Is Knowledge transfer an obstacle? A post pandemic study of the challenges and proposing strategies to improve efficiency in distributed IS projects

Knowledge transfer (or sharing) has always been crucial within the dispersed teams’ structure. As we are moving into post-Covid 19 pandemic times where the norms of working are being redefined, there becomes a need to revisit this area and examine the working collaboration of the teams for meeting clients’ expectations, as there have been only few attempts undertaken after the pandemic. This study is based on interviewing 18 IT practitioners and professionals, further support by thematic analysis of data collected. The findings determined that for efficient knowledge transfer process ‘sustaining coordination’ is the core phenomenon together with having ‘closed feedback loops, exchanging particulars and logs timely, dynamic reporting and building teams capacity’ as sub-cores. The key observations identified from the results of this study were mainly the inclusion of several non-technical components which have now become essential, and back and forth support knowledge sharing in the distributed IS projects for productivity and completing tasks

Theory of Planned Behavior and the Influence of Communication Self-Efficacy on Intention to Pursue a Software Development Career

In modern software development, communication is one of the key success factors in software project development and team performance. However, software engineering (SE) students and educators may not have fully considered its significance in comparison to technical skills. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of communication self-efficacy and factors related to the theory of planned behavior (TPB) on the intention to pursue a career in software development. A survey was used to collect data from senior SE students at six universities in Thailand. The partial least squares – structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. The findings indicate that attitudes toward software development careers and communication self-efficacy for software development had a positive influence on the students’ intention to pursue a career in software development. This study is the first attempt to investigate how communication self-efficacy in software development affects intention to work in a software development career. Educators can use the findings to improve curricula to foster students’ communication self-efficacy and encourage them to pursue a software development career

Effective Communication in Globally Distributed Scrum: A Model and Practical Guidance

A trend in information systems development is for globally distributed teams to use agile methods and frameworks such as Scrum. In globally distributed (GD) software development, a known challenge is effective team communication. Researchers, however, cannot evaluate effective communication in GD teams using Scrum unless they know what effective communication means in that context. This qualitative study contributes a theoretical model of effective communication in GD Scrum teams and practical guidance for practitioners. Ten industry professionals working in GD Scrum teams were interviewed to capture their understanding of effective communication. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the interviews and form a basis for the model and the practical guidance. This novel model consists of communication transparency, communication quality, and communication discipline, which together lead to the alignment of team understanding (i.e., a team-level shared mental model). This theoretical model lays the ground for future research into the effect of Scrum practices on communication in GD contexts, and the effect of communication on team and project success. For practitioners, this study contributes 11 practical actions that professionals recommend for improving and sustaining effective communication

Framework for evaluation of customer interaction in information solutions development

Communication between customer and supplier is one of key success factors for information technology based projects. Main motive for master thesis was to create draft of a framework which helps – especially small enterprises – to evaluate key elements where interactions between customer and supplier occur. Based on literature overview and personal experience framework for evaluation of customer – supplier interaction/communication was laid down. It supports evaluation of elements of communication in two major cases: Evaluation of Development of IT solutions for known customer and Development/implementation of IT based product/solution. In both cases geographical dispersion component is taken into account as it can have significant influence on communication. Elements of communications are being evaluated based on dimensions defined within Theory of diffusion and Kano model. Elements evaluated with the framework are being divided in the following three main groups: “Resistance”, “Skills and techniques in requirements elicitation, presentation and efficient communication” and “Geographical dispersion”. In addition to its structure (dimension and elements), framework also provides rules and recommendations for its use. Case study technique was used to verify framework. It was conducted in a small firm which develops IT based turnkey solutions for known customers. In addition, company also develops and produces IT based solutions (combination of hardware and software) which are being sold worldwide. Framework definition and its application through case study provided me with material to draw conclusions and recommendations. Main conclusions are: knowing elements of communication is prerequisite for improvement of communication; framework for communication analysis is crucial for identification of key elements; even the best analysis is useless if it is not followed with actions/measures to improve key elements of communication. Major drawback of existing framework is its complexity. Therefore recommendations related to simplification of usage of framework have been made. Case study in a selected company showed, that framework efficiently addresses issues related to identification of relevant elements of communication, while their proper analysis is almost impossible without the framework. Based on that company decided to use framework in the future as a standard tool for evaluation of communication with its customers

Framework for evaluation of customer interaction in information solutions development

Communication between customer and supplier is one of key success factors for information technology based projects. Main motive for master thesis was to create draft of a framework which helps – especially small enterprises – to evaluate key elements where interactions between customer and supplier occur. Based on literature overview and personal experience framework for evaluation of customer – supplier interaction/communication was laid down. It supports evaluation of elements of communication in two major cases: Evaluation of Development of IT solutions for known customer and Development/implementation of IT based product/solution. In both cases geographical dispersion component is taken into account as it can have significant influence on communication. Elements of communications are being evaluated based on dimensions defined within Theory of diffusion and Kano model. Elements evaluated with the framework are being divided in the following three main groups: “Resistance”, “Skills and techniques in requirements elicitation, presentation and efficient communication” and “Geographical dispersion”. In addition to its structure (dimension and elements), framework also provides rules and recommendations for its use. Case study technique was used to verify framework. It was conducted in a small firm which develops IT based turnkey solutions for known customers. In addition, company also develops and produces IT based solutions (combination of hardware and software) which are being sold worldwide. Framework definition and its application through case study provided me with material to draw conclusions and recommendations. Main conclusions are: knowing elements of communication is prerequisite for improvement of communication; framework for communication analysis is crucial for identification of key elements; even the best analysis is useless if it is not followed with actions/measures to improve key elements of communication. Major drawback of existing framework is its complexity. Therefore recommendations related to simplification of usage of framework have been made. Case study in a selected company showed, that framework efficiently addresses issues related to identification of relevant elements of communication, while their proper analysis is almost impossible without the framework. Based on that company decided to use framework in the future as a standard tool for evaluation of communication with its customers

Framework for evaluation of customer interaction in information solutions development

Komunikacija med naročnikom in izvajalcem je ključna za uspeh projektov, ki so povezani z informacijsko tehnologijo. Glavni motiv za izdelavo magistrskega dela je bil pripraviti ogrodje ki bi – še posebej malim podjetjem - pomagal pri določanju in vrednotenju ključnih elementov, oz. stičnih točk, kjer prihaja do interakcije med naročnikom in izvajalcem. Na osnovi literature ter osebnih izkušenj sem izdelal ogrodje s katerim lahko ocenjujemo elemente komunikacije tako pri razvoju informacijskih rešitev za znano stranko kot pri razvoju/vpeljavi na informacijski tehnologiji temelječega izdelka oz. rešitve. V obeh primerih nam ogrodje omogoča, da upoštevamo vidik geografske razpršenosti razvojnih skupin, ki lahko pomembno vpliva na komunikacijo. Ocenjevanje elementov komunikacije temelji na dimenzijah Teorije širjena inovacije ter na Modelu Kano. Elemente, ki smo jih z ogrodjem ocenjevali, smo razdelili v tri skupine in sicer: »odpor«, »veščine in tehnike na področju zajema zahtev, predstavitev in učinkovite komunikacije« ter »geografska razpršenost«. Ogrodje zajema tudi pravila in priporočila za njegovo izvedbo. Skozi študijo primera je bilo ogrodje preverjeno v praksi. Študijo smo izvedli na primeru manjšega podjetja, ki se ukvarja tako z razvojem informacijskih rešitev za točno določene stranke kot z razvojem na informacijski tehnologiji temelječih izdelkov in rešitev. Te izdelke oziroma storitve podjetje trži po celem svetu. Na osnovi ogrodja in njegove uporabe skozi študijo primera, sem prišel do ugotovitev in predlagal morebitne nadaljnje izboljšave. Ključne ugotovitve so: poznavanje elementov komunikacije je predpogoj za izboljšanje komunikacijeogrodje za analizo pomembno pomaga pri prepoznavanju ključnih elementov komunikacijetudi najboljša analiza je brezpredmetna, če ji ne sledijo konkretni ukrepi. Ključna slabost trenutnega ogrodja oz. njegove izvedbe je kompleksnost. Na osnovi ugotovitev sem predlagal izboljšave, ki so usmerjene predvsem v poenostavitev izvedbe ogrodja. Praktična uporaba ogrodja v praksi/podjetju je pokazala, da bi brez njega imeli težave že pri pravilni prepoznavi posameznih elementov komunikacije, njihova analiza in medsebojno primerjanje pa je brez ogrodja skoraj nemogoče. Zaradi dokazanih prednosti, ki jih ogrodje prinaša, se je podjetje odločilo, da ga bo tudi v prihodnje uporabljalo za vrednotenje komunikacije s svojimi naročniki.Communication between customer and supplier is one of key success factors for information technology based projects. Main motive for master thesis was to create draft of a framework which helps – especially small enterprises – to evaluate key elements where interactions between customer and supplier occur. Based on literature overview and personal experience framework for evaluation of customer – supplier interaction/communication was laid down. It supports evaluation of elements of communication in two major cases: Evaluation of Development of IT solutions for known customer and Development/implementation of IT based product/solution. In both cases geographical dispersion component is taken into account as it can have significant influence on communication. Elements of communications are being evaluated based on dimensions defined within Theory of diffusion and Kano model. Elements evaluated with the framework are being divided in the following three main groups: “Resistance”, “Skills and techniques in requirements elicitation, presentation and efficient communication” and “Geographical dispersion”. In addition to its structure (dimension and elements), framework also provides rules and recommendations for its use. Case study technique was used to verify framework. It was conducted in a small firm which develops IT based turnkey solutions for known customers. In addition, company also develops and produces IT based solutions (combination of hardware and software) which are being sold worldwide. Framework definition and its application through case study provided me with material to draw conclusions and recommendations. Main conclusions are: knowing elements of communication is prerequisite for improvement of communicationframework for communication analysis is crucial for identification of key elementseven the best analysis is useless if it is not followed with actions/measures to improve key elements of communication. Major drawback of existing framework is its complexity. Therefore recommendations related to simplification of usage of framework have been made. Case study in a selected company showed, that framework efficiently addresses issues related to identification of relevant elements of communication, while their proper analysis is almost impossible without the framework. Based on that company decided to use framework in the future as a standard tool for evaluation of communication with its customers

Une nouvelle approche de gestion de projets Agile en informatique adatpée aux équipes virtuelles

De nos jours, dans le domaine des jeux vidéo, des équipes fragmentées travaillant à distance depuis plusieurs sites constituent souvent la nouvelle réalité du processus de développement. C'est le cas pour beaucoup de grands studios que nous avons au Québec (Canada), comme Ubisoft, Activision, Electronic Arts, etc. Comme nous le savons, la plupart des jeux vidéo sont développés en utilisant la méthodologie Agile / Scrum. En effet, Scrum est une approche axée sur la valeur permettant des ajustements basés sur les commentaires réguliers et répétés des clients. Cela entraîne de grands avantages tels que des délais de mise sur le marché plus rapides, une plus grande satisfaction et une amélioration continue. Cependant, la méthodologie Scrum n'est pas conçue pour répondre aux besoins d'une équipe multisites fragmentée. Scrum a été conçu pour les petites équipes où tous les membres sont censés travailler ensemble au même endroit, ayant des contacts fréquents en face à face, par exemple, dans le même espace ouvert. Appliquée sur une équipe fragmentée sur plusieurs sites, la méthodologie est moins efficace car le framework n'offre pas suffisamment d'outils pour répondre aux problèmes spécifiques émergeant du contexte délocalisé, tels que le problème de communication, la ghettoïsation des groupes sur chaque site, le défi de garder la transparence, etc. Afin de relever ces défis, nous proposons dans ce mémoire une nouvelle extension du cadriciel Scrum, appelée le cadriciel Com-Scrum. Ce cadre vise à compenser le contexte délocalisé et à éviter ses principaux problèmes liés à la communication en ajoutant un nouveau rôle, un nouvel artefact et un nouvel événement rituel au modèle Scrum d'origine. Nous présentons également une expérience et des métriques que nous avons conçues pour tester l'approche dans un contexte réel de développement de jeux vidéo avec des équipes localisées sur deux sites différents à 500 km de distance

Effective Communication in Globally Distributed Scrum: A Model and Practical Guidance

A trend in information systems development is for globally distributed teams to use agile methods and frameworks such as Scrum. In globally distributed (GD) software development, a known challenge is effective team communication. Researchers, however, cannot evaluate effective communication in GD teams using Scrum unless they know what effective communication means in that context. This qualitative study contributes a theoretical model of effective communication in GD Scrum teams and practical guidance for practitioners. Ten industry professionals working in GD Scrum teams were interviewed to capture their understanding of effective communication. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the interviews and form a basis for the model and the practical guidance. This novel model consists of communication transparency, communication quality, and communication discipline, which together lead to the alignment of team understanding (i.e., a team-level shared mental model). This theoretical model lays the ground for future research into the effect of Scrum practices on communication in GD contexts, and the effect of communication on team and project success. For practitioners, this study contributes 11 practical actions that professionals recommend for improving and sustaining effective communication