Timo Käkölä

Groupware Support for Requirements Management in New Product Development

Large high-technology companies operate in fiercely competitive international markets. To succeed, they need to shorten the cycle time of new product development (NPD) while improving product quality and maintaining or reducing the total resources required. Their abilities to meet these business goals depend on how extensively and effectively they collect, analyze, and utilize requirements in their product development. Creating and sharing such knowledge is complicated partly because the NPD activities of large companies are geographically distributed. Groupware technologies allow knowledge to be created and shared more effectively. Thus, they hold considerable potential as means of meeting the goals. Yet, little theory-based guidance is available to help design groupware-based requirements management systems (RMS) for large geographically distributed organizations. In this article, we draw on existing literature and experiences from large-scale distributed industrial development projects at Nokia to start building a design theory that answers the following question: What are the necessary and sufficient properties of RMS, and how should RMS be designed and introduced in large high-technology companies to best achieve the business goals? The main contributions of the article are (a) the creation of a generic set of requirements for RMS, (b) the development of the RMS design, and (c) the empirical validation of the design by analyzing instantiations of the design at various product lines of Nokia.

Exploring the Context of Product Line Adoption

To successfully adopt a product line approach an organization needs to define its adoption goals, conceive a strategy, and implement a plan to achieve those goals. This process is repeated for each business unit and individual affected by the product line adoption. This paper describes how the characteristics of the market, organization, business unit, and individual influence product line adoption goals, strategies, and plans.

Redesigning computer-supported work processes with dual information systems: the work process benchmarking service

The conceptual design of most computer-based information systems reflects a dualism of technology. During the development phase, part of the work-domain-related knowledge is formalized and encoded in the software, making it difficult for users to reflect on and use this knowledge. This design/use dualism contributes to the deterioration of the interpretive flexibility of information systems. We propose an information systems architecture called Dual Information Systems (DIS) that helps bridge the design/use dualism by providing organizations with a set of services that enable and reinforce both effective, institutionalized working and the questioning and (re)construction of computer-supported work routines. DIS have a four-layered conceptual structure: (1) people draw on the business layer to work and learn; (2) people use the breakdown layer to handle unexpected breakdowns; (3) self-organizing project teams use the project layer to create innovative work and IS (re)designs; and (4) the knowledge-sharing server stores these redesigns and makes them organizationally available to facilitate working and learning as well as subsequent redesign efforts. In this paper, we first outline the theoretical background, conceptual design, and generic services of DIS. Next, we elaborate on the work-process benchmarking service of DIS, which supports project teams in analyzing and redesigning computer-supported work through lateral sharing of knowledge of work processes between business units. Finally, we demonstrate the benchmarking service with the help of the ReDIS prototype.

Increasing the interpretive flexibility of information systems through embedded application systems

Abstract The conceptual structure of most computer-based information systems reflects a dualism of technology. During the development phase, part of the work-domain related knowledge is formalized and encoded in the software, making it difficult for users to reflect upon and use this knowledge. This dualism deters the interpretive flexibility of information systems. In this paper, I propose the Embedded Systems Approach, a redesign of the conceptual structure of software systems that lets users acknowledge the constructed, dual nature of information systems. In this approach, applications are embedded in extended support systems that make the organization of work and the coordinating role of information systems explicit. It also helps users handle breakdowns. The resulting systems are called Embedded Application Systems. I describe the XTEND2 prototype to illustrate the approach and to inspire commercial implementations.

Software business models and contexts for software innovation: key areas software business research

This paper examines business, design, and product development aspects of software business models. Contexts of small and large companies for creating software innovations are also analysed. Finally, software business research is called for and an agenda for software business research is presented to better understand the dynamics of the software industry and help create and manage successful software-intensive ventures.This paper examines business, design, and product development aspects of software business models. Contexts of small and large companies for creating software innovations are also analysed. Finally, software business research is called for and an agenda for software business research is presented to better understand the dynamics of the software industry and help create and manage successful software-intensive ventures.

Dual Information Systems: Supporting Organizational Working and Learning by Making Organizational Memory Transparent

The conceptual design of most computer-based information systems reflects a dualism of technology. During the development phase, part of the work-domain-related knowledge is formalized and encoded in the software, making it difficult for users to reflect on and use this knowledge. This design--use dualism contributes to the deterioration of the interpretive flexibility of information systems. In this article, we outline an information systems architecture called Dual Information Systems (DIS) that incorporates the concepts of an organizational memory information system (OMIS) in a broader framework. DIS help bridge the design--use dualism by providing organizations with a set of services that enable and reinforce both effective, institutionalized working and the questioning and (re)construction of computer-supported work routines. DIS have a 4-layered conceptual structure: (a) people draw on the business layer to work and learn; (b) people use the breakdown layer to handle unexpected break-downs; (c) self...

Best Practices for International eSourcing of Software Products and Services

This paper analyzes how the information and communications technology-supported international eSourcing of software products and services (IeS) can be effectively executed. The extant literature falls short of providing a systematic and detailed enough set of best practices to guide IeS. This paper presents best practices for IeS to facilitate further research, and to help managers and other stakeholders to understand, execute, and proactively improve and manage international eSourcing. The practices emphasize the need to establish and enact rigorous, mature, and quantitatively managed eSourcing life- cycles in order to transcend temporal, geographical, social, technical, and other boundaries in IeS.

An information systems design product theory for the class of integrated requirements and release management systems

High-tech companies conducting product development need to collect and analyze requirements effectively, plan and implement releases, and allocate requirements to appropriate releases. Requirements and release management are complicated because development activities typically are scattered across multiple sites, involve multiple partners in different countries, leverage various development methods and tools, and are realized through various organizational arrangements such as release projects in organizations structured around products and permanent release teams in organizations responsible for the long-term development and maintenance of strategic software and hardware assets. Flexible, scalable, and secure groupware-based support for the activities provides substantial payoffs. Yet, the extant literature provides little theoretical guidance for designing and using requirements and release management systems (RRMS) in multi-site, multi-partner environments. This article develops the meta-requirements and a meta-design of an Information Systems Design Product Theory for the class of RRMS based on a case study in a global company and a literature review. The theory is scalable to meet the needs of global companies but simple enough so that small and medium-sized companies can also leverage it to implement requirements and release management solutions. Copyright

An Information Systems Design Theory for Integrated Requirements and Release Management Systems

High-tech companies need to collect and analy- ze requirements and allocate them to appropriate product releases in market-driven product development. Develop- ment activities are typically scattered across multiple sites and involve multiple partners in different countries, complicating requirements and release management. Fle- xible, scalable, and secure groupware-based support for the activities provides substantial payoffs. Yet, the extant literature provides little theoretical guidance for designing and using requirements and release management systems in multi-site, multi-partner environments. This article de- velops the meta-requirements and a meta-design of an Information Systems Design Theory for the class of Re- quirements and Release Management Systems based on a case study in a global company and a literature review. The theory is scalable to meet the needs of global compa- nies but simple enough so small and medium sized com- panies can also leverage it to implement requirements and release management solutions.

Diffusion of software technology innovations in the global context

This study examines how software businesses are acquiring new software technology innovations (STIs) in rapidly changing globalized business environment characterized by rapidly shortening software technology life cycles, changing customer demands, and intense competition. It was executed through both theoretical and empirical investigations and analyses. It describes one case company as an example of the diffusion of STI and develops a framework for the diffusion of software technology innovation. The research findings are useful for both further research and industrial settings.