Using Flow Tools to Enact Control in Software Development Projects: A Cross-case Analysis
Alex Estevam,
Denis Dennehy () and
Kieran Conboy
Additional contact information
Alex Estevam: Eurofins Ltd
Denis Dennehy: National University of Ireland Galway
Kieran Conboy: National University of Ireland Galway
Information Systems Frontiers, 2022, vol. 24, issue 1, No 16, 287-304
Abstract:
Abstract Flow development tools and metrics are the latest in a long line of approaches designed to control and improve software development productivity and the overall quality of software produced. While there are many claims regarding the value of flow to control development activity, there is a lack of rigorous research on this topic. In this study, we use control theory as a lens to explore how flow tools and metrics are used to enact both formal and informal control modes. This qualitative study draws on a cross-case analysis of two multinationals located in Ireland that involved interviews with five software development teams distributed across Ireland, India, and the US. The findings reveal that both managers and project teams try to conduct business as usual in order to maintain their control status. This study contributes four key challenges on the use of flow tools, evidence-based recommendations on how to effectively implement flow, and a research agenda for future researchers. While the findings are within the context of flow-based software development projects, the lessons learned can be generalised to other software development contexts.
Keywords: Formal control; Informal control; Flow; Software development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10796-020-10081-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:infosf:v:24:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s10796-020-10081-w
Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/10796
DOI: 10.1007/s10796-020-10081-w
Access Statistics for this article
Information Systems Frontiers is currently edited by Ram Ramesh and Raghav Rao
More articles in Information Systems Frontiers from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().