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

Seafloor characterization using airborne hyperspectral co-registration procedures independent from attitude and positioning sensors

The advance of remote-sensing technology and data-storage capabilities has progressed in the last decade to commercial multi-sensor data collection. There is a constant need to characterize, quantify and monitor the coastal areas for habitat research and coastal management. In this paper, we present work on seafloor characterization that uses hyperspectral imagery (HSI). The HSI data allows the operator to extend seafloor characterization from multibeam backscatter towards land and thus creates a seamless ocean-to-land characterization of the littoral zone

Fostering Effective Workforce Diversity Management in Nigerian Organizations: The Challenge of Human Resource Management

The paper provides a conceptual understanding and significance of diversity and especially workplace diversity in Nigeria, drawing on previous studies. Naturally, the practice of human resource management (HRM) cannot be divorced from the socio-cultural, economic, political and legal environments of the nation. As the giant of Africa, with a population of about 180 million, about half of whom are of working age, Nigeria is an attractive market for multinationals from across the globe, and simultaneously fast becoming a melting pot of cultures and a nation where businesses should be booming but for the gross mismanagement, corruption and inept leadership. One of Nigeria’s most critical challenges, therefore, is the effective management of its workforce diversity, a litmus test for the maturity of HRM. The role and the capacity of function HRM in managing workplace diversity in Nigeria is critically assessed and based on an integrated conceptual framework, the challenges of managing workplace diversity in Nigeria is discussed and future research directions are indicated

The Impact of Global Outsourcing on IT Providers

This article examines the impact of Global IT Outsourcing on Information Technology (IT) firms from the off-shore sourcing perspective. IT Providers are defined in this article as companies that produce IT as opposed to companies that consume IT. To assess the impact of outsourcing on such companies, this article presents an Enterprise Architecture (EA) view of IT and uses it as the framework to determine the impact of outsourcing. The three dimensions of Enterprise Architecture include people, process and product and/or services. The article argues that if the sourcing decisions are based purely on short term goals such as cost, then the long term viability of the IT firm may be compromised. Lack of an IT development model and lack of IT metrics makes it difficult for IT Providers to truly plan and manage the off-shore resources. This article suggests that shorter development cycles, requirements volatility, and the need for constant developer-user interaction makes off-shore outsourcing more difficult. To address these challenges, organizations should develop metrics and governance practices based on experience. This article also proposes that the type of product or service is critical in addressing the decision to outsource. The higher the intellectual (or proprietary) content, the higher is the risk when outsourcing. This article presents two simple frameworks, one for assessing the benefits and risk of outsourcing for IT infrastructure services and the other for IT applications. IT Providers are advised to pay particular attention to the life cycle model of off-shoring where early gains give way to a learning and adjustment phase. If the IT firm successfully develops a rich experience base and adjusts the off shore model, then sustained benefits can be realized

IT Operations and Firm Performance: A Review Paper

This article emphasises the competencies in IT market, and how IT affects the development of companies Performance by the financial ratios. This piece of work is a review paper and reviews the literature on the IT Operations and Firms Performance. Most of the firms just invest on IT operation and just focus on new skills by their workforce without caring about other important factors such as the way they should transfer the knowledge, human capitals and organisation learning. Improved training programs help employees to be familiar with the new technological advancement. The Review of the Literature has allowed us to conclude that the value of human capital can generate to the customers derived from skills about the costs incurred. Regarding the uniqueness of human capital, it is a derived fact that, if an asset or skill cannot be duplicated or imitated by another firm, it provides a potential source of competitive advantage to the business.The paper proceeds as follows. The first section is about Introduction. Next three section reviews the empirical literature on the IT Operations, Information Sharing, and Human Capital respectively. Part five,  we will present our analysis of  Firm Performance and IT Operation.part six will introduce an organisational performance, and  Finally, Section seven concludes. Keywords: IT Operations, Information Sharing, Firm performance, and Human

We All Know How, Don’t We? On the Role of Scrum in IT-Offshoring

Part 2: Creating Value through Software DevelopmentInternational audienceOffshoring in the IT-industry involves dual interactions between a mother company and an external supplier, often viewed with an implicit perspective from the mother company. This article review general off shoring and IT offshoring literature, focusing on the proliferation of a globally available set of routines; Scrum and Agile. Two cases are studied; a small company and short process and a large mother company with a long process. The interactions of the set ups shows that global concepts like Scrum and Agile are far from a common platform. The “well known” concepts are locally shaped and the enterprises have mixed experiences

Incorporating poverty in society into strategic human resource management

In developed societies, the cultural value of social trust and cooperative behavior decreases when levels of poverty increase. Based on the contextual social exchange perspective, we argue that these societal traits can be transmitted to companies located within such societies, resulting in a reduction of human resource (HR) investment and a decrease in the effect of these HR investments on workforce performance. Therefore, poverty in society has a dual role in its connection with HR investment, acting both as an antecedent and as a moderator. The employment relationship is dependent on the deprivation and poor quality of life of people in the region. We arrive at this conclusion from a study conducted on a sample of 2192 companies during a period of six years and applying longitudinal structural equation modeling. Findings indicate the importance of placing HR practices within their socioeconomic environment, specifically living conditions, to understand their implementation and return over time