Definition of the on-time delivery indicator in rapid software development

Rapid software development (RSD) is an approach for developing software in rapid iterations. One of the critical success factors of an RSD project is to deliver the product releases on time and with the planned features. In this paper, we elaborate an exploratory definition of the On-Time Delivery strategic indicator in RSD based on the literature and interviews with four companies. This indicator supports decision-makers to detect development problems in order to avoid delays and to estimate the additional time needed when requirements, and specifically quality requirements, are considered.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Measuring Software Process: A Systematic Mapping Study

Context: Measurement is essential to reach predictable performance and high capability processes. It provides support for better understanding, evaluation, management, and control of the development process and project, as well as the resulting product. It also enables organizations to improve and predict its process’s performance, which places organizations in better positions to make appropriate decisions. Objective: This study aims to understand the measurement of the software development process, to identify studies, create a classification scheme based on the identified studies, and then to map such studies into the scheme to answer the research questions. Method: Systematic mapping is the selected research methodology for this study. Results: A total of 462 studies are included and classified into four topics with respect to their focus and into three groups based on the publishing date. Five abstractions and 64 attributes were identified, 25 methods/models and 17 contexts were distinguished. Conclusion: capability and performance were the most measured process attributes, while effort and performance were the most measured project attributes. Goal Question Metric and Capability Maturity Model Integration were the main methods and models used in the studies, whereas agile/lean development and small/medium-size enterprise were the most frequently identified research contexts.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2013-46928-C3-3-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2016-76956-C3-2- RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2015-71938-RED

Lean and green – a systematic review of the state of the art literature

The move towards greener operations and products has forced companies to seek alternatives to balance efficiency gains and environmental friendliness in their operations and products. The exploration of the sequential or simultaneous deployment of lean and green initiatives is the results of this balancing action. However, the lean-green topic is relatively new, and it lacks of a clear and structured research definition. Thus, this paper’s main contribution is the offering of a systematic review of the existing literature on lean and green, aimed at providing guidance on the topic, uncovering gaps and inconsistencies in the literature, and finding new paths for research. The paper identifies and structures, through a concept map, six main research streams that comprise both conceptual and empirical research conducted within the context of various organisational functions and industrial sectors. Important issues for future research are then suggested in the form of research questions. The paper’s aim is to also contribute by stimulating scholars to further study this area in depth, which will lead to a better understanding of the compatibility and impact on organisational performance of lean and green initiatives. It also holds important implications for industrialists, who can develop a deeper and richer knowledge on lean and green to help them formulate more effective strategies for their deployment

Systematic Literature Review of Lean Tools Applied to Software Development

Currently, the predominance of Agile frameworks in software development means that Lean applications in the IT sector are incipient or very little known. However, several authors argue that the application of Lean in software has more advantages than Agile could have, due to the scalability of the procedures. The objective of this research is to know the state of the art of the application of Lean in software development through a systematic literature review. After reviewing 19 articles, it was found that the most common Lean waste with the greatest impact on software development is waiting. The main barriers that hinder the application of Lean correspond to attitudinal components of people such as low understanding of Lean concepts. The most applied Lean tool is Kanban and the main advantage of applying Lean in software development is the improvement of team performance

“Best Practice” without Evidence – Agile Software Methodology as Example

Despite the essentiality of education, and the widely known unscientific nature of expert opinion, education in general appears to be based on expert opinion. The example analyzed herein is of Agile software methodology, which is deemed a best practice and therefore taught in most IT studies, in Norway and most probably internationally. This is despite that it appears to be a well known fact within its respective field that the Agile methodology lacks scientific justification. A tertiary analysis was conducted to test this well known fact and to serve as basis for exploring what should be considered sufficient evidence for inclusion within official education. The result of the tertiary study is that, indeed, the evidence for the Agile methodology is scarce at best. A method to avoid such mistake is suggested, which could be valuable to science in general. This method entails employing philosophers of science, epistemologists, to counteract potential expert biases and verify the curriculum before it is accepted in official education

The Key Factors of Evaluating Agile Approaches: A Systematic Literature Review

Currently, Agile Methods (AMs) are extensively being used in projects of various sizes and in different environments, thus surpassing their primary intended scope. For instance, they have been executed in distributed and non-distributed projects. In addition, AMs have been implemented in different project fields, such as engineering, medicine, banking, and manufacturing. Consequently, different Agile approaches have been proposed and integrated with other approaches in order to support the increased demand for diverse project environments. In this direction, various authors have examined the process of developing those approaches; however, the focus on explaining evaluation phases is scarce and scattered. Therefore, this study aims to review pertinent literature to identify the key factors and methodologies used to evaluate the proposed approaches in the Agile domain. The systematic literature review (SLR) methodology was adopted to identify, evaluate, and interpret all existing studies relevant to the research objective. SLR provides in-depth and more thorough results than an ordinary literature review. Forty-eight studies were selected and analyzed. The results show that applicability, effectiveness, and efficiency are the three most frequently examined evaluation factors, whereas case studies and surveys are the most frequently used research methods in evaluation studies. Factors identified in this review provide the evidence and the opportunity to design instruments or assessment forms that meet the needs of those researchers who are planning to evaluate their proposed Agile approaches

Lean project management an application in reserch and technological development (RTD) projects

219 p.Las herramientas y los principios del Lean Thinking se han propuesto como un posible enfoque paracomplementar la gestión de proyectos al centrarse en la creación de valor, la mejora continua y lareducción de actividades que no añaden valor. La aplicación combinada de estos dos conceptos se conocecomo Lean Project Management. El enfoque de Lean Project Management se aplica para la mejora delrendimiento de los proyectos en una amplia gama de sectores, como la construcción, el desarrollo desoftware e incluso recientemente a proyectos de investigación y desarrollo, aunque se ha encontrado pocaevidencia de su aplicación conjunta. Para la mejora continua y la mejora de la gestión, es crucial definirlos Indicadores Clave de Rendimiento (KPI) de la organización. La gestión de proyectos Lean es un granapoyo para este propósito. El objetivo de esta tesis es investigar la integración del Lean con la gestión deproyectos y su aplicación en organizaciones basadas en proyectos. Esta tesis proporciona una exhaustivarevisión sistemática de la literatura publicada y la correlación con los indicadores clave de rendimiento delos proyectos. Se presenta un modelo de Lean Project Management que enmarca las herramientas deLean combinados con conceptos y prácticas de gestión de proyectos. Se realiza un estudio de caso en unaempresa basada en proyectos de Investigación y DesarrolloTecnológico (IDT) aplicando el modelo degestión de proyectos Lean propuesto para la identificación de los K

The mediating role of overall equipment effectiveness on the relationship between fit manufacturing and business performance

Advanced manufacturing technology systems have replaced traditional manufacturing systems as manufacturing industry have many technological developments in recent years. Now, the primarily concern is effectiveness of the equipment for the modern manufacturing technology systems. Though, there is a lack of empirical studies confirming this impact on business performance. Recently, manufacturing industries have adapted fit manufacturing strategies in order to enhance the system effectiveness to get competitive advantage. These strategies are mainly, lean, agile and sustainable manufacturing. This paper aims to systematically review the literature on the existing fit manufacturing strategies and their relationship with business performance from year 2009 to 2015, also to find the possible intervening variable that can influence the inconsistency of the relationships between the fit manufacturing strategies and business performance. On the basis of the findings from the systematic literature review, we suggest researchers on the in the field of operations management to investigate the mediating relationship of overall equipment effectiveness between the relationship of the fit manufacturing strategies and business performance