Current issue

• Metrics champions: navigating challenges and driving change in software measurement program implementation
  Nataliya Berbyuk Lindström, Yixin Zhang
  • Research has been focused on technical approaches, leaving the behavioral and organizational aspects of metrics implementation underexplored. This study addresses this gap by adopting a job crafting perspective to examine challenges in metrics program implementation and how champions perceive and shape their roles to mitigate them. Based on a qualitative case study, we show that many difficulties arise from “soft factors,” including unclear or conflicting objectives, misaligned expectations across teams, and weak communication channels. Without a shared understanding of metrics and their use, stakeholders interpret results inconsistently, undermining decision-making and engagement. Metrics champions actively craft their roles to address these barriers, taking on responsibilities such as educator, interpreter, and evaluator of data and tools. They also act as bridge builders and conflict mitigators, fostering collaboration and easing tensions among diverse stakeholder groups. These tasks, cognitive, and relational forms of crafting interact, enabling champions to move from passive adopters of metrics to active agents shaping the effectiveness of metrics initiatives. By combining job crafting theory and championing, we offer a human-centered view of software metrics implementation and emphasize the need for training and organizational support.

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• Modularity, learning, and the mitigation of power-law distribution of delay in large-scale technological infrastructure delivery
  Kornpong Mahitthiburin, Kim Normann Andersen
  • Megaprojects, despite their crucial role in infrastructure delivery, consistently underperform in terms of time, especially when integrating technological innovations. Their reliance on the quantum leap approach struggles because of the temporary nature of project organizations and their inability to transfer experience across endeavors, producing a power-law distribution of delivery delays in which extreme overruns become inevitable. Grounded in the perspectives of system interdependency and self-organized criticality, our results from computer simulation of 50,000 instances show that piecemeal-incremental approaches reduce both average delays and their variability, thereby defying the power-law behavior. The paper offers three propositions for mitigating delays in the delivery of large-scale technological infrastructure: phased delivery, continuous learning from successful practices and experiences, and enabling learning capabilities.

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• Artificial intelligence in agile IT project management: A SWOT analysis
  Carl Lorenz M. Canlas
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping agile Information Technology project management by introducing automation and intelligent decision support. This study explores the strategic implications of AI adoption within agile frameworks using a SWOT analysis approach. A systematic literature review of 48 peer-reviewed studies was conducted to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with AI integration in agile environments. The findings reveal that AI significantly enhances sprint planning, backlog prioritization, effort estimation, and software testing; resulting in faster development cycles, improved code quality, and better decision-making. However, these benefits require substantial workflow restructuring, investment in technology, as well as workforce upskilling. Weaknesses and threats are identified, but opportunities for scalable automation and hybrid human-AI collaboration look promising for organizations that adopt AI strategically. The study emphasized the importance of Project Management Technology Quotient (PMTQ) as a critical competency for practitioners navigating AI-augmented workflows. By aligning AI capabilities with agile principles alongside robust governance models, organizations can optimize AI for sustained competitive advantage in the digital project economy.

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• Understanding, experiencing, and applying Agile project management techniques: A scaffolded higher education assessment framework
  Joy Garfield, Amrik Singh
  • Through the tight integration of industry needs and Agile project management education, higher education institutions, and business organisations can help to foster a workforce that is prepared for the dynamic, iterative, and collaborative modern business. Industries are seeking professionals who not only understand Agile project management techniques but can also respond to customer needs, effectively collaborate, and communicate, and adapt to change through experience and application. The assessment of Agile project management in higher education should therefore include these critical skills to meet the job market’s current requirements. This paper discusses a case study of a UK based university to show how students were exposed to industry expertise and experience, real-world challenges, and Agile project management tools and methodologies as a way of encouraging active engagement and equipping them for the dynamic workplace. A scaffolded assessment approach was taken to encourage engagement, deep learning, and skills development.

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ISRI - Information Systems Research Indicators