Reference no: EM131230872 , Length: word count:5000

What risks occur when Traditional Project Management is integrated with the Agile Methodologies of Project Management?

The Task

You are to write an essay that argues in favour of a new approach to project management. This essay should discuss the elements of traditional project management and the elements of agile project management that can be used in combination to create a better management process. The essay must focus upon theimportant challenges for such a combination. Please focus your attention onto three main areas as follows:

Project risk (and especially timely completion of the projectproject management leadership).

Stakeholder Management (and how best to include stakeholders and at what stages of the project should they be involved?)

Cultural Organisation (and how the various internal management structures, hierarchies, and remunerations such as salaries and bonuses are either blurred or clarified during a blended environment of traditional and agile systems.)

Consider:

Many large scale projects (those over about $25 Million) are subject to a thick layer of traditional project management because they are required to show accurate scope, time and budgetary elements that will satisfy boards, shareholders, directors and a complex range of highly varied stakeholders.

At the same time much of the IT Project Management industry has moved to embrace the Agile Project Method, citing its rapid development strategies and its flexible, iterative and non-hierarchical systems as highly favourable in terms of time and cost efficiencies.

Whilst Traditional Project Management establishes the full scope up front, Agile Management allows simply enough design up front to establish general scoping. The agile project often ends up with highly effective products, but that sometimes differ from their original formative ideas. What is scoped at the beginning may not be the product that is delivered at the end. The traditional project retains a much firmer grip on the scope, ensuring funding and personal commitments are honoured and achieved.

The challenge, therefore - is to establish how the best of both worlds (Traditional and Agile Project Management) can be integrated to achieve better project outcomesthat are developed more rapidly, more successfully, and with the best possible user, stakeholder, shareholder, and sponsor satisfaction.

Your job is to describe an organisation where the project planning incorporates all necessary project management elements (both Traditional and Agile) required to qualify as an integrated project with both agile and traditional elements. You should take great care to show what parts of the overall project are under a traditional umbrella, and what parts are undertaken using an agile approach.

The essay should consider the theory of both methods - and describe the various ways in which they have already been thrown together. Your essay should explain what has worked in the past and what has not worked. Please look for at least one (large scale) real world example of a project that deploys across both methods. This should form a case study for your essay - allowing you to discuss the pros and cons of this kind of integration.

This assignment has fourmain parts.

1. Part 1. Discuss the theory of traditional PM, the theory of Agile PM, and in particularthe ways in which (in theory) they should work together.

2. Part 2. Discuss the risks using a critical approach that recognises "Risk" in terms of financial, reputational, and human qualities. What risks do agile integrators introduce to traditional project management? What Risks might be retained by traditional project management despite agile integration? What risks occur because the two approaches are used in combination instead of just one approach?

3. Part 3. How can risk be mitigated? Explain any new approaches or new adaptations that may mitigate the risks that you outline. (Use case studies and examples where possible).

4. Part 4. Explain the cultural issues for change in terms of project management? How can the culture of the different hierarchies, responsibilities and team structures affect a large scale project that might deploy both traditional and agile project management?

Your part 3 and 4 answers should look widely across existing (peer reviewed) research to provide a well-balanced cross section of views about project method combinations.

Please do NOT simply describe the knowledge areas. This essay should outline a high-level approach that uses best - practice, critical thinking, and current business practices.

DO NOT LIST the 10 Knowledge Areas in your answers. Your answers should DISCUSS the appropriate knowledge areas only when they are relevant to that particular answer.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:

1. The submission should be single-spaced in Times New Roman font size 12.

2. The assignment should be no longer than 5000 words (not including end references and diagrams)

3. Expectations:
- You will have read and correctly referenced all sources used. This shouldinclude at least twenty (20) additional academic sources (peer reviewed).

- Provide a logical argument to address each section. This requires interpretation and analysis of the issues and appropriate integration of information from the references to support your views. Therefore, your answers must be more than just a summary of sources your have consulted.

PURPOSE OF THIS ASSIGNMENT:

The purpose of this assignment is to consolidate and test your learning of the unit material. In particular this assessment should assist you to understand both Agile and Traditional Project Management challenges in the 21st century.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

The specific student learning outcomes related to this assignment are to:

1. Understand how to implement project management under high risk conditions
2. Manage and control issues associated with complex information systems projects;
3. Discuss organisational and team dynamics and issues within substantial information systems projects.
FORMAT OF THE ESSAY

o This is a research essay
o Must include an abstract
o Must include Keywords
o Must include an introduction
o Reference List must follow APA standard