Software Process Diversity: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Analysis of Impact on Project Performance

Abstract

We investigate software process diversity, defined as the project condition arising out of the simultaneous use of multiple software development process frameworks within a single project. We analyze the antecedents and consequences of software process diversity and examine the relationship among software process diversity, organizational process compliance, and software project performance. Our conceptualization characterizes software process diversity as the response of a project team to contingencies such as requirements volatility, design and technological novelty, and the level of customer involvement in the project. We empirically tested this conceptualization utilizing a discovery-oriented approach and data collected from 410 large commercial software projects. Results show that higher levels of requirements volatility, design and technological novelty, and customer involvement increased software process diversity within a project. However, software process diversity within a project decreased with an increase in the level of process compliance enforced on the project. We also found that a higher degree of fit (or match) between process diversity and process compliance, rather than those mechanisms independently, was significantly associated with an increase in project productivity and quality. These results indicate that increasing software process diversity in response to project-level contingencies improves project performance only when there is a concomitant increase in organizational process compliance efforts. We discuss the implications of these results for research and derive prescriptive guidelines to manage the fit between process diversity and process compliance for achieving better software project performance.

Coordination Challenges in Large-Scale Software Development: A Case Study of Planning Misalignment in Hybrid Settings

“…Despite its promising potential, the introduction of any agile elements into traditional structured methodologies incurs major costs for reconciliation and may in fact demand for entirely new forms of development project control [13], [14]. Particularly interdependencies between many, possibly even geographically distributed, teams of software developers demand for carefully coordinated action across teams [15], [16].…”

Information Elaboration and Coopetition: Participation in the Replacement of Legacy Systems

“…Development outcomes focus on system design and software quality [70]. We consider system design quality due to its presence earlier in the life of a system and due to its predictive properties for implementation success [13], [71].…”

“…It also most immediately reflects participation in the design process. System design quality is improved by decision-making activities that work toward a design incorporating diverse requirements under limited resources [70], [71]. System design features serve to clarify requirements and lend credibility to the design via diverse and functional knowledge held within the team [13].…”

“…System design features serve to clarify requirements and lend credibility to the design via diverse and functional knowledge held within the team [13]. A quality system design leads to a system that satisfactorily delivers the functionality required for business needs [70], [71].…”

Agile Project Management and Emotional Exhaustion: A Moderated Mediation Process

“…Once agile project management is adopted in the organization, agile methods become part of the portfolio of different methods that can be used by the project team sequentially, selectively, or in combination. Consequently, project management does not focus exclusively on agile or plan-driven approaches (Ramasubbu et al, 2015; Ramesh et al, 2012). Thus, the extent of agile project management has been conceptualized as the frequency and intensity with which the project team uses agile methods in a project.…”