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Achieving Agility in IT Project Portfolios – A Systematic Literature Review

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Lean and Agile Software Development (LASD 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 408))

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Abstract

Over the past two decades, enterprise IT functions have enjoyed continued success in projects using agile development methods. However, the lack of ample empirical research on achieving portfolio level agility can potentially inhibit their ability to effectively govern IT investments while scaling agile practices to derive more significant benefits. This study examines the impact of agile delivery efforts on project portfolio management at the enterprise level and identifies approaches adopted to foster agility in portfolio practices. We conducted a systematic literature review to explore existing scientific knowledge around agile methods and portfolio management in an enterprise IT context. An analysis of the 21 primary studies found relevant to this research identified six portfolio management aspects impacted by agile delivery practices and a variety of approaches adopted to support them. While these identified portfolio management aspects guide practitioners on areas to focus on while scaling agile efforts across an enterprise, the specific practices/approaches observed present opportunities to consider within their respective organizational contexts. Portfolio processes need an exploratory focus to sense environmental change to support agility, utilize a systems-thinking approach for a holistic view of potential interactions within and across portfolio components, and consider the effect of existing organizational processes to support portfolio agility. This study contributes to academic knowledge by synthesizing current knowledge on how portfolio management contributes to IT agility while incorporating agile delivery efforts and by identifying a set of future research directions in this space.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See https://scaledagileframework.com for more details.

  2. 2.

    See https://less.works for more details.

  3. 3.

    See https://pmi.org/disciplined-agile for more details.

  4. 4.

    The search string was implemented in the syntax unique to each database. Database searches were conducted in early June 2020.

  5. 5.

    https://scholar.google.com.

  6. 6.

    Note that the search strategy had not used any date filters and the results include all available papers until early June 2020 when the search was conducted.

  7. 7.

    Some descriptive statistics of the overall quality assessment scores are as follows: n = 21, mean = 3.50, median = 3.20, min = 2.6, max = 4.8.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Antwerp Management School, Antwerp, Belgium

    Joseph Puthenpurackal Chakko & Steven De Haes

  2. Open University of the Netherlands, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Tim Huygh

Authors
  1. Joseph Puthenpurackal Chakko
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  2. Tim Huygh
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  3. Steven De Haes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joseph Puthenpurackal Chakko .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk, Poland

    Adam Przybyłek

  2. Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk, Poland

    Jakub Miler

  3. Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg, Germany

    Alexander Poth

  4. Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France

    Andreas Riel

Appendix – Selected Studies

Appendix – Selected Studies

ID

Citation

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Ahmad, M.O., Lwakatare, L.E., Kuvaja, P., Oivo, M., Markkula, J.: An empirical study of portfolio management and Kanban in agile and lean software companies. Journal Of Software: Evolution and Process 29(6), 1-16 (2017)

S02

Bjørnson, F.O., Wijnmaalen, J., Stettina, C.J., Dingsøyr, T.: Inter-team coordination in large-scale agile development: A case study of three enabling mechanisms. In: International Conference on Agile Software Development 2018, pp. 216-231. Springer (2018)

S03

Dingsøyr, T., Moe, N.B., Fægri, T.E., Seim, E.A.: Exploring software development at the very large-scale: a revelatory case study and research agenda for agile method adaptation. Empirical Software Engineering 23(1), 490-520 (2018)

S04

Hansen, L.K., Brandt, C.J., Svejvig, P., Kampf, C.E.: Agile project portfolio management, new solutions and new challenges: findings from four agile organizations. In: EURAM Conference (2020)

S05

Hoffmann, D., Ahlemann, F., Reining, S.: Reconciling alignment, efficiency, and agility in IT project portfolio management: Recommendations based on a revelatory case study. International Journal of Project Management 38(2), 124-136 (2020)

S06

Horlach, B., Schirmer, I., Drews, P.: Agile portfolio management: Design goals and principles. In: 27th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), Stockholm-Uppsala, Sweden 2019. AIS Electronic Library (AISeL) (2019)

S07

Imbrizi, F.G., Maccari, E.A.: Agile Software Development and Project Portfolio Management in Dynamic Environments: An exploratory case study. In: International Association for Management of Technology (2014)

S08

Kaufmann, C., Kock, A., Gemünden, H.G.: Emerging strategy recognition in agile portfolios. International Journal of Project Management (2020)

S09

Laanti, M., Sirkiä, R., Kangas, M.: Agile Portfolio Management at Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle. In: Scientific Workshop Proceedings of the XP2015, pp. 1-7. ACM (2015)

S10

Petit, Y.: Project portfolios in dynamic environments: Organizing for uncertainty. International Journal of Project Management 30(5), 539-553 (2012)

S11

Rautiainen, K., Von Schantz, J., Vähäniitty, J.: Supporting scaling agile with portfolio management: Case Paf.com. In: 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2011, pp. 1-10. IEEE (2011)

S12

Sirkiä, R., Laanti, M.: Adaptive Finance and Control: Combining Lean, Agile, and Beyond Budgeting for Financial and Organizational Flexibility. In: 48th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2015, pp. 5030-5037 (2015)

S13

Smeekes, I., Borgman, H., Heier, H.: A Wheelbarrow Full of Frogs: Understanding Portfolio Management for Agile Projects. In: 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2018, pp. 5473-5482. IEEE (2018)

S14

Stettina, C.J., Horz, J.: Agile portfolio management: An empirical perspective on the practice in use. International Journal of Project Management 33(1), 140-152 (2015)

S15

Stettina, C.J., Schoemaker, L.: Reporting in agile portfolio management: Routines, metrics and artefacts to maintain an effective oversight. In: International Conference on Agile Software Development 2018, pp. 199-215 (2018)

S16

Stettina, C.J., Smit, M.N.W.: Team portfolio scrum: An action research on multitasking in multi-project scrum teams. In: International Conference on Agile Software Development 2016, pp. 79-91 (2016)

S17

Suomalainen, T., Kuusela, R., Tihinen, M.: Continuous planning: an important aspect of agile and lean development International Journal of Agile Systems and Management 8(2), 132-162 (2015)

S18

Sweetman, R., Conboy, K.: Portfolios of Agile Projects A Complex Adaptive Systems’ Agent Perspective. Project Management Journal 49(6), 18-38 (2018)

S19

Tengshe, A., Noble, S.: Establishing the Agile PMO: Managing variability across Projects and Portfolios. In: Proceedings of Agile 2007, pp. 188-193. IEEE (2007)

S20

Thomas, J.C., Baker, S.W.: Establishing an agile portfolio to align IT investments with business needs. In: Proceedings of Agile 2008, pp. 252-258. IEEE (2008)

S21

Vlietland, J., van Vliet, H.: Towards a governance framework for chains of Scrum teams. Information and Software Technology 57, 52-65 (2015)

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Puthenpurackal Chakko, J., Huygh, T., De Haes, S. (2021). Achieving Agility in IT Project Portfolios – A Systematic Literature Review. In: Przybyłek, A., Miler, J., Poth, A., Riel, A. (eds) Lean and Agile Software Development. LASD 2021. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 408. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67084-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67084-9_5

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