This study investigates the critical success factors involved in agile systems development projects. Various systems development methodologies and project management methodologies are presented with their underlying principles, strengths and weaknesses. Thereafter the critical success factors adopted from the work of Chow and Cao (2007) are presented. A positivistic research paradigm was chosen for data collection and analysis. The survey method was chosen for data collection. A questionnaire was sent to multiple respondents in a predominantly agile work environment, which resulted in a total of 129 respondents in various business sectors. The results were analysed by implementing multiple correlation and regression statistics as well as descriptive statistics. The results show that there are in fact 16 critical success factors that have a direct impact on the success of agile systems development projects. Agile systems development methodologies have been increasing in use during the last 3 years, and most organisations are implementing some form of project management methodology. The first recommendation is based on the findings that strong customer involvement and the appropriate management of the agile process with a satisfactory amount of documentation resulted in greater process success. Therefore, organisations should encourage these critical success factors when implementing an ASDM as this has a positive effect on the project outcome. The appropriate management of the agile process with a satisfactory amount of documentation, the application of good design practices and technical knowledge to a project, and a cooperative organizational culture instead of hierarchical are three of the key critical success factors that were positively related to the success of the product. By focussing on these critical success factors, the success of the entire project can be predicted. / Thesis (MCom (Computer Science & Information Systems))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

This study investigates the critical success factors involved in agile systems development projects. Various systems development methodologies and project management methodologies are presented with their underlying principles, strengths and weaknesses. Thereafter the critical success factors adopted from the work of Chow and Cao (2007) are presented. A positivistic research paradigm was chosen for data collection and analysis. The survey method was chosen for data collection. A questionnaire was sent to multiple respondents in a predominantly agile work environment, which resulted in a total of 129 respondents in various business sectors. The results were analysed by implementing multiple correlation and regression statistics as well as descriptive statistics. The results show that there are in fact 16 critical success factors that have a direct impact on the success of agile systems development projects. Agile systems development methodologies have been increasing in use during the last 3 years, and most organisations are implementing some form of project management methodology. The first recommendation is based on the findings that strong customer involvement and the appropriate management of the agile process with a satisfactory amount of documentation resulted in greater process success. Therefore, organisations should encourage these critical success factors when implementing an ASDM as this has a positive effect on the project outcome. The appropriate management of the agile process with a satisfactory amount of documentation, the application of good design practices and technical knowledge to a project, and a cooperative organizational culture instead of hierarchical are three of the key critical success factors that were positively related to the success of the product. By focussing on these critical success factors, the success of the entire project can be predicted. / Thesis (MCom (Computer Science & Information Systems))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Project management is as much art as it is science. Competence of project managers is receiving increasing interest as more organisations accept that project performance has an impact on organisational performance. Scholars and practitioners of project management tend to agree that while the technical aspects of project management are important, it is the behavioural competencies, or soft skills, of project managers that are required for success ? now and in the future. This study set out to explore the expected evolution of the behavioural skills and competencies of the project manager over the next decade. Secondary objectives of the study were to establish if perceptions differ amongst the respective demographic groups, the importance of leadership skills and how identified future behavioural competencies are addressed in current job profiles for project managers. The research study began in the literature where projects and project management was introduced followed by an exploration of some of the trends and perceptions expected to impact on project management in the future. Projects of the future will be strongly influenced by technology with complexity and uncertainty as common themes. Leadership and flexibility will be key for project managers to survive in such a dynamic, hyper–connected environment. A thorough literature study was conducted into the behavioural competencies of project managers especially with respect to the most widely used project management bodies of knowledge. The concept of competency was defined and a number of models of competency were presented. Soft skills relating to project managers were discussed including emotional intelligence which has received much attention recently. A comparison was made of the behavioural competencies of project managers as addressed in the IPMA International Competence Baseline 3.0, the APM Body of Knowledge and the PMI Body of knowledge. Concluding the literature study, the fifteen behavioural competencies from the IPMA International Competence Baseline were discussed drawing on insight from the literature. An empirical study was completed with the aid of a new questionnaire designed using the behavioural competencies contained in the IPMA International Competence Baseline 3.0 as constructs. The questionnaire survey explored the perceptions of members in a South African project management organisation regarding the evolution of the importance given to the identified behavioural competencies. Analysis of the responses showed the questionnaire to be reliable and valid. Respondents indicated that they expect the following project manager behavioural constructs to grow in importance in the future: Efficiency, Leadership, Creativity, Openness and Engagement and Motivation. Respondents expect the following behavioural constructs to be less important in the future: Ethics, Values Appreciation, Reliability, Conflict and Crisis and Self–control. Structured interviews conducted to validate the survey results highlighted only that Leadership is an area that is expected to take on more importance for project managers in future. The interviews produced similar expectations to the literature regarding the future challenges for project management regarding complexity, uncertainty and the rate of change. A review of Project Manager job profiles yielded that generally behavioural competencies for project managers are not comprehensively addressed with more attention required and to utilise research as a basis. Proficiency requirements and assessment of proficiencies remains a major challenge that must be addressed by organisations in future. Conclusions regarding the findings of the research study were presented and recommendations for organisations and interested parties given. The research study was evaluated opposite the primary and secondary objectives with the conclusion that both were achieved. Finally, recommendations for further research into the behavioural competencies and related topics were proposed. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Project management is as much art as it is science. Competence of project managers is receiving increasing interest as more organisations accept that project performance has an impact on organisational performance. Scholars and practitioners of project management tend to agree that while the technical aspects of project management are important, it is the behavioural competencies, or soft skills, of project managers that are required for success ? now and in the future. This study set out to explore the expected evolution of the behavioural skills and competencies of the project manager over the next decade. Secondary objectives of the study were to establish if perceptions differ amongst the respective demographic groups, the importance of leadership skills and how identified future behavioural competencies are addressed in current job profiles for project managers. The research study began in the literature where projects and project management was introduced followed by an exploration of some of the trends and perceptions expected to impact on project management in the future. Projects of the future will be strongly influenced by technology with complexity and uncertainty as common themes. Leadership and flexibility will be key for project managers to survive in such a dynamic, hyper–connected environment. A thorough literature study was conducted into the behavioural competencies of project managers especially with respect to the most widely used project management bodies of knowledge. The concept of competency was defined and a number of models of competency were presented. Soft skills relating to project managers were discussed including emotional intelligence which has received much attention recently. A comparison was made of the behavioural competencies of project managers as addressed in the IPMA International Competence Baseline 3.0, the APM Body of Knowledge and the PMI Body of knowledge. Concluding the literature study, the fifteen behavioural competencies from the IPMA International Competence Baseline were discussed drawing on insight from the literature. An empirical study was completed with the aid of a new questionnaire designed using the behavioural competencies contained in the IPMA International Competence Baseline 3.0 as constructs. The questionnaire survey explored the perceptions of members in a South African project management organisation regarding the evolution of the importance given to the identified behavioural competencies. Analysis of the responses showed the questionnaire to be reliable and valid. Respondents indicated that they expect the following project manager behavioural constructs to grow in importance in the future: Efficiency, Leadership, Creativity, Openness and Engagement and Motivation. Respondents expect the following behavioural constructs to be less important in the future: Ethics, Values Appreciation, Reliability, Conflict and Crisis and Self–control. Structured interviews conducted to validate the survey results highlighted only that Leadership is an area that is expected to take on more importance for project managers in future. The interviews produced similar expectations to the literature regarding the future challenges for project management regarding complexity, uncertainty and the rate of change. A review of Project Manager job profiles yielded that generally behavioural competencies for project managers are not comprehensively addressed with more attention required and to utilise research as a basis. Proficiency requirements and assessment of proficiencies remains a major challenge that must be addressed by organisations in future. Conclusions regarding the findings of the research study were presented and recommendations for organisations and interested parties given. The research study was evaluated opposite the primary and secondary objectives with the conclusion that both were achieved. Finally, recommendations for further research into the behavioural competencies and related topics were proposed. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether a combination of agile system development methodologies (ASDMs) and project management methodologies (PMMs) can be used to develop a hybrid APMM that will have the ability to deliver information technology (IT) projects successfully in a constantly changing business and project environment. To achieve this objective, a literature review was conducted on the relatively well–established ASDMs by firstly defining a SDM and an ASDM. Each ASDM and its effectiveness are described, after which ASDMs in general are evaluated by considering their area of application, advantages and disadvantages. A comparison is then done of the seven different ASDMs using the four elements of an SDM (Huisman & Iivari, 2006:32) to emphasise some of the main similarities and differences amongst the different ASDMs. The seven ASDMs investigated in this study are Dynamic System Development Methodology, Scrum, Extreme Programming, Feature Driven Development, Crystal ASDMs ? Crystal Clear and Crystal Orange in particular, Adaptive Software Development and Lean Development. A literature review was also conducted on two structured and relatively well–established PMMs, PMBOK and PRINCE2, and a relatively new PMM called Agile Project Management. Each PMM is evaluated by considering their area of application, advantages, disadvantages and integration with other methodologies, after which a comparison is made of the different PMMs. The research was conducted by following a mixed methods research plan, which included the mixed methods research paradigm (combination of the interpretive research paradigm and the positivistic research paradigm), research methods (design science, case study and survey), quantitative and qualitative data–collection techniques (interviews and questionnaires), and dataanalysis techniques (cross–case and statistical). The reasons that projects fail and critical project success factors were studied and summarised to form the critical project success criteria, which were used to create the agile project success criteria. The ASDM best practice and PMM best practice frameworks were created by identifying whether a certain ASDM or PMM would satisfy a specific agile project success factor (APSF) of the agile project success criteria. The findings of each APSF in the respective frameworks were used as a foundation to develop a hybrid APMM (ver. 0) that would address the agile project success criteria. The hybrid APMM (ver. 0) was developed interpretively using design science (research approach) and constructivism by combining the strengths, addressing the weaknesses and bridging the gaps identified in the frameworks. The hybrid APMM (ver. 0) was then evaluated and improved by conducting an interpretive case study, which entailed interviewing participants from large and small organisations. Once the qualitative data collected had been analysed using cross–case analysis, the findings were incorporated in order to create an improved hybrid APMM (ver. 1). The hybrid APMM (ver. 1) too was evaluated and improved by conducting a survey, which entailed administering questionnaires to various respondents in order to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The findings of the statistical analysis of the data were also used to improve the hybrid APMM (ver. 1), resulting in the final hybrid APMM (ver. 2). This study demonstrates that a combination of ASDMs and PMMs can be used to develop a hybrid APMM with the ability to deliver IT projects in a constantly changing project and business environment. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether a combination of agile system development methodologies (ASDMs) and project management methodologies (PMMs) can be used to develop a hybrid APMM that will have the ability to deliver information technology (IT) projects successfully in a constantly changing business and project environment. To achieve this objective, a literature review was conducted on the relatively well–established ASDMs by firstly defining a SDM and an ASDM. Each ASDM and its effectiveness are described, after which ASDMs in general are evaluated by considering their area of application, advantages and disadvantages. A comparison is then done of the seven different ASDMs using the four elements of an SDM (Huisman & Iivari, 2006:32) to emphasise some of the main similarities and differences amongst the different ASDMs. The seven ASDMs investigated in this study are Dynamic System Development Methodology, Scrum, Extreme Programming, Feature Driven Development, Crystal ASDMs ? Crystal Clear and Crystal Orange in particular, Adaptive Software Development and Lean Development. A literature review was also conducted on two structured and relatively well–established PMMs, PMBOK and PRINCE2, and a relatively new PMM called Agile Project Management. Each PMM is evaluated by considering their area of application, advantages, disadvantages and integration with other methodologies, after which a comparison is made of the different PMMs. The research was conducted by following a mixed methods research plan, which included the mixed methods research paradigm (combination of the interpretive research paradigm and the positivistic research paradigm), research methods (design science, case study and survey), quantitative and qualitative data–collection techniques (interviews and questionnaires), and dataanalysis techniques (cross–case and statistical). The reasons that projects fail and critical project success factors were studied and summarised to form the critical project success criteria, which were used to create the agile project success criteria. The ASDM best practice and PMM best practice frameworks were created by identifying whether a certain ASDM or PMM would satisfy a specific agile project success factor (APSF) of the agile project success criteria. The findings of each APSF in the respective frameworks were used as a foundation to develop a hybrid APMM (ver. 0) that would address the agile project success criteria. The hybrid APMM (ver. 0) was developed interpretively using design science (research approach) and constructivism by combining the strengths, addressing the weaknesses and bridging the gaps identified in the frameworks. The hybrid APMM (ver. 0) was then evaluated and improved by conducting an interpretive case study, which entailed interviewing participants from large and small organisations. Once the qualitative data collected had been analysed using cross–case analysis, the findings were incorporated in order to create an improved hybrid APMM (ver. 1). The hybrid APMM (ver. 1) too was evaluated and improved by conducting a survey, which entailed administering questionnaires to various respondents in order to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The findings of the statistical analysis of the data were also used to improve the hybrid APMM (ver. 1), resulting in the final hybrid APMM (ver. 2). This study demonstrates that a combination of ASDMs and PMMs can be used to develop a hybrid APMM with the ability to deliver IT projects in a constantly changing project and business environment. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.