dispersed and cross border projects
TRANSCRIPT
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Software Project Management4th Edit ion
Dispersed and cross-border
projects
Chapter 11(part two)
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Why ‘virtual projects’?
The physical needs of software developers (according to an IBM report):
• 100 square feet of floor space• 30 square feet of work surface• Dividers at least 6 feet high to muffle noise• Demarco and Lister found clear statistical links
between noise and coding error rates• One answer: send the developers home!
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Possible advantages
• Can use staff from developing countries – lower costs
• Can use short term contracts:– Reduction in overheads related to use of
premises– Reduction in staff costs, training, holidays,
pensions etc.• Can use specialist staff for specific jobs
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Further advantages
• Productivity of home workers can be higher – fewer distractions
• Can take advantage of time zone differences e.g. overnight system testing
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Some challenges
• Work requirements have to be carefully specified
• Procedures need to be formally documented
• Co-ordination can be difficult • Payment methods need to be modified
– piece-rates or fixed price, rather then day-rates
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More challenges• Possible lack of trust when there is no
face-to-face contact
• Assessment of quality of delivered products needs to be rigorous
• Different time zones can cause communication and co-ordination problems
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Time/place constraints on communication
Same place Different place
Same time Meetings, interviews
Telephone,Instant messaging
Different times
Notice boardsPigeon-holes
EmailVoicemailDocuments
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Other factors influencing communication genres
• Size and complexity of information – favours documents
• Familiarity of context e.g. terminology – where low, two-way communication favoured
• Personally sensitive – it has to be face-to-face communication here
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Best method of communication depends on stage of project• Early stages
– Need to build trust– Establishing context– Making important ‘global’ decisions– Favours same time/ same place
• Intermediate stages– Often involves the paralled detailed design of
components– Need for clarification of interfaces etc– Favours same time/different place
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Best method of communication depends on stage of project
• Implementation stages– Design is relatively clear– Domain and context familiar– Small amounts of operational data need to
be exchanged– Favours different time/different place
communications e.g. e-mail
• Face to face co-ordination meetings – the ‘heartbeat’ of the project
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What do we mean by ‘culture’?
Personality
Culture
Human nature
Specific to individuals Inherited and learned
Specific to groups Learned
HumanityBiological
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Be careful of stereotyping
e.g. country A versus country Bnote over-lapping area
individuality scores
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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Hofstede
• Wrote book ‘Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values’ McGraw-Hill 1984
• Based on a questionnaire survey of 100,000 IBM employees worldwide
• Analysed responses by country and tried to identify national differences
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Power distanceExtent to which inequality is seen as a
inevitableDeference to those in authority
1. Malaysia 10415= France 6842=. UK, W.Germany 3549. Ireland 28
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Power distance
LowLess centralizationFlatter organizationManagers consult
before making decisions
Close supervision disliked by staff
HighGreater centralizationMore management
layersManagers make
decisions on their own
Close supervision welcomed by staff
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Uncertainty avoidance
Lack of tolerance for ambiguity and need for formal rules
1. Greece 11210= France 8629. W.Germany 6547= Ireland, UK 35
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Uncertainty avoidanceLowLive by the dayLess resistance to changeLoyalty not seen as a
virtueMore risk-takingHope of successManagers do not need to
be technical expertsRules may be broken for
pragmatic reasons
HighWorry about the futureResistance to changeLoyalty is seen as a virtueLess risk-takingFear of failureManagers need to be
experts in area they manage
Rules should not be broken
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Power distance/ uncertainty avoidance
Unc
ert
ain
ty a
void
an
ce
low
high
Power distancehigh
‘Village market’
‘Well-oiled machine’
‘Family’
‘pyramid of people’
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IndividualismConcern for yourself as opposed to concern for the priorities/rules of the group to which you belong
1. USA 913. UK 8910. France 7112. Ireland 7015. Germany 67
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Individualism vs collectivism
IndividualismCalculated
involvement with organizations
Employees expected to defend their own interests
Rules apply to allPrivate life important
CollectivismMoral involvement with
organizationsEmployees expect
organization to defend their interests
Rules vary according to relations
Private life can be invaded
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Masculinity vs Femininity
Hofstede identified those dimensions where globally the responses of women tended to differ from those of men
He then tried to relate the overall scores of countries with these differences
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Business areas affected by ‘femininity’
Less occupational segregation by genderSome young people want careers, but
others do not (not gender oriented)Organizations should not interfere with
people’s private livesLower job stressLess industrial conflictAppeal of job restructuring permitting
group integration
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‘Masculinity’ – country scores
1. Japan 957. Ireland, Jamaica 689. UK, W. Germany 6635.France 43
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Later work• Some later work looked particularly at
far east• New dimension emerged – long term
view or ‘dynamic confucianism’
General problemHow do apply this in practice?