A framework to measure the value of Agile software projects
- Authors: Van Wyk, Louis
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Information technology - Management , Agile software development
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/292419 , uj:31777
- Description: M.Com. (Information Technology Management) , Abstract: Software projects delivered following an Agile approach are deemed more successful than those following a traditional methodology such as Waterfall. This notion is supported by multiple studies, including the 2015 Chaos Report. The purpose of this study was to determine how the success of Agile software projects is measured, rather than to confirm the results of previous studies. This study focused on the Agile principles highlighted in the Agile Manifesto and investigated whether Agile practitioners consider these principles as success factors. It was important to determine what other success factors are currently used to ensure the successful delivery of Agile software projects. The Total Quality Framework (TQF) was adopted as a research design to maximise the quality of the data and to build the readers’ confidence in the research outcomes. An inductive approach was selected to establish an acceptance criterion or theory that can be verified through further studies. The objectives to achieve the research goal were very specific and required conversations with experienced participants with an in-depth knowledge of Agile software projects. The research method best suited to collect the rich data required was semi-structured interviews; therefore the approach followed in this study was a qualitative research approach. The TQF is based on four principles: credibility, analysability, transparency and usefulness. It was important for the researcher to adhere to these principles so that the results formulated could be generalised internally as well as externally. It is important that the results and outcome of the research be useful, i.e. the research outcome was to design a framework that Agile practitioners can use. The assumption and key finding is that all twelve Agile principles are deemed to be critical success factors in Agile software projects. Another finding is that eight of the twelve principles are also considered success measures. Traditional success measures are still considered success measures, but not deemed the only measure of success. Agile software projects consider multiple success measures, but are ultimately deemed a success when the business value has been realised. The primary success measures recognised for Agile software projects include strategic success, business success, product success and project success, measured at different stages after the product has been delivered. The product of this research is a framework consisting of 30 control objectives and 46 supporting practices that could be considered when implementing Agile software projects. The framework includes Agile-specific success factors that would improve the value delivered on Agile software projects. It further highlights the success measures that are relevant to all software projects. This framework, named COSAF, is the first version and it is the researcher’s vision that it will be implemented, adopted and improved to increase the success rate of software projects across the globe.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Van Wyk, Louis
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Information technology - Management , Agile software development
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/292419 , uj:31777
- Description: M.Com. (Information Technology Management) , Abstract: Software projects delivered following an Agile approach are deemed more successful than those following a traditional methodology such as Waterfall. This notion is supported by multiple studies, including the 2015 Chaos Report. The purpose of this study was to determine how the success of Agile software projects is measured, rather than to confirm the results of previous studies. This study focused on the Agile principles highlighted in the Agile Manifesto and investigated whether Agile practitioners consider these principles as success factors. It was important to determine what other success factors are currently used to ensure the successful delivery of Agile software projects. The Total Quality Framework (TQF) was adopted as a research design to maximise the quality of the data and to build the readers’ confidence in the research outcomes. An inductive approach was selected to establish an acceptance criterion or theory that can be verified through further studies. The objectives to achieve the research goal were very specific and required conversations with experienced participants with an in-depth knowledge of Agile software projects. The research method best suited to collect the rich data required was semi-structured interviews; therefore the approach followed in this study was a qualitative research approach. The TQF is based on four principles: credibility, analysability, transparency and usefulness. It was important for the researcher to adhere to these principles so that the results formulated could be generalised internally as well as externally. It is important that the results and outcome of the research be useful, i.e. the research outcome was to design a framework that Agile practitioners can use. The assumption and key finding is that all twelve Agile principles are deemed to be critical success factors in Agile software projects. Another finding is that eight of the twelve principles are also considered success measures. Traditional success measures are still considered success measures, but not deemed the only measure of success. Agile software projects consider multiple success measures, but are ultimately deemed a success when the business value has been realised. The primary success measures recognised for Agile software projects include strategic success, business success, product success and project success, measured at different stages after the product has been delivered. The product of this research is a framework consisting of 30 control objectives and 46 supporting practices that could be considered when implementing Agile software projects. The framework includes Agile-specific success factors that would improve the value delivered on Agile software projects. It further highlights the success measures that are relevant to all software projects. This framework, named COSAF, is the first version and it is the researcher’s vision that it will be implemented, adopted and improved to increase the success rate of software projects across the globe.
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Effective conflict management as a risk management strategy in Agile development environment
- Authors: Tshabalala, Mothepane Maria
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Information technology , Computer software - Development , Conflict management , Agile software development
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/414125 , uj:34915
- Description: Abstract: Background: Whenever teams are created with the purpose of working together to deliver a software product, conflictrisk is always inherent; some even argue it is necessary. This is because the teams consist of various roles that have differing aims, expectations, views, values, or even purposes. However, these differing purposes or expectations can have either a negative or positive effect on the overall successful delivery of a software product. Purpose: This study aimed to explore the conflict-risk that exists in a software development project managed using the Agile methodology with the purpose of developing an effective conflict management framework to manage conflict-risk. Methods: An online questionnaire as well as semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 189 Agile development professionals South Africa. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were employed, resulting in a framework for effective conflict management within Agile development environments. Results: There is existence of conflict-risk in Agile projects. Since Agile is interactive and collaborative, it leads to high chances of differing views among team members, causing numerous disagreements that results to conflict-risk. The study has also found that the existence of such conflict-risk has negative and positive effect on the development environment, and this is dependent on how the conflict-risk is mitigated and managed when it arises. Finally, the study identified approaches to manage conflict-risk effectively within the Agile environment, inclusive of contingencies like effective communication, skilled resources, effective discussions and negotiations as well as strategies like accommodate, collaborate and compromise. Identification of such contingencies and strategies led to the development of a framework for effective conflict-risk management for projects managed using the Agile methodology. Conclusions: The findings from this study may be utilised to give Agile professionals such as product owners and scrum masters some direction on contingencies and strategies that can be applied to manage the conflict-risk within Agile development environments... , M.Com. (Information Technology Management)
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- Authors: Tshabalala, Mothepane Maria
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Information technology , Computer software - Development , Conflict management , Agile software development
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/414125 , uj:34915
- Description: Abstract: Background: Whenever teams are created with the purpose of working together to deliver a software product, conflictrisk is always inherent; some even argue it is necessary. This is because the teams consist of various roles that have differing aims, expectations, views, values, or even purposes. However, these differing purposes or expectations can have either a negative or positive effect on the overall successful delivery of a software product. Purpose: This study aimed to explore the conflict-risk that exists in a software development project managed using the Agile methodology with the purpose of developing an effective conflict management framework to manage conflict-risk. Methods: An online questionnaire as well as semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 189 Agile development professionals South Africa. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were employed, resulting in a framework for effective conflict management within Agile development environments. Results: There is existence of conflict-risk in Agile projects. Since Agile is interactive and collaborative, it leads to high chances of differing views among team members, causing numerous disagreements that results to conflict-risk. The study has also found that the existence of such conflict-risk has negative and positive effect on the development environment, and this is dependent on how the conflict-risk is mitigated and managed when it arises. Finally, the study identified approaches to manage conflict-risk effectively within the Agile environment, inclusive of contingencies like effective communication, skilled resources, effective discussions and negotiations as well as strategies like accommodate, collaborate and compromise. Identification of such contingencies and strategies led to the development of a framework for effective conflict-risk management for projects managed using the Agile methodology. Conclusions: The findings from this study may be utilised to give Agile professionals such as product owners and scrum masters some direction on contingencies and strategies that can be applied to manage the conflict-risk within Agile development environments... , M.Com. (Information Technology Management)
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The role of Scrum in knowledge sharing and collaboration of agile software development teams
- Authors: Simwanza, Suwilotichi
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Knowledge management , Agile software development , Scrum (Computer software development)
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/456460 , uj:40437
- Description: Abstract: With the increase of management buy-in into the agile methodology, many companies within South Africa have begun adopting agile ways of work to efficiently, respond to change and be more productive. The agile framework is more than a project management methodology and can be used to promote knowledge sharing. This is fitting because agile practices often require intense collaboration and communication and therefore promotes the creation and transfer of tacit knowledge among team members. This research aims to understand the contextual experiences of knowledge sharing and collaboration for agile software development within scrum teams in South Africa. The objective is to understand the role of scrum in knowledge sharing within scrum teams and identify the effect of scrum on the knowledge sharing culture. A questionnaire containing semi-structured interview questions was used to gather responses from 61 people who make use of agile practices in their workplaces within South Africa. The data collected was analysed through thematic analysis with the support of Atlas.ti 8 Windows as a qualitative data analysis tool. The research findings indicate that agile practices do facilitate focused knowledge sharing and collaboration. The different scrum events that have been investigated in this study indicated that scrum practices increase focus and clarity, opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and further enhances motivation to share knowledge. Scrum events also influence collaboration by increasing and improving communication, creating transparency, establishing opportunities to give and receive feedback, and facilitating inspection and adaption of processes. For organizations that want to establish good knowledge management practices, implementing scrum helps facilitate knowledge sharing. Establishing good scrum practices can lead to the conversion of knowledge from one form to the other throughout the knowleade management cycle: creation, distribution (or sharing), and use. Reviewing the data collected in this research, it is clear that knowledge sharing is inherent in scrum and is made to thrive as a result of effective collaboration among team members. One limitation of this study is that it was not a longitudinal study,thereby missing out on continuous observation as a data collection method. This would have provided this study with richer data to support the supposition that scrum facilitates knowledge sharing and collaboration. Future works need to focus on utilising other agile frameworks other than the scrum to explore the opportunities of their usage in software developments contexts. , M.Phil. (Information and Knowledge Management)
- Full Text:
- Authors: Simwanza, Suwilotichi
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Knowledge management , Agile software development , Scrum (Computer software development)
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/456460 , uj:40437
- Description: Abstract: With the increase of management buy-in into the agile methodology, many companies within South Africa have begun adopting agile ways of work to efficiently, respond to change and be more productive. The agile framework is more than a project management methodology and can be used to promote knowledge sharing. This is fitting because agile practices often require intense collaboration and communication and therefore promotes the creation and transfer of tacit knowledge among team members. This research aims to understand the contextual experiences of knowledge sharing and collaboration for agile software development within scrum teams in South Africa. The objective is to understand the role of scrum in knowledge sharing within scrum teams and identify the effect of scrum on the knowledge sharing culture. A questionnaire containing semi-structured interview questions was used to gather responses from 61 people who make use of agile practices in their workplaces within South Africa. The data collected was analysed through thematic analysis with the support of Atlas.ti 8 Windows as a qualitative data analysis tool. The research findings indicate that agile practices do facilitate focused knowledge sharing and collaboration. The different scrum events that have been investigated in this study indicated that scrum practices increase focus and clarity, opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and further enhances motivation to share knowledge. Scrum events also influence collaboration by increasing and improving communication, creating transparency, establishing opportunities to give and receive feedback, and facilitating inspection and adaption of processes. For organizations that want to establish good knowledge management practices, implementing scrum helps facilitate knowledge sharing. Establishing good scrum practices can lead to the conversion of knowledge from one form to the other throughout the knowleade management cycle: creation, distribution (or sharing), and use. Reviewing the data collected in this research, it is clear that knowledge sharing is inherent in scrum and is made to thrive as a result of effective collaboration among team members. One limitation of this study is that it was not a longitudinal study,thereby missing out on continuous observation as a data collection method. This would have provided this study with richer data to support the supposition that scrum facilitates knowledge sharing and collaboration. Future works need to focus on utilising other agile frameworks other than the scrum to explore the opportunities of their usage in software developments contexts. , M.Phil. (Information and Knowledge Management)
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Challenges and benefits of agile project management in a South African bank : a case study
- Authors: Sibotho, Mzwandile
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Project management , Bank management , Agile software development
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/285880 , uj:30925
- Description: M.Ing. (Engineering Management) , Abstract: The main focus of this research study is based on the field of agile project engineering management; this includes the challenges and benefits of agile project engineering management at the First National Bank. Agile tool is becoming popular for small to medium projects; it is continuously and gradually being adopted as internal business units strive to please the customer needs and wants. Most business units within the bank decided to adopt the agile methodology instead of previously used traditional waterfall methodology, which would enforce the business units to wait for the eighteen month project delivery cycle which may often result in delivering of the wrong product to the market. The idea of agile delivering in short cycles which is two weeks and quarterly project release is appealing. Business units want to get better at producing products and services to targeted customers faster. Agile uses an approach that is value driven which enables the project management administrators and managers to produce high quality work, high priority and this results in the project managers look more effective and efficient to stakeholders.
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- Authors: Sibotho, Mzwandile
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Project management , Bank management , Agile software development
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/285880 , uj:30925
- Description: M.Ing. (Engineering Management) , Abstract: The main focus of this research study is based on the field of agile project engineering management; this includes the challenges and benefits of agile project engineering management at the First National Bank. Agile tool is becoming popular for small to medium projects; it is continuously and gradually being adopted as internal business units strive to please the customer needs and wants. Most business units within the bank decided to adopt the agile methodology instead of previously used traditional waterfall methodology, which would enforce the business units to wait for the eighteen month project delivery cycle which may often result in delivering of the wrong product to the market. The idea of agile delivering in short cycles which is two weeks and quarterly project release is appealing. Business units want to get better at producing products and services to targeted customers faster. Agile uses an approach that is value driven which enables the project management administrators and managers to produce high quality work, high priority and this results in the project managers look more effective and efficient to stakeholders.
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Approach that will assist in reducing project failures in complex organisation
- Authors: Ndlovu, Esso
- Date: 2014-06-04
- Subjects: Agile software development , Strategic planning , Project management
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:11394 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/11032
- Description: M.Ing. (Engineering Management) , The Bull survey of 1998 [1]; conducted by Spike Cavell in the UK was used to identify major causes of IT project failures. The survey showed that failures due to missed deadlines accounted for 75% and the inability to meet project requirements accounted for 37% of the failures. The failures were mainly due to requirement changes during the project. Project requirements are laid out during scope planning phase of project management life cycle and all risks are assumed to be known during the planning phase of the project [2], [3], [13]. The project management process involves a finite number of key life cycle management phases from initiation to closure [2]. The project management body of knowledge (PMBoK) states that every project is managed by the project management triangle the relationship between scope, time and cost [43]. Changes in the project management triangle may cause failure to the project [15]. Projects are considered to be unique endeavours [43]; and using a “one size fits all” approach to find a solution to solve project failure will be impossible [39]. This presents a significant challenge; developing a framework to limit project failures which will widely be applicable to projects. The research study will apply a well-developed concept of agile project management to an organisation that is experiencing high project failure rates to determine if agile principles may be used to reduce project failures. The research will also look at the factors affecting the adoption of agile principles in large organisations. Specifically the research will look at the effects of the environment that the organisation operates in and the effects of the organisational structure. Action research is chosen as the research methodology in order to understand and improve the inefficiencies within the organisation. This gives a practical account for any organisation and adds to the project management body of knowledge.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ndlovu, Esso
- Date: 2014-06-04
- Subjects: Agile software development , Strategic planning , Project management
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:11394 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/11032
- Description: M.Ing. (Engineering Management) , The Bull survey of 1998 [1]; conducted by Spike Cavell in the UK was used to identify major causes of IT project failures. The survey showed that failures due to missed deadlines accounted for 75% and the inability to meet project requirements accounted for 37% of the failures. The failures were mainly due to requirement changes during the project. Project requirements are laid out during scope planning phase of project management life cycle and all risks are assumed to be known during the planning phase of the project [2], [3], [13]. The project management process involves a finite number of key life cycle management phases from initiation to closure [2]. The project management body of knowledge (PMBoK) states that every project is managed by the project management triangle the relationship between scope, time and cost [43]. Changes in the project management triangle may cause failure to the project [15]. Projects are considered to be unique endeavours [43]; and using a “one size fits all” approach to find a solution to solve project failure will be impossible [39]. This presents a significant challenge; developing a framework to limit project failures which will widely be applicable to projects. The research study will apply a well-developed concept of agile project management to an organisation that is experiencing high project failure rates to determine if agile principles may be used to reduce project failures. The research will also look at the factors affecting the adoption of agile principles in large organisations. Specifically the research will look at the effects of the environment that the organisation operates in and the effects of the organisational structure. Action research is chosen as the research methodology in order to understand and improve the inefficiencies within the organisation. This gives a practical account for any organisation and adds to the project management body of knowledge.
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The ability of project managers to implement industry 4.0-related projects
- Marnewick, Annlize L., Marnewick, Carl
- Authors: Marnewick, Annlize L. , Marnewick, Carl
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Agile software development , Industry 4.0 , Project management
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/412109 , uj:34663 , Citation: Marnewick, A.L. & Marnewick, C. 2020. The ability of project managers to implement industry 4.0-related projects. , DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2961678
- Description: Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract
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- Authors: Marnewick, Annlize L. , Marnewick, Carl
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Agile software development , Industry 4.0 , Project management
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/412109 , uj:34663 , Citation: Marnewick, A.L. & Marnewick, C. 2020. The ability of project managers to implement industry 4.0-related projects. , DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2961678
- Description: Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract
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Enhancing the throughput of software development projects using a model that improves the process of release management
- Ferreira, Natasha Nicolette Vito
- Authors: Ferreira, Natasha Nicolette Vito
- Date: 2014-06-30
- Subjects: Computer software - Development , Agile software development
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:11628 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/11341
- Description: M.Sc. (Computer Science) , The process that involves creating and altering software systems can be defined as the software development lifecycle. People often use methodologies and methods in order to develop these systems with success factors such as people, processes and technology. The lifecycle is comprised of the following stages: • Planning • Requirements definition • Design • Development • Integration and testing • Installation • Acceptance. The underlying issue in such a lifecycle is that project defects are identified late within the lifecycle and therefore, the process of rectifying these problems becomes costly. Ultimately, an ideal product is one with minimal or zero defects which can be achieved with a software project that prevents or detects defects earlier within the cycle. Release management can be described as the process involving decision-‐making regarding the implementation and releasing of a software product. A conceptual framework exists which stipulates the stages involved in the development process of a software application. Several models exist that describe the SDLC in different approaches. A philosophy is adopted within the RAD model, known as Agile and is beneficial since it minimises future scope creep and scope changes. Development occurs in shorter intervals. Over and above the stages and values in this methodology, the Agile methodology includes incremental changes which are then captured in the scheduled software releases. The purpose of the research presented in this dissertation is to incorporate findings where large companies with global IT projects can adopt the Agile conceptual framework and to testify whether all types of IT projects will benefit from a frequent release approach to the delivery of the project. Three different projects across a large South African financial institution that specialises in corporate organisation banking and core-‐banking functionality will be studied and presented as case studies. Release management will also be studied from an organisational perspective with the following banking institution in context. Data will be retrieved by carrying out interviews and surveys with appropriate stakeholders, and therefore, analysed to generate a valid conclusion.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ferreira, Natasha Nicolette Vito
- Date: 2014-06-30
- Subjects: Computer software - Development , Agile software development
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:11628 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/11341
- Description: M.Sc. (Computer Science) , The process that involves creating and altering software systems can be defined as the software development lifecycle. People often use methodologies and methods in order to develop these systems with success factors such as people, processes and technology. The lifecycle is comprised of the following stages: • Planning • Requirements definition • Design • Development • Integration and testing • Installation • Acceptance. The underlying issue in such a lifecycle is that project defects are identified late within the lifecycle and therefore, the process of rectifying these problems becomes costly. Ultimately, an ideal product is one with minimal or zero defects which can be achieved with a software project that prevents or detects defects earlier within the cycle. Release management can be described as the process involving decision-‐making regarding the implementation and releasing of a software product. A conceptual framework exists which stipulates the stages involved in the development process of a software application. Several models exist that describe the SDLC in different approaches. A philosophy is adopted within the RAD model, known as Agile and is beneficial since it minimises future scope creep and scope changes. Development occurs in shorter intervals. Over and above the stages and values in this methodology, the Agile methodology includes incremental changes which are then captured in the scheduled software releases. The purpose of the research presented in this dissertation is to incorporate findings where large companies with global IT projects can adopt the Agile conceptual framework and to testify whether all types of IT projects will benefit from a frequent release approach to the delivery of the project. Three different projects across a large South African financial institution that specialises in corporate organisation banking and core-‐banking functionality will be studied and presented as case studies. Release management will also be studied from an organisational perspective with the following banking institution in context. Data will be retrieved by carrying out interviews and surveys with appropriate stakeholders, and therefore, analysed to generate a valid conclusion.
- Full Text:
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