AbstractPurposeTo study which and how project management methodologies are applied in consulting firmsApproachThe study begins by reviewing literature on Traditional Project Management (TPM) andAgile Project Management (APM) methodologies ending with characteristics of the twomethodologies that identify a project as applying one methodology or another. The literaturethen reviews the nature of consulting firms emphasising on elements such as the professional,professional services and professional service firms before reviewing how projects areimplemented in consulting firms. A case study design is adopted and semi-structuredinterviews were conducted with PricewaterhouseCoopers-Ghana staff. Patterns from theinterviews are identified and compared with the characteristics of both Traditional and Agileproject management before drawing conclusions on which methodologies are applied andhow they are applied. Since APM is presumed to deal with problems of TPM in complexenvironments, challenges in applying TPM in consulting firms are assessed and the extent towhich APM responds to those challenges are also discussed.FindingsThe findings indicate that TPM is applied in consulting firms mainly for structured projects,whilst APM methods are also applied for some structured projects but very much forunstructured and ‘executory’ projects. APM also deals with some challenges of TPM butthose which are organisation related are not solved by applying APM methods.Research limitationThe limited number of people interviewed for this research is one key issue that limitsgeneralization to all consulting firms. However, it is hoped that this work serves as a basis forfurther research in this field.Practical implicationsThe study shows that whilst TPM will continuously be applied in consulting firms due to thenature of some projects, APM can also be applied to the benefit of consulting projects that areunstructured and ‘executory’. Therefore consulting firms do not need to ‘force’ structure intoall projects.Paper typeMasters Thesis – Research paperKeywordsTraditional project management, agile project management, consulting firms, professional,professional service, professional service firms

Purpose - The aim of the paper is to understand how management is affected by having the customer as a member of the global virtual team within agile work methods. Research Method - This research is based on a qualitative methodological choice, and an embedded single case study conducted through a cross-sectional time horizon. The research is based on primary and secondary data. The primary data has been collected from management, employees, and customer, through semi- and in depth interviews, and observations in Sri Lanka. Secondary data is conceptualized from literature in the Global Virtual Team research field. Results - A customer is seen as a colleague and a critical team member, where the developers and management work closely with the customer. However, the customer is not fully seen as a traditional colleague. The customer’s influence outweighs the influence of the supplier, resulting in a dynamic shift of influence towards the customer. Not allowing the dynamic shift, i.e. not increasing attention towards the customer significantly, could result in a loss of business. Furthermore, the background of the customer affects the manager’s role as a Bridge Maker. How efficient the collaboration turns out within the team is dependent on the customer background, and how well the management allocates time and efforts accordingly. Research limitations - Due to time and resource limits, and the depth scope of the study, only one case firm and one customer laid the basis of this paper. Further investigation of how management is affected by having the customer as a member of the global virtual team could be the direction of future studies. Practical implications - The findings allow management to allocate their time and resources more effectively cross projects and increase the understanding of how the firm is affected by having the customer as a member of the team in the global virtual team setting. As a result, it will potentially increase the overall success of the company. Originality/value - This study supplies the contribution to existing management literature as it includes an external stakeholder, the customer, in the global virtual team, which is a growing phenomenon that has not been captured by current literature. Keywords - Global teams, Virtual teams, Multicultural teams, Customer as a team member, Bridge Maker, Team leadership, Biculturalism, Agile work process Paper type – Master thesis

Bakgrund: Användandet av agila metoder, där ett coachande ledarskap förespråkas, ökar i snabb takt. Välutvecklade ledaregenskaper är ingen garanti för ett framgångsrikt coachande ledarskap då det kan finnas organisatoriska faktorer som försvårar för ledarens arbete. Tidigare forskning har studerat vilka organisatoriska förutsättningar som är viktiga för coachande ledarskap, men inte i en agil kontext, varför denna studie behövs. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att identifiera och analysera organisatoriska förutsättningar för coachande ledarskap i en agil kontext. Metod: Denna studie är en kvalitativ enfallsstudie där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med åtta teamledare på Saab AB, Linköping. Resultat: Genom denna studie har vi identifierat sex stycken förutsättningar för coachande ledarskap i en agil kontext. Två av dessa relaterar främst till implementeringsprocessen medan övriga fyra berör upprätthållandet av ett coachande ledarskap i en agil kontext. Förutsättningarna är; förståelse för förändring, utbildning & individuella mål, organisationskultur, strategi & mål, tydliga roller samt målstyrning. De två sistnämnda är förutsättningar som inte belysts inom tidigare litteratur om coachande ledarskap men som är viktiga i en agil kontext. / Background: The usage of agile methods where a coaching leadership style isrecommended, is increasing quickly. Well-developed leadership capabilities are noguarantee for a successful coaching leadership since there are organizational factors thatmight make it difficult. Earlier studies have investigated which organizational prerequisitesthat are important for coaching leadership, but not in an agile context, why thisstudy is needed. Aim: The aim of the study is to identify and analyze organizational prerequisites formanagerial coaching in an agile context. Method: The study is a qualitative case study where semi structured interviews have beenconducted with eight team leaders at Saab AB, Linköping. Results: Through this study we have identified six different prerequisites for coachingleadership in an agile context. Two of these mostly relate to the implementation processwhereas the other four affect the maintenance of a coaching leadership in an agile context.The prerequisites are; understanding changes, training & individual goals,organizational culture, strategy & goals, clear roles and management by objectives. Thelast two have not been highlighted in existing literature about coaching leadership, butare important in an agile environment.

Είναι γεγονός ότι το οικονομικό περιβάλλον του αιώνα που διανύουμε χαρακτηρίζεται από τον έντονο ανταγωνισμό και την ταχύτητα με την οποία εξελίσσονται, όχι μόνο η τεχνολογία και η επιστημονική γνώση, αλλά και αυτά καθαυτά τα συστήματα παραγωγής, διακίνησης και προώθησης στον πελάτη, ποιοτικών προϊόντων και υπηρεσιών. Άμεση συνέπεια των παραπάνω είναι αφενός η αύξηση της αβεβαιότητας των επιχειρήσεων, ως προς το στρατηγικό τους προσανατολισμό, και αφετέρου η αύξηση της πολυπλοκότητας σε κάθε διάσταση της σύγχρονης επιχείρησης (προϊόν, σύστημα παραγωγής, προγραμματισμός, δίκτυο προμηθευτών κλπ). Οι παραπάνω συνθήκες έχουν δημιουργήσει την ανάγκη για την εφαρμογή συστημάτων διοίκησης που να αναγνωρίζουν τη φύση της επιχείρησης του 21ου αιώνα και να προσεγγίζουν ολιστικά το σύνολο των παραμέτρων που δύναται να επιφέρουν ανταγωνιστικό πλεονέκτημα. / In contemporary software development projects companies are facing challenges, such as constantly changing requirements, pressure to deliver faster, and the need to cut costs due to competition. This leads to the increasing uncertainty in companies and to the increasing complexity in all aspects of modern business (product, production system, programming, network providers, etc.). In an attempt to deal with these challenges new methods evolved, which became known as agile project management and agile software development. The agile approach aims to produce high quality software products faster, to create more value and to satisfy customers’ needs better.

Agile Software Development has gained popularity with their people centric view and their common practices for developing software in today&rsquo / s volatile business world where change on requirements is unavoidable. However / the efficiency of the project depends on the communication and the collaboration of the team, which are supported by the co-location of the team. But in some cases colocation of the team cannot be realized, thus agile processes should also support distributed teams. This point was observed by Kircher, Jain, Corsaro, and Levine [31] and they suggested Distributed eXtreme Programming (DXP) after they prepared a study using offthe- shelf software products in order to replace the effect of face-toface communication on the efficiency of the application of agile processes with the aid gathered from tool support. In this study some available tool support for distributed agile software development is investigated and a tool is developed and presented in order to support software configuration management as well as increasing collaboration and communication of the team. The tool is then evaluated from a user&rsquo / s perspective and it is compared with some available software configuration management tools.

The study of the software development process is a relatively new research area but it is growing rapidly. This development process, also called 'the software life cycle' or 'the software process', is the methodology used throughout the industry for the planning, design, implementation, testing and maintenance that takes place during the creation of a software product. Over the years a variety of different process models have been developed. From the numerous process models now available, project managers need validation of the choice he/she has made for a software development model that he/she believes will provide the best results. Yet the quality software so sought after by software project managers can be enhanced by improving the development process through which it is delivered. Well tested, reliable evidence is needed to assist these project managers in choosing and planning a superior software process as well as for improving the adopted software process. While some guidelines for software process validation and improvement have been provided, such as CMMI, quantitative evidence is, in fact, scarce. The quantitative evidence sometimes may not be able to be obtained from high level processes that refer to a planned process model, such as a waterfall model. Furthermore, there has been little analysis of low level processes. These low level processes refer to the actions of how a development team follow a high level software process model to develop a software product. We describe these low level processes as project enactment. Normally there is a gap between the high level software process and the project enactment. In order to improve this software development process, this gap needs to be identified, measured and analyzed. In this dissertation, we propose an approach that examines the deviation between a planned process model and the project enactment of that plan. We measure the discrepancy from two aspects: consistency and inconsistency. The analytical results of the proposed approach, which include both qualitative and quantitative data, provide powerful and precise evidence for tailoring, planning and selecting any software process model. The entire approach is composed of four major phases: 1) re-presentation of the planned process model, 2) pre-processing the low level process data, 3) process mining, and 4) analysis and comparison of the recovered process model and planned process model. We evaluate the proposed approach in three case studies: a small, a medium, and a large-sized project obtained from an industrial software development organization. The appropriate data on low level processes is collected and our approach is then applied to these projects individually. From each case study we then performed a detailed analysis of the inconsistencies that had surfaced as well as the consistencies between the plan and the enactment models. An analysis of the inconsistencies revealed that several 'agile' practices were introduced during the project's development even though the planned process model was initially based on 'ISO-12207' instead of the 'agile' method. In addition, our analysis identifies the patterns in the process that are frequently repeated. The outcome of the case studies shows that our approach is applicable to a range of software projects. The conclusions derived from these case studies confirmed that our approach could be used to enhance the entire software development process, including tailoring and assessment.

Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The environment in which all organisations currently operate is undoubtably dynamic. Regardless of the nature, size or geographical location of business, companies are being forced to cope with a rapidly changing world and increasing levels of unpredictability. This thesis tracks the history of software development methodologies leading up to agile development (chapter 2). Agile development has appeared in response to the limitations of traditional development approaches and evolved to address the particular demands of a changing world (chapter 3). The theory of sensemaking is used to gain insight into the functioning of agile development. Sensemaking is introduced and a working definition of this concept is formulated (chapter 4). This research does not argue that agile development is the same as sensemaking, but rather that it can be better understood through sensemaking. Agile development can be seen as a type of sensemaking, but sensemaking is also a generic, universal cognitive ability. The structure and design of agile development is well aligned with sensemaking, and one can understand its nature and the type of management needed to support agile development better from this perspective. In fact, agile development directly supports and facilitates several important elements of the sensemaking process. For successful sensemaking to occur, certain organisational conditions need to be present. The term "managed sensemaking" is introduced to expand this notion. After performing an analysis of agile development (chapter 5), certain pertinent implications and challenges facing organisations are considered (chapter 6). By framing these implications in terms of sensemaking, practical management suggestions can be provided based on a good fit between the problem that agile development is meant to solve and the cognitive requirements of the process leading to a solution. The research conducted in this process opens the door to further research opportunities (chapter 7) and allows for the application of sensemaking in the context of software development methodologies. This study provides insight into the prevalence and functioning of agile methodologies, in software engineering contexts, by leveraging the theory of sensemaking to provide an explanation for the underlying worldview and processes constituting this approach. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die omgewing waarin alle organisasies tans funksioneer in ongetwyfeld dinamies. Maatskappye word genoop om die uitdagings van 'n vinnig-veranderende wêreld die hoof te bied, ongeag die aard, grootte of geografiese ligging van die besigheid. Hierdie tesis volg die geskiedenis van sagteware-ontwikkelingsmetodologiee tot by agile development (hoofstuk 2). Agile development het verskyn as 'n reaksie op die beperkings van tradisionele ontwikkelingsbenaderings en evolueer om aan te pas by huidige uitdagings (hoofstuk 3). Die teorie van sensemaking word gebruik om insig te verkry in die funksionering van agile development. Sensemaking word ingelei en 'n werksdefinisie word geformuleer (hoofstuk 4). Hierdie navorsing argumenteer nie dat agile development dieselfde is as sensemaking nie, maar eerder dat dit beter verstaan kan word deur sensemaking. Agile development kan wel gesien word as 'n tipe sensemaking, maar sensemaking is ook 'n generiese, universele kognitiewe vermoe. Die struktuur en ontwerp van agile development is goed belyn met sensemaking, en 'n mens kan die aard daarvan en tipe bestuur benodig om agile develop- ment te ondersteun beter verstaan vanuit hierdie perspektief. Tewens, agile development ondersteun en fasiliteer verskeie belangrike elemente van die sensemaking proses direk. Vir suksesvolle sensemaking om plaas te vind, word sekere organisatoriese toestande benodig. Die term "managed sensemaking" word ingelei om hierdie idee uit te brei. Na 'n analise van agile development (hoofstuk 5) word sekere dwingende implikasies en uitdagings, wat organisasies in die gesig staar, oorweeg (hoofstuk 6). Deur hierdie implikasies te plaas in sensemaking-terme kan praktiese bestuursvoorstelle aangebied word, gegrond op 'n goeie passing tussen die probleem wat agile development probeer aanspreek en die kognitiewe vereistes van die proses wat lei na 'n oplossing. Die navorsing wat onderneem is in hierdie proses ontsluit moontlikhede vir verdere studies (hoofstuk 7) en skep die moontlikheid vir die toepassing van sensemaking in die konteks van sagtewareontwikkelingsmetodologiee. Hierdie studie bied insig in die voorkoms en funksionering van agile methodologies in sagteware-ingenieurwese omgewings deur die teorie van sensemaking te hefboom om 'n verduideliking vir die onderliggende wereldbeeld en prosesse aan te bied.

Agile software development is a high-technology environment with several challenges. One of these is how to manage knowledge. Knowledge sharing is an important part of software development and is supported in agile practices, but mainly within teams, and not between teams. There is much research done about knowledge sharing within teams and a current trend is to research knowledge sharing in globally distributed teams. However, there’s little research about knowledge sharing between co-located teams, and what barriers and drivers exist. We conducted a case study within an IT-company with four co-located development teams to answer the research question: What are the drivers and barriers for knowledge sharing between co-located agile software development teams and how do they relate to different contexts.  Ten semi-structured interviews and one focus group was conducted and analyzed by using thematic analysis. This analysis constructed 6 themes, where 15 drivers and 21 barriers were identified. We contribute to the research field by presenting these barriers and drivers and show which barriers and drivers that exist in several contexts. We also relate our findings to other research. By our findings we also contribute to practitioners to understand when forming inter-team strategies for KS there is not only one way to success, but strategies need to be formed in several levels of organization.

In a world dominated by digital technologies, user-centered design aims to ensure that the users are catered with solutions that deal with their needs. As agile methods have become a prevalent approach in software development, it is crucial for the two disciplines to work together. However, existing studies have already presented incompatibilities between the methods of the two disciplines. This study intends to investigate the impact that agile principles have on the adoption of user-centered approach on a broader scale through the many parties involved in the process. By conducting interviews with practitioners and interpreting the results through the lens of Engeström’s activity system model, the findings of the study reveal significant influences imposed on the user-centered approach by external and organizational factors that are intensified by the agile principles. Three main areas of concern are identified and accompanied by broad suggestions on how to approach resolving them, focusing on the empowerment of UX designers, accurate deliberation of the intentions and practices of user-centered approach, and close collaboration to raise awareness of the benefits of user-centered approach. Lastly, it is emphasized that the identified areas of concern – primarily the problematic impact from clients and executives – need further extensive research to provide definitive solutions.

Med detta kandidatarbete strävar vi efter att utveckla en förståelse och ett intresse för ljuddesignens berättande funktion. Detta strävar vi efter genom att tillämpa ett rhizomatiskt perspektiv i vår designprocess samt försök till att närma oss en icke-linjär designmetodik. Det rhizomatiska perspektivet används som en källa för inspiration, en väg till att finna nya lösningar och verktyg till berättandet. Vårt prövande av ljuddesignen gjordes i en filmproduktion där vi som ljuddesigners gjorde försök till att väva in ljuddesign under hela projektets gång och arbeta proaktivt för att skapa utrymme för vår design. / With this bachelor thesis we seek to expand the understanding and interest of the narrative potential in sound design. We aim to do this by applying a rhizomatic perspective to our design process and attempt to approach a non-linear design method. The rhizomatic perspective is used as a source of inspiration, a way of finding new narrative tools and solutions. The testing of sound design was made in a film production where we, as sound designers, made attempts to weave sound design into the whole course of the project and work proactively to create space for our design.