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Article
Publication date: 11 April 2023

Shekhar Rathor, Weidong Xia and Dinesh Batra

Agile principles have been widely used in software development team practice since the creation of the Agile Manifesto. Studies have examined variables related to agile principles…

Abstract

Purpose

Agile principles have been widely used in software development team practice since the creation of the Agile Manifesto. Studies have examined variables related to agile principles without systematically considering the relationships among key team, agile methodology, and process variables underlying the agile principles and how these variables jointly influence the achievement of software development agility. In this study, the authors tested a team/methodology–process–agility model that links team variables (team autonomy and team competence) and methodological variable (iterative development) to process variables (communication and collaborative decision-making), which are in turn linked to software development agility (ability to sense, respond and learn).

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data from one hundred and sixty software development professionals were analyzed using structural equation modeling methods.

Findings

The results support the team/methodology–process–agility model. Process variables (communication and collaborative decision-making) mediated the effects of team (autonomy and competence) and methodological (iterative development) variables on software development agility. In addition, team, methodology and process variables had different effects on the three dimensions of software development agility.

Originality/value

The results contribute to the literature on organizational IT management by establishing a team/methodology–process–agility model that can serve as a basis for developing a core theoretical foundation underlying agile principles and practices. The results also have practical implications for organizations in understanding and managing holistically the different roles that agile methodological, team and process factors play in achieving software development agility.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 October 2022

Chaitanya Arun Sathe and Chetan Panse

The objective of the study is to analyze the impact of the adoption of the Agile Mindset on the productivity of Agile software development teams in IT enterprises during COVID-19.

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of the study is to analyze the impact of the adoption of the Agile Mindset on the productivity of Agile software development teams in IT enterprises during COVID-19.

Design/methodology/approach

A web-based survey is performed with voluntary participants working with the Agile software development professionals with a specific focus on IT enterprises around Pune, India. For this the initial exploratory literature review was performed, to explore the team's behaviors and their response to the crises like the Covid-19 pandemic. Data is collected from the targeted population using the random sampling method. A questionnaire is designed with the help of a five-point Likert scale. All the respondents were analyzed based on their behaviors shown and how adopting to Agile mindset has impacted their productivity during the pandemic. Collected data would be then analyzed using the Smart PLS-SEM methodology.

Findings

Findings of the study show that Agile software development teams adopting to Agile mindset are better at responding to crisis and quick to adapt to change as teams adopting the Agile mindset is likely to sustain or even improve their productivity during the crises like Covid-19 pandemic. Adapting to an Agile mindset is important for Agile software development teams during a crisis as a response to changes in the working as well as environmental conditions. This study also shows that by adopting an Agile mindset, development teams are better at responding to the crisis eventually improving productivity.

Research limitations/implications

Research limitations for this study-scope of the study could be extended to the larger population across geographies to have improved insights Productivity Factors like- Efforts Efficiency, Backlog-management Index (BMI), and Weighted Average Productivity (VWP) for team members can be included. More behavioral factors for Agile Mindset can be considered.

Practical implications

Agile software development teams are characterized by collaboration and responsibility. Recent enforcement of pandemic precautionary measures has enforced Agile software development teams to work remotely and maintain social distancing while in the office. It was challenging for most of the working people to adjust to the new working conditions (Yang et al., 2021) However, in IT organizations, adopting the Agile mindset has ensured continuous software deliveries, took ownership, and quickly adapted to the volatile situations, ultimately resulting into the growth in the productivity unlike to that of other sectors of the economy.

Social implications

In this study, we have analyzed the hypotheses with statistical significance in association with constructs that are in sync with the available literature. Adopting the Agile mindset values has positively impacted the team's behavior resulting in productivity improvement even in the distributed working locations in pandemic situations.

Originality/value

The study highlights that adopting to Agile mindset has positively impacted an Agile software development team's productivity during the Covid-19 pandemic. As environmental conditions during Covid-19 were uncertain and ambiguous and teams were working in distributed and disconnected ways, many researchers have believed that it would have affected the overall productivity. This was turned true for most of the sectors of the economy, however, Agile software development teams have shown positive trends in their productivity, as they have adopted the Agile mindset values and principles, during crises.

Details

Journal of Advances in Management Research, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0972-7981

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2023

Debasisha Mishra

This study aims to develop a model for coordination and communication overhead in distributed software development through case study analysis in the Indian outsourcing software

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop a model for coordination and communication overhead in distributed software development through case study analysis in the Indian outsourcing software industry. The model is based on business knowledge, which can be classified as domain, regulatory, strategic, business process and operation process knowledge as per existing literature.

Design/methodology/approach

Double case study method was used to verify an existing knowledge–management framework of software development from the literature. The stakeholders of both the cases were interviewed, and project documents were verified to reach conclusions.

Findings

The findings supported the business knowledge classification from the literature. The concept can be used to analyze the software project in a distributed environment.

Research limitations/implications

The research work findings are based only on two case studies. The study findings cannot be generalized and should be used as a learning tool. There can be large variations of project characteristics with differences in business knowledge requirements. The research shows the importance of business knowledge transfer in global software development.

Practical implications

Projects managers in the distributed software development environment can use the findings in project planning and work allocation for better control over cost and schedule, etc.

Originality/value

There is little research works attempted to study the business knowledge classification in the global software industry making the research novel.

Details

VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5891

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2016

Debasisha Mishra and Biswajit Mahanty

The purpose of this paper is to find good values of onsite-offshore team strength; number of hours of communication between business users and onsite team and between onsite and…

1558

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find good values of onsite-offshore team strength; number of hours of communication between business users and onsite team and between onsite and offshore team so as to reduce project cost and improve schedule in a global software development (GSD) environment for software development project.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs system dynamics simulation approach to study software project characteristics in both co-located and distributed development environments. The authors consulted 14 experts from Indian software outsourcing industry during our model construction and validation.

Findings

The study results show that there is a drop in overall team productivity in outsourcing environment by considering the offshore options. But the project cost can be reduced by employing the offshore team for coding and testing work only with minimal training for imparting business knowledge. The research results show that there is a potential to save project cost by being flexible in project schedule.

Research limitations/implications

The implication of the study is that the project management team should be careful not to keep high percentage of manpower at offshore location in distributed software environment. A large offshore team can increase project cost and schedule due to higher training overhead, lower productivity and higher error proneness. In GSD, the management effort should be to keep requirement analysis and design work at onsite location and involves the offshore team in coding and testing work.

Practical implications

The software project manager can use the model results to divide the software team between onsite and offshore location during various phases of software development in distributed environment.

Originality/value

The study is novel as there is little attempt at finding the team distribution between onsite and offshore location in GSD environment.

Details

Journal of Enterprise Information Management, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0398

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 March 2012

Manjari Maheshwari, Uma Kumar and Vinod Kumar

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of alignment at the team level. Because teams are important in software development projects, the paper focuses on…

1101

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of alignment at the team level. Because teams are important in software development projects, the paper focuses on studying the influence of alignment between the social and technical capabilities on software development team performance. Drawing on socio‐technical theory and software product development literature, the paper aims to identify social and technical capabilities for software development teams.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data from 192 software development teams were analyzed. The profile deviation approach was used to calculate alignment.

Findings

The findings suggest that misalignment between capabilities negatively impacts product and process performance.

Research limitations/implications

The study provides an intellectually coherent view in studying software development team performance. The study contributes to the literature by assessing alignment needs at the team level.

Practical implications

The study provides a holistic view for studying team capabilities and guides software development team leaders and managers to consider both the social and technical aspects in assessing team performance.

Originality/value

Alignment or misalignment is mostly studied in the literature from a macro level/organizational perspective. There exists a gap in the literature for studying alignment at more granular levels such as between various business sub‐units or within teams. The study addresses the gap by studying alignment within teams.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 18 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 June 2011

Goparaju Purna Sudhakar, Ayesha Farooq and Sanghamitra Patnaik

The purpose of this paper is to classify the factors affecting the performance of software development teams and stress the soft (non‐technical) factors affecting the performance…

5268

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to classify the factors affecting the performance of software development teams and stress the soft (non‐technical) factors affecting the performance of software development teams.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on the thorough secondary research and literature review of the past empirical studies published in reputed journals. The methodology followed is the secondary research based on extensive literature review of empirical studies done and analysis of the findings of those studies and categorization of the factors affecting the software development team performance. Literature review and analysis were carried out between March 2010 and March 2011.

Findings

It was found that the soft factors such as team climate, team diversity, team innovation, team member competencies and characteristics, top management support and team leader behavior, have an effect on software development team performance. Mutual trust and communication effectiveness are found to be the prioritized factors affecting the software development team performance.

Research limitations/implications

The conclusions made are based on the past empirical studies found in the literature. A primary research can be done by taking these soft factors into consideration and implications or observations can be found on the software development team's performance.

Originality/value

The original contribution of this paper is the classification of factors affecting the performance of software development teams. This contribution also highlights the soft factors such as team climate, which was not discussed much in the literature. It also highlights trust and communication, for example, as leading factors affecting the software development team performance.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1998

Line Dubé

Packaged software companies evolve in an environment characterized by ever‐shorter product life cycles and ever‐increasing competition. Reaching the marketplace first is often the…

1801

Abstract

Packaged software companies evolve in an environment characterized by ever‐shorter product life cycles and ever‐increasing competition. Reaching the marketplace first is often the way to gain a competitive advantage. This situation leads many packaged software organizations to change both their (often sequential) software development processes and rely on (often cross‐functional) teams. Reports on the software development practices of Software Corp., an organization developing software products for the travel industry, which experimented with several different approaches and finally implemented cross‐functional development teams. Data presented show that changes in the software development process deeply affect many aspects of the organization. The conclusions emphasize the importance of considering the work culture and organizational history when implementing a new software development method and highlight the importance of clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of all groups involved and the necessity to modify the company’s performance‐appraisal system to promote and support the new organizational objectives embodied in the changes in software development methods.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1998

Erran Carmel and Steve Sawyer

Discusses the characteristics of packaged software versus information systems (IS) development environments that capture the differences between the teams that develop software in…

1958

Abstract

Discusses the characteristics of packaged software versus information systems (IS) development environments that capture the differences between the teams that develop software in these respective industries. The analysis spans four levels: the industry, the dynamics of software development, the cultural milieu, and the teams themselves. Finds that, relative to IS: the packaged software industry is characterized by intense time pressures, less attention to costs, and different measures of success; the packaged software development environment is characterized by being a “line” rather than “staff” unit, having a greater distance from the actual users/customers, a less mature development process; the packaged software cultural milieu is characterized as individualistic and entrepreneurial; the packaged software team is characterized as less likely to be matrix managed and being smaller, more co‐located, with a greater shared vision.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2001

Jo Hanisch, Theerasak Thanasankit and Brian Corbitt

Requirements engineering is a crucial phase in software development. Software development in a virtual domain adds another dimension to the process of requirements engineering…

Abstract

Requirements engineering is a crucial phase in software development. Software development in a virtual domain adds another dimension to the process of requirements engineering. There has been growing interest in virtual teams, and more specifically in virtual software development. While structured software development methods are the obvious first choice for project managers to ensure a virtual software development team remains on track, the social and cultural aspects of requirements engineering cannot be ignored. These social aspects are especially important across different cultures, and have been shown to affect the success of an information system. The discussion in this paper is centred around the requirements engineering processes of a virtual team in a Thai Software House. This paper explains the issues and challenges of requirements engineering in a virtual domain from a social and cultural perspective. Project managers need to encourage a balance between structured methods and social aspects in requirements engineering for virtual team members. Cultural and social aspects influence the relationship between the virtual team and the client.

Details

Journal of Systems and Information Technology, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1328-7265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2014

Debasisha Mishra and Biswajit Mahanty

The aim of this paper is to make an attempt to find good values of onsite–offshore team strength; number of hours of communication between business users and onsite team and…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to make an attempt to find good values of onsite–offshore team strength; number of hours of communication between business users and onsite team and between onsite and offshore team to reduce cost and improve schedule for re-engineering projects in global software development environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The system dynamics technique is used for simulation model construction and policy run experimentation. The experts from Indian software outsourcing industry were consulted for model construction, validation and analysis of policy run results in both co-located and distributed software development environment.

Findings

The study results show that there is a drop in the overall team productivity in outsourcing environment by considering the offshore options. But the project cost can be reduced by employing the offshore team for coding and testing work only with minimal training for imparting business knowledge. The research results show that there is a potential to save project cost by being flexible in project schedule.

Research limitations/implications

The study found that there could be substantial cost saving for re-engineering projects with a loss of project schedule when an appropriate onsite–offshore combination is used. The quality and productivity drop, however, were rather small for such combinations. The cost savings are high when re-engineering work is sent to offshore location entirely after completion of requirement analysis work at onsite location and providing training to offshore team in business knowledge The research findings show that there is potential to make large cost savings by being flexible in project schedule for re-engineering projects.

Practical implications

The software project manager can use the model results to divide the software team between onsite and offshore location during various phases of software development in distributed environment.

Originality/value

The study is novel as there is little attempt at finding the team distribution between onsite and offshore location in global software development environment.

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