Essays on agility in software development teams: process and governance perspectives

Software project teams are often faced with the potential for changing requirements during software development. Such changes present a significant challenge to software project teams often resulting in cost overruns, missed deadlines, and faulty code. While the phenomenon of requirements changes by itself is not new, the frequency with which such changes occur has increased in recent years. Software project teams continue to be challenged by the uncertainty caused by the potential for such changes. Flexibility has been identified as a desirable characteristic of teams in this type of environment. This dissertation is made up of two essays that examine the processes and governance mechanisms that can potentially enable software project teams to achieve greater flexibility. The first essay provides a team process-oriented view of the problem. Specifically, agile programming practices and boundary spanning activities are argued to enhance software project team effectiveness by receiving customer feedback and incorporating requirements changes on an on-going basis. A longitudinal field study of 56 software development teams provides support for these arguments. The second essay adopts a team governance lens. Specifically, formal and informal control modes are posited to influence software project team effectiveness. Control mechanisms that promote team autonomy and flexibility are argued to positively influence software project team effectiveness. Further, team leader behaviors are also expected to play a critical role in facilitating software project team effectiveness. These arguments are tested and largely supported. Together, the two essays shed light on how software project teams can be designed to have greater flexibility---an important stepping stone for managing software development in the face of requirements uncertainty.

[1]  E. Mayo,et al.  The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization. , 1946 .

[2]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  Validating Instruments in MIS Research , 1989, MIS Q..

[3]  Larry Constantine,et al.  Constantine on Peopleware , 1995 .

[4]  Jill Smith Slater,et al.  SIM Paper Competition: The Application Software Factory: Applying Total Quality Techniques to Systems Development , 1991, MIS Q..

[5]  Kathleen M. Eisenhardt,et al.  Control: Organizational and Economic Approaches , 1985 .

[6]  Kathleen M. Eisenhardt,et al.  Making Fast Strategic Decisions In High-Velocity Environments , 1989 .

[7]  S. Schulz-Hardt,et al.  Productive conflict in group decision making: genuine and contrived dissent as strategies to counteract biased information seeking☆ , 2002 .

[8]  S. Kozlowski,et al.  Multilevel Theory, Research, a n d M e t h o d s i n Organizations Foundations, Extensions, and New Directions , 2022 .

[9]  Joyce J. Elam,et al.  Inside a software design team: knowledge acquisition, sharing, and integration , 1993, CACM.

[10]  Leta Letize,et al.  The Trend Toward an Empowered Workforce The Supervisor's Changing Role in High-Involvement Organizations , 1990 .

[11]  Jane V. Wheeler,et al.  MANAGING FROM THE BOUNDARY: THE EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP OF SELF-MANAGING WORK TEAMS. , 2001 .

[12]  J. Hackman,et al.  The design of work teams , 1987 .

[13]  Alistair Cockburn,et al.  Agile Software Development , 2001 .

[14]  Bill Curtis,et al.  Measuring the Psychological Complexity of Software Maintenance Tasks with the Halstead and McCabe Metrics , 1979, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.

[15]  Bradley L. Kirkman,et al.  The Impact of Team Empowerment on Virtual Team Performance: The Moderating Role of Face-to-Face Interaction , 2004 .

[16]  Blake Ives,et al.  User Involvement and MIS Success: A Review of Research , 1984 .

[17]  Gerald E. Ledford,et al.  A HIERARCHICAL CONSTRUCT OF SELF‐MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO QUALITY OF WORK LIFE AND PERCEIVED WORK GROUP EFFECTIVENESS , 1997 .

[18]  H. E. Tinsley,et al.  Uses of factor analysis in counseling psychology research. , 1987 .

[19]  H. P. Sims,et al.  Searching for the “Unleader”: Organizational Member Views on Leading Self-Managed Groups , 1984 .

[20]  M. Iansiti,et al.  Developing products on Internet time. , 1997, Harvard business review.

[21]  J. C. Henderson,et al.  Managing I/S Design Teams: A Control Theories Perspective , 1992 .

[22]  John T. Nosek,et al.  The case for collaborative programming , 1998, CACM.

[23]  S. Kozlowski,et al.  From Micro to Meso: Critical Steps in Conceptualizing and Conducting Multilevel Research , 2000 .

[24]  Henri Barki,et al.  Explaining the Role of User Participation in Information System Use , 1994 .

[25]  T. Das,et al.  Between Trust and Control: Developing Confidence in Partner Cooperation in Alliances , 1998 .

[26]  Jerry G. Gaff,et al.  The Distinctive College: Antioch, Reed, and Swarthmore. , 1972 .

[27]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[28]  Patricia J. Guinan,et al.  Enabling Software Development Team Performance During Requirements Definition: A Behavioral Versus Technical Approach , 1998, Inf. Syst. Res..

[29]  Claus W. Langfred,et al.  Effects of task autonomy on performance: an extended model considering motivational, informational, and structural mechanisms. , 2004, The Journal of applied psychology.

[30]  Gerald M. Weinberg,et al.  Psychology of computer programming , 1971 .

[31]  Ken A. Smith,et al.  Making Use of Difference: Diversity, Debate, and Decision Comprehensiveness in Top Management Teams , 1999 .

[32]  John E. Mathieu,et al.  A Temporally Based Framework and Taxonomy of Team Processes , 2001 .

[33]  W. Bennis,et al.  The Social Psychology of Organizations , 1966 .

[34]  Charles C. Manz,et al.  An Integrated Perspective of Self-Control in Organizations , 1987 .

[35]  P. M. Podsakoff,et al.  Self-Reports in Organizational Research: Problems and Prospects , 1986 .

[36]  T. Wall,et al.  Outcomes of Autonomous Workgroups: A Long-Term Field Experiment , 1986 .

[37]  G. Yukl.  Managerial Leadership: A Review of Theory and Research , 1989 .

[38]  Henri Barki,et al.  Interpersonal Conflict and Its Management in Information System Development , 2001, MIS Q..

[39]  Donald J. Reifer,et al.  Requirements Management: The Search for Nirvana , 2000 .

[40]  James E. Hunton,et al.  Effects of User Participation in Systems Development: A Longitudinal Field Experiment , 1997, MIS Q..

[41]  Kent L. Beck,et al.  Embracing Change with Extreme Programming , 1999, Computer.

[42]  Marco Iansiti,et al.  Special Issue on Design and Development: Developing Products on "Internet Time": The Anatomy of a Flexible Development Process , 2001, Manag. Sci..

[43]  Laurie A. Williams,et al.  All I really need to know about pair programming I learned in kindergarten , 2000, Commun. ACM.

[44]  William G. Ouchi,et al.  Markets, Bureaucracies, and Clans. , 1980 .

[45]  Paula L. Rechner,et al.  Experiential Effects of Dialectical Inquiry, Devil's Advocacy and Consensus Approaches to Strategic Decision Making , 1989 .

[46]  Charles C. Manz.  Self-Leading Work Teams: Moving Beyond Self-Management Myths , 1992 .

[47]  E. Lawler.  High-Involvement Management , 1986 .

[48]  D. Chan.  Functional Relations among Constructs in the Same Content Domain at Different Levels of Analysis: A Typology of Composition Models , 1998 .

[49]  Deborah G. . Ancona,et al.  Bridging the Boundary: External Activity and Performance in Organizational Teams. , 1992 .

[50]  T. G. Cummings.  Self-Regulating Work Groups: A Socio-Technical Synthesis , 1978 .

[51]  Russell L. Purvis,et al.  Controlling Information Systems Development Projects: The View from the Client , 2002, Manag. Sci..

[52]  L. Sproull,et al.  Coordinating Expertise in Software Development Teams , 2000 .

[53]  R. Coase.  The Nature of the Firm , 1937 .

[54]  C. Mills,et al.  The Theory of Social and Economic Organization , 1948 .

[55]  Paul E. Tesluk,et al.  Overcoming roadblocks to effectiveness: Incorporating management of performance barriers into models of work group effectiveness. , 1999 .

[56]  William L. Hays,et al.  Theory Testing in Organizational Behavior: The Varient Approach. , 1985 .

[57]  James A. Highsmith,et al.  Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative Approach to Managing Complex Systems , 1999 .

[58]  Shari Lawrence Pfleeger,et al.  Software Engineering: The Production of Quality Software , 1987 .

[59]  Robert A. Hargrove.  Mastering the Art of Creative Collaboration , 1997 .

[60]  Renée A. McCauley.  Agile development methods poised to upset status quo , 2001, SGCS.

[61]  R. Wageman.  Interdependence and Group Effectiveness , 1995 .

[62]  V. Govindarajan,et al.  Strategy, Control Systems, and Resource Sharing: Effects on Business-Unit Performance , 1990 .

[63]  Charles C. Manz,et al.  Preparing for an organizational change to employee self-management: The managerial transition , 1990 .

[64]  Frank Maurer,et al.  Extreme Programming: Rapid Development for Web-Based Applications , 2002, IEEE Internet Comput..

[65]  S. G. Cohen,et al.  What Makes Teams Work: Group Effectiveness Research from the Shop Floor to the Executive Suite , 1997 .

[66]  D. L. Gladstein.  Groups in context: A model of task group effectiveness. , 1984 .

[67]  Charles C. Manz,et al.  Leadership for Self-Managing Work Teams: A Typology and Integrative Model , 1995 .

[68]  C. Barnard.  The Functions of the Executive , 1939 .

[69]  Robert E. Kraut,et al.  Coordination in software development , 1995, CACM.

[70]  K. Beck,et al.  Extreme Programming Explained , 2002 .

[71]  R. Gonzalez.  Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences , 2003 .

[72]  Bev Littlewood,et al.  THE RISKS OF SOFTWARE , 1992 .

[73]  Mani R. Subramani,et al.  The Matrix of Control: Combining Process and Structure Approaches to Managing Software Development , 2003, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[74]  Sarma R. Nidumolu.  The Effect of Coordination and Uncertainty on Software Project Performance: Residual Performance Risk as an Intervening Variable , 1995, Inf. Syst. Res..

[75]  Henri Barki,et al.  Measuring User Participation, User Involvement, and User Attitude , 1994, MIS Q..

[76]  Bill Curtis,et al.  A field study of the software design process for large systems , 1988, CACM.

[77]  A Versteeg,et al.  Self-directed work teams yield long-term benefits. , 1990, The Journal of business strategy.

[78]  N. Vargo.  Empowering leadership. , 2000, Dermatology nursing.

[79]  Capers Jones.  Software quality - analysis and guidelines for success , 1997 .

[80]  K. Klein,et al.  Levels Issues in Theory Development, Data Collection, and Analysis , 1994 .

[81]  Richard A. Guzzo,et al.  Group performance and intergroup relations in organizations. , 1992 .

[82]  M. Tushman.  Special Boundary Roles in the Innovation Process. , 1977 .

[83]  Peter K. Mills,et al.  Self-Management: Its Control and Relationship to Other Organizational Properties , 1983 .

[84]  V. G. Ouchi,et al.  A conceptual framework for the design and organizational control mechanisms , 1979 .

[85]  Jennifer A. Chatman,et al.  THE INFLUENCE OF PROPORTIONAL AND PERCEPTUAL CONFLICT COMPOSITION ON TEAM PERFORMANCE , 2000 .

[86]  Bradley L. Kirkman,et al.  Beyond Self-Management: Antecedents and Consequences of Team Empowerment , 1999 .

[87]  A. Edmondson.  Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams , 1999 .

[88]  H. E. Dunsmore,et al.  Software engineering metrics and models , 1986 .

[89]  Charles J. Poole,et al.  Using Extreme Programming in a Maintenance Environment , 2001, IEEE Softw..

[90]  Cynthia Mathis Beath,et al.  The Contradictory Structure of Systems Development Methodologies: Deconstructing the IS-User Relationship in Information Engineering , 1994, Inf. Syst. Res..

[91]  Laurie J. Kirsch,et al.  Portfolios of Control Modes and IS Project Management , 1997, Inf. Syst. Res..

[92]  Mikio Aoyama,et al.  Web-Based Agile Software Development , 1998, IEEE Softw..

[93]  L. Kirsch.  The Management of Complex Tasks in Organizations: Controlling the Systems Development Process , 1996 .

[94]  Samar Mouakket,et al.  Varieties of Political Process During Systems Development , 1997, Inf. Syst. Res..

[95]  O. Williamson,et al.  Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications. , 1977 .

[96]  Adam D. Galinsky,et al.  The debiasing effect of counterfactual mind-sets: Increasing the search for disconfirmatory information in group decisions , 2003 .

[97]  Michael A. Cusumano,et al.  Software Development on Internet Time , 1999, Computer.

[98]  L. Bailyn.  Autonomy in the industrial R&D lab , 1985 .

[99]  Victor R. Basili,et al.  Models and metrics for software management and engineering , 1982 .

[100]  John Cordery,et al.  Attitudinal and Behavioral Effects of Autonomous Group Working: A Longitudinal Field Study , 1991 .