Agile environment

Questions (10 marks total)
Question 1 (Mandatory) – 5 marks, approximately 1,000 words

Project roles in an Agile environment can be significantly different to those in Waterfall. Explain the role of the product owner in an Agile environment and contrast this with equivalent roles in Waterfall. Critically evaluate the importance of the product owner role in the success of projects, supporting your analysis by drawing on scholarly evidence.

Question 2 (Select ONE from the following) – 5 marks, approximately 1,500 words

2a) Agile is founded on four basic principles. Explain how these principles are applied to project management for variable scope projects using the Scrum approach. Critically evaluate the possible limitations of Scrum when scaled across an organisation. Identify an alternative method of deploying Agile across an organisation and critically compare and contrast this method with the Scrum approach. Comment on the impact of this method on the product owner role. Justify your critical analysis by drawing on scholarly evidence. Support your work with real world examples/illustrations.

or

2b) For an organisation you are familiar with, describe its Agile approach to project management. Explain how the Agile principles are applied in their approach and the artefacts/features used. Comment on any implementation issues that were experienced at the organisational level as work was scaled and how they were overcome. Critically evaluate the possible limitations of their current implementation and suggest possible improvements with reference to other organisational approaches. Comment on how these improvements would impact on the product owner role. Justify your critical analysis by drawing on scholarly evidence.

or

2c) Explain how Agile principles can be applied in a Waterfall environment such as construction management. By means of case studies, critically review the success of applying Agile principles in a Waterfall environment.