Agile project management under the perspective of dynamic capabilities

Ferreira, Lisiane Sassi; Nobre, Farley Simon

doi:10.1590/1806-9649-2022v29e3122

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE • Gest. Prod. 29 • 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9649-2022v29e3122 copy

Agile project management under the perspective of dynamic capabilities

Gestão ágil de projetos sob a perspectiva das capacidades dinâmicas

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract:

There is a growing academic and industrial interest in how firms can adopt agile project management to meet the demands of dynamically fast-moving environments. However, organizations face difficulties using agile methods in developing a physical product, like the companies found in the automotive industry. This article aims to study agile project management from the perspective of dynamic capabilities. It presents a strengthened analysis of the adoption of agile methods needed for developing physical products in the automotive industry. To address this issue, we formulated the following research question: “what are the dynamic capabilities associated with the agile project management of product development in the automotive sector?”. The article presents a case study of a multinational organization in the automotive sector that implemented concepts and practices of agile methods in the project management of new vehicles. Results evidenced the manifestation of dynamic capabilities in the organization's agile project management scope at sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring levels. Furthermore, findings showed the presence of agile methods in the projects and their implications for the organization regarding benefits (like communication, time, effectiveness, autonomy, and motivation gains) and challenges (like resistance to organizational changes). Finally, we propose a framework for analyzing relationships between dynamic capabilities’ microfoundations and agile project management practices to guide the choice and implementation of agile methods in the automotive sector.

Keywords:
Agility; Agile project management; Agile methods; Dynamic capabilities; Automotive sector

Micro foundations	Activities/Actions	Empirical Evidence
Sensing	- Company’s understanding regarding the need for change to adapt to the market; - Monitoring the mobility and connectivity market; - Identification of customer needs; - Identification of benefits of agile methods for the company; - Visits to Silicon Valley in the USA to detect technological trends and new forms of management; - Company's understanding of the need for learning and adopting agile methods; - Understanding agility as an opportunity to improve and sustain the company's operations; - Understanding of the company regarding the lack of agile mentality and culture in the organization and employees’ environments. - Identification of threats or barriers that may prevent the development of agility in the company.	- “[...] the President of the company had an experience with agility and saw good results. [...] he called me and said “I would like you to come work with me to help transform the company”. [...] and in that he brought the agile and said to research about it” (I1) - “I believe that agility is directly linked to the company's need to transform itself in search of improving its performance and a more agile organization and I would say with fewer layers and more dynamics in the face of so many transformations and changes” (I2) - “Agility [...] is no longer a choice, but a necessity for organizations to survive the speed at which changes are occurring. [...] So there is a great need to read and adapt our business model about customer needs so that we can ensure the future of the company and the business model we have” (I2)
Seizing	- Strategic decision to gradually develop agility through POCs and in specific departments; - Creation of a department to lead the agile transformation (BTO); - Decision to implement an agility program (Delta); - Outline solutions through agile methods that can generate benefits such as flexibility, time-to-market agility, and operational performance improvement; - How to develop agile project management in the company study; - How to change the culture and mindset against agility in the organization study; - The readjustment of the organizational structure and culture study; - Reformulation of functions and organizational design study.	- “[...] arrived at the beginning of 2018 and we first defined that we would work with support for agile and with concrete success cases to create positive dynamics about the new way of working. So, we created the BTO (Business Transformation Office)” (I1) - “In parallel, this movement was created through a corporate program, which is Delta, which was precisely when they started to deploy this organization in 2019” (I2) - “The objective of this group is to prepare the engineering department to be able to carry out a complete project in an agile format to build our future through performance” (PowerPoint document general slides)
Reconfiguring/ Transforming	- Decision to acquire an agile company as a way of absorbing knowledge and learning; - Hiring agility specialists (“agilists”); - BTO department creation; - Delta program implementation; - Investment in certifications and training on agile methods for employees; - Creation of agile teams in projects that used agile methods and organizational redesign; - Incentive to create multidisciplinary agile teams and end-to-end responsibilities; - Implementation of Product Owner and Scrum Master roles; - Establishment of governance for agility; - Continuous learning and knowledge transfer through the Scrum method; - Strategic planning focused on agility; - Gradual transformation of the company's culture and values to an agile concept.	- “About training [...] we go a lot as needed, so we do not provide training for the sake of training, but we seek where there is a need” (I1) - “(...) a few years ago Automov SA decided to buy a company in the IT area in Europe, it acquired this company with an agile structure already, to learn exactly this methodology” (I2) - “With the arrival of our new CEO, he presents us with the new strategic plan of Automov SA and the basis of this program is in agility, in a much flatter organization, very clear accountability process, [...] So I would say that today the implementation program is through our new strategic plan and we are going to try 100% within this agile mentality” (I2) - “The company started to develop a program called Delta precisely trying to make agile methods more corporate” (I3) - “Between 2020 and April 2021, 240 employees were trained in agile basics training” (PowerPoint document general slides)

Agile Practices Categories	Benefits	Challenges
Prioritization	- Reduction of waste and time; - Focus on activities that generate value; - Unified and synchronized teams.	- Not having a dedicated team led to the need to work on other non-priority topics outside the agile team. - Lack of clarity about prioritization by the Product Owner.
Iterative Planning	- Better organization of tasks; - Reduction in response time; - More assertive planning.	- Able to correctly carry out the Sprint Planning; - Monitoring the project and other departments that still used the traditional management model.
Conducting Scrum Ceremonies	- Reduction of meetings and time; - Improved communication.	- Being able to perform all ceremonies with non-dedicated people.
Agile Mindset	- Encourages people to question themselves about the form of work and its added value; - Value creation; - Improved team motivation and empowerment.	- Difficulties related to the overlapping of the existing culture in the company; - Learn the agile method without previous experience in the company; - People are resistant to implementation.
Multidisciplinary Teams	- Breaking of “silos”; - Greater autonomy of the teams; - Reduction of human resources, generating savings for the project.	- Breaking down departmental silos; - Being able to work with the agile method without having people 100% dedicated to the project.
Self-Managing Teams	- People more protagonists, with greater openness to participation and suggestion of ideas; - Increase people's motivation.	- Being able to manage people with different maturities for self-manageable work.
Decision-Making at the Team Level	- Empowerment of employees; - Faster decisions based on available data per sprint.	- Hierarchy interference; - Need for culture change;
Teams Located in a Single Physical Space	- Fluid, organic, transparent, daily, people-centered communication. As a way to integrate the team and help in carrying out priority tasks.	- Achieve exclusive dedication to the agile project; - Restrictions on physical presence in times of COVID-19;
Visual Management	- Transparent communication; - Information is shared at all levels. - Improved communication and organization of teams working from home through tools such as Microsoft Teams.	- COVID-19 context and loss of resources.

Universidade Federal de São Carlos Departamento de Engenharia de Produção , Caixa Postal 676 , 13.565-905 São Carlos SP Brazil, Tel.: +55 16 3351 8471 - São Carlos - SP - Brazil
E-mail: gp@dep.ufscar.br

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[1] Authors contribution

Lisiane Sassi Ferreira was responsible for the conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, project management, validation and writing this study. Farley Simon Nobre in the same way, was responsible for the conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, project management, validation, writing, and supervised the study.