Using SPI Manifesto to Recover from CRM Deployment Project Failures and to Proactively Eliminate Similar Failures in Future: An Action Research Study in a Russian organization

The deployment of software products such as Customer Relationship Management systems may seem straightforward when reading the success stories of software providers. Yet, deployment projects are risky and often fail. Ineffective deployment processes of software providers and systems integrators are a major cause of failures. SPI Manifesto is a recent attempt to help the providers improve their processes, so most failures in software development may be eliminated proactively. Yet, the effectiveness and validity of SPI Manifesto relative to deployment projects are unclear. This paper presents an action research study in a customer organization to assess the extent to which SPI Manifesto could be used to help the providers to recover from situations in which CRM deployment projects are about to fail and to eliminate similar problems proactively in future. Based on the assessment, this paper contributes to improving the generic CRM deployment project process and SPI Manifesto

Evaluation of Frame- and Feature-based Software Product Line Tools from the Viewpoint of Mass Customization by End Users

Customers expect Information and Communications Technology (ICT) platforms and applications to deliver services customized to their needs. Software product line (SPL) paradigm uses platforms and variability management to develop mass-customizable software applications. The paradigm necessitates effective software tools to manage platform and application artifacts and traceability and variability information. This paper constructs a comprehensive but lightweight tool evaluation framework and uses it to evaluate two tools, XML-based variant configuration language (XVCL) and FeaturePlugin – a feature modeling plug-in for Eclipse Integrated Development Environment. The paper analyzes the capabilities of the tools for enabling the mass customization of software applications by the end users performing complex workflows. Both the XVCL and FeaturePlugin tool envisage more efficient software system development by means of reusability, support for abstraction, and configuration mechanisms. Future research is needed to refine and validate the evaluation framework in the context of other types of SPL tools

What are the Most Important Classes of Information Systems for eSourcing Service Providers? Experiences from Three Case Studies in the Chinese eSourcing Market

Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-enabled international sourcing of software-intensive systems and services (eSourcing) is increasingly used as a means of adding value, reducing costs, sharing risks, and achieving strategic aims. To maximally reap the benefits from eSourcing and mitigate the risks, providers and clients have to be aware of and build capabilities for the entire eSourcing life-cycle. China is in a remarkable position to become a superpower for eSourcing service provisioning within the next 10 years. Yet, the extant literature does not offer a comprehensive enough guidance for eSourcing management in the Chinese context. This research project will probe the eSourcing life-cycle in Information and Communications Technology Outsourcing (ICTO), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) contexts. It will provide as generalizable scientific knowledge as possible concerning the most important business practices and classes of information systems for eSourcing service providers from the viewpoint of service provisioning, breakdown recovery, and the redesign of the eSourcing life-cycle

Validating the Information Systems Design Theory for Dual Information Systems

Conceptual designs of most information systems (IS) reflect a design/use dualism of technology making it difficult for users to be responsible for computerized aspects of work. The IS design theory (ISDT) for Dual Information Systems (DIS) helps bridge the design/use dualism. Its validity has not been studied empirically. This paper presents and applies a model that helps examine the validity of the ISDT. A domain-specific ISDT for Dual Change Management IS (DCMIS) is designed and applied to evaluate a change management IS (CMIS) in an organization responsible for managing a globally deployed enterprise resource planning system. The ISDT for DIS is found applicable for designing the ISDT for DCMIS, showing that IS theory development can be based on paradigms endogenous to the field. The ISDT for DCMIS can be utilized to solve problems in the use of the CMIS. It makes the ISDT for DIS increasingly tractable for practical applications

Introduction to Software Product Lines: Engineering, Services, and Management Minitrack

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Introduction to Designing and Deploying Advanced Knowledge Systems Minitrack

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A lightweight, industrially-validated instrument to measure user satisfaction and service quality experienced by the users of a UML modeling tool

The research community has delivered many comprehensive instruments to measure user satisfaction and service quality. However, they may be tedious to deploy in industrial settings, often leading to low response rates. Industrial organizations are thus looking for simpler and more cost effective ways to measure both user satisfaction and service quality. This paper presents and validates a lightweight 8-item instrument to measure the user satisfaction and the quality of service experienced by the users of a Unified Modeling Language tool. The instrument merges ease of use and service-related items. The analysis of the results of two surveys, conducted in a global high-tech corporation, indicates that the instrument has adequate reliability and validity. It is short, easy to use, and appropriate for both practical and research purposes. Future research is needed to validate the instrument in the context of other organizations and other classes of information systems

Designing and Deploying Coordination Technologies for Fostering Organizational Working and Learning: From vision to reality?

Coordination Technologies (CT) that support various aspects of organizational working are now available in commercial markets. Still, research on their organizational use has shown their success is mixed. I employ Argyris’ organizational learning theory to find out why organizations have been less successful in exploiting CT to support organizational effectiveness than their designers had hoped. Specifically, I identify two areas where explanations as well as potential solutions can be found: (1) people in organizations do not behave in the way the designers expect and (2) the designers of CT do not behave in the way they think they do. Drawing upon theory-based argumentation and a review of the literature, I argue that the benefits of CT will not be fully realized until organizations can deploy CT not only for routine communication and coordination but also for fostering on-going reflection of their working and learning practices, and for negotiating control over the rules and resources employed in these practices. Next, I focus on how organizations could design CT for use beyond routine tasks. I propose using a combination of Issue-Based Information Systems (IBIS) and Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) as a CT platform to support organizational working and learning. I evaluate this platform in light of the theory. But organizational change toward continuous learning and the use of CT to support working and learning are co-dependent and co-evolutionary. Consequently, I recognize two intertwined conditions needed to use CT successfully: (1) an organization’s ability and willingness to become aware of cognitive and structural anomalies before and during the implementation of CT, and (2) the aptitude of CT in fostering and reinforcing this awareness. Finally, I use a case study to illustrate these conditions