Potential benefits of agile project management in improving construction project performances: A case study of Iraq

Due to poor performances in construction projects, there is a necessity to apply novel project management approaches instead of traditional ones. Recently, although new project management methods have emerged and applied in different industries, the construction industry has stayed behind in implementing these techniques. The agile Project Management (APM) approach is one of these methods, and it has been highly discussed recently. As developing countries considerably suffer from poor performance in construction projects, applying new project management methods has gained more importance in these territories. Even though different studies attempted to understand the applicability of the APM, it is also necessary to explore the potential benefits of the agile methods for the construction industry. For this purpose, we surveyed 140 construction experts for the prioritization of factors and received responses on the potential advantages of the APM regarding team and project performance in construction. The results achieved from the Iraq field study demonstrate that the APM could be feasible for the construction industry and could effectively bring solutions to the project performance issues. We also concluded that the adverse effects of poor project performance, such as quality defects, schedule variances, cost overruns, and low productivity, could be eliminated especially in the construction industry of developing countries, through APM approaches.