The Impact of Depth and/or Breadth of Experiences in Software Development Productivity
Keumseok Kang, Jungpil Hahn, Prabuddha De · Academy of Management Proceedings · 2012
This study empirically examines a question often debated in practice: which professional type - specialists, those with deep and focused experience of a particular knowledge, and generalists, who have experience with a broad range of knowledge - contributes more to software development productivity? In order to find an answer to this question, this study investigates the impacts of specialized experience (i.e., prior experience with the focal knowledge), diverse experience (i.e., prior experience with other non-focal knowledge), and the balance of these two types of experiences on software project productivity. Using an extensive archival data set of software development projects from a prominent IT services company, the study finds that a specialist in the required focal application domain is the most appropriate professional type to serve as project managers, while a specialist in any application domain is acceptable for the role of developers. With respect to development knowledge, a T-shaped professional, who has diverse experience but specialized experience on a limited subset of knowledge, is the most appropriate type for both project managers and developers. Again, however, project managers need specialization in the required focal development knowledge, while developers do not need such specialized knowledge. The results of this study have implications for project staffing and career development paths of software professionals.