SERL - Software Engineering Research Laboratory

Permanent link for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10292/1680
The Software Engineering Research Lab (SERL) at AUT University undertakes world-class research directed at understanding and improving the practice of software professionals in their creation and preservation of software systems. We are interested in all models of software provision – bespoke development, package and component customisation, free/libre open source software (FLOSS) development, and delivery of software as a service (SaaS). The research we carry out may relate to just one or all of these models.

Browse

Browsing SERL - Software Engineering Research Laboratory by Author "Clear, Tony"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Item
    Beyond "Temponomics' - the many dimensions of time in globally distributed project teams
    (IEEE Computer Society Press, 2010-08-23) Clear, Tony; MacDonell, SG
    The prevailing notion of time which pervades reports on global software development practice is the linear notion of time as a scarce commodity to be optimized through working across global boundaries. This `temponomic' view of time provides a useful but limited model through which to understand how time operates in practice within globally distributed teams. We report findings from an in depth empirical study which employed a grounded analysis of the many dimensions of time in action within a global team setting. A situated analysis of the actions at each of three globally distributed sites, demonstrates how the differing aspects of time interact, and how some of the known challenges in working globally, can be viewed from a temporal viewpoint. We argue that this more nuanced understanding of how time functions in globally distributed teams may help managers and researchers develop more appropriate practices and models for managing such teams.
  • Item
    Onshore to Near-Shore Outsourcing Transitions: Unpacking Tensions
    (IEEE, 2015-07-13) Raza, B; Clear, Tony; MacDonell, SG
    This study is directed towards highlighting tensions of incoming and outgoing vendors during outsourcing in a near-shore context. Incoming-and-outgoing of vendors generate a complex form of relationship in which the participating organizations cooperate and compete simultaneously. It is of great importance to develop knowledge about this kind of relationship typically in the current GSE-related multi-sourcing environment. We carried out a longitudinal case study and utilized data from the 'Novo pay' project, which is available in the public domain. This project involved an outgoing New Zealand based vendor and incoming Australian based vendor. The results show that the demand for the same human resources, dependency upon cooperation and collaboration between vendors, reliance on each other system's configurations and utilizing similar strategies by the client, which worked for the previous vendor, generated a set of tensions which needed to be continuously managed throughout the project.
  • Item
    The many facets of distance and space: the mobility of actors in globally distributed project teams
    (IEEE Computer Society Press, 2012) Clear, Tony; Hussain, W; MacDonell, SG
    Global software development practices are shaped by the challenges of time and 'distance', notions perceived to separate sites in a multi-site collaboration. Yet while sites may be fixed, the actors in global projects are mobile, so distance becomes a dynamic spatial dimension rather than a static concept. This empirical study applies grounded theory to unpack the nature of mobility within a three site globally distributed team setting. We develop a model for mapping the movements of team members in local and global spaces, and demonstrate its operation through static snapshots and dynamic patterns evolving over time. Through this study we highlight the complexity of 'mobility' as one facet of 'space' in globally distributed teams and illuminate its tight coupling with the accompanying dimensions of accessibility and context awareness.
  • Item
    Understanding technology use in global virtual teams: research methodologies and methods
    (AUT University, 2011-09) Clear, Tony; MacDonell, SG
    Context: The globalisation of activities associated with software development and use has introduced many challenges in practice, and also (therefore) many for research. While the predominant approach to research in software engineering has followed a positivist science model, this approach may be suboptimal when addressing problems with a dominant social or cultural dimension, such as those frequently encountered when studying work practices in a globally distributed team setting. The investigation of such a team reported in this paper provides one example of an alternative approach to research in a global context, through a longitudinal interpretive field study seeking to understand how global virtual teams mediated the use of technology. The study involved a large collective of faculty and support staff plus student members based in the geographically and temporally distant locations of New Zealand, the United States of America and Sweden. Objective: Our focus in this paper is on the conduct of research in the context of global software activities, and in particular, as applied to the actions and interactions of global virtual teams. We consider the appropriateness of various methodologies and methods in enabling such issues to be addressed. Method: We describe how we undertook a substantial field study of global virtual teams, and highlight how the adopted structuration theory, action research and grounded theory methodologies applied to the analysis of email data, enabled us to deliver effectively against our goals. Results: We believe that the approach taken suited a research context in which situated practices were occurring over time in a highly complex domain, ensuring that our results were both strongly grounded and relevant to practice. It has resulted in the generation of substantive theory and techniques that have been adapted and applied on a pilot basis in further field settings. Conclusion: We conclude that globally distributed teamwork presents a complex context which demands new research approaches, beyond the limited set customarily applied by software engineering researchers. We advocate experimenting with different research methodologies and methods so that we have a more rounded repertoire to address the most important and relevant issues in global software development research, with the forms of rigour that suit the chosen approach.
Items in these collections are protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). These works may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use:
  • Any use you make of these works must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person.
  • Authors control the copyright of their works. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the work, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate.
  • You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the work.