Exploring software practitioners perceptions and experience in requirements reuse : a survey in Malaysia

In Software Product Lines (SPL) development, reuse process is planned ahead of time, while in traditional software development reuse can occur opportunistically: unplanned or in ad hoc manner. Although many research efforts in SPL focus on issues related to architecture, designs and codes reuse, research on requirements reuse has received slightly less attention from researchers and practitioners. Requirements Reuse (RR) in SPL is the process of systematically reusing previously defined and validated requirements for an earlier software product and applying them to a new and slightly different product within a similar domain. This paper presents a survey pertaining to RR practice that was conducted in Malaysia with two objectives: a) to identify the factors influencing software practitioners in RR, and b) to assess the factors hindering software practitioners from reusing requirements in software development. The survey results have confirmed seven factors that can influence RR practice in Malaysia. The survey results have also revealed three main impediments to RR practice in Malaysia: the unavailability of RR tools or framework to select requirements for reuse, the conditions of existing requirements to be reused (incomplete, poorly structured or not kept updated), and the lack of awareness and RR education among software practitioners pertaining to the systematic R

A Platform-based Design Approach for Flexible Software Components

We develop a design method that promotes flexible component design based on a common component platform with various plug-ins. The approach increases the flexibility and expandability of software components, which improves their reuse opportunities. We argue that such a flexible component design can expand reuse from relatively small infrastructure items, such as user interfaces, printing functionality, and data access modules, to the core of the application domain. Reusing such domain-specific items helps realize the true value of component-based software development. Following a design science research approach, we evaluated the component design method by assessing its correctness and its application to different scenarios. We also recruited a panel of experts to assess it

Differences in Information Systems Development and Evolution Practice between the Local and Governmental Public Sector

We have in earlier work reported differences between how public and private Norwegian organizations are able to use time on value adding activities in their work on IT. Using responses to the ‘IT i Praksis’ – surveys done by Rambøll in 2021, we in this paper look upon differ-ences between local (municipalities) and governmental agencies. ‘IT i praksis’ is distributed to Norwegian public organizations, and the overall response rate is around 45-50%, although not all respondents answer all questions. The data presented in this paper is based on re-sponses from 255 public organizations, with 176 municipalities, and 79 public organizations on national or regional level that have re-sponded. Overall, the investigation confirms the results from earlier investigations when it comes to maturity of practice in public sector and how this might influence their ability to have time available for value added IT-activities. In this investigation we also find differ-ences within public sector, with municipalities scoring worse on sev-eral parameters for successful management and evolution of IT

Summary of the First Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE1)

Challenges related to development, deployment, and maintenance of reusable software for science are becoming a growing concern. Many scientists’ research increasingly depends on the quality and availability of software upon which their works are built. To highlight some of these issues and share experiences, the First Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE1) was held in November 2013 in conjunction with the SC13 Conference. The workshop featured keynote presentations and a large number (54) of solicited extended abstracts that were grouped into three themes and presented via panels. A set of collaborative notes of the presentations and discussion was taken during the workshop. Unique perspectives were captured about issues such as comprehensive documentation, development and deployment practices, software licenses and career paths for developers. Attribution systems that account for evidence of software contribution and impact were also discussed. These include mechanisms such as Digital Object Identifiers, publication of “software papers”, and the use of online systems, for example source code repositories like GitHub. This paper summarizes the issues and shared experiences that were discussed, including cross-cutting issues and use cases. It joins a nascent literature seeking to understand what drives software work in science, and how it is impacted by the reward systems of science. These incentives can determine the extent to which developers are motivated to build software for the long-term, for the use of others, and whether to work collaboratively or separately. It also explores community building, leadership, and dynamics in relation to successful scientific software

The Role of Internal Legitimacy in Shifting a Large Established Company Towards Sustainability. A Case Study of a Sustainable Transition Shift in the Oil and Gas Industry

This thesis is motivated by the need to involve sustainability in the oil and gas industry. This thesis focuses on the sustainable transition in Equinor, the Norwegian oil and gas company. It looks, particularly, at a large established oil and gas company undergoing a sustainable change and how it performs its transition into sustainability. However, this transition poses challenges to a large established company like Equinor where, over 40 years, the petroleum activities were crucial for the country’s economic growth and for funding the Norwegian welfare state. In addition, investing in renewable energy as a clean alternative source of energy requires Equinor to enhance its capabilities, knowledge and competencies outside its boundaries. Legitimacy theory has been applied in this thesis and is considered to be an important mechanism for understanding how a large established company under sustainable change manages its new sustainable investments. However, existing research on sustainability is mainly focused on the role that sustainability plays in triggering new innovations, improving a company’s image and enhancing competitive advantages, but does not necessarily involve how a sustainable transition is carried out in practice. Therefore, this thesis focuses mainly on internal legitimacy, in order to understand what is happening in a large established company undergoing a sustainable change. Thus, this motivates me to investigate the following overall research question ‘What is the role internal legitimacy plays in shifting a large established company towards sustainability?’ This thesis pursues two related objectives. From a practical perspective, it aims to shed light on the role of governments, managers and employees in developing a sustainable change in companies. From a theoretical perspective, it adds more theoretically based approaches and enables us to understand the strategic change process of introducing new sustainable activities in a large established company by using internal legitimacy theory. Consequently, this thesis contributes empirically to the literature of legitimacy, strategy and sustainability, and enables us to understand the role internal legitimacy plays in shifting a company’s strategy towards sustainability. These objectives are addressed through a cover essay and three research papers. The cover essay provides an overarching theoretical framework for the thesis, using the Scott and Suchman legitimacy theory which integrate the concepts of sustainability and strategy change. The cover essay consolidates the three individual research papers in a coherent manner and responds to the dissertation’s overall research question. The empirical research is conducted within interpretivism and positivism perspectives research tradition, and follows a mixed methods approach that combines qualitative and quantitative research method designs. First, the qualitative data followed a semi-structured narrative approach collected over a three-year period. In addition, the secondary data were collected through Equinor’s own documentation, such as company webpages, annual reports, sustainability reports, renewable energy reports, energy perspectives’ reports, conferences and presentations. Second, the quantitative data were collected through a survey conducted between 2017-2019, resulting in 91 respondents who fully completed the survey. The first research paper represents a qualitative case study and aims to respond to the lack of literature on the role internal legitimacy plays in developing a new sustainable strategy in a large established company. Thus, this paper synthesises previous literature on internal legitimacy and strategy change, advances our knowledge and forms new ideas about this complex phenomenon in order to understand the important role played by internal legitimacy in creating a shift towards sustainability. It will thereby seek to explain how an oil and gas company strengthens its commitment to the environment and invests in clean alternative sources of energy (renewable energy) in order to develop an all-encompassing energy company. By employing the three types of legitimacy, moral, pragmatic and cognitive, this paper suggests that moral legitimacy plays an essential role in shaping a sustainable strategy shift to the company. This was related to the direct support from the Norwegian government, the board of directors and the top manager. Pragmatic legitimacy shows that most of the company’s stakeholders are engaged in the new transition; however, the translation process of sustainable development will continue within the company until the sustainable transition is complete. Finally, cognitive legitimacy shows us that a majority of employees understand the relevance of this sustainable shift and accept it. The second paper addresses a quantitative case study and aims to fill the gap in the literature concerning measuring sustainability in a large established company. This paper aims to make a methodological contribution to the research of internal legitimacy and strategy change by developing a valid measure of regulative, normative and cognitive pillars. Thus, this paper uses the three mentioned pillars as a lens to understand the factors that legitimise the adoption of new sustainable activities in Equinor. Accordingly, the key findings of this paper reveal that the Equinor case company employs a regulative and normative pillar that play an important role in building Equinor’s internal legitimacy and framing its organisational identity. The regulative pillar is presented as the important carrier of shaping sustainable transition in the company, and the normative pillar plays an essential role in strengthening the sustainability transition. However, cognitive legitimacy was not supported in the study, and this reveals that it would need more time to be achieved so that everybody in the company understands and accepts the sustainable transition that is taking place in the company. The third paper addresses a quantitative case study and aims to fill the lack of quantitative gap in the literature concerning internal legitimacy and sustainable innovation selection. This paper aims to make a methodological contribution by testing and validating a model that enables us to understand how a large established company selects its new sustainable activities. Thus, the three elements of legitimacy (regulative, normative and cognitive) are used as a tool to understand how people in a large established company make their sustainable choices. The key findings of this paper show that the regulative and normative pillars play essential roles in selecting renewable energy activities. However, the normative presents the strongest factor in all pillars. This means that employees play the most essential role in facilitating and implementing new sustainable ideas. Consequently, the results show that sustainability has been embedded in the company where the regulative and normative pillars present the potential carriers of the sustainable selection criteria. Overall, this thesis advances new insights into the literature of organisational studies by understanding how employees in a large established company relate to sustainable challenges. Thus, this thesis advances new insights into the literature of internal legitimacy and strategy change by uncovering the ‘How’ and ‘What’ questions of the meaning of sustainable transition. First, the thesis explores how internal legitimacy is used to understand the introduction of a new strategy in a large established company. Second, it provides empirical evidence and shows what factors that build and manage internal legitimacy during strategy change. Third, it tests the data in a new setting by developing and testing both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative data (survey). Fourth, the thesis develops a conceptual framework that helps researchers understand how a sustainable shift can be implemented in large established companies. Finally, this thesis highlights similarities and disparities among Scott’s and Suchman’s division of legitimacy theory. This is achieved through the three papers, considering that paper 1 aims to explore how internal legitimacy is used in a new setting, and paper 2 and 3 develop and test a survey in a new setting

Um Estudo sobre Rotatividade de Pessoal com Profissionais de Empresas Brasileiras de Desenvolvimento de Software

Employee turnover is one of the major challenges for many software development companies. This work presents a study whose objective is to identify the main causes and effects of employee turnover in Brazilian software development companies. Strategies applied to minimize employee turnover were also investigated. A survey methodology was used to collect data from software development professionals of Brazilian companies. The results of this study indicate that inappropriate management style, personal expectation not achieved within the company, lack of professional recognition, and lack of organizational involvement influences the decision of professionals to leave the company. These factors can contribute decisively in rates of employee turnover. The paper concludes with discussion and recommendations for future research

Rotatividade de Pessoal: Pesquisa com Profissionais de Empresas Brasileiras de Desenvolvimento de Software

A rotatividade de pessoal é um dos principais desafios para muitas empresas de desenvolvimento de software. Neste artigo é apresentado um estudo para identificar as principais causas e efeitos da rotatividade de pessoal entre profissionais de empresas brasileiras de desenvolvimento de software. As estratégias empregadas para minimizar a rotatividade de pessoal e seus efeitos também foram investigadas. A metodologia de levantamento foi utilizada para obter informações dos profissionais de desenvolvimento de software. A análise dos dados de 67 respondentes foi realizada por meio de estatística descritiva e estatística inferencial. Os resultados indicaram que o estilo gerencial inadequado, expectativa pessoal não alcançada na empresa, falta de reconhecimento profissional e falta de comprometimento da organização influenciam a decisão dos profissionais de sair da empresa e podem contribuir decisivamente nas taxas de rotatividade de pessoal. Os resultados também indicaram outros aspectos que são importantes para a intenção de rotatividade. A empresa deve se preocupar com fatores que podem motivar a permanência do funcionário, como comunicação, plano de carreira, ambiente de trabalho, promoção por desempenho e treinamento periódico

SERVICE-BASED AUTOMATION OF SOFTWARE CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

The reuse of software units, such as classes, components and services require professional knowledge to be performed. Today a multiplicity of different software unit technologies, supporting tools, and related activities used in reuse processes exist. Each of these relevant reuse elements may also include a high number of variations and may differ in the level and quality of necessary reuse knowledge. In such an environment of increasing variations and, therefore, an increasing need for knowledge, software engineers must obtain such knowledge to be able to perform software unit reuse activities. Today many different reuse activities exist for a software unit. Some typical knowledge intensive activities are: transformation, integration, and deployment. In addition to the problem of the amount of knowledge required for such activities, other difficulties also exist. The global industrial environment makes it challenging to identify sources of, and access to, knowledge. Typically, such sources (e.g., repositories) are made to search and retrieve information about software unitsand not about the required reuse activity knowledge for a special unit. Additionally, the knowledge has to be learned by inexperienced software engineers and, therefore, to be interpreted. This interpretation may lead to variations in the reuse result and can differ from the estimated result of the knowledge creator. This makes it difficult to exchange knowledge between software engineers or global teams. Additionally, the reuse results of reuse activities have to be repeatable and sustainable. In such a scenario, the knowledge about software reuse activities has to be exchanged without the above mentioned problems by an inexperienced software engineer. The literature shows a lack of techniques to store and subsequently distribute relevant reuse activity knowledge among software engineers. The central aim of this thesis is to enable inexperienced software engineers to use knowledge required to perform reuse activities without experiencing the aforementioned problems. The reuse activities: transformation, integration, and deployment, have been selected as the foundation for the research. Based on the construction level of handling a software unit, these activities are called Software Construction Activities (SCAcs) throughout the research. To achieve the aim, specialised software construction activity models have been created and combined with an abstract software unit model. As a result, different SCAc knowledge is described and combined with different software unit artefacts needed by the SCAcs. Additionally, the management (e.g., the execution of an SCAc) will be provided in a service-oriented environment. Because of the focus on reuse activities, an approach which avoids changing the knowledge level of software engineers and the abstraction view on software units and activities, the object of the investigation differs from other approaches which aim to solve the insufficient reuse activity knowledge problem. The research devised novel abstraction models to describe SCAcs as knowledge models related to the relevant information of software units. The models and the focused environment have been created using standard technologies. As a result, these were realised easily in a real world environment. Softwareengineers were able to perform single SCAcs without having previously acquired the necessary knowledge. The risk of failing reuse decreases because single activities can be performed. The analysis of the research results is based on a case study. An example of a reuse environmenthas been created and tested in a case study to prove the operational capability of the approach. The main result of the research is a proven concept enabling inexperienced software engineers to reuse software units by reusing SCAcs. The research shows the reduction in time for reuse and a decrease of learning effort is significant