Blending Scrum practices and CMMI project management process areas

Software development organizations that have been employing capability maturity models, such as SW-CMM or CMMI for improving their processes are now increasingly interested in the possibility of adopting agile development methods. In the context of project management, what can we say about Scrum’s alignment with CMMI? The aim of our paper is to present the mapping between CMMI and the agile method Scrum, showing major gaps between them and identifying how organizations are adopting complementary practices in their projects to make these two approaches more compliant. This is useful for organizations that have a plan-driven process based on the CMMI model and are planning to improve the agility of processes or to help organizations to define a new project management framework based on both CMMI and Scrum practices.     

Current state and potential of variability management practices in software-intensive SMEs: Results from a regional industrial survey

ContextMore and more, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are using software to augment the functionality of their products and offerings. Variability management of software is becoming an interesting topic for SMEs with expanding portfolios and increasingly complex product structures. While the use of software product lines to resolve high variability is well known in larger organizations, there is less known about the practices in SMEs.ObjectiveThis paper presents results from a survey of software developing SMEs. The purpose of the paper is to provide a snapshot of the current awareness and practices of variability modeling in organizations that are developing software with the constraints present in SMEs.MethodA survey with questions regarding the variability practices was distributed to software developing organizations in a region of Sweden that has many SMEs. The response rate was 13% and 25 responses are used in this analysis.ResultsWe find that, although there are SMEs that develop implicit software product lines and have relatively sophisticated variability structures for their solution space, the structures of the problem space and the product space have room for improvement.ConclusionsThe answers in the survey indicate that SMEs are in situations where they can benefit from more structured variability management, but the awareness need to be raised. Even though the problem space similarity is high, there is little reuse and traceability activities performed. The existence of SMEs with qualified variability management and product line practices indicates that small organizations are capable to apply such practices.     

Conditions affecting chargeback effectiveness

A continuing problem of electronic data processing is allocating computer services so that management personnel use them more effectively. A frequent approach is a chargeback system whereby users are charged for data processing services. Data obtained from questionnaire responses indicate significant relationships between organization characteristics, data processing variables and management practices supporting chargeback systems. The focus of the analysis is intended to determine, empirically, the mix of management practices which lead to user awareness of computer applications and their costs and ultimately, improve data processing resource allocations in complex organizations.     

Application of knowledge management in production management

Knowledge Management (KM) addresses the critical issues of organizational adoption, survival, and competence in the face of an increasingly changing environment. Knowledge management embodies organizational processes that seek a synergistic combination of the data and information processing capabilities of information and communication technologies (ICT), and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings. Knowledge is rapidly becoming the most important asset of virtually all organizations. Manufacturing is no exception. The ability to manage and exploit knowledge will be the main source of competitive advantage for the manufacturing industry of the future. In that role, knowledge management will improve production management and avoid or minimize losses and weakness that usually come from poor performance as well as increase the competitive level of the company and its ability to survive in the global marketplace. In this article, we are concerned with the improvement of production management theory, in the manufacturing context, through the application of some core principles. The best production practices worldwide have a common core. The cores principles investigated are the reduction of cycle time, reduction of variability, increase in transparency, and build of continuous improvement into the process. The fundamental rationale underlying these principles is the concept of flow, where production is seen as composed of waiting, transporting, inspecting, and transformation (processing) activities. According to this concept, transformation activities are the only ones that actually add value. Hence, all other activities should be reduced or eliminated from the flow while increasing the efficiency of transformation activities. We develop a knowledge management perspective in production management appropriate for the manufacturing industry. It is anticipated to serve as a foundation for wider applications of knowledge management in other sectors of the manufacturing industry. We also argue for more than simply gathering data to be utilized and managed in the form of tacit and explicit knowledge. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 15: 249–257, 2005.     

Tool support for disseminating and improving development practices

Knowledge management in software engineering and software process improvement activities pose challenges as initiatives are deployed. Most existing approaches are either too expensive to deploy or do not take an organization’s specific needs into consideration. There is thus a need for scalable improvement approaches that leverage knowledge already residing in the organizations. This paper presents tool support for an Experience Factory approach for disseminating and improving practices used in an organization. Experiences from using practices in development projects are captured in postmortems and provide iteratively improved decision support for identifying what practices work well and what needs improvement. An initial evaluation of using the tool for organizational improvement has been performed utilizing both academia and industry. The results from the evaluation indicate that organizational characteristics influence how practices and experiences can be used. Experiences collected in postmortems are estimated to have little effect on improvements to practices used throughout the organization. However, in organizations where different practices are used in different parts of the organization, making practices available together with experiences from use, as well as having context information, can influence decisions on what practices to use in projects.     

Information Resource Management: Is it sensible and can it work?

Information Resource Management, or IRM, is founded on the assumptions that organizations are systems amenable to systematic control, and that information is a resource that can be managed in economically efficient ways. The management techniques embodied under the IRM rubric are said to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of information management in organizations. These assumptions are questioned. Systems approaches to organizations have proven inadequate in most instances where they have been tried, and there is little reason to believe the IRM approach will be different. Information is not a resource in the conventional sense of the term, and economic techniques for dealing with information as a resource are lacking. Implementation of IRM suffers from ambiguities about what it is supposed to accomplish, the breadth of its intentions, and the practical constraints of implementing top-down reforms in complex organizations. The broad vision of IRM is useful for articulating goals for information management, but the efficacy of IRM as an organizing framework for actual management of information practices is limited.     

SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT AND COST ESTIMATING

Systems development cost estimating is a critical challenge for most IS managers. Inaccurate low estimates result in overruns and can reduce senior management's confidence in IS. Inaccurate high estimates can dissuade corporate management from funding worthwhile IS projects. If cost estimates are entered into a corporate budget, management may be even more concerned about them. The cost-estimating practices in effect at 115 organizations were studied to determine why cost estimating remains such a challenge for IS managers and to devise some guidelines to help IS management arrive at more accurate estimates.     

Software stories: three cultural perspectives on the organizational practices of software development

Postindustrial organizations have come to depend upon the steady production and modification of software products to meet their competitive needs. This study reports insights into software development practices that were revealed through a cultural interpretation of organizational stories told by members of SWC, a company engaged in software development. Through interviews with 38 members of SWC, 83 stories were extracted and analyzed to identify their main themes. By grouping these content themes, we produced nine broader cultural themes that represented the organization's cultural context. Two management practices applied in SWC—development team organization and outsourcing—were subjected to an analysis in which cultural themes were interpreted from each of three perspectives proposed by Martin, J. [(1992) Cultures in Organisations; Three Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press]: integration, differentiation, and fragmentation.The interpretation provides a rich reading of SWC's cultural context. Despite management attempts to develop a unified culture based on collaboration and communication among development groups, the team approach to software development was problematic. Imposing teamwork upon groups that manifested distinct subcultural differences disturbed the work life of group members, and the change was only partially successful. SWC's management also sought survival and tighter strategic focus through an outsourcing arrangement. However, our interpretation identified significant difficulties created by the partnership between two organizations with very different cultures. The presence of the outsourcing partner also brought greater uncertainty and ambiguity because work priorities and practices were subject to constant renegotiation. Members from both organizations dealt with contradictions between their previous norms, values and work practices and those required by the new relationship.Overall, our analysis demonstrates the importance of understanding the cultural foundation of management practices used in software development. These practices evoke interpretations from members of a culture, who collectively redefine what might have been intended. A cultural analysis may prepare management to move more gradually or to introduce special approaches to managing change.     

Is Information Security Under Control?: Investigating Quality in Information Security Management

Over the past decade, organizations have sought to become more efficient and productive by adopting information and communication technologies. Organizations are consequently more aware of information security risks and the need to take appropriate action. Previous studies of organizations' use of information security controls have focused on the presence or absence of controls, rather than their quality. We designed and conducted a survey as an initial step toward meeting this challenge. To do this, we benchmarked how organizations manage information security by implementating various controls. Although security surveys are nothing new, our method aims to uncover specific details of control implementation and focus on implementation quality. With a more precise understanding of current practices, information security management can begin to properly pursue effective strategies to improve quality and lower risk     

Best practice fusion of CMMI-DEV v1.2 (PP,PMC, SAM) and PMBOK 2008

ContextThe establishment of effective and efficient project management practices still remains a challenge to software organizations. In striving to address these needs, “best practice” models, such as, CMMI or PMBOK, are being developed to assist organizations interested in improving project management. And, although, those models share overlapping content, there are still differences and, therefore, each of the models offers different advantages.ObjectiveThis paper proposes a set of unified project management best practices by integrating and harmonizing on a high-level perspective PMBOK (4th ed.) processes and CMMI-DEV v1.2 specific practices of the basic project management process areas PP, PMC and SAM.MethodBased on the analysis of both models, a unified set of best practices has been defined by a group of researchers with theoretical and practical expertise on the CMMI framework and software process improvement as well as project management and the PMBOK. The proposed set has been revised by different researchers from different institutions in several review rounds until consensus was achieved.ResultsAs a result, a set of unified best practices is defined and explicitly mapped to the correspondent PMBOK processes and CMMI specific practices of the current versions of both models.ConclusionWe can conclude that an integration and harmonization of both models is possible and may help to implement and assess project management processes more effectively and efficiently, optimizing software process improvement investments.     

Evaluation and realisation of IS/IT benefits: an empirical study of current practice

This paper presents the main findings of a 1994 survey of UK industry practices in the evaluation and realisation of IS/IT benefits (‘benefits management‘). The survey addresses the issues which affect the ability of organizations to realise the full benefits of IS/IT investments, i.e. not only the pre-investment appraisal and post-investment evaluation processes, but also how organizations do or do not ensure that benefits claimed are actively managed through to realisation. To do this a new benefits management process model was used to structure a questionnaire to elicit details of how effective organizations are in addressing benefits management throughout the investment lifecycle. Sixty organizations responded to the survey, thus providing a wealth of data for analysis. This paper presents some of the key results of that analysis. From the survey, it is clear that many organizations believe that current methods are far from satisfactory in ensuring that the benefits are properly identified and realised. Very few have a comprehensive process for managing the delivery of benefits from IS/IT. This paper offers new insight into the reasons for the current unsatisfactory situation and points the way to how the situation could be significantly improved.     

Escaping ‘localisms’ in IT sourcing: tracing changes in institutional logics in an Italian firm

Organizations are limited in their choices by the institutional environment in which they operate. This is particularly true for IT sourcing decisions that go beyond cost considerations and are constrained by traditions, geographical location, and social networks. This article investigates how a company can disentangle itself from the constraints of the institutional environment. We do so drawing on a longitudinal case study of an Italian SME active in the steel industry that successfully changed its institutionally sound, but increasingly inefficient, IT sourcing practice. Our main result suggests that by attending steadily to institutional logics, organizations can become selective in how the institutional environment influences them and act more purposefully in their decisions. In particular, through the creation of companywide IT management competencies and targeted hiring practices, organizations can strike a balance between the different institutional logics guiding IT sourcing decisions and eventually shift from the dominant logic of localism to a logic of market efficiency. This change does not depend from a choice but rather builds on a process through which IT management competences are slowly integrated in the organization.     

Knowledge management in production alliances

This paper develops a managerial model of production network organizations (PNOs), inter-firm alliances for product development and delivery, in which inter-firm network structure and knowledge management practices play a major role in venture performance. The paper addresses the issue of alignment between the adopted network structure, the scope of the joint production task, and consequent inter-firm information flow requirements, hypothesizing that venture performance is a joint function of network structure and task integration scope. In situations with a difficult alignment between the chosen network structure, joint task scope, and information flow requirements, knowledge management investments across the PNO are proposed as a moderating factor leading to improved venture performance. The paper demonstrates the proposed model with three case studies, providing preliminary verification of the key proposition that knowledge management interventions can mediate the impact of loose integrating structures for joint production ventures that are undertaking complex joint tasks.     

跨组织数据的软件成本估算方法

软件成本估算一直是软件项目管理的重要部分。经过半个多世纪的研究和工业实践,成本估算方法、模型得到了极大的丰富。这些方法、模型也衍生出了各种成本估算工具。但是,成本估算方法和模型的基础是历史项目数据。没有历史项目数据的公司和组织只能利用其他公司或组织的数据来进行自己项目的成本估算。如何利用跨组织数据进行有效的成本估算成为更具现实意义的问题。针对这一问题,提出了一种有效利用跨组织数据进行成本估算的方法,并通过实验说明了方法的有效性。     

A process-based framework of using social media to support innovation process

Although many organizations have deployed social media tools to support business activities such as marketing or customer relationship management in the past several years, academic research on using social media for supporting innovation process is very limited. Many organizations find it challenging to effectively integrate social media into organizational innovation practices because social media are primarily complex, informal and episodic. In this research, we would like to explore how various organizational factors can contribute to social media use for supporting innovation process. We conducted a case study of two particular cases, one with an e-learning service unit at a public university and another with a large hotel chain company. Based on the findings of this case study, we proposed a process-based framework that could help organizations use social media to support innovation process. This case study also identified situational factors that could affect the use of social media for closed innovation and open innovation respectively. In addition, some useful guidelines and proven practices are revealed from this case study.     

Agile Methodologies: Organizational Adoption Motives,Tailoring, and Performance

Today, organizations tailor the practices from several agile methodologies to serve their particular environment. But are there situations that drive how an organization should tailor methodologies in a particular manner? This article places 12 commonly used agile development practices into a typology based upon whether they are primarily project management focused or software development approach focused and examines how organizations’ motivations for adopting agile impact the practices they adopt. Finally, it explores how a fit between an organization’s motives for agile method adoption and the tailored agile practices it adopts may lead (or not lead) to differences in project performance.     

Information technology service management models applied to medium and small organizations: A systematic literature review

(ANTECEDENT) The main responsibility of the Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) as an organization is to provide services in high level quality. That implies that the services will be an appropriate service and it will ensure continuity. In this context, the organization needs to adopt the best practices in service management to be more efficient and competitive. Some ITSM models collect the best practices of recognized organizations. These models are mainly applied by large organizations. (OBJECTIVE) The objective of this study is to gather experiences in the application of ITSM models in small organizations. (METHODS) To achieve this objective a systematic literature review was performed. (RESULTS) We found primary studies applied to IT areas from some large and medium companies but there is a few in small companies' context. (CONCLUSION) During the SLR we have identified some improvements and difficulties in many organizations, we have founded when applying ITSM models. The principal difficulty was the lack of knowledge of its personnel and consultants have, for adopting a model. On the other hand, companies who succeeded in the application of an ITSM model, had founded some benefits, such as processes improvement, higher user satisfaction, and service cost and time reduction.     

A roadmap of financial measures for IT project ROI

Organizations have spent billions of dollars in implementing and subsequently repairing, removing, or altering enterprise-wide IT systems for managing finances, customer relationships, human resources, manufacturing resources, and supply chains. Of all IT systems, those for enterprise resource planning (ERP) are among the most difficult to implement. These products provide turnkey automated processes while sharing common data across an organization. Unsuccessful or grossly underestimated efforts to implement ERP tools have resulted in massive financial failures and corporate process disarray for many organizations. Various financial techniques can help organizations select the right projects and better manage the implementation of enterprise systems. The roadmap describes key practices in the fields of financial management and quantitative analysis.     

Teamwork and Organizational Innovation: The Moderating Role of the HRM Context

Evidence is accumulating on the role of teams in shaping a variety of business outcomes, but our knowledge on the effect of teamwork on organizational innovation is still evolving. This study examines whether the extent to which two staff groups are organized in teams (production staff and management/administrative staff) affects organizational innovation and whether human resource management (HRM) systems, which can be of facilitating or constraining nature, enhance the teamwork/innovation relationships. Hypotheses were tested with lagged and longitudinal data derived from 18 to 45 organizations from the UK manufacturing sector. Results suggest that the more widespread the use of teamwork in organizations, the higher the level of organizational innovation. Furthermore, this effect depends, particularly for production teams, on the overall quality of the HRM systems that exist in their organizations. Teamwork/innovation relationships are further moderated (for management and administrative teams) by an HRM practice that provides teams with time for thoughtful reflection. Thus, HRM systems can be of more or less facilitating or constraining nature for teams in organizations.     

HOW EFFECTIVE IS DATA RESOURCE MANAGEMENT?Reassessing Strategic Objectives

For more than a decade, data base management systems (DBMSs) have been proclaimed as the panacea for data integration and redundancy problems. Are organizations reaping the benefits of data base technology? What specific data resource management tasks have they failed to address effectively? A study of 276 organizations seeks to address these questions and to describe and diagnose the data resource management problems that corporations face today.