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Journal of Engineering, Project, and Production Management, 2016, 6(2), 120-135

 

Grounded Theory Study of Conflicts in Norwegian Agile Software Projects: The Project Managers’ Perspective

 

Lubna Siddique1 and Bassam A. Hussein2

1PhD Student, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway, lubnas@ifi.ui.no (corresponding author).

2Bassam. A. Hussein, Associate Professor, Department of Production and Quality Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, Norway, E-mail: bassam.hussein@ntnu.no

 

Project Management

 

Received May 15, 2016; received revision July 2, 2016; accepted July 5, 2016

 

Available online July 14, 2016

 

Abstract: This paper aims to explore the process of conflicts in agile software projects. The purpose was to investigate the causes and consequences of these conflicts. For this purpose, we conducted a qualitative study involving agile software projects in Norway. Grounded theory was used to analyze the data and the interview findings are presented using Glaser´s Six C model (context, condition, causes, consequences, contingencies, and covariance). The research findings suggest that there are several causes of conflicts. These include: the role of the product owner, an inexperienced project manager, the customer’s lack of knowledge about methodology organizational hierarchy in public companies, contracting, personal egos, financial issues, not getting the right team. Consequences of conflicts include: decreased productivity, wastage of time and resources, diverted attention from project objectives loss of motivation, poor decision making, loss of communication. Based on interview data, different conflict strategies are suggested and these include appropriately skilled project manager, communication and negotiation, defining clear roles, stakeholder analysis, managing stakeholder´s expectations, discussion, finding the root cause of conflict. Project managers are using these strategies to avoid or resolve conflicts. The competencies required to handle these kind of conflicts are also discussed in the paper, while the implications of theory and practice of conflict management theory are also presented.

 

Keywords: Agile methods, Grounded theory, conflicts, project manager, product owner.

Copyright © Journal of Engineering, Project, and Production Management (EPPM-Journal).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 Unported License.

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Citation: Siddique, L. and Hussein, B. A. (2016). Grounded Theory Study of Conflicts in Norwegian Agile Software Projects: The Project Managers’ Perspective. Journal of Engineering, Project, and Production Management, 6(2), 120-135. 

DOI: 10.32738/JEPPM.201607.0005

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