Exploring the role of agile practices on information systems development success: a sufficient and necessary condition analysis

Purpose Although agile software development is widely adopted in information systems development (ISD), prior research largely examined whether agile practices are sufficient rather than whether they are necessary for ISD success. Moreover, existing studies tend to focus on isolated outcomes and rely primarily on sufficiency logic. Grounded in the Job Characteristics Model, ISD theory, and agile principles, this study examines which agile practices are sufficient and which are necessary for achieving key ISD outcomes, namely customer satisfaction, process performance, and software functionality. Design/methodology/approach The study employs a dual-analytical approach, combining necessary condition analysis (NCA) and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), to examine real-world data from 261 executives working on ASD projects. Findings The results show that team autonomy and iterative incremental development function as core enabling conditions for customer satisfaction, while team diversity and agile communication are more critical for achieving high levels of process performance. For software functionality, incremental iterative development, as well as agile communication, emerge as necessary conditions that must reach minimum thresholds to avoid performance shortfalls. Overall, the findings suggest that some agile practices serve as non-substitutable constraints, while others act as performance enhancers, depending on the outcome considered. Originality/value This study advances agile and ISD research by shifting the focus from sufficiency-based explanations to a constraint-oriented perspective, theorizing agile practices as necessary conditions. For practice, the findings help managers prioritize agile practices that must be ensured before expecting improvements in ISD outcomes.