Project Quality of Offshore Virtual Teams Engaged in Software Requirements Analysis: An Exploratory Comparative Study

The off-shore software development companies in countries such as India use a global delivery model in which initial requirement analysis phase of software projects get executed at client locations to leverage frequent and deep interaction between user and developer teams. Subsequent phases such as design, coding and testing are completed at off-shore locations. Emerging trends indicate an increasing interest in off-shoring even requirements analysis phase using computer mediated communication. We conducted an exploratory research study involving students from Management Development Institute (MDI), India and Marquette University (MU), USA to determine quality of such off-shored requirements analysis projects. Our findings suggest that project quality of teams engaged in pure off-shore mode is comparable to that of teams engaged in collocated mode. However, the effect of controls such as user project monitoring on the quality of off-shored projects needs to be studied further

Hackathons: Why Co-Location?

This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant Number AH/J005142/1].This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant Number AH/J005142/1].This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant Number AH/J005142/1].This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant Number AH/J005142/1].In this position paper we outline and discuss co-location as a significant catalyst to knowledge exchange between participants for innovation at hackathon events. We draw on surveys and empirical evidence from participation in such events to conclude that the main incentives for participants are peer-to-peer learning and meaningful networking. We then consider why co-location provides an appropriate framework for these processes to occur, and emphasize the needs for future research in this area

Management of e-learners: some implications for practitioners

Report of a CELT project on supporting students through innovation and researchInformation technologies have played a leading role in supporting many recent changes in teaching and learning approaches in Higher Education. Contemporary innovation finds information technology (IT) at the heart of Higher Education transformation. The opportunities afforded by these learning technologies are well documented in popular academic literature. They point to new applications of the latest communication technologies. However, they also bring with them a host of new questions and challenges. The management of e-learners is likely to be part of a more far-reaching organisational change. Where learning technologies are introduced, a layer of technical complexity is added. The redesign of business processes and structures is far from simple ‘technical’ matter. It involves significant social redesign. The extent to which enabling technology has driven the shift towards learner-centred learning in all educational contexts is a matter of debate. As the century turns, establishing the acceptance, let alone the effectiveness and quality of technology-mediated learning, is still seriously problematic (Salmon, 1999). However, the suitability of information and communication technology (ICT) as a means of encouraging self-directed learning is not in doubt, nor that the role of the tutor is changing to ‘guide on the side’: a facilitator not transmitter, of information (Marchmont, 2000). This paper reports findings of a single case study at Wolverhampton Business School. Qualitative data was collected through structured and unstructured interviews with learners and tutors on Business Administration Award. A total of 20 learners and 5 tutors form the basis of the findings

A review of the empirical studies of computer supported human-to-human communication

This paper presents a review of the empirical studies of human-to-human communication which have been carried out over the last three decades. Although this review is primarily concerned with the empirical studies of computer supported human-to-human communication, a number of studies dealing with group work in non-computer-based collaborative environments, which form the basis of many of the empirical studies of the recent years in the area of CSCW, are also discussed. The concept of person and task spaces is introduced and then subsequently used to categorise the large volume of studies reported in this review. This paper also gives a comparative analysis of the findings of these studies, and draws a number of general conclusions to guide the design and evaluation of future CSCW systems

Communication in an "Officeless firm"

New technologies permit new types of organisations. This article describes and analyses one such organisation, an "officeless firm", where all employees work from their own homes and there is no central office. Drawing upon observations and interviews, the modes of communication and the nature of the interpersonal relationships that have permitted this organisation to succeed are described, along with the challenges that face this organisation in the future as it attempts to grow

E-mail and Direct Participation in Decision Making: A Literature Review

This paper reviews the literature on the effects of the use of e-mail on direct participation in decision making (PDM) in organisations. After a brief review of the organisational literature on participation the paper distinguishes e-mail theories on direct participation in three different theoretical perspectives. Then the paper focuses the attention on the role of e-mail in affecting task type, vertical and horizontal communication and their consequences for PDM. Finally the paper presents indications and open questions for future research.email, e-mail, decision making, participation in decision making, literature review,

Online networks and subjective well-being

We argue that the use of online networks may threaten subjective well-being in several ways, due to the inherent attributes of Internet-mediated interaction and through its effects on social trust and sociability. We test our hypotheses on a representative sample of the Italian population. We find a significantly negative correlation between online networking and well-being. This result is partially confirmed after accounting for endogeneity. We explore the direct and indirect effects of the use of social networking sites (SNS) on well-being in a SEM analysis. We find that online networking plays a positive role in subjective well-being through its impact on physical interactions, whereas SNS use is associated with lower social trust. The overall effect of networking on individual welfare is significantly negative.Comment: 40 page

Computer-mediated collaboration and the transitioning of intercultural spaces

The following implementation of computer-mediated collaboration\ud aims to help international students improve the quality of their intercultural experiences by applying strategies for synthesizing and applying knowledge obtained\ud through cross-cultural interactions. It does this by engaging learners in computermediated collaborative activities that help increase their factual knowledge in\ud areas of individual relevance, develop personally effective retrieval and application frameworks and improve their ability to monitor their own thinking and\ud learning

From participation to dropout

The academic e-learning practice has to deal with various participation patterns and types of online learners with different support needs. The online instructors are challenged to recognize these and react accordingly. Among the participation patterns, special attention is requested by dropouts, which can perturbate online collaboration. Therefore we are in search of a method of early identification of participation patterns and prediction of dropouts. To do this, we use a quantitative view of participation that takes into account only observable variables. On this background we identify in a field study the participation indicators that are relevant for the course completion, i.e. produce significant differences between the completion and dropout sub-groups. Further we identify through cluster analysis four participation patterns with different support needs. One of them is the dropout cluster that could be predicted with an accuracy of nearly 80%. As a practical consequence, this study recommends a simple, easy-to-implement prediction method for dropouts, which can improve online teaching. As a theoretical consequence, we underline the role of the course didactics for the definition of participation, and call for refining previous attrition models