New research into project management in software engineering shows that the most successful systems are not the ones that follow a fixed blueprint from the start, but those that evolve in response to real challenges as projects unfold.
Hybrid delivery models are born out of practical necessity when teams face complex and competing demands in software projects, and they improve over time as those teams adapt to real-world pressures.
The research offers reassurance that messiness and adjustment are not signs of failure, but normal features of working in complex environments.
The paper, titled The Pragmatics of Hybridity: A Grounded Theory of Method Integration in Software Engineering Projects , by Dr Godfried Adaba, Lecturer in Business Analytics at the University of East London, appears in the Journal of Systems and Software .
Dr Adaba built his theory by closely examining how organisations actually operate. Rather than starting with abstract models, Dr Adaba analysed observed practices to understand the conditions, decisions and constraints that shape hybrid delivery. The findings show that hybrid systems are contingent on context, shaped by organisational history, institutional pressures and practical necessity.
The research demonstrates that there is no single "correct" hybrid model. What works in one setting may fail in another, and effective hybrid systems often evolve through trial, adjustment, and ongoing negotiation. This helps explain why many hybrid arrangements feel uneven or improvised.
What the research adds
The study reframes hybrid delivery as a dynamic process rather than a fixed structure. It identifies the mechanisms through which organisations combine different methods, technologies, or institutional logics, and shows how these combinations shift over time as circumstances change. Hybrid systems are shown to be adaptive responses to complexity, not deviations from an ideal design.
Why this matters
For leaders, policymakers and senior professionals, the findings challenge the idea that hybrid delivery can be implemented through off-the-shelf frameworks. Instead, the research highlights the importance of understanding local conditions and allowing hybrid systems to develop iteratively.
Dr Adaba said, "Hybrid delivery systems are not clever masterplans. They are practical compromises people invent when reality refuses to behave neatly. Organisations adopt hybrid approaches because single methods no longer cope with the pressures they face. This research gives leaders a grounded way to understand, shape and govern hybrid systems based on how work actually happens, not how models say it should."
The study provides a new lens for understanding hybrid delivery across sectors including business, education and public services, offering a grounded explanation for why hybrid systems are now the norm rather than the exception.
