Leader delegation and trust in global software teams

Virtual teams are an important work structure in global software development. The distributed team structure enables access to a diverse set of expertise which is often not available in one location, to a cheaper labor force, and to a potentially accelerated development process that uses a twenty-four hour work structure. Many software teams are partially distributed, that is, part of the team is colocated. Such partially distributed global software teams are an important work structure in software development projects. However, little is known about what affects or improves team members’ motivation and job satisfaction in the partially distributed environment. This study investigates the effects of leader delegation to sub-teams and trust between sub-teams on global software team members’ motivation and job satisfaction. It proposes a research framework based on specific hypotheses regarding these effects. A survey instrument was created and a pilot study conducted on student project teams in two U.S. universities. In addition, a study combining interviews and a survey distribution using industry software development teams was also conducted. The studies found that team competence predicts leader delegation to a sub-team in global software projects. Leader delegation related to teamwork process improves team members’ motivation and satisfaction with the leader. However, leader delegation may also generate negative consequences for the sub-teams, such as anxiety and pressure. Cultural distance and geographical distance impair trust development between members across sub-teams. Temporal distance causes conflicts related to excessive overtime and meeting scheduling. Trust in sub-teams is critical to improving motivation in a global software project. In addition, this study explores the impacts of language differences and software engineering profession culture on global software team members’ interactions. Suggestions are proposed for how to shape delegation strategies in partially distributed global software projects and how to improve team members’ trust in each other and their motivation. This work provides important findings for organizations interested in developing leadership skills for global software teams and retaining IT professionals at distributed sites

The Formation Process towards Conglomeration of Digital Ecosystems: A Hybrid Organizing Perspective

The evolving trend of promoting active student instructional strategies to facilitate improved performance has gained momentum. So, too, is the impact of information communications technology (ICT) tools for enhancing productivity in the education sector. Nonetheless, for over a decade, student throughput at South African universities has been estimated to be around 15 percent. Despite high rate of the students’ under preparedness at South African universities of technology, students’ academic participation using ICT tools in their required educational work is insufficient. Factors deterring active participation and ICT adoption in South African HE are largely unknown. Therefore, it is important to investigate the effectiveness of using ICT enables tutorial strategies to promote improved instructional performance. The study employs a 2 x 2 factorial quasi-experimental design to investigate the interactive effects of instructional strategies and cognitive preferences in database systems knowledge acquisition. The study adopts a quantitative research design, and the data was collected using paper-based pre and post-tests. The QUEST Interactive Test Analysis System estimate was used to analyse the experimental data

Massive MIMO Channel Models: A Survey

The exponential traffic growth of wireless communication networks gives rise to both the insufficient network capacity and excessive carbon emissions. Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) can improve the spectrum efficiency (SE) together with the energy efficiency (EE) and has been regarded as a promising technique for the next generation wireless communication networks. Channel model reflects the propagation characteristics of signals in radio environments and is very essential for evaluating the performances of wireless communication systems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the state of the art in channel models of massive MIMO. First, the antenna array configurations are presented and classified, which directly affect the channel models and system performance. Then, measurement results are given in order to reflect the main properties of massive MIMO channels. Based on these properties, the channel models of massive MIMO are studied with different antenna array configurations, which can be used for both theoretical analysis and practical evaluation