The use of project management mechanisms in software development and their relationship to organisational distance : an emperical investigation
Thomas Murray Dr McBride · 2005
Page xiv the data provided both quantitative and qualitative data that enabled three separate ways to investigate the research questions. The empirical research found that project managers do not rely on a single mechanism to monitor, control or coordinate a software development project but employ multiple mechanisms. While the portfolio of mechanisms for both monitoring and control comprised a relatively narrow selection, the portfolio of coordination mechanisms was more diverse. Project monitoring mechanisms were employed to first detect any project problems then to respond to those problems. This contrasts with monitoring systems designed to provide all the information about both the existence and probable causes of project problems. Project control mechanisms reflected the origin of the control. The constraints imposed on the project by the organization and used by the project manager to direct the project tended to be outcome related, for example budget and schedule. The behaviour of the project team, even across significant organizational distances, was controlled through the use of project plans that determined when different tasks would be performed. Project coordination mechanisms reflected the different types of dependencies between software development activities. The most common was using a project work breakdown structure, expressed in the project schedule, to resolve sequential and pooled resource dependencies. Mutual dependencies tended to be resolved using interactive mechanisms such as co-location, conversations and meetings. The empirical evidence did not find any difference between co-located projects and distributed projects so far as the choice of project management mechanisms were concerned. Distributed and globally outsourced software development projects may encounter many difficulties that a fully co-located project does not, but the response to those difficulties appears to lie with the implementation of project management mechanisms and not their selection.