Can we manage Agile in traditional project environments?

Agile has gained much attention and controversy as a contemporary project management approach. While many management practitioners and researcher, report great benefits and advantages over traditional execution methods, others experienced disappointments or outright failures with this contemporary process which differs from established principles and standards of conventional project management. - This paper reports the results of a three-year field study into the practices of Agile project management at 37 technology-intensive companies. It shows that the principles of this contemporary technique are applicable to most projects independent of their nature, size or IT-orientation, improving resource effectiveness, project execution time and overall project success. However, the study also shows that for large and highly complex projects, and for most situations outside of software and IT, the Agile methodology must be carefully modified to fit the organizational processes and cultures of the enterprise.