Thought works for ThoughtWorks

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-8
Author(s):  
Atul Arun Pathak
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Recruitment Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Goals ◽  
Software Application ◽  
New Recruits

Purpose – This paper aims to describe an innovative recruitment process at ThoughtWorks, a software-application development company in India. Design/methodology/approach – It details the skills and qualities that ThoughtWorks looks for in its software developers and how recruitment is aligned to project and organizational goals. Findings – It reveals that despite high growth pressures, ThoughtWorks recruits very selectively to ensure that the quality of its programmers and the culture of the organization are maintained. Practical implications – It shows that the recruitment practices of ThoughtWorks can be emulated by other companies in the software-development industry. This will ensure that new recruits are compatible with the organization’s culture and suitable for the chosen project-delivery approach. Social implications – It concedes that the high rejection rates because of the difficult recruitment process put a strain on the recruitment team as well as on project managers and others involved in the interviewing process. Originality/value – It considers an unusual recruitment process in a software-development company in India that follows agile project practices.

Enabling lifelong learning: the key to agility at ThoughtWorks India

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atul Arun Pathak
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Continual Learning

Purpose The paper aims to describe the innovative learning culture, practices and processes at ThoughtWorks India (TWI), a software application development company in India. These practices support continual learning and development at the level of employees, project teams and the entire organization. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws upon the unique case of TWI. It describes the need for continual learning at TWI. It then describes how the organization has promoted a culture of continual learning on an individual, team and organizational level. It explains how the learning practices and processes aligns to the project level and organizational goals. Findings Because of the complex and difficult nature of software development projects that TWI takes up regularly, it needs its employees to be at the cutting edge of technological skills and know-how. If this was to be attempted through formal training programs, it would turn out to be extremely expensive and inefficient way of learning for TWI. Instead, TWI relies on on-the-job-learning. It does so through a variety of innovative work practices that are described in the paper. It also achieves its learning goals through a culture that supports continual learning and development of employees. Practical implications The learning related practices, processes and mechanisms used at TWI can be emulated by companies in the software development industry. This will ensure that employees learn and develop their skill-sets all the time and remain at the cutting edge of technological developments. This will help organizations pitch for and successfully deliver difficult and complex software development projects that add very high value to their clients. Social implications The social implications of the approach followed by TWI are positive. Employees are motivated to improve themselves every day. They understand the need for doing so. Also, they appreciate the fact that TWI supports continual learning and development. Knowledge sharing among employees is encouraged through the practices followed almost daily in projects. Originality/value The paper considers a unique set of learning and development practices, processes and mechanisms in TWI, a software development company in India.

Microscoping the challenges of sustainable construction in developing countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 1110-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Omoregie Aghimien ◽  
Clinton Ohis Aigbavboa ◽  
Wellington Didibhuku Thwala
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Sustainable Construction ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Surface Finishing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Masonry Construction ◽  
Inadequate Knowledge ◽  
Survey Approach

Purpose This paper aims to present the result of an assessment of the challenges of sustainable construction (SC) in two developing countries (Nigeria and South Africa). This was done with a view to improving sustainable project delivery, which is a problem among most developing countries. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a quantitative survey approach with questionnaire used as the instrument for data collection from quantity surveyors, construction and project managers from both countries. Data analysis was done using a four-step analysis approach and relevant descriptive and inferential statistics were adopted. Findings The study revealed a considerable level of awareness of SC and involvement in the use of the same among the assessed professionals. Also, it was discovered that SC materials are mostly used in the aspect of surface finishing and masonry construction. Further findings revealed that resistance to change, client’s preference, fear of the increased cost of investment and inadequate knowledge and understanding of the concept of sustainability are some of the major challenges of SC in these countries. Originality/value The strength of this study lies in the assessment of happenings from two developing countries and its recommendation can to a large extent promote improved SC in developing countries particularly in Africa were construction activities are similar.

Employee work adjustment scale for small and medium-sized enterprises in Thailand

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 1284-1300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khahan Na-Nan
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Work Adjustment ◽  
Measurement Scale ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Employees ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Management Behaviour ◽  
New Recruits

Purpose Employee work adjustment (EWA) represents the ability of individuals to adjust effectively to working conditions, supervisors, the environment and their peers. To deal with work adjustment in different environments, companies need to both understand and continually assess their employees. The purpose of this paper is to develop an instrument to measure EWA for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted in three stages to develop a measurement scale for EWA. First, 18 questions were developed as a questionnaire based on concepts and theories of EWA and validated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) into four dimensions such as work, supervisor, environment and peer adjustments. Then, a survey was conducted for 360 new employees in SMEs. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and convergent validity were tested along the four adjustment dimensions. Findings This research extended and broadened the EWA concept to provide theoretical support for the adjustment of intelligence research. Four dimensions were developed to measure EWA including aspects of work, supervisor, environment and peer. Research limitations/implications The EWA model was examined using EFA and CFA only. Questionnaire results suggested that concrete constructs were stronger because of single-source, self-assessed data collection as the sample included only employees of SMEs in high-growth sectors of Thailand. EWA findings exhibited a good fit but results require further future refinement and validation using a larger sample size and sampling area. Practical implications The EWA questionnaire has practical use regarding management behaviour and can assist companies and practitioners to better understand the required adjustments for new employees at start-up. This knowledge will help managers to encourage and support newcomers to work better and deliver effective results. Managers and practitioners can develop and hone work adjustment practices for new recruits according to the four dimensions proposed here. Originality/value The validity of this EWA questionnaire will facilitate the future study on boundaries with EWA measurements spanning SMEs contexts. Empirical research results verified that EWA assessment offered new perspectives to explore vital individual work adjustments that are necessary for new recruits to succeed. This instrumental support will help researchers to effectively understand EWA and explore its potential in future studies.

Essential factors towards optimal utilisation of construction resources

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julius Ayodeji Fapohunda ◽  
Nicholas Chileshe
Keyword(s):  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Communication Effectiveness ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Efficient Performance ◽  
Waste Minimisation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Site Managers

Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate and present the essential factors that will enhance site managers’ efficient performance which will perpetuate optimal construction resources utilisation. The capability of controlling and monitoring construction resources and the application of production information to achieve predetermined objectives of scope, cost, time, quality and clients’ satisfaction are the primary functions of site managers. However, the effective implementation of this production information is usually hindered by some factors, often resulting in conscious, unconscious or unavoidable resource wastage. Design/methodology/approach – The research is triangulated. The investigations are based on an action survey, comprising structured quantitative questionnaires and qualitative interview surveys conducted with a few project managers in the UK construction industry. Findings – The research evaluates problems associated with the site managers’ project delivery and establishes essential factors towards efficient resources utilisation. Among the identified predicaments are the design team’ attitudes towards site managers’ corrections, modification and alterations; communication gap between the design and construction teams; and production information inadequacy. Thus, the factors identified which will enhance the efficiencies of the site managers are communication effectiveness and effective information dissemination, conducive environment, production information simplicity and explicitness, in addition to skilled workers’ participation in knowledge transfer and sharing, to mention but a few. Originality/value – The facts presented in this study will significantly enhance site managers’ optimal resources utilisation, and provide the opportunity for construction resources waste minimisation. Thus, the adequate implementation of the innovative measures presented in this study will not only enhance the performance of site managers on resources utilisation, but will also augment client satisfaction.

scholarly journals Software development as a design or a production project

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom McBride ◽  
Brian Henderson‐Sellers ◽  
Didar Zowghi
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Simple Test ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Production Problems

PurposeThe paper seeks to investigate whether project managers regard software development projects as design problems or production problems.Design/methodology/approachProject management literature was examined to determine what evidence there should be to indicate whether a software development project was regarded as a problem to be solved or a product to be produced. Data were then collected through structured interview of project managers currently engaged in managing software development projects. The data were analysed to determine how project managers regarded their projects and whether this matched a theoretical expectation.FindingsThe empirical data indicated that most project managers regard their projects as production problems, where it is assumed that the underlying problem is largely understood, the project encapsulated in a planned schedule of activities and there will be an emphasis on monitoring the project against the planned progress.Research limitations/implicationsOwing to the small sample size of fewer than 30 project managers, external validity is weak. More research is needed to confirm these results over a larger sample and to probe more subtle orientation to production or design projects.Practical implicationsThe research developed a simple test to indicate the degree of novelty of the application to be developed. The test indicates whether the application is novel and should be treated as a design problem, or well known and therefore should be treated as a production problem.Originality/valueThe paper draws attention to the need for project managers to evaluate the type of application to be developed and to adopt an appropriate project management approach. The paper also provides a simple test to achieve that objective.

Empirical comparison of traditional plan-based and agile methodologies

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Ahimbisibwe ◽  
Urs Daellenbach ◽  
Robert Y. Cavana
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Time Budget ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Agile Methodologies ◽  
Project Objectives ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Aligning the project management methodology (PMM) to a particular project is considered to be essential for project success. Many outsourced software projects fail to deliver on time, budget or do not give value to the client due to inappropriate choice of a PMM. Despite the increasing range of available choices, project managers frequently fail to seriously consider their alternatives. They tend to narrowly tailor project categorization systems and categorization criterion is often not logically linked with project objectives. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a contingency fit model comparing the differences between critical success factors (CSFs) for outsourced software development projects in the current context of traditional plan-based and agile methodologies. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model and 54 hypotheses were developed from a literature review. An online Qualtrics survey was used to collect data to test the proposed model. The survey was administered to a large sample of senior software project managers and practitioners who were involved in international outsourced software development projects across the globe with 984 valid responses. Findings Results indicate that various CSFs differ significantly across agile and traditional plan-based methodologies, and in different ways for various project success measures. Research limitations/implications This study is cross-sectional in nature and data for all variables were obtained from the same sources, meaning that common method bias remains a potential threat. Further refinement of the instrument using different sources of data for variables and future replication using longitudinal approach is highly recommended. Practical implications Practical implications of these results suggest project managers should tailor PMMs according to various organizational, team, customer and project factors to reduce project failure rates. Originality/value Unlike previous studies this paper develops and empirically validates a contingency fit model comparing the differences between CSFs for outsourced software development projects in the context of PMMs.

Status of Non-Functional Requirements in Mobile Application Development

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-84
Author(s):  
Varun Gupta ◽  
Raj Kumar Chopra ◽  
Durg Singh Chauhan
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Software Application ◽  
Product Success ◽  
Development Organizations ◽  
The Impact

Non-functional requirements determine the acceptance of the software application amongst its stakeholders apart from the desired functionality yet they are mostly neglected by the software development organizations. Efforts are made to enhance the success rate of the mobile app product; however, there is a lack of empirical studies available for analyzing the contribution of nonfunctional requirements towards the product success. In order to suggest mechanisms for improving product success rates, it is important to undertake the empirical study through surveys and case studies in industrial settings to analyze the software development practices focused on non-functional requirements. The analysis of data collected through empirical methods suggests that non-functional requirements are handled in the rough adhoc fashion and the number of implemented non-functional requirements is less with respect to number of implemented functional requirements. The contribution of non-functional requirements to overall development cost and time is lesser due to lesser number of requirements that undergo implementation but will grow to higher extend as their number will increase. The impact of non-functional requirements on product success rates, failure rates, overall cost and development time varies with type of development, size of organization and complexity of the undertaken mobile app projects.

Adoption of lean principles in software development projects

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
RamKaran Yadav ◽  
M.L. Mittal ◽  
Rakesh Jain
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lean Principles ◽  
Value Stream ◽  
Software Companies ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Exploratory Case Studies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gain insights about the applicability of Lean principles in software industry along with the Lean implementation issues. Design/methodology/approach Exploratory case studies have been carried out in five software companies. Data were collected by observation and semi-structured interviews with project managers. In this paper, case organizations are categorized as product vs project software development (SD) organization. Findings It is found that although Lean principles are being adopted in SD projects, application of all Lean principles is not visible. This research reveals that value and flow are more relevant in SD organizations, while value stream, pull and perfection are not conspicuous. Originality/value This paper would prove invaluable to lean practitioners and researchers to gain knowledge in lean SD. The paper puts forward the key issues that should be addressed for successful adoption of lean in SD. This study set out to determine the practitioners’ perception of the applicability of lean principles in SD projects. It provides a sound basis for further empirical research on adoption of lean principles in SD organizations.

Software Testing Under Agile, Scrum, and DevOps

2021 ◽  
pp. 114-131
Author(s):  
Kamalendu Pal ◽  
Bill Karakostas
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Software Testing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Extreme Programming ◽  
Agile Development ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Software Application ◽  
Development Lifecycle ◽  
Software Development Lifecycle ◽  
Functional Teams

The adoption of agility at a large scale often requires the integration of agile and non-agile development practices into hybrid software development and delivery environment. This chapter addresses software testing related issues for Agile software application development. Currently, the umbrella of Agile methodologies (e.g. Scrum, Extreme Programming, Development and Operations – i.e., DevOps) have become the preferred tools for modern software development. These methodologies emphasize iterative and incremental development, where both the requirements and solutions evolve through the collaboration between cross-functional teams. The success of such practices relies on the quality result of each stage of development, obtained through rigorous testing. This chapter introduces the principles of software testing within the context of Scrum/DevOps based software development lifecycle.

Software Testing Under Agile, Scrum, and DevOps

2022 ◽  
pp. 1059-1076
Author(s):  
Kamalendu Pal ◽  
Bill Karakostas
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Software Testing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Extreme Programming ◽  
Agile Development ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Software Application ◽  
Development Lifecycle ◽  
Software Development Lifecycle ◽  
Functional Teams

The adoption of agility at a large scale often requires the integration of agile and non-agile development practices into hybrid software development and delivery environment. This chapter addresses software testing related issues for Agile software application development. Currently, the umbrella of Agile methodologies (e.g. Scrum, Extreme Programming, Development and Operations – i.e., DevOps) have become the preferred tools for modern software development. These methodologies emphasize iterative and incremental development, where both the requirements and solutions evolve through the collaboration between cross-functional teams. The success of such practices relies on the quality result of each stage of development, obtained through rigorous testing. This chapter introduces the principles of software testing within the context of Scrum/DevOps based software development lifecycle.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document