Adopting Agile Project Management Practices in Non-Software SMEs: A Case Study of a Slovenian Medium-Sized Manufacturing Company

Abstract

In today’s highly dynamic and unpredictable project environment, companies need to be able to manage changes quickly and effectively, otherwise, the final product will not be current and will only go to waste. Traditional project management approaches that focus on planning are no longer efficient and companies are forced to adopt new ways of working. As a result, more flexible agile project management (APM) approaches have emerged over the last decades. Originally developed for the software industry, APM is now increasingly recognized and adopted also by other industry sectors. However, due to some discipline-specific differences, the adoption of APM by non-software companies is challenging and requires many adjustments and high financial input. While the larger organizations have sufficient resources to make such a transition, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generally cannot afford to do so, and therefore need alternative strategies to increase their agility and stay competitive on the global market. In this paper, we present a case study of a Slovenian medium-sized manufacturing company that implemented only certain APM practices separately and not as part of a structured APM methodology, and still managed to achieve significant benefits: improved communication, faster detection of discrepancies, more effective problem-solving and greater flexibility. The results also suggest that APM practices, even when implemented separately, positively impact project success in terms of both efficiency and stakeholder satisfaction, and can thus help in establishing an economically, socially, and environmentally more sustainable workplace.

Using Agile Project Management in the Design and Implementation of Activity-Based Costing Systems

“…Indeed, the implementation of a successful cost management system depends not only on the costing method used but also on elements related to the organizational structure (e.g., the characteristics of the available information systems) and the organizational culture (e.g., engagement, management, and cost consciousness) [37,65]. For instance, the consensus among the different stakeholders is vital, since cost management influences operational, tactical, strategic, financial, and quality issues, which are linked to all levels of management and operation in the organization [70,71]. In the case study presented here, the use of the Scrum methodology promoted, since the very beginning of the process, a high involvement of all stakeholders.…”

A New Product Development Model for SMEs: Introducing Agility to the Plan-Driven Concurrent Product Development Approach

“…This is rather surprising, concerning SMEs account for the majority of businesses worldwide. The few existing studies indicate that the implementation of APM in SMEs is feasible but much more challenging than in larger enterprises [17,18]. Both Edwards et al [17] and Žužek et al [18] showed that ensuring fully dedicated team members, which represents an important element of APM, is almost impossible in SMEs.…”

“…In recent years, various hybrid models combining traditional and APM approaches have been developed, and studies show that there are many benefits to such a combination [15,16]. However, most of the studies have been conducted in large companies [17], and there is a great concern that the existing hybrids are not appropriate for SMEs [18].…”

Agile Powertrain Development: Considerations to Incorporate Agile Principles

“…As Beta has not implemented an agile approach yet, this principle was assessed to be not fulfilled. (6) Corresponds with the agile manifesto's principle V. Also, because Beta has not implemented an agile approach yet, this principle was assessed to be not fulfilled. ( 7) Also corresponds best with V. The conducted interviews made it clear that the management is interested in the incorporation of agile development principles and sees advantages to powertrain development.…”

“…Nevertheless, Žužek et al (2020) claimed that several companies from different industries outside the software sector have already adopted agile principles for their product development approaches despite those restrictions. The authors demonstrated that only implementing separate principles at an SME allows for achieving significant benefits: improved communication, faster detection of discrepancies, more effective problem-solving, and greater flexibility [6]. Volkswagen, for example, is certainly committed to agile working methods as more people in the company are using related principles.…”