Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore a new perspective within the sustainability of project management theoretical area. The research focuses on verifying the existence of  interconnections between Agile Project Management and Social Sustainability, and on understanding how Agile Project Management impacts organisational social dynamics from a Social Sustainability point of view. Research Methodology/ Approach/ Design: Through an in-depth single-holistic case study,  the research investigates the social dynamics taking place amongst the members of an international IT company, applying an agile project management framework since more than two years. A total of six extensive semi-structured interviews have been carried out with people covering different positions within the company. By working on qualitative data from the interviews, the researchers obtained an in-vivo set of interconnected concepts. The analysis work consisted in qualitatively analysing these concepts and relations in order to build a network diagram reproducing graphically the interconnections existing between Agile Project Management elements and the Social Sustainability factors proposed by Missimer et al. (2016a, 2016b). Research Findings: The findings - obtained through the analysis of the network diagram - have been analysed with the lenses of the five factors, that have not to be degraded in order to ensure the social sustainability of a social system. It has been found that implementation of Agile Project Management, within the company’s environment, has impacted the organisation’s social dynamics in several ways. These impacts influenced in a direct or indirect way individual’s “Health”, their “Capacity to Influence”, their “Capacity to Acquire New Competences”, and their “Capacity of Meaning-Making”. By analysing the type of influence APM has on these four aforementioned factors, it has been found that it influences positively all of them. This allowed us to conclude that, according to Missimer et al. definition of Social Sustainability, Agile Project Management shows several interconnections to Social Sustainability and that it seems to benefit organisational internal social dynamics making them more socially sustainable. Research limitations: Because of the exploratory nature of the research, the empirical study has been based on a single in-depth case study. However, generalisability of the findings are limited by the inherent limitations of this inquiry strategy. Further researches will allow to verify and eventually expand or complete the proposed model. Originality/value: This research contributes to a detailed understanding of the existing relations between Agile Project Management and Social Sustainability theory. This represents a completely new point of view in the studies of Sustainability of Project Management, suggesting the validity of a new stream of research focusing on Agile Project Management as a new project management process through which promote corporate sustainability.

Introduction: The environment surrounding organizations is changing rapidly as competition is increasing and product life cycles are getting shorter. The classical waterfall project management approach is no longer very effective to cope with these changes, and organizations are trying toadapt more elements of the agile approach. Nevertheless, many challenges are associated with the implementation of agile approach, and some of them are individuals related. Problem background: While the implementation of agile project management approach is associated with many individuals-related challenges, the literature, in most cases, only points outthese difficulties without having a clear explanation why they happen neither from the individuals’ behaviors perspective nor from the implementation process perspective. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to develop an understanding on how certain attitudes of(proactive and adaptive) individuals' behaviors would help to overcome some individuals-related challenges during the agile implementation process. More optimistically, this thesis aims to define a framework that shows managers the direct effects of these behavioral attitudes on some individuals-related challenges of agile implementation process. Method: In order to answer the Research question, a qualitative research was conducted. Eight Interviewees from two large-sized banks in Poland and Turkey were interviewed. Findings: Proactive agile team members with ("future-focused”, “self-monitoring", and "selfknowledge-expansion") attitudes seem to have the ability to overcome the challenges of trust incollective responsibility, and resistance to change. However, lacking "change-oriented" attitude amongst those proactive team members will make it harder for them to have interest in "shared decision-making". Furthermore, adaptive team members with ("openness to change" and "compromise") attitudes seem to have the ability to overcome the challenge of resistance to change. However, difficultiesfaced when the "need to adapt" to flat team structure is present will make it harder for them to have interest in "shared decision-making". Conclusion: This study comes contrary to what the literature suggests (that managers are usually the side that shows resistance to include other team members in the decision-making process). "Performers" were found to be the side resisting being included in the decision-making process.This study shows that overcoming "trust in collective responsibility" and "resistance to change" challenges is more realistic approach than focusing on "shared decision-making" which is less interesting and more time consuming for team members. This study is in line with what the "implementation process" literature suggests that: individuals’motivation to perform a behavior is determined by their attitude towards the behavior. As the lack of believe in "shared decision-making" in our study resulted in less motivation to implement this element.

Project management is today a current and highly discussed area. How projects within the construction industry are managed has not changed significantly during the last decades. The construction market, the number of different actors and the way that projects are procured today has however changed. This has led to a gap between the managerial view on how construction projects should be conducted today and how they actually are executed. This is reason enough to question this conservative industry and look into what possibilities there might be in the future. The Agile project management approach evolved from the software industry where it has grown and developed through empirical progress. It is suited for large complex projects where it is difficult to specify the product in advance. It is today used in different industries but mostly in the software business where the customer detects their needs through means of repeated tests and improvements to a prototype. This thesis has researched what opportunities there might be in implementing the Agile project management approach in the design phase of construction projects. The major advantages found with implementing the Agile approach is an increase in the client’s involvement. The Agile approach almost forces the client to increase their participation in the project compared to the situation today. It can also decrease uncertainty and improve risk management. By the use of time management and specific meetings it will also be beneficial for keeping track of the project’s progression and status.

Today, organisations are increasingly using project-based activities, as projects can aid organisations to deal with unique and complicated assignments, as well as achieving strategic and operational goals. Two extensive project management methodologies exist, those being Traditional Project Management and Agile Project Management. Agile methods trademark change, adaptability, and flexibility, and are today used across industries and business, as the characteristics of the methodology make it suitable in today’s dynamic business environment. Even though projects are increasingly being used, it is inconsistent with the remarkably low project success rates found. It has been found that only 30 per cent of projects are successful within the technology field. Consequently, this stress the need to understand the inconsistencies found as well as generating suggestions for how to improve them. It is arguable that the inconsistencies may be caused by the difficulty to define project success. Researchers argue that the definition of project success is difficult to pinpoint as it varies depending on both individual perspectives and situational factors such as the organisation and the project type. It is also questionable whether or not appropriate methods have been used to evaluate the success of a project, and that the use of inappropriate methods may have contributed to the low success rates. Researchers argue that the traditional way of evaluating project success, by adhering to schedule, cost, and scope, is outdated and incomplete, and some have therefore developed new models that they consider more accurate for evaluating project success. One of these researchers is Highsmith, one of the founders of the Agile Manifesto. Highsmith has developed the Agile Triangle to better correspond to the agile trademarks of change, adaptability, and flexibility when evaluating success on agile projects. This study aimed to contribute with new insights into theoretical and practical aspects of agile project success by studying agile project success from a project manager perspective. This thesis also aimed to generate an understanding of project managers’ perception of the Agile Triangle as a success criterion. We interviewed seven Swedish project managers who have all worked with agile projects. After thoroughly analysing the results we could create a definition of agile project success as well as develop an Agile Project Success Criteria Model, representing the view of Swedish project managers. Agile project success was defined as a project that generates value in a sustainable manner. The agile project success criteria found important within this study are: Value, Team Success, Quality, Business Benefits, and Constraints. It was also found that Flexibility, even though it should not be included as a success criterion itself, is still a key ingredient when using Agile Project Management methodologies, as it affects all important success criteria. These findings highlight the insufficiency of the Agile Triangle as a success criterion, as Team Success and Business Benefits, criteria additional to those within the Agile Triangle, were found important. It was also found that the project managers question the practical applicability of the Agile Triangle and consider it to be similar to the Iron Triangle.

The thesis focuses on optimisation of project management methodology and tools in a small company, engaged in development of enterprise software. The company is facing major challenges, resulting in frequent failure to comply with projects deadlines and costs. The introductory theoretical part presents some possible approaches to solving these problems. These are based primarily on the most popular methodologies and research of various authors. There are three objectives in the practical part. The first one is to analyse the current state of project management area in the company. To fulfil this objective, several analytical methods were used, alongside with the measurement of the maturity of processes using CMMI models. The output of this part is used for identification of major problems related to project management. The second objective is to choose the most suitable methodology for project management optimization. The next part focuses on selection of supporting software tool. The third objective is to present a proposal of changes to the current corporate project management methodology, processes and tools, based on the identification of major problems. The final part presents the schedule of implementation of the proposed changes.

A teoria de gerenciamento de projetos (GP) tem sido alvo de proposições de novas abordagens, como o gerenciamento ágil de projetos (GAP), resultando em novas práticas, técnicas e ferramentas, ainda pouco identificadas e caracterizadas quanto ao seu uso. Não há definições precisas e instrumentos que possam distinguir o uso por problemas como nomenclaturas e falta de identificação de características observáveis. Isso diminui a qualidade das pesquisas na área. Visando preencher essa lacuna, descrevem-se as práticas de gerenciamento de projetos existentes, classificando-as em termos de abordagem de gerenciamento de projetos empregada (tradicional e ágil), de forma a permitir a identificação da abordagem utilizada por uma organização. Restringiu-se o problema aos temas escopo e tempo em virtude do tamanho significativo da teoria. Para isso, empregaram-se os métodos de Revisão Bibliográfica Sistemática e do estudo multicasos do tipo incorporado em empresas de excelência em gestão de projetos. Foram analisadas duas empresas que assumem adotar abordagem tradicional e ágil respectivamente. O resultado apresenta a lista de práticas identificadas na literatura e um referencial do tipo inventário, possibilitando a identificação das práticas em empresas reais e sua categorização quanto à abordagem utilizada. A análise das práticas empregadas permitiu também identificar as características essenciais que distinguem as duas abordagens: plano de projeto em duas etapas; uso de desafios e metáforas para delimitar o escopo; a ausência de sequenciamentos de atividades; detalhamento de cronograma em intervalos de tempo pré-estabelecidos (iteração); controle do andamento a partir de resultados concretos e; controle do escopo com priorização periódica pelo cliente. Tal resultado contribui para os estudos sobre o tema. O inventário proposto e os resultados encontrados permitem que os pesquisadores da área avaliem o gerenciamento ágil de projetos de maneira mais consistente, aprimorando as pesquisas na área. / The theory of project management (PM) has been target of propositions new approaches such as agile project management (APM), resulting in practices, techniques and tools, still little identified and characterized as their use. There aren\'t precise definitions and instruments which can distinguish the use of problems such as lack of identification classifications and the observable characteristics. This reduces quality research in the area. Aiming to fill this gap, we describe the management practices of existing projects, classifying them in terms of project management approach applied (traditional and agile), to allow the identification of the approach used by an organization. It was restricted the problem to the scope and time themes because of significant size of theory. For this reason, employed the methods of systematic literature review and study multicase companies incorporated in the type of excellence in project management. We analyzed two companies that take the traditional approach and adopt agile respectively. The result shows the list of practices identified in the literature and a reference-type inventory, enabling the identification of actual companies and practices in their categorization on the approach used. The analysis of the practices employed also made it possible to identify the essential characteristics that distinguish the two approaches: project plan in two stages, use of metaphors for the challenges and define the scope, the lack of sequencing activities; detailed schedule at intervals pre-established (iteration); tracking progress from concrete results, scope control with periodic prioritization by the client. This result contributes to the studies on the subject. The proposed inventory and the results allow researchers to assess the agile project management more consistently, improving research in the area.

Esta dissertação tem por objetivo principal identificar o enfoque de gerenciamento de projetos – ágil ou clássico – mais apropriado para o desenvolvimento de software com o uso de Métodos Ágeis. De forma mais específica, a dissertação investiga se existe uma associação entre o desempenho dos projetos de desenvolvimento de software realizados com o uso de Métodos Ágeis e o enfoque de gerenciamento de projetos adotado. Este trabalho é decorrente de um estudo exploratório inicial, por meio do qual se buscou a ampliação do conhecimento sobre o tema, a elaboração de um estudo comparativo entre o Gerenciamento Ágil de Projetos e o Gerenciamento Clássico de Projetos, a investigação das principais características de um projeto de desenvolvimento de software realizado com o uso de Métodos Ágeis, a identificação de uma comunidade de pessoas que tivesse experiência em projetos desta natureza e, por fim, a estruturação de uma segunda etapa de pesquisa. Esta segunda etapa, de caráter quantitativo-descritivo, visou à descrição do conjunto de dados e a determinação das relações relevantes entre as variáveis de interesse. Para tanto, foram definidas as variáveis independentes, dependentes e intervenientes da pesquisa, como sendo, respectivamente, os enfoques de gerenciamento de projetos ágil e clássico, o desempenho dos projetos de desenvolvimento de software e os desenvolvimentos de software conduzidos com o uso dos Métodos Ágeis. Procedeu-se a uma amostragem intencional por julgamento, sendo selecionada uma amostra de pesquisa composta por pessoas com interesse e/ou experiência em projetos de desenvolvimento de software com o uso de Métodos Ágeis, associadas a grupos de internet especializados na discussão sobre o tema. Para a coleta de dados utilizou-se um questionário auto-administrado, enviado por meio de correio eletrônico à amostra selecionada. O tratamento dos dados foi feito com o uso de métodos estatísticos: análise descritiva, análise discriminante e regressão logística. A partir dos resultados da pesquisa pôde-se concluir que os Métodos Ágeis e o Gerenciamento Ágil de Projetos, apesar de recentes, já fazem parte da realidade brasileira. Quanto à resposta à pergunta problema, não houve evidência amostral para encontrar uma associação estatisticamente significativa entre o desempenho de um projeto de desenvolvimento de software e o enfoque de gerenciamento de projetos adotado, não sendo possível comprovar, de forma conclusiva, a existência de um enfoque de gerenciamento de projetos mais apropriado para o desenvolvimento de software com o uso de Métodos Ágeis. Porém, os resultados da análise descritiva sugeriram que a maioria dos respondentes indicou o Gerenciamento Ágil de Projetos como o enfoque mais apropriado para o desenvolvimento de software com o uso de Métodos Ágeis. Pôde-se constatar também a possibilidade de se adotar qualquer um dos enfoques de gerenciamento de projetos – ágil ou clássico – ou mesmo uma combinação deles, nos projetos desta natureza. Na pesquisa ainda foram identificados o critério primordial utilizado para mensuração do desempenho dos projetos de desenvolvimento de software realizados com o uso de Métodos Ágeis, as características principais destes projetos, seus fatores críticos de sucesso, além de se comprovar a importância do apoio da alta administração na adoção do Gerenciamento Ágil de Projetos. Cabe ressaltar que todas estas conclusões devem ficar restritas ao âmbito desta dissertação. Para pesquisas futuras recomenda-se a adequação do instrumento de pesquisa e o cuidado especial na seleção da amostra. Sugere-se a exploração de assuntos correlatos ao tema, como o estudo da prontidão das organizações para a adoção do Gerenciamento Ágil de Projetos, ou mesmo, a avaliação dos resultados obtidos com sua aplicação. Por fim, o cenário brasileiro atual favorece a realização de estudos nesta temática, atendendo às necessidades de pesquisadores que se interessam pelo assunto. / The main purpose of this here research is to identify the most appropriated project management approach for software development using the Agile Methods. Essentially, this study aims to determine if there is a statistical relationship between the software development project performance and its project management approach. This research is based on a preliminary exploratory study that ensured the content and context understanding, the comparison between the Agile Project Management and the Classical Project Management, the identification of the main characteristics of an agile software development project, the identification of the people involved in this kind of software development initiative and also provided the basis to structure a second phase of this research. This second quantitative-descriptive phase intends to describe the research data and to find the relevant relationships between the variables of interest. The independent variables of this study were defined as being the agile and classical project management approaches; the dependent variable was defined as being the project performance; and, the intervenient variables were defined as being the agile software development projects. A non-probabilistic intentional sampling was done. The sampling framework was drawn from people who have experience managing or participating in software projects conducted using one of the Agile Methods, and were associated to internet discussion groups on this theme. For data gathering it was used a self-applied survey, sent by e-mail to the selected groups. The respondents’ data were primarily analyzed using descriptive analysis and, after that, using discriminant analysis and logistics regression. It was possible to conclude that, although the Agile Methods and the Agile Project Management are quite recent, they are being used here in Brazil. Considering the main research question, there was not a statistical evidence to prove the relationship between the software development project performance and its project management approach. Thus, it was not possible to establish a final conclusion about the most appropriated project management approach for software development using the Agile Methods. Nevertheless, the results of the descriptive analysis indicated that most of the respondents tended to choose the Agile Project Management as the approach that better fits the agile software development initiatives. It was also possible to conclude that the referred projects may be managed using either the agile or the classical project management approach, or even using a combination of these two approaches. The main agile software development project success criterias were identified, as well as the project characteristics and the main critical success factors. The important role of the upper management in supporting the Agile Project Management adoption was also discussed. The research conclusions should be restricted to this here context. For future studies, special attention should be paid to the research instrument improvement and to the sampling process. The study of the organization readiness for the Agile Project Management adoption or the analysis of this project management approach implementation results could be the aims of new investigations. Finally, it is important to notice that the current Brazilian scenario stimulates and favors the development of future studies, meeting the expectations of the researchers that are interested in this subject.

A teoria de gerenciamento de projetos (GP) tem sido alvo de proposições de novas abordagens, como o gerenciamento ágil de projetos (GAP), resultando em novas práticas, técnicas e ferramentas, ainda pouco identificadas e caracterizadas quanto ao seu uso. Não há definições precisas e instrumentos que possam distinguir o uso por problemas como nomenclaturas e falta de identificação de características observáveis. Isso diminui a qualidade das pesquisas na área. Visando preencher essa lacuna, descrevem-se as práticas de gerenciamento de projetos existentes, classificando-as em termos de abordagem de gerenciamento de projetos empregada (tradicional e ágil), de forma a permitir a identificação da abordagem utilizada por uma organização. Restringiu-se o problema aos temas escopo e tempo em virtude do tamanho significativo da teoria. Para isso, empregaram-se os métodos de Revisão Bibliográfica Sistemática e do estudo multicasos do tipo incorporado em empresas de excelência em gestão de projetos. Foram analisadas duas empresas que assumem adotar abordagem tradicional e ágil respectivamente. O resultado apresenta a lista de práticas identificadas na literatura e um referencial do tipo inventário, possibilitando a identificação das práticas em empresas reais e sua categorização quanto à abordagem utilizada. A análise das práticas empregadas permitiu também identificar as características essenciais que distinguem as duas abordagens: plano de projeto em duas etapas; uso de desafios e metáforas para delimitar o escopo; a ausência de sequenciamentos de atividades; detalhamento de cronograma em intervalos de tempo pré-estabelecidos (iteração); controle do andamento a partir de resultados concretos e; controle do escopo com priorização periódica pelo cliente. Tal resultado contribui para os estudos sobre o tema. O inventário proposto e os resultados encontrados permitem que os pesquisadores da área avaliem o gerenciamento ágil de projetos de maneira mais consistente, aprimorando as pesquisas na área. / The theory of project management (PM) has been target of propositions new approaches such as agile project management (APM), resulting in practices, techniques and tools, still little identified and characterized as their use. There aren\'t precise definitions and instruments which can distinguish the use of problems such as lack of identification classifications and the observable characteristics. This reduces quality research in the area. Aiming to fill this gap, we describe the management practices of existing projects, classifying them in terms of project management approach applied (traditional and agile), to allow the identification of the approach used by an organization. It was restricted the problem to the scope and time themes because of significant size of theory. For this reason, employed the methods of systematic literature review and study multicase companies incorporated in the type of excellence in project management. We analyzed two companies that take the traditional approach and adopt agile respectively. The result shows the list of practices identified in the literature and a reference-type inventory, enabling the identification of actual companies and practices in their categorization on the approach used. The analysis of the practices employed also made it possible to identify the essential characteristics that distinguish the two approaches: project plan in two stages, use of metaphors for the challenges and define the scope, the lack of sequencing activities; detailed schedule at intervals pre-established (iteration); tracking progress from concrete results, scope control with periodic prioritization by the client. This result contributes to the studies on the subject. The proposed inventory and the results allow researchers to assess the agile project management more consistently, improving research in the area.

The recent increase in international projects has resulted in higher risk along with difficulties in control and coordination. Effective project management can therefore be seen as being essential to the success of projects. The purpose of this paper is to understand how a large multinational company currently handles these issues. This paper conducts a case study that will look at the relationship between contingencies and their effects on project risk management. The findings show that although project risk management handles contingencies in standard projects it still requires improvement within complex projects. Therefore, based on research into agile project management a concept is proposed as an alternative for the case company to select project management method.

No description available.