Linda A. Macaulay

Innovationinnovation and Skills

Maglio and Spohrer (2008) state that a work force that is capable of adaptation and problem solving requires people with capability and unique skills across many areas. While this cannot be disputed, it is clear that we still lack understanding of key skill areas within the service economy and of the relationship between skills requirements and education provision. This chapter describes the range and diversity of service and presents a forecast of the demand for higher level skills and knowledge. It examines education provision in terms of context, content and constructs and discusses the challenge for higher education in meeting the demands of a complex service economy.

Service-based software: the future for flexible software

For the past 40 years, the techniques, processes and methods of software development have been dominated by supply-side issues, giving rise to a software industry oriented towards developers rather than users. To achieve the levels of functionality, flexibility and time-to-market required by users, a radical shift is required in the development of software, with a more demand-centric view, leading to software which will be delivered as a service within the framework of an open marketplace. Already, there are some signs that this approach is being adopted by industry, but in a very limited way. We summarise research and a research method which has resulted in a long-term strategic view of software engineering innovation. Based on this foundation, we describe more recent work, which has resulted in an innovative demand-side model for the future of software. We propose a service architecture in which components may be bound instantly, just at the time they are needed, and then the binding may be discarded. A major benefit of this approach is that it leads to highly flexible and agile software that should be able to meet rapidly changing business needs.

Investigating Cultural Differences in Virtual Software Teams

Software development projects increasingly extend over the boundaries set by a single company, or country. As the available communication media becomes more sophisticated, and more advanced technology costs less, the trends in software development move towards a more “virtual” nature. This evolutionary process allows individuals or even teams from different locations and cultures, with different expectations and goals, to blend in a virtual team of effectively collaborating and coordinating members.

The future of software

Companies like British Telecommunications whose business is based on the performance of their software systems, should emphasize accessibility, adaptability, transparency, fail-safe operation, and a human face. Software Producing such software is difficult and involves high costs and risks. Adopting the most appropriate methods, technologies, and tools at just the right time is a major problem for the software industry. Recognition of the critical role played by software in so many aspects of society has therefore led us to pursue the following goals: • Forming a vision of software and software development based on the systematic use of expert judgement and peer review; • Establishing the need for a long-term software-development research agenda; and • Outlining a long-term research agenda that helps meet societys future needs for software that is reliable, adaptable, available when needed, and reasonably priced. Predicting the future is a popular pastime in many disciplines. In the field of software development, the February 1997 Communications offered many personal hopes and visions for the future of computer technology [1]. Authors expressed their personal views relating to particular technologies and applications , including databases [2], the Internet [3], and computational humanities [6]. In another personal view of future needs, Stuart Shapiro [5] examined a number of key software technology publications dating from as far back as the 1960s, concluding we need a more pluralistic approach to software engineering, Society is increasingly dependent on large and complex software systems. Indeed, if many of the current predictions about the Y2K computer problem turn out to be accurate, this dependency will be demonstrated dramatically on January 1, 2000. Users need software that meets stringent requirements, supports a range of interaction styles, can be produced quickly, and can be maintained to keep pace with the ever-increasing demand for functional-ity, quality, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness.

Requirements capture as a cooperative activity

There is an interesting recognition that software development is not merely a mathematical or technological challenge, but a complex social process. The social process at the earliest stages of software development, i.e., scoping and capturing requirements, is examined. Some of the problems that can arise when insufficient attention is paid to the social process are considered together with alternative team structures. A cooperative requirements capture method called user skills task match (USTM) is presented, in which the social process is explicitly managed through use of a human facilitator and which provides a structured approach to the management of the requirements capture task. The cooperative approach is illustrated using a case study from the electricity distribution industry within the UK.<<ETX>>

Requirements capture and IS methodologies

Abstract. The problem of not using a methodological approach during the development process is well known and its implications for organizations clearly identified. This paper reports on a survey of information systems practice carried out to provide recent evidence about the use of development methodologies by different organizations. Data from 72 projects was obtained through a mail survey within the UK. The focus of the analysis is on the discovery of potential relationships between the use of methodologies for requirements capture and analysis and the characteristics of the projects

Co-evolving E-tail and On-Line Communities: Conceptual Framework

This paper explores the problem of designing a Web site that meets the needs of both an evolving community and an evolving business. It reports a case study of a business that introduced an e-tail site and an associated on-line community. The site development used an existing community-centered development method. The study found that participants had different motivations for visiting the site—some only wanted product information and purchase, some were seeking social support and information, others sought a more intense experience and greater social involvement. Failure to recognize the separate needs of these clusters resulted in not fully achieving business- and community- building goals. The analysis of the relationship between Web site design, cluster needs, and business goals offers a conceptual framework for co-evolving community and business.

Individual trust and development of online business communities

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the notion of trust as an enabler or restrictor to online engagement. The purpose of the inquiry is to improve knowledge acquisition within small businesses (SMEs) through engagement in an online network.Design/methodology/approach – The paper explains the outcomes from a three‐year long Action Research (AR) study into online participation utilising a purpose built Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based networking tool.Findings – The paper finds that the overall notion of trust is deconstructed into component conditions, which are shown to represent conflicting priorities for individuals. These components are reconstructed to form a model that illustrates how trust needs to develop at the level of the individual for an online community to be formed. The paper provides an insight into the complexities of socio‐technological engagements in an online environment.Research limitations/implications – The paper shows that the proposed model is context‐specific ...

Requirements capture and analysis: A survey of current practice

This paper presents the findings of a detailed survey of 107 projects in which the iterative nature of requirements analysis was explored in economic terms. The survey was conducted from the point of view of the project manager. The results indicate that half of the projects take three or more interations to complete the requirements, that the use of methodologies and project characteristics affect the number of iterations, and that in half of the projects the number of iterations planned was different from the number actually carried out. The paper concludes by attempting to explain the relationship between the economics of the requirements process and the number of iterations through a spiral model of requirements capture and analysis.

A review of existing models for project planning and estimation and the need for a new approach

Abstract Although planning is a crucial part of the system development process, it is often neglected by project managers. The problem being addressed by this paper is that of inadequate models for planning the requirements capture and analysis stage (RCA) of a software development project. It is stressed that there is a need for a new model because the existing models give inaccurate, inconsistent or unreliable predictions. Additionally, they are based on either inappropriate variables or variables that can not be measured at the beginning of the development process. Finally, existing models do not support the planning of individual stages of the development process but only try to make predictions about the project development process as a whole. This paper examines existing models and provides evidence about their inadequacy and lack of accuracy, and then introduces a new model and presents the approach followed for its development.