The Role of Product Owners

The Role of Product Owners

An Empirical Investigation of the Role of Product Owners and Challenges in Agile Scrum Projects

Demir Hajdarevic

Subject: Information Systems Corresponds to: 30 hp Presented: Autumn 2018 Supervisor: G?rkem Pacaci Department of Informatics and Media

Abstract

Within Scrum framework the role of the product owner is critical for the success of a Scrum project. Today, there exist little empirical evidence of how the role of product owner is practiced and the challenges they are faced with. This research seeks through a multiple-case study approach to explore the role of product owners. The aim of the research was to investigate the existence of a gap between theory and practice in terms of the product owner role. Qualitative data collection consisted of eight semi-structured interviews with product owners and agile coaches which then was analyzed according to what theory of the role suggests. Results showed partly multiple factors confirming a gap, for example regarding vision, prioritizing and communication, and challenges that arise from the gap, for example concerning decisionmaking.

Keywords: scrum, product owner, agile, software development, agile project management

Acknowledgments

I would first like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor G?rkem Pacaci, Ph.D., for his support, encouragement and patience through this research process. I would also like to thank all respondents for taking their time to participate in this study. Finally, I want to thank my family for their support and encouragement to complete this work.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background.................................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Problem Formulation ................................................................................................... 3 1.3. Research Objectives .................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Delimitations ............................................................................................................... 4 1.5. Contributions ............................................................................................................... 4

2. Literature Review................................................................................................................ 5 2.1. Traditional Software Development and Agile Software Development ....................... 5 2.2. Scrum Framework ....................................................................................................... 8 2.3. Related Work ............................................................................................................. 16

3. Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 18 3.1. Methodological Approach ......................................................................................... 18 3.2. Data Collection and Analysis .................................................................................... 19 3.3. Reliability, Validity and Ethics ................................................................................. 23

4. Description of Cases ......................................................................................................... 25 5. Results............................................................................................................................... 28

5.1. Responsibilities.......................................................................................................... 28 5.2. Challenges ................................................................................................................. 31 5.3. Authority.................................................................................................................... 33 5.4. Product Vision ........................................................................................................... 35 5.5. End-product relationship ........................................................................................... 36

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