Social networks in software process improvement

Nielsen, Peter Axel; Tjørnehøj, Gitte

doi:10.1002/smr.452

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…We asked employees to fill graphical questionnaires (shown in Figure ) during their work days with information related to the communication and social interactions they experienced with their coworkers. In sociology, “a social interaction is a dynamic sequence of social actions between individuals (or groups) who modify their actions and reactions due to actions by their interaction partner(s).” We based the format of this questionnaire on that proposed by Nielsen et al For each interaction conducted by an employee, we asked him/her to fill out a row in the questionnaire with the following information: • Initials. Initials of the names of the 2 employees who interacted. • Communication data.…”

Section: Research Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In several studies on software development, SNA was used to generate insights into the structure, communication, and performance of teams, for example, to identify the relation between the social structure and performance of traditional software teams or to determine central individuals in a bug tracker system . Other examples of its use are to study the role of communication among the persons involved in the success and quality of software integration and to examine the influence of the social structure of the persons involved in a software process improvement initiative . In both rounds, we conducted the following activities to analyze the interaction data: We entered in an Excel datasheet the data we collected by means of the interaction logs and graphical questionnaires. General analysis .…”

Section: Research Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis of the changes in communication and social interactions during the transformation of a traditional team into an agile team

Espinosa-Curiel

Rodríguez-Jacobo

Vázquez-Alfaro

et al. 2018

J Software Evolu Process

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Traditional software teams that implement agile methodologies frequently experience difficulty working efficiently as agile teams. While agile methodologies support and promote social activities and behaviors, the understanding of the social phenomena and challenges that arise during the transformation of traditional teams into agile teams is limited. We conducted an extensive 10‐month case study in a software enterprise to analyze the changes in the communication and social interactions of employees during the transformation process, and to delineate the social challenges that arise during this process. Using social interaction registers, we collected data on the communication and social interactions of employees, first when they worked as a traditional team and then as an agile team. Then, we processed the data using social network analysis methods to identify the differences between these 2 types of teams and to create graphs of communication and social interaction networks. We identified that the transformation process influences formal, informal, oral, and written communication and increases conjunctive and disjunctive social interactions. Further, from the results of interviews conducted with all the enterprise members, we identified 5 social challenges to transforming a traditional team into an agile one. The results of this research suggest that the transformation process requires broad changes in the relationships and interactions among employees.

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Section: Research Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the changes in communication and social interactions during the transformation of a traditional team into an agile team

Espinosa-Curiel

Rodríguez-Jacobo

Vázquez-Alfaro

et al. 2018

J Software Evolu Process

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“…The perspective of knowledge management has been applied to information systems development over the last two decades, e.g., [31], [32], [33], [34], [35], [36], [37], and to explain the potential benefits of agile software development in particular [19] with several proponents of agile processes, e.g., [38] , suggesting that knowledge transfer within teams would be improved, e.g., [15], [16], [17], [39]. The initial framework is based on a literature review of the research on agile software development to identify how agile practices are transferred.…”

Section: Knowledge Transfer and Barriers In Agile Software Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agile Software Development and the Barriers to Transfer of Knowledge: An Interpretive Case Study

Heeager

Nielsen

2013

Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing

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Abstract. Agile practices to systems development are believed to depend largely on the developers' competences, experience and knowledge and to a lesser degree on formal development processes and methods. In this paper we investigate the knowledge transfer and barriers to the transfer of agile development practices in an interpretive case study. The case company is a pharmaceutical firm where we studied how they develop software and how they transfer their own experience. Based on the literature we develop an initial framework of barriers to knowledge transfer and apply it to interpret the case study. From this case study we are able to discuss the initial framework and extend it to a framework of knowledge transfer of agile practices. The framework provides a better understanding of the barriers to knowledge transfer of agile practices. The paper contributes with (1) an application of the framework to explain knowledge transfer and barriers, and (2) specifically explicate potential barriers hindering knowledge transfer of agile practices. This has implications for the implementation of agile development practices.Keywords: knowledge transfer, agile software development, barriers. IntroductionInformation systems development has for more than a decade been concerned with a change of approaches and perspectives towards more the more agile [1], [2] and the agile ideas, methods, and practices [3], [4]. The adoption of agile ideas by one team in a software company is only a first step in a more widespread diffusion and adoption where many teams in a company and even whole companies are applying agile approaches. In this paper we focus on the transfer of knowledge and experience with agile practice from one team in a company to another team in the same company. Inside organizations reside much unknown and untapped knowledge that can be helpful for the whole organization [5]. Identifying and transferring knowledge across boundaries in an organisation and between teams is a powerful mechanism for improving the productivity of an organization and create a significant competitive advantage [6]. The transfer of knowledge within organizations is however often laborious, time consuming and difficult [7], [8], [9]. In software development transferring experience from one project to another is especially difficult [10]. [17]. Few studies report on practical knowledge of agile approaches being transferred, e.g., [18] . It is clear that while knowledge transfer is desirable in agile software development it also meets barriers -some which are easily overcome and some which are inherently difficult [13], [19], [20]. Existing research, however, address knowledge transfer within agile software teams and not between teams.In this paper we therefore address how knowledge on agile practices is transferred from one development team to another and in particular the barriers to such knowledge transfer. We therefore pose the research question: Which barriers can prevent the transfer of knowledge of agile practices from one team to another?...

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“…There is a body of research that has reinforced the view that social networks (i.e. network of social interactions) can be considered as an important factor for investigating organizational issues, in particular when they are used for considering the structure and dynamics of a software development organization (Ohira et al, 2006;Nielsen and Tjornehoj, 2010). Furthermore, the ability for a software development organization to understand the factors that hinder productivity is essential in improving the competitive advantage for the business success (Chemuturi, 2009), where it is not possible to think about productivity regardless of social issues (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

AN APPROACH FOR IMPROVING THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS BY USING A GAME THEORETIC PERSPECTIVE - Towards a Theory of Social Productivity of Software Development Teams

Yılmaz¹,

O’Connor

2011

Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Software and Database Technologies

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Abstract:As software development is considered a form of knowledge based social activity, investigating social interactions and behaviors of individuals and teams constitutes a starting point for improving organizational performance and productivity. Therefore, a software development organization is regarded as a form of social network, which may be more efficiently structured based upon participants' skills, roles and capacities to exchange information. This paper aims to propose a research framework for modeling development activities in terms of social interrelationships. It investigates ways for improving the productivity of the software development process to several social issues (e.g. team formations, interpersonal conflicts, social loafing) that affect the group setting during the software development process. An industrial survey will be conducted to validate the proposed framework. This survey will be applied to three medium size software organizations; (i) to measure social aspects of productivity, (ii) to assess the effectiveness of our approach, (iii) and to improve the welfare of the software development organization. Semi-structured interviews with practitioners, and expert reviews with the managers will be used to evaluate the results. Ultimately, based on the principles of our game theoretical approach and collected data, we propose a research framework, which will benefit future research by drawing a road map that establishes a body of knowledge, specifically on software development teams and organizations.

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Social networks in software process improvement

Cited by 6 publications

References 33 publications

Analysis of the changes in communication and social interactions during the transformation of a traditional team into an agile team

Analysis of the changes in communication and social interactions during the transformation of a traditional team into an agile team

Agile Software Development and the Barriers to Transfer of Knowledge: An Interpretive Case Study

AN APPROACH FOR IMPROVING THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS BY USING A GAME THEORETIC PERSPECTIVE - Towards a Theory of Social Productivity of Software Development Teams

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