Relative importance of evaluation criteria for enterprise systems: a conjoint study

Abstract.  While a large body of research exists on the development and implementation of software, organizations are increasingly acquiring enterprise software packages [e.g. enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems] instead of custom developing their own software applications. To be competitive in the marketplace, software package development firms must manage the three-pronged trade-off between cost, quality and functionality. Surprisingly, prior research has made little attempt to investigate the characteristics of packaged software that influence management information system (MIS) managers' likelihood of recommending purchase. As a result, both the criteria by which MIS managers evaluate prospective packaged systems and the attributes that lead to commercially competitive ERP software products are poorly understood. This paper examines this understudied issue through a conjoint study. We focus on ERP systems, which are among the largest and most complex packaged systems that are purchased by organizations. In a conjoint study, 1008 evaluation decisions based on hypothetical ERP software package profiles were completed by managers in 126 organizations. The study represents the first empirical investigation of the relative importance that managers ascribe to various factors that are believed to be important in evaluating packaged software. The results provide important insights for both organizations that acquire such systems and those that develop them. The results show that functionality, reliability, cost, ease of use and ease of customization are judged to be important criteria, while ease of implementation and vendor reputation were not found to be significant. Functionality and reliability were found to be the most heavily weighted factors. We conclude the paper with a detailed discussion of the results and their implications for software acquisition and development practice.     

Packaged software: implications of the differences from custom approaches to software development

This paper contributes to the literature on software development in two ways. First, by discussing the packaged software domain relative to the more commonly studied custom information systems (IS) domain. Second, this paper presents our speculations on the implications of these differences between packaged and custom IS development. Regarding the first issue, while the two domains share many commonalities, the differences are also important to understand. To make this clear we discuss the differences at four levels: industry forces, approaches to software development, work culture and development team efforts. At each level, data from three case studies are used to illustrate the differences between the two domains. To develop our speculations, we contend that the differences between packaged software and the traditional, custom, approach to information systems development will be profound for five stakeholder groups: software development organizations, software development teams, software developers, software consumers and for researchers interested in software development.     

Effects of intra-group conflict on packaged software development team performance

Abstract. Data from 40 packaged software development teams are used to test a path model that relates three antecedents, the presence of intragroup conflict and the level of conflict management to software development team performance. Findings indicate that a combination of the team's characteristics, team member characteristics and existing levels of intragroup conflict accounts for nearly one-half of the variance between the best and worst-performing teams. Furthermore, the level of conflict management moderates the relationship between existing levels of intragroup conflict and performance. These results highlight both the complexity of the social processes of packaged software development and the value of this perspective for gaining insight on software development performance.     

Software assurance practices for mobile applications

Mobile software applications have to cope with a particular environment that involves small size, limited resources, high autonomy requirements, competitive business models and many other challenges. To provide development guidelines that respond to these needs, several practices have been introduced; however, it is not clear how these guidelines may contribute to solve the issues present in the mobile domain. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of the mobile ecosystem challenges many of the premises upon which the proposed practices were designed. In this paper, we present a survey of the literature on software assurance practices for mobile applications, with the objective of describing them and assessing their contribution and success. We identified, organized and reviewed a body of research that spans in three levels: software development processes, software product assurance practices, and software implementation practices. By carrying out this literature survey, we reviewed the different approaches that researchers on Software Engineering have provided to address the needs that raise in the mobile software development arena. Moreover, we review the evolution of these practices, identifying how the constant changes and modernization of the mobile execution environment has impacted the methods proposed in the literature. Finally, we introduced discussion on the application of these practices in a real productive setting, opening an area for further research that may determine if practitioners have followed the proposed assurance paradigms.     

An exploration of the relationship between software development process maturity and project performance

Software projects have a high rate of failure. Organizations have tried to reduce the rate through methodological approaches but with little perceived success. A model of software development maturity (the capability maturity model (CMM)) describes managerial processes that can be used to attack software development difficulties from the managerial control perspective at five maturity levels. Our study examined performance of projects in relation to the activities at these various levels of maturity. A survey of software engineers indicated that the activities associated with the managerial control of development related positively to project performance measures. However, not each level of maturity demonstrated observable benefits, indicating that greater caution is needed in the planning and implementation of the activities.     

The brave new world of design requirements

Despite its success over the last 30 years, the field of Requirements Engineering (RE) is still experiencing fundamental problems that indicate a need for a change of focus to better ground its research on issues underpinning current practices. We posit that these practices have changed significantly in recent years. To this end we explore changes in software system operational environments, targets, and the process of RE. Our explorations include a field study, as well as two workshops that brought together experts from academia and industry. We recognize that these changes influence the nature of central RE research questions. We identify four new principles that underlie contemporary requirements processes, namely: (1) intertwining of requirements with implementation and organizational contexts, (2) dynamic evolution of requirements, (3) emergence of architectures as a critical stabilizing force, and (4) need to recognize unprecedented levels of design complexity. We recommend a re-focus of RE research based on a review and analysis of these four principles, and identify several theoretical and practical implications that flow from this analysis.     

Structured modeling group support systems: a product design theory

Structured modeling is critical to the design, development, and implementation of many systems including computer software, business processes, and data networks. Since the creation of structured models relies on the knowledge of many organizational stakeholders, groups often accomplish this task. Group support systems (GSS) focus on the support of group processes and would appear to be useful for structured modeling; however, GSS usually only provide textual or decision related output rather than the structured models needed for many design processes. This paper proposes a class of systems, structured modeling GSS (smGSS), which adds support for the development of structured models to standard GSS. Since past research has shown that research results may be difficult to compare across studies when the system under investigation is not well defined, this paper develops a product design theory that defines the required characteristics of and testable design propositions for an smGSS as derived from existing theory and empirical investigations.     

Reflections on issues of power in packaged software selection

Abstract.  The adoption of packaged software is becoming increasingly common in a variety of organizations and much of the packaged software literature presents this as a straightforward, linear process based on rationalistic evaluation. This paper applies the framework of power relations developed by Markus and Bjørn-Andersen to a longitudinal study concerning the adoption of a customer relationship management package in a small organization. This is used to highlight both overt and covert power issues within the selection and procurement of the product and illustrate the interplay of power between senior management, information technology (IT) managers, IT vendors and consultants and end-users. The paper contributes to the growing body of literature on packaged software and also to our understanding of how power is deeply embedded within the surrounding processes.     

Requirement-oriented risk management for incremental software development

In incremental software development (ISD) functionalities are delivered incrementally and requirements keep on evolving across iterations. The requirements evolution involves the addition of new dependencies and conflicts among functional and non-functional requirements along with changes in priorities and dependency weights. This, in turn, demands refactoring the order of development of system components to minimize the impact of these changes. Neglecting the non-functional constraints in the software development process exposes it to risks that may accumulate across several iterations. In this research work, we propose a risk management framework for ISD processes that provides an estimate of risk exposure for the project when functional features are frozen while ignoring the associations with non-functional requirements. Our framework proposes suitable risk reduction strategies that work in tandem with the risk assessment module. We also provide a tool interface for our risk management framework.

     

Deciding to upgrade packaged software: a comparative case study of motives,contingencies and dependencies

Packaged software is widely adopted and has become an integral part of most organizations’ IT portfolios. Once packaged software is adopted, upgrades to subsequent versions appear to be inevitable. To date, research on packaged software has not paid attention to the upgrade decision process. To explore this area, we studied cases of upgrades to two widely used packaged software products (SAP and Windows) in a multi-billion dollar division of a Fortune 500 company. From an analysis of the cases, we induced a theoretical model explaining the influences affecting the decisions to upgrade. Our model suggests that upgrade decisions are the outcome of interaction between motivating forces that can originate from internal and external environments, and contingency forces. Business need was found to be one of the key internal requirements, along with organizational risk mitigation policies. Organizational reliance on packaged software also creates dependence on vendors that gives them influence over the organization's upgrade decision. The decision to upgrade is also contingent on the availability of internal resources. Although scarcity of internal resources can postpone an upgrade when the need to upgrade is deferrable, organizations will prioritize internal resources when the upgrade is deemed necessary.     

Einsatz der Informationsmodellierung bei der Einführung betrieblicher Standardsoftware

Information models are an established instrument to handle the complexity of information systems. In addition to software development and business process management the implementation of packaged software is one of the major application domains of information models. This contribution investigates through an explorative study, how information models are currently used in the context of packaged software implementation. Object of investigation is the implementation of billing software within utility companies. The study indicates that most companies of the sample applied information models within their implementation projects. Process and data models are more common than other models. However, only a minor part of the companies used dedicated modeling tools for the development and management of the models. The major application domain of information models was the configuration of the software, whereas model based software selection was from subordinate interest. The majority of companies who have applied information models will do this in future projects again     

RE challenges in multi-site software development organisations

The increasing globalisation of the software industry demands an investigation of requirements engineering (RE) in multi-site software development organisations. Requirements engineering is a task difficult enough when done locally—but it is even more difficult when cross-functional stakeholder groups specify requirements across cultural, language and time zone boundaries. This paper reports on a field study that investigated RE challenges introduced by the stakeholders' geographical distribution in a multi-site organisation. The goal was to examine RE practices in global software development, and to formulate recommendations for improvement as well as to provide directions for future research on methods and tools. Based on the empirical evidence, we have constructed a model of how remote communication and knowledge management, cultural diversity and time differences negatively impact requirements gathering, negotiations and specifications. Findings reveal that aspects such as a lack of a common understanding of requirements, together with a reduced awareness of a working local context, a trust level and an ability to share work artefacts significantly challenge the effective collaboration of remote stakeholders in negotiating a set of requirements that satisfies geographically distributed customers. The paper concludes with recommendations for improving RE practices in this setting.

Going outside for MIS implementation

Smaller businesses have limited experience with information systems and limited resources to spend on new developments. To overcome these limitations, they have begun using outside consultants and packaged software. This article proposes a strategy for MIS implementation based on the use of outside expertise. This strategy is directed at helping small businesses achieve effective and productive MIS in a fairly short time.One firm's successful implementation of this strategy is used for discussion. This firm leveled their administrative workforce while continuing their significant increases in sales. Their information system was put in on time and within budget. It is being used by managers and clerks from all functions within the company.     

Software Effort, Quality, and Cycle Time: A Study of CMM Level 5 Projects

The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) has become a popular methodology for improving software development processes with the goal of developing high-quality software within budget and planned cycle time. Prior research literature, while not exclusively focusing on CMM level 5 projects, has identified a host of factors as determinants of software development effort, quality, and cycle time. In this study, we focus exclusively on CMM level 5 projects from multiple organizations to study the impacts of highly mature processes on effort, quality, and cycle time. Using a linear regression model based on data collected from 37 CMM level 5 projects of four organizations, we find that high levels of process maturity, as indicated by CMM level 5 rating, reduce the effects of most factors that were previously believed to impact software development effort, quality, and cycle time. The only factor found to be significant in determining effort, cycle time, and quality was software size. On the average, the developed models predicted effort and cycle time around 12 percent and defects to about 49 percent of the actuals, across organizations. Overall, the results in this paper indicate that some of the biggest rewards from high levels of process maturity come from the reduction in variance of software development outcomes that were caused by factors other than software size     

Investigating the Effect of Software Packaging on Modular Structure Stability

In object-oriented development, packages form the basic modular structural components of large-scale software systems. Packaging processes aim to group classes together to provide well-identified functions/services to the rest of the system. In this context, it is widely believed that packaging quality has an influence on the software stability so that it should be useful predictors for modular structural stability. In this paper, we investigate the effect of packaging configurations on the modular structure stability of object-oriented systems. Using genetic algorithms, we conducted a series of experiments to find the relation between the packaging quality and modular structure stability. We conducted experiments on open source systems using an automatic packaging approach recently proposed by the authors. Results show that the stability of releases automatically packaged using that approach was better or at least comparable to those of the corresponding original releases manually packaged by the software developers. Moreover, the different parameters settings of the genetic algorithms used in our experiments play an important role to improve the overall quality. The experimental results suggest that the considered packaging approach is useful for practitioners to develop architecturally stable software systems.     

Modeling the planning process in advanced planning systems

Whereas much of the modeling literature in supply chain planning addresses the analysis of decision models and presents solution techniques and much of the empirical literature on planning systems such as ERP and APS software addresses implementation challenges from an organizational perspective, research on the modeling process of capturing the planning process in planning software is very scarce. In this paper, we examine this modeling process. Our approach is based on a normative method for hierarchical planning and presents a case study where this modeling process was used. We analyze the process, relate it to the literature on modeling, and demonstrate the value of the theory in explaining major observations. We conclude that the hierarchical premise on which most planning processes are based is very difficult to capture in an advanced planning system, and find that users and organizations essentially circumvent this problem by creating their own workflows, independent of the system’s prescribed one.     

Software framework concept with visual programming and digital twin for intuitive process creation with multiple robotic systems

With the progressive digitalization in industrial manufacturing, the usage of complex robotic systems in both intralogistics and production is expected to increase. This proposes a challenge for planners and shop floor workers, as programming and interacting with these various systems leads to a high cognitive load. Especially the broad range of different manufacturer specific software leads to a number of problems, e.g. the program-synchronization between different systems and the often necessary workshops for workers. These problems can lead to inefficient programming and planning operations, bad worker satisfaction and human errors. In this paper, we present a modular, system agnostic and human centered software framework that unifies the programming of different systems, to enable centralized and intuitive system programming for non-expert operators. Our software framework utilizes visual programming concepts together with an integrated digital twin of the factory and a novel graph-based programming interface. We explain our concept in detail and describe our validation through integration into a realistic industrial setup with three different systems. In addition, we provide an evaluation of our concept's usability with an experimental user study and discuss the results of the study and the software implementation. Our study results show that even non-technical users are able to use our software after a brief introduction to create complex processes that involve multiple machines working in parallel. All users reported high usability and expert users reported that the visual process editor has enough features to create processes for industrial applications. Finally, we conclude this paper by providing an outlook on future work and use-cases of our software.     

Building contextual ambidexterity in a software company to improve firm-level coordination

Software organizations increasingly face contradictory strategic choices as they develop customized and packaged solutions for the market. They need to improve efficiency of development processes while at the same time adapting to emerging customer needs; they need to exploit software products in relation to existing customers while simultaneously exploring new technology and market opportunities; and, they need to consider both incremental and radical innovations. While the integration of such opposing strategies requires software organizations to become ambidextrous, there is limited actionable advice on how managers can develop such capability. Against this backdrop, we report from a two-year action research study into a small software firm, TelSoft. Based on Pettigrew's contextualist inquiry, we develop a framework that integrates existing theory on contextual ambidexterity with a generic process for improving software organizations, and we apply this framework to analyze how TelSoft improved its coordination of products, projects, and innovation efforts. As a result, we offer principles for how software managers can build ambidextrous capability to improve firm-level coordination.     

Comparison of multi-criteria decision analytical software for supporting environmental planning processes

In this paper, we analyze 23 multi-criteria decision analysis software tools in terms of their applicability to support environmental planning processes. Our aim is to survey what kind of software is available, and compare the features they provide to meet the characteristics of environmental problems. Our focus is on useful or innovative features of the software from the viewpoint of supporting practitioners to systematically analyze and compare alternatives in environmental planning. The results can be utilized for selecting the most suitable software for supporting the needs of the environmental cases, but also for identifying good practices and innovative implementation solutions for software development.