Disassembling the Elephant Translating Agile Project Management into a Banking Context

Abstract: This paper investigates the concept of Agile project management (APM) within the Swedish banking context. In order to explore how the idea of APM has travelled to and become translated in practice, the study draws upon interview data collected in a Swedish bank currently undergoing transformation as a result of changes in the Swedish banking market. The aim was to highlight contextual implications as the concept of APM has travelled to, and materialised in practice. Specifically, this paper focus on why, and how the concept of APM has been deployed in a Swedish bank by applying the translation perspective offered by Scandinavian institutionalism. We argue that contrary to common view generally advocated, in which APM needs to be implemented in its “pure” form, the concept of APM might be subject to change as it is implemented in a new and different context. As such, this paper offers a new way of viewing how APM becomes translated outside the software field as it has travelled into the very different, traditionally rigid, heavily regulated and institutionalized world of banking. In addition to contributing to existing IT research, this study also investigates how actors translate broad ideas from different industry contexts into work practices. Moreover, this paper might have practical implications for practitioners in the field as it has uncovered a number of dimensions which might be important to consider prior to implementing APM.