The Trajectory of Scaled Agile Research: A Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization Approach

Lucas Thulani Khoza; Mfowabo Maphosa

doi:10.51519/journalisi.v7i2.1062

Lucas Thulani Khoza University of South Africa, South Africa
Mfowabo Maphosa University of Pretoria, South Africa

DOI: 10.51519/journalisi.v7i2.1062

Keywords: Bibliometric analysis, Project management, Scaled Agile, Software project success, Visualization

Abstract

Modern project management in organisations is moving towards Scaled Agile to achieve success. Scaled Agile refers to a set of organisational structures and processes for implementing agile practices that are applied on an enterprise scale. This study explores Scaled Agile growth and impact by analysing 238 publications obtained from the Scopus databases using bibliometric analysis. The results show that publications on Scaled Agile have steadily increased, with more contributions from developed nations than developing countries. In terms of the geographic distribution of publications, Germany is the leading followed by Sweden and the United States. The results also show that Scaled Agile is being applied across different fields, but is dominated by computer science, engineering, and business. We visualized the high-frequency terms using a word cloud and the keyword co-occurrence map, and a density map using VOSViewer. The h-index of 21 for the analysed articles indicates the significant scholarly impact of the publications. The study identified the following key themes: team dynamics, organisational structures, and practical applications of Scaled Agile. The study also identifies the major challenges associated with Scaled Agile, namely cultural issues and scalability issues, effective organisational design, and change management strategies. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into the current state of Scaled Agile that appeal to industry practitioners and academics interested in Scaled Agile research and implementation.

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