Reassessing the 1930s South

Within the text of the National Emergency Council’s 1938 Report on the Economic Conditions of the South, President Franklin Roosevelt wrote, “It is my conviction that the South presents right now the Nation’s No. 1 economic problem.” It is certainly powerful when a president broadly defines an entire region in a sentence. Probably for many Americans living outside the region Roosevelt’s simplistic generalization was conclusive. Many within the South resented that assessment as far too broad, offensively ignoring the region’s dynamic reality. Reassessing the 1930s South demonstrates the frailty of such a stark definition

Practicing What We Preach: Understanding Inhibitors to the Faithful Use of Project Management Practices

Effective management of software development efforts is one of the most challenging aspects within the IT discipline today. Literature has greatly extended our understanding of project management (PM) practices that enhance the likelihood of software development project success, such as the use of scope change control to manage project changes or structured walkthroughs to enhance product congruence with customer expectations. Nevertheless, a disconnect seems to exist between a software developer’s knowledge of valuable PM practices and their faithful use of those practices. The research model presented in this dissertation seeks to address key antecedents to a software developer’s faithful use of PM practices. The model builds on previous literature by clarifying the role of perceived usefulness in an individual’s usage decision, addressing temporal aspects of the intention to use – usage relationship, examining institutional factors that impact the actual use of a PM practice, and considering drivers of faithful versus ceremonial usage. The ultimate goal of this research is to provide guidance regarding the following question: what factors encourage a software developer to faithfully utilize PM practices

Reasoned and institutional explanations for the use of software development project management practices.

Abstract not available

Controlling for Method Bias: A Critique and Reconceptualization of the Marker Variable Technique

The marker variable technique is an easy-to-use technique for estimating the magnitude of method bias within a study.However, its validity has not yet been established. This paper addresses three issues assessing the validity of the techniqueand finds that it is subject to significant validity threats. A redefinition of the marker variable correlation is proposed, whichpartly addresses the theoretical critiques of the technique. The findings confirm Podsakoff et al.’s (2003) critique that themarker variable technique does not capture key sources of method bias. Implications of the findings for estimating andcontrolling for method bias within individual studies are addressed

A Critique of the Marker Variable Technique: The Effect of Alternative Marker Variable Criteria

The marker variable technique offers a practical and easy method to address the validity threat on account of common method variance to the findings of individual studies. However, the validity of the marker variable technique has not been established. This paper examines the validity threat to the marker variable technique arising from multiple criteria for the selection of the marker variable proposed in the literature. Our findings show that the conclusions that can be drawn under different criteria are significantly and substantially different, raising doubts about the validity of the marker variable technique. Proposals for developing theoretically grounded criteria for identifying the marker variable correlation are discussed. Importantly, our analysis suggests that the second lowest correlation of the criterion variable may be a more valid method for selecting the marker variable correlation

The role of worker tenure and employment heterogeneity on software development work activities

Software development group effectiveness depends on many factors, and understanding those factors is vital to project success, especially when considering the time and money that is dedicated to said projects.  Therefore, this study examines the role of worker tenure and employment heterogeneity on exploration and exploitation work completed within an organization’s software development group.  Analysis of time tracking data within one financial services organization over a three years period demonstrates that worker tenure and employment heterogeneity do play an important role in shaping work activities.  Worker tenure exhibited a negative relationship with exploration and exploitation activities, suggesting a critical mechanism through which an organization can elicit innovative and incremental development efforts.  Further, the positive effect of employment heterogeneity on exploration and exploitation suggests that employment diversity can also provide a means to encourage innovative and incremental development activities.  Findings highlight the notion that group composition plays a meaningful role in shaping the focus of software development work within an organization

Radio Planetary Nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds

We present preliminary results of our deep Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) radio-continuum survey of the Magellanic Clouds Planetary Nebulae.Comment: 2 pages 1 figure, to appear in Planetary Nebulae an Eye to the Future Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 28