Development of an Agile Requirements Risk Prioritization Method: A Design Science Research Study

The practice of information systems development (ISD) has changed during the past two decades from very structured approaches to agile ISD methods. However, many methods available for managing requirements-related risks in the literature follow the structured way of doing ISD. If any, few methods offer solutions to prioritize requirements risks for agile ISD projects based on recognizing requirements-related risks and patterns to mitigate these. To fill this gap in the literature, we apply the design science research methodology to develop an agile requirements risk prioritization method together with industry experts (n=54) in Finland and New Zealand in a multi-year study. The method was developed by applying contingency theory, and our study makes an artifactual contribution to the literature. The method helps practitioners prioritize the overall requirements-related risks for ISD projects

Comfort, Acceptance, and Preferences: The Designing of a Human-Robot Workstation that Puts the Human First

The purely manual versions of manufacturing are becoming less common, and automation is increasing. With mass production moving towards mass customization this change is inevitable. However, a future of automation does not mean that operators are going to be replaced. In fact, it means that operators’ jobs are about to become more meaningful and value adding for themselves and the company. Soon majority of the jobs where operators do the repetitive mindless task of a robot will be gone. It is time for Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) to advance the assembly process to the next level. Human-robot teams will be formed to combine their individual strengths and compensate for their individual weaknesses. The success of human-robot collaboration heavily depends on the operator’s acceptance of the robot. Unfortunately, operators are worried about robots taking their jobs, diminishing their self-worth, and putting them in danger. To mitigate these concerns the objective of this thesis is to model the design requirements of a human-robot collaborative assembly station that appeals to operator comfort and acceptance while still supporting the needs of production. A combination of fulfilling requirements, providing the operator with a better understanding of the robot’s capabilities, and providing the operator with limited control could lead to an improved interaction between operators and robots. Operator feedback was obtained from professionals in industry through surveys and structured interviews. Then the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) tool was used to translate the vague operator requirements captured in the survey responses and interviews into product-relevant parameters that designers and engineers can apply. The nine operator requirements derived for working with robots are safety, dependability, value-adding, controllability, helpfulness, easy to communicate with, teachable, easy to fix, and enjoyable to work with

The Interplay of Sustainable Development and Managers of Scandinavian SMEs

A qualitative approach on how Scandinavian managers view and prioritize the three pillars of sustainable development and how this affects their overall performance

The Interplay of Sustainable Development and Managers of Scandinavian SMEs

A qualitative approach on how Scandinavian managers view and prioritize the three pillars of sustainable development and how this affects their overall performance

Avionics and controls research and technology

The workshop provided a forum for industry and universities to discuss the state-of-the-art, identify the technology needs and opportunities, and describe the role of NASA in avionics and controls research

Eliciting User Requirements Using Appreciative Inquiry

Many software development projects fail because they do not meet the needs of users, are over-budget, and abandoned. To address this problem, the user requirements elicitation process was modified based on principles of Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry, commonly used in organizational development, aims to build organizations, processes, or systems based on success stories using a hopeful vision for an ideal future. Spanning five studies, Appreciative Inquiry was evaluated for its effectiveness with eliciting user requirements. In the first two cases, it was compared with traditional approaches with end-users and proxy-users. The third study was a quasi-experiment comparing the use of Appreciative Inquiry in different phases of in the software development cycle. The final two case studies combined all lessons learned using Appreciative Inquiry, with multiple case studies to gain additional understanding for the requirements gathered during various project phases. Each study evaluated the requirements gathered, developer and user attitudes, and the Appreciative Inquiry process itself. Requirements were evaluated for the quantity and their type regardless of whether they were implemented or not. Attitudes were evaluated for process feedback, as well as requirements and project commitment. The Appreciative Inquiry process was evaluated with differing groups, projects, and project phases to determine how and when it is best applied. Potentially interceding factors were also evaluated including: team effectiveness, emotional intelligence, perceived stress, the experience of the facilitator, and the development project type itself. Appreciative Inquiry produced positive results for the participants, the requirements obtained, and the general requirements eliciting-process. Appreciative Inquiry demonstrated benefits to the requirements gathered by increasing the number of unique requirements as well as identifying more quality-based (non-functional) and forward-looking requirements. It worked well with defined projects, when there was time for participants to reflect on the thought-provoking questions, structured questions and extra time to facilitate the extraction and translation of requirements, and a knowledgeable interviewer. The participants (end-users and developers) expressed improved vision and confidence. End-users participated consistently with immediate buy-in and enthusiasm, especially those users who were technically-inhibited. Development teams expressed improved confidence, and improved user communication and understanding

Creativity under workload pressure and integrative complexity:The double-edged sword of paradoxical leadership

Modern-day organizations often demand creativity, but motivating creativity under unfavorable conditions such as high workload pressure is difficult. Integrating paradox theory and social cognitive theory, we conceptualize creativity as a process that involves tensions among competing goals and demands, and those tensions become salient under high workload pressure. We propose that learning to constructively deal with such salient tensions is important for the development of creativity and that paradoxical leader behavior (PLB) may stimulate creativity by enhancing employees' creative self-efficacy (CSE) in such challenging situations. However, PLB will only promote CSE and employee creativity when employees have a high level of integrative complexity to accept and appreciate the complex and paradoxical behaviors of the leader. Based on data from 252 employee-supervisor dyads, we found that through CSE, PLB was most effective in promoting employee creativity when workload pressure and integrative complexity were both high. However, PLB was less effective for promoting CSE and creativity when workload pressure was low, or when workload pressure was high while integrative complexity was low. Implications and limitations of our research are discussed