3.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The methodology for this study is that we use random sampling of IT sector to check the
impact of traditional and agile project management on project success when project
complexity is moderating their relationship. Research design is the strategy to integrate the
different variables of study in such a way that will ensure that the research problem is properly
addressed. This is a correlation study where the relationship of Traditional and Agile
Approach use and project success, with the moderating role of project complexity was
measured on basis of self-reported perception.

Population and Sample

According to Van Blerkom (2008) population is while participants that are being studied for
data gathering and to closely observe the study phenomena. For this research a survey of
project managers and project management consulted is conducted. Participants are selected
from IT sector. Top 10 IT companies of Pakistan are NESTOL Technologies Inc., system
limited, S&P Global Pakistan, Teradata, TRG Pakistan, LMKR, Mentor Graphics etc. IT
sector has three categories in Pakistan e.g. Internet companies, online companies and software
houses. Abacus Consulting, Apex Consulting, Apex Consulting, code Informatics,
COMSATS internet services, DPL, Excellences delivered ExD (Pvt) limited, FOURGEN
information systems, GCS, IBM, ITMinds limited, Jabs solution, KSOFT, Moftak solutions,
NetSol, Solution Player etc., these are some of the IT companies in Islamabad. All employees
working in IT companies of Pakistan are taken as population as correct number of IT
employees is not available. Hierarchy of the companies taken is the top management and
middle management including project managers, General Managers and team members. For
this study unit of analysis were Project managers and employees.

Sample is the component of population that represents the whole population; O ‘Leary defines
sampling as the process by which a researcher selects an example of participants for just a
study from the population of interest. All the IT companies in Pakistan are used as population
and IT companies in Islamabad are taken as sample size, as correct figure is unknown. In case
one has correct number of population then sample size is determined using Krejcie and
Morgan (1970) formula for sample size.

Sample Size = ( Z-score)2 * Std Dev * (1- Std Dev) / (Margin of Error)2
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Convenience sampling is technique is used. It is a non-probability sampling technique where
subjects are selected because of their convenient accessibility and proximity to the researcher.
The time frame for this study undergoes is cross sectional. Respondents are selected and
studied over a single period.

Measure:
The data used and collected in the study is cross sectional. Sekraran and Bougie (2010) defined
cross sectional study as a procedure in which data is collected only one for a time period that
can be days, weeks or months with the purpose to investigate responses. Structured
questionnaire surveys with closed- ended questions were circulated to the participants from
IT sector. Data was collected by personally visiting the software houses and by virtual
distributing the questionnaire among the organizations. Participants were asked to fill
questionnaire at the time they receive it. The respondent s would be assured regarding the
aspect that whatever the information they would provide will be kept highly confidential in
order to encourage them to provide authentic information.

In this study close ended questionnaire measures five variables. The questionnaire would be
measured on 5-Point Likert Scale. All the measured data was analyzed by using adopted
questionnaire from past on Agile approach, project complexity and project success.
Questionnaire for traditional project management is developed with the help of literature. The
questionnaire was filled by the employees and the managers who were using traditional and
agile project management approach in their projects.

Questionnaire is divided into 5 sections. Section 1 relates to some basic demographic

information.. Section 2 has two parts, part 1 has questions about agile project management
and part 2 has questions about traditional project management. Both have questions regard to
the project complexity mentioned in section 5 and section 4 measures the project success. For
the development of questionnaire on project complexity, three complexities with 12 questions
are converted into 12 variables (Muller, Geraldi, Tunner, 2012). Operationalization was done
by using 5-point likert scales ranging from very low to very high. Some aspects of complexity
are expected to change in the course of the project and therefore (Muller, Geraldi, Tunner,
2012) has assessed the three types of complexity (faith, fact, interactions).

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 Agile project management was measured through 10 item scale which was developed by
(Maruping, Venkatesh & Agrawal, 2009). They developed a scale for measuring and
analyzing the impact of Agile project management Approach. Responses were collected by 5
point likert scale 1: Strongly Disagree and 5: Strongly Agree. Project success was measured
using 5-point likert scale in which 1 representing strongly disagree and 5 representing strongly
agree.

Independent variable Moderator Dependent variable

 Traditional Project
Management Approach Project Complexity Project Success
 Agile Project Management
Approach

Table 1: Variables

3.6 Reliability
Reliability check was performed for all the variables and the dimensions relevant to those
variables. Cronbach’s Alpha is the coefficient whose value has been checked. Reliability test
proved that all the variables are highly significant and reliable. Reliability test is applied is
before applying any other test in case of research study which consists of multiple likert scale
with different classifications. This test is applied to find the reliability of internal consistency
of the scale. The more the value of coefficient Cronbach’s Alpha is closer to one, the more
high reliability scale has.

Name of Variable Cronbach’s Alpha No. of items

APM .998 10
TPM .991 12
Project Success .997 25
Project Complexity .7 12

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The overall Cronbach’s Alpha is

Variables Cronbach’s Alpha No. of Items

Sum of All .861 59

4 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Descriptive
Mean, standard deviation, mode and median values for numeric variables are determined by
carrying out descriptive statistics test. The total number of respondents is 280. Below is the
descriptive statistics for undergoes study.

Total respondents = 280

GENDER
FREQUENCY VALID PERCENTAGE CUMULATIVE
PERCENTAGE
MALE 188 67.1 67.1
FEMALE 92 32.9 100

TOTAL 280 100

First table represent the gender composition of the sample in which 67.1% were male and
32.9% female.

AGE
FREQUENCY PERCENT CUMULATIVE
PERCENT
18-25 76 27.1 27.1
26-33 130 46.6 73.6

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 34-41 64 22.9 96.4
42-49 5 1.8 98.2
50 ABOVE 5 1.8 100
TOTAL 280 100

Above table shows the composition of sample with reference to age groups. 27.1% of
respondents age were 18-25, 46.6% respondents age were 26-33 range, 22.9% respondents
age were in 34-41 range, 1.8% respondents age were in 42-49 range and just 1.8% were more
than 50. In this study the percentage of 26-33 respondent is high.

WORK EXPERIENCE
Below table represents the work experience of respondents:

FREQUENCY VALID CUMULATIVE

PERCENTAGE
0-5 121 43.2 43.2
6-10 79 28.2 71.4
11-16 55 19.6 91.1
17-22 16 5.7 96.8
23-28 6 2.1 98.9
>29 3 1.1 100
TOTAL 280 100

PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACH

FREQUENCY VALID CUMULATIVE

PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE
AGILE 207 73.9 73.9
TRADITIONAL 73 26.1 100
TOTAL 280 100

[5]
Above table represent the project management approach composition of the sample in which
73.9% were male and 26.1% female.

4.2 Correlation
The range varies from -1 to +1 of a correlation coefficient. When the value of correlation is
negative i.e. -1 this means that when the value of one variable decreases the value of the other
variable increases while on the other hand when the value of correlation is positive i.e. +1,
means that when the value of one variable increases the value of other variable also increases.
To find out the relationship between the two variables the Pearson correlation was also used
in this study.

AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT SUCCESS

The result of the study showed that agile project management was positively and significantly
related to the project success (.873**, p<.01). Project success can be increased by using agile
project management technique, these are the indication of the results of this study. This tables
also shows agile project management was weakly positive related to project complexity
(0.344) which means that by using agile project management technique the chances of project
complexity will be less and the chances of project success will be higher.

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 TRADITIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT SUCCESS

Traditional project management and project success with a Pearson correlation coefficient of
0.994 (r=0.994) are positively related as it is shown in the table above. Genuine relationship
between traditional project management and project success seen as significance. Positive
correlation between traditional project management and project complexity with a Pearson
correlation coefficient of 0.992 (r=0.992) is also significant with significance value less than
0.001 which means that in traditional project management the project success will be higher
but at the same time project complexity will also be higher in traditional project management.

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4.3 Regression Analysis
First each dimension of independent variable is regressed separately on dependent variable to
check the individual impact of these dimensions. Then all the dimensions are regressed
simultaneously after computing the variable. It will give the overall impact of these variables.

TESTING HYPOTHESIS 1
There is a significant relation between the use of Traditional project
management approach and project success.

In order to test the first hypothesis of linear regression is run on one of the independent
variable i-e traditional project management. Project Success is dependent variable.
From the above table, R is the correlation coefficient which determine the relationship
between the dependent variable and independent variable whether they had a strong or weak
relationship. In the above table, traditional project management and project success had a
strong positive relationship between them because the value of R is greater than 0.5.
Adjusted R square determine the variations that how many variations in the traditional project
management and project success. From the above table, there are 0.98 variations in the
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supplier relationship and organizational performance. This shows that there is 98% variation
between traditional project management and project success which states that they are directly
proportional to each other.
The review of literature has provided substantive evidence about the negative effect of
traditional project mangemnet in a particular project and its success but with the reference of
ANOVA table, the values shows that they have significant results because it is less than 0.05.

TESTING HYPOTHESIS 2
There is a significant relation between the use of Agile project management
approach and project success.

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For second hypothesis also, linear regression is run on second dimension of independent
variable i-e agile project success. Here, again Project success is dependent variable.
R is the coefficient which tells the relationship between dependent and independent variable.
From the above table, there is a strong positive relationship between dependent and
independent variable because its value is 0.873 which is greater than 0.5. If it is less than 0.5
than they had a weak positive relationship between them. Adjusted R square tells us the
variation between the dependent and independent variable. In the above table adjusted R
square is 0.762 which tell that there is 0.762 variations between agile project management and
project success. This adjusted R square indicates that there was 76.2% variation in agile
project management and project success at 95% confidence level. The literature supports
positive effect of agile project management on project success and with the refernce of
ANOVA table Results supported this relationship, as indicated by the regression coefficient
(β = .87, P = .00 ) here as the P<.01 and it is accepted.

TESTING HYPOTHESIS 3
There is a significant moderating effect of project complexity on the
relationship between Traditional project management and project success

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Above analysis shows that hypothesis 3 is rejected, linear regression is performed between
project complexity and project success with respect to traditional project management. P=
.690 this indicates the results are not significant.

TESTING HYPOTHESIS 4
There is a significant moderating effect of project complexity on the
relationship between Agile project management and project success

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According to analysis this hypothesis is accepted as project complexity plays a significant role
between agile project management approach and project success. As it is indicated by the
results that β= .344 and P =.00. Many studies also provide evidence about the significance
role of project complexity as a moderator between use of agile project management approach
and project success (Elassamadisy, 2008)

4.4 Chapter Summary

A comprehensive study regarding project management approaches and project success with
the moderating effect of project complexity is presented by using proposed model. It also
includes data analysis.

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 5 FINDING AND CONCLUSIONS

5.1 Discussion
This chapter includes hypothesis relationship details and also their justification of acceptance
and rejection including theoretical implication, practical implication, strengths and weakness
of the study and future directions, detailed discussion about understudied hypothesis is as
following

H1: There is a significant relation between the use of Traditional project management
approach and project success.
The first variable studied in this research is the relationship of traditional project management
approach on project success. Results suggested that there is no significant relationship found
between traditional project management and successful implementation of the software
development so this suggests that in this changing market the demand is to shift towards those
methods which are recognized and which would deliberately lead us to the success of the
projects. They should analyze the methods being followed in their organizations along with
those which suggest us that latest methods should be used along with the fact that whether we
are capable of implementing such methodologies or not.
H2: There is a significant relation between the use of Agile project management
approach and project success.

The second variable studied in this research is the relationship of agile project management
approach on project success. Results shows a significant relationship between agile project
management approach and project success. Success rate of agile projects is much higher than
the traditional projects. Literature suggests that agile project management is the most
emerging trend and a collaborative technique required at each iteration of the project which
leads to successful project implementation in many ways (Stankovic, Nikolic, Djordjevic&
Cao, 2013;Mann & Maurer, 2005; Budzier & Flyvbjerg, 2013) and it is supported by the
results.
But in Pakistani culture collaboration on some specific method is missing as different
members of team required different level of specialty and skills and it take time to train each
members of the team regarding any new method. Regardless of the fact some studies provide

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arguments by suggesting that it is not necessary to implement the agile approach for successful
implementation mostly in the large projects where we have extended team network but it was
still suggested to be affective technique in small infrastructural projects (Paasivaara,
Lassenius & Heikkilä, 2012). In the current market scenario most of the Pakistan’s projects
have lack of collaboration with the customers as well as many of Pakistani projects follow
traditional methods when it comes to large projects specially construction.
H3: There is a significant moderating effect of project complexity on the relationship
between Traditional project management and project success

Regression analysis was performed with project success as dependent variable with traditional
project management and project success as independent variable. The result of regression
analysis is not in favor of hypothesis 3. As in case of traditional project management project
success is not.

H4: There is a significant moderating effect of project complexity on the relationship

between Agile project management and project success

According to the analysis this hypothesis is accepted as project complexity plays a significant
mediating role between agile methodology use and project success. Many studies also provide
evidence about the significance role of project complexity as a mediator between agile
methodology use and project success (Elssamadisy, 2008).

Project success is inversely proportional to the project success rate as the complexity increases
the project gets complex and success decreases but with the help of agile methodology use it
reduced to its lower rate along competing with novelty and complexity in the prevailing
market by continuous interactions and information sharing with the stakeholders and
developers and required output can be achieved with on time right decisions.

5.2 Conclusion
In this study, we have studied the domain of traditional and agile project management
approach and its impact on project success, agile is the most popular and important domain in
the recent era of the projects management field, as agile approach is the best working
methodology and its success rate is very high as all the bugs are fixed in the first meetings
and in the start of the execution of the project. The main aim of this study is to find out the

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impact of agile approach on project success. Also, this study has demonstrated the project
complexity as a moderator between the relationship of traditional and agile project
management use and project success.

The main contribution of this study is that this study has contributed a lot in the existing
literature because there has been a limited work on study of the agile project management
approach usage in Pakistan. In this study, there were 4 hypotheses which are being analyzed
and tested according in the context of Pakistan. H1 (Hypothesis 1) and H3 (Hypothesis 3)
were rejected, Moreover H2 (Hypothesis 2) and H4 (Hypothesis 4) were being accepted
according to the Pakistani context
Data for the analysis of this study was collected through questionnaires, which were
distributed to the project based organizations of Pakistan mainly in the twin cities Rawalpindi
and Islamabad. In total 400 questionnaires were distributed but only 280 were used for the
analysis purpose because those 280 questionnaires were having the most appropriate and full
information required for the analysis of the study.
This study was conducted in Software engineering and information technology projects in
contextual setting of Pakistan results interpreted conclude that agile approach plays a vital
role toward successfully implementing the projects in the software industry and the
information about the software developing should be properly communicated and shared with
the managers, co-managers and project complexity will be decreased with the help of it and
we can earn project success.

5.4 Limitations and future research

As every research has some reservations, this study also has some limitations which occurred
mainly due to limited resources and time constraints. As data were collected from the project
based organizations of Pakistan mainly from the twin cities Islamabad and Rawalpindi, hence
the results might be quite different if the data were collected from all cities of Pakistan.
Another limitation arisen due to the fact that, since it was a dyadic questionnaire, many
difficulties were faced during the collection of data separately from both of managers and
employees. Even many of the employees were not interested in filling the questionnaire so
convincing them was a difficult task. Another limitation in this research was the use of
convenience sample, as convenience sampling was used to collect data randomly from a large

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population, it limits the generalizability. Hence, the results might not be widely generalized.
As, it was concluded after analysis that some results are not the same as what was expected
in regard with the previous researches and literature, mainly due the highly power distance
culture, that is why the results might not be applicable in a non-Pakistani context.
In this study, the model is being tested for the impact of agile methodology use on project
success, but for future research directions these variables can be studied with other dimensions
of agile methodologies use in construction, development creativity along with enhancement
in the manager-employee relationship through other factors like team co-operation and
creative self-efficacy. There is still a lot of room for further research, mainly the dimensions
should be the customer interactions and customer orientation as it is purely focused on
stakeholders.
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