Can global software teams learn from military teamwork models?

Agile Development Methods, considered as an alternative to the traditional plan-based methods, have received much attention since their inception. These practices have evolved and developed over time, culminating in 2001 with the Agile Manifesto. Since that time, preferred methodologies, implementations, and best practices have continued to evolve with a focus on doing what works best for the individual company or project. However, the concept of agility in software development has remained quite nebulous, lacking in clarity particularly about its underlying dimensions. In this research the authors conceive agility in terms of four distinct dimensions. Drawing from the theoretical perspective of holographic organization, they develop a model explaining how each of these underlying dimensions of agility contributes to project value in software teams. The authors test the model using survey data collected from industry practitioners and discuss findings.

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The Role of Functional Diversity, Collective Team Identification, and Task Cohesion in Influencing Innovation Speed

10.4018/978-1-6684-3702-5.ch073 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1535-1566

Author(s):

Jin Chen ◽

Wei Yang Lim ◽

Bernard C.Y. Tan ◽

Hong Ling

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Social Identity Theory ◽

Team Identification ◽

Implementation Phase ◽

Software Teams ◽

Task Cohesion ◽

Managerial Implications ◽

Two Phases ◽

The Relationship

This article opens up the black box of innovation and examines the relationship between functional diversity in software teams and the often neglected dimension of innovation – speed, over the two phases of innovation: creativity and idea implementation. By combining information processing view and social identity theory, the authors hypothesize that when collective team identification is low, functional diversity positively affects the time spent in the creativity phase; however, when collective team identification is high, this relationship is inverted U-shaped. When task cohesion is high, functional diversity negatively affects the time spent in the idea implementation phase; however, when task cohesion is low, this relationship is U-shaped. Results from 96 IT software-teams confirmed the authors' hypotheses. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

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The Role of Functional Diversity, Collective Team Identification, and Task Cohesion in Influencing Innovation Speed

Journal of Global Information Management ◽

10.4018/jgim.2018040108 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 163-192 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jin Chen ◽

Wei Yang Lim ◽

Bernard C.Y. Tan ◽

Hong Ling

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Social Identity Theory ◽

Team Identification ◽

Implementation Phase ◽

Software Teams ◽

Task Cohesion ◽

Managerial Implications ◽

Two Phases ◽

The Relationship

This article opens up the black box of innovation and examines the relationship between functional diversity in software teams and the often neglected dimension of innovation – speed, over the two phases of innovation: creativity and idea implementation. By combining information processing view and social identity theory, the authors hypothesize that when collective team identification is low, functional diversity positively affects the time spent in the creativity phase; however, when collective team identification is high, this relationship is inverted U-shaped. When task cohesion is high, functional diversity negatively affects the time spent in the idea implementation phase; however, when task cohesion is low, this relationship is U-shaped. Results from 96 IT software-teams confirmed the authors' hypotheses. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

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Inexperienced and Global Software Teams

Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, First Edition ◽

10.4018/978-1-59140-553-5.ch254 ◽

2005 ◽

pp. 1446-1451 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kim Man Lui ◽

Keith C.C. Chan

Keyword(s):

Mobile Phones ◽

Electronic Device ◽

Digital Cameras ◽

Software Teams ◽

The Past

We dream of a way in which software can be quickly or even automatically produced. In the past, we achieved some success in some areas; however, we continue to face an excess of software demand over supply in general. The reason is obvious: Software is needed by not only home and commercial computers, but by almost every kind of electronic device, such as mobile phones, digital diaries, digital cameras, TVs, cars, and so on (Rischpater, 2001; Sapaty, 1999).

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