Optimal Team Composition in Distributed Software Development Fifth Global Sourcing Workshop 2011 Roderick van Cann Dr. Slinger Jansen Prof.dr. Sjaak Brinkkemper 1
Research question and goal Research Question: How do you compose your optimal outsourcing team in a distributed software development environment? Goal: Simple, easy to use method for team composition in a distributed software development environment. Target: Project managers 2
Research method Literature study 2 short questionnaires Dutch companies (InnoVites, Itude) 4 information sessions India (Microsoft, CoMakeIT, Logica, Deloitte) Method comparison 5 methods from literature 3
Ahn et al. (2007) Wi et al. (2009) Tseng et al. (2004) Venkatamuni & Rao (2010) Zakarian & Kusiak (1999) Method comparison 22 activities divided over 4 groups Data manipulation Create matrix = = = Add weights = = = = Calculate weighted sum = Calculate social network score = Calculate personal knowledge score = Calculate personnel score = Order & group matrix = =** = Team member selection Select team members = = =* = = * = selects teams instead of individuals ** = only orders the matrix 4
Create matrix (1) Zakarian & Kusiak (1999) 5
Create matrix (2) Zakarian & Kusiak (1999) 6
Method (1) Identify properties Identify project characteristics Identify available team members POSSIBLE TEAM MEMBERS Knowledge Previous experience Previous assessments Location PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS Time limit Size of project Impact on business Priority level Identify customer requirements Identify engineering characteristics CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS Create requirements characteristics matrix CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS MATRIX Identify team functions TEAM FUNCTIONS Create characteristics team functions matrix Adjust matrixes Group matrixes ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS TEAM FUNCTIONS MATRIX Add weights to matrixes Sort matrixes Optional: Make hierarchical structure model HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE MODEL Select teams Determine (sub)team size Determine number of people per functional role Determine location for each functional role Determine team member fit Select team members TEAM COMPOSITION 7 Else Team complete
Method (2) Identify properties Identify project characteristics Identify available team members POSSIBLE TEAM MEMBERS Knowledge Previous experience Previous assessments Location PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS Time limit Size of project Impact on business Priority level Identify customer requirements Identify engineering characteristics CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS Create requirements characteristics matrix CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS MATRIX Identify team functions TEAM FUNCTIONS Create characteristics team functions matrix ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS TEAM FUNCTIONS MATRIX 8
Method (3) Adjust matrixes Group matrixes Add weights to matrixes Sort matrixes Optional: Make hierarchical structure model HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE MODEL Select teams Determine (sub)team size Determine number of people per functional role Determine location for each functional role Determine team member fit Select team members TEAM COMPOSITION 9 Else Team complete
Evaluation Team composition activities Literature Company input Identify properties Identify project characteristics >< = Identify available team members = >< Identify customer requirements = >< Create requirements - characteristics matrix = Identify team functions = Create characteristics - team functions matrix = Adjust matrixes Group matrixes = Add weights to matrixes = Sort matrixes = Optional: Make hierarchical structure model = Select teams Determine (sub)team size >< = Determine number of people per functional role >< Determine location of each functional role = Determine team member fit >< >< Select team members = >< 10
Discussion Based on literature and information from 6 companies No real case studies or in-dept interviews Dependent on company preferences No details on determine team member fit activity Conscious process Conclusions Communication is vital 11
Future work Validation of method Case studies Interviews Team member fit determinants Differences in nearshore and offshore outsourcing 12
13 Questions?