Interplay of Critical Factors in Effective Agile Projects

Agile project management (APM), which was previously used among software development companies has recently gained prominence in various industries due to its ability to better cope with frequent changes in requirements as organizations seek strategies to enhance project outcomes in uncertainty and rapidly evolving business landscape. While the benefits have been well discussed in many papers, there is still a lack of studies about the factors that might influence the effectiveness of APM during its implementation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to expand on recent SLR findings, by examining the effects of identified factors, which are customer characteristics, digital leadership, and project management methodologies towards the effectiveness of Agile Project Management (APM) within the Indonesian context. This research employed a Structural Equation Modelling with Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) with Smart PLS 4.0 software as an analytical tool. A survey was conducted among Indonesian professionals who possess expertise in APM using a quantitative approach. From the collected data of 156 respondents, the findings showed that customer characteristics have a positive effect on digital leadership and an indirect effect on APM Effectiveness, digital leadership which serves as a mediating factor positively affects APM effectiveness. Only project management methodology does not moderate the relationship between customer characteristics and APM effectiveness. This proved that the identified factors could influence the effectiveness of APM and should be considered to achieve effective agile projects.