A tale behind Mum Effect

Mum effect is a situation when one or more project stakeholders decide to withhold critical information for particular reasons. In software project where most of the production is intangible, the seriousness of this challenge increases exponentially. There have been reports indicating that mum effect can surface during any phase of development and ultimately lead to disaster in software projects. Mum effect can be influenced by several factors such as organizational and national cultures. This research investigates potential mum effect scenarios and reveals specific reasons which induce this challenge among information technology practitioners

A Multidimensional Model for Mum Effect in Offshore Outsourcing

Offshore outsourcing has become a cost-saving measure in modern software businesses. However, there are numerous risks associated in this business model. Among these risks, "mum effect" could be one of the serious threats to software development projects. This paper extends our previous work on the perceived probability of "mum effect" in offshore outsourcing scenarios based on cultural dimensions. It introduces a mum effect multidimensional model, and describes the perceived relationship between mum effect factors and cultural differences