Abstract

AbstractProject governance (PG) is an important activity in agile software development (ASD) projects. Middle managers (MMs) are part of the governance structure in ASD projects. PG and middle management phenomena in ASD projects are under-researched and not fully understood. This ongoing study aims to fill a gap by investigating the roles of MMs in agile PG through the lens of Activity Theory. The study adopts a qualitative and interpretive case study approach. To date, the study has identified 24 roles that MMs perform during agile PG.

Highlights

  • Project governance (PG) is an important but complex activity performed during agile software development (ASD) projects, and encompasses the necessary oversight, processes, tools, manpower, and support for project accomplishment

  • This ongoing study seeks to answer the question: What are the roles of middle managers in agile project governance? The study is investigating the PG activity in an ASD project in order to determine the roles of Middle managers (MMs) in agile PG within a selected organisation

  • Preliminary findings are presented as a thematic network (Fig. 2) comprised of (a) basic themes, which are the lowest-order premises contained in the data, (b) organising themes, which are higher-order themes summarising main discoveries contained in the data [1], and (c) global theme, which is the superordinate theme that encapsulates “the principal metaphors in the data as a whole” [1, p. 389]

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Summary

Purpose

Project governance (PG) is an important but complex activity performed during agile software development (ASD) projects, and encompasses the necessary oversight, processes, tools, manpower, and support for project accomplishment. It is the “framework, functions, and processes that guide project management activities in order to create a unique product, service, or result to meet organizational strategic and operational goals” [14, p. Middle management role uncertainty is one of the top ranked challenges affecting agile teams [3]. This ongoing study (part of a wider PhD study) seeks to answer the question: What are the roles of middle managers in agile project governance? Presentation of the organisation’s agile PG practices is not within the scope of this article

Research Design
Findings
Research and Practice Implications
Contributions

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