Management. It breaks down Six Sigma's DMAIC process, and shows incorporate both LSS and project management tools. If LSS only focuses on minimizing defects, then time management, cost reduction, and overall project planning must be incorporated to achieve successful project completion. This research demonstrates how that is possible. Finally, the research answers a key question: Can project management benefit LSS?

scholarly journals CHALLENGES OF THE PROJECT PLANNING METHODS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-60
Author(s):  
Zsolt T. Kosztyán
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Project Management ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Agile Methods ◽  
System Matrix ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Agile Project Management ◽  
Planning Methods ◽  
Management Approaches

There are a lot of project planning (like Gantt chart (Gant, 1910)) and network-based scheduling methods (like CPM, PDM, GERT (see i.e. Kelley-Walker, 1959, Pritsker 1966)), they were developed for handling traditional (e.g. construction) projects. While these methods are appropriate for the operation level - logic planning, scheduling, cost and resource allocation - of traditional project managemet, these methods can hardly be used for agile and extreme project management. Network-based methods focus on operation level, while for strategic decisions other methods should be used. Matrix-based methods can be used for planning agile methods (see Kosztyán-Kiss 2010-2013), however these methods also focused on operation level. This paper introduces an improved matrix-based method, the extended Multilevel Project Expert Matrix (xMPEM) method. This method can be used not only for operation, but strategic level of project management, where typical strategic questions arise e.g. which subprojects/tasks should be completed, how to treat priorities of completion in case of defining logic planning, how to support not only traditional but agile project management approaches. In this paper a multilevel genetic algorithm (MLGA) will be specified in order to determine possible project scenarios and possible project structures. The introduced xMPEM and MLGA methods can serve as the connection between operation and the strategic level of the project management. Key words: Project Expert System, matrix-based project planning methods, multilevel project planning.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document