วิชา Software Project Management

1. 1 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Software Project
Management
4th Edition
Dispersed and
cross-border
projects
Chapter 11
(part two)

2. 2 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
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!

3. 3 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
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

4. 4 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Further advantages
• Productivity of home workers can be
higher – fewer distractions
• Can take advantage of time zone
differences e.g. overnight system
testing

5. 5 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
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

6. 6 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
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

7. 7 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Time/place constraints on
communication
Same place Different place
Same time Meetings,
interviews
Telephone,
Instant
messaging
Different
times
Notice boards
Pigeon-holes
Email
Voicemail
Documents

8. 8 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
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

9. 9 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
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

10. 10 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
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

11. 11 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
What do we mean by
‘culture’?
Personality
Culture
Human nature
Specific to individuals Inherited and learned
Specific to groups Learned
Humanity
Biological

12. 12 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Be careful of stereotyping
e.g. country A versus country B
note over-lapping area
individualityscores
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13. 13 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
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

14. 14 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Power distance
Extent to which inequality is seen as a
inevitable
Deference to those in authority
1. Malaysia 104
15= France 68
42=. UK, W.Germany 35
49. Ireland 28

15. 15 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Power distance
Low
Less centralization
Flatter organization
Managers consult
before making
decisions
Close supervision
disliked by staff
High
Greater centralization
More management
layers
Managers make
decisions on their
own
Close supervision
welcomed by staff

16. 16 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Uncertainty avoidance
Lack of tolerance for ambiguity and need
for formal rules
1. Greece 112
10= France 86
29. W.Germany 65
47= Ireland, UK 35

17. 17 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Uncertainty avoidance
Low
Live by the day
Less resistance to change
Loyalty not seen as a
virtue
More risk-taking
Hope of success
Managers do not need to
be technical experts
Rules may be broken for
pragmatic reasons
High
Worry about the future
Resistance to change
Loyalty is seen as a virtue
Less risk-taking
Fear of failure
Managers need to be
experts in area they
manage
Rules should not be
broken

18. 18 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Power distance/ uncertainty
avoidance
Uncertaintyavoidance
low
high
Power distance
high
‘Village market’
‘Well-oiled machine’
‘Family’
‘pyramid of people’

19. 19 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Individualism
Concern for yourself as opposed to concern
for the priorities/rules of the group to which
you belong
1. USA 91
3. UK 89
10. France 71
12. Ireland 70
15. Germany 67

20. 20 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Individualism vs collectivism
Individualism
Calculated
involvement with
organizations
Employees expected
to defend their own
interests
Rules apply to all
Private life important
Collectivism
Moral involvement with
organizations
Employees expect
organization to
defend their
interests
Rules vary according
to relations
Private life can be
invaded

21. 21 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
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

22. 22 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Business areas affected by
‘femininity’
Less occupational segregation by gender
Some young people want careers, but
others do not (not gender oriented)
Organizations should not interfere with
people’s private lives
Lower job stress
Less industrial conflict
Appeal of job restructuring permitting
group integration

23. 23 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
‘Masculinity’ – country
scores
1. Japan 95
7. Ireland, Jamaica 68
9. UK, W. Germany 66
35.France 43

24. 24 ©The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Later work
• Some later work looked particularly at
far east
• New dimension emerged – long term
view or ‘dynamic confucianism’
General problem
How do apply this in practice?