Deciding what to design: Closing a gap in software engineering education

Abstract. Software has jumped “out of the box ” – it controls critical systems, pervades business and commerce, and infuses entertainment, communication, and other everyday activities. These applications are constrained not only by traditional capability and performance considerations but also by economic, business, market and policy issues and the context of intended use. The diversity of applications requires adaptability in responding to client needs, and the diversity of clients and contexts requires the ability to discriminate among criteria for success. As a result, software designers must also get out of their boxes: in addition to mastering classical software development skills, they must master the contextual issues that discriminate good solutions from merely competent ones. Current software engineering education, however, remains largely “in the box”: it neglects the rich fabric of issues that lie between the client’s problem and actual software development. At Carnegie Mellon we address this major shortcoming by teaching students to understand both the capabilities required by the client and the constraints imposed by the client’s context. 1 The Changing Face of Software Software intensive systems have become essential to everyday activity and business in the global economy. Not only is public dependence on software increasing, but in addition the character of the software itself is changing – and with it the demands on the software developers. The quality of this software depends on an adequate supply of software developers who are proficient in the full spectrum of concepts and skills required to respond to emerging types of software as well as the classical types

Information technology and the modalisation of organisational behaviour: a theoretical framework

Information technologies can transform an organisation's capacity to act effectively and achieve its performance aims. This theoretical paper presents a framework, adapted from the work of the semiotician A.J. Greimas, for qualitatively analysing this shaping of organisational behaviour and effectiveness around the use of IT. This framework permits various forms of capability or constraint in organisational action to be distinguished, in terms of the functional capacities of IT systems or key dimensions of social structure. A multi-faceted consideration of positive and negative outcomes of IT-based activities is thus supported. The use of this framework is demonstrated through brief case examples that illustrate its utility in providing a dynamic perspective on organisational performance and alignment in the use of IT. This theoretical framework equips IS interpretive studies to analyse the shaping of IT-based organisational activity from a standpoint of structures of behaviour or significance in a context of purposeful action