Using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to Evaluate the Implementation Barriers of Agile Project Management in the Energy Project Environment

Abstract

The dynamic, complex, and uncertain nature of energy projects is driving the interest in agile Project Management (APM) as a more flexible and responsive alternative to traditional project delivery methods. Despite its potential advantages, the adoption of agile methodologies in the energy sector remains limited due to a range of implementation barriers. This study investigates the critical conditions required for the adoption of APM and identifies the most significant barriers to its successful implementation in energy project environments. The literature review for example focused on the framework, conditions required for implementation, benefits of implementation, and most importantly, the barriers to the Implementation of both traditional project management (TPM) and agile project management (APM). Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is a structured multi-criteria decision-making tool, this research evaluates and prioritizes the implementation barriers of Agile project management based on the subjective opinions of experts. The identified key barriers are structured into the AHP framework with the Agile manifesto as the main criteria and the barriers to Agile implementation as sub-criteria or alternatives. The data was collected through pairwise comparison surveys by seven energy project industry professional respondents, and the findings were analyzed to determine the relative importance of each barrier. The subsequent result is a barrier hierarchy, starting with the most impacting barriers, and this offers practical insights for project managers and stakeholders in the energy project environment. This gives the opportunity to easily navigate the challenges of agile adoption in complex and regulated energy projects, by prioritizing solutions to the most impacting barriers, such as ‘Lack of organizational support’, Unclear requirements and conflicting priorities’, and ‘Limited understanding of Agile techniques’, in this order of hierarchy. This study contributes to both an academic understanding and the practical application of APM in the energy sector.