Gaining Management Satisfaction in Scrum Teams through Performance Metrics

Abstract

Management is still used to evaluate project success based on classic performance metrics (Kua, 2013). However, agile projects are continuously increasing, and there are critical difficulties in providing meaningful metrics and evidence to managers (Davis & Gaudin, 2015). Especially measuring the Scrum principles of Self-development, value creation and continuous improvement can be complex and time-consuming (Hartmann & Dymond, 2006). Surprisingly, only a few studies (Asrianto & Abdurrahman, 2019; Dolins, 2006; Karlinger, 2015) have analysed the usage of Balanced Scorecards within an Agile Scrum development environment to enhance the management collaboration with the Scrum teams. Therefore, this thesis aims to address the following main research question: "Is it possible to assess whether a Scrum project can increase management satisfaction by following an Agile Balanced Scorecard guide (or similar framework)?". Further sub-questions have been formulated to break down the mentioned main thesis question. This thesis uses a real-life case study within Helvetia Insurance in Switzerland by following the information system research approach by Hevner and March (2003). The results from the literature review and the environmental analysis build the basis for the criteria list, which is used to assess the management feedback for the developed artefact in the form of the Scrum Metrics Guide.