Scholars' Mine
Missouri S&T
Research Repository
Curtis Laws Wilson Library
400 W. 14th Street
Rolla, MO 65409-0060
scholarsmine@mst.edu
| Title: | Important characteristics of software development team members: an empirical investigation using Repertory Grid |
| Author (s): | Siau, Keng Tan, Xin Sheng, Hong |
| Department/Lab Affiliations: | Business & Information Technology Center for Technology-Enhanced Learning (CTEL) Information Science & Technology Laboratory for Information Technology Evaluation - LITE |
| Keywords: | qualitative study software development team |
| Subject Terms: | Grounded theory. Repertory grid technique. |
| Issue Date: | 2007 |
| Publisher: | Wiley/ Blackwell (Formerly Blackwell or Blackwell Synergy) |
| Citation: | Siau, K., Tan, X., and Sheng, H. “Important Characteristics of Software Development Team Members: An Empirical Investigation Using Repertory Grid,” Information Systems Journal, 2007. |
| Abstract: | An information system is typically developed by a team of information systems (IS) professionals. Research shows that teams staffed with the right people are more likely to be effective and efficient. There is a paucity of study that examines the important traits of IS professionals in team contexts. The objective of this research is to identify and understand the important characteristics of good team members in software development projects. We applied an established psychological technique (Repertory Grid) to guide our interviews with 21 experienced IS professionals, who have had extensive experience in software development teams. The comprehensive list of important characteristics was analysed qualitatively using open coding method of grounded theory. Fifty-nine unique characteristics were identified and classified into eight categories. Among them, attitude/motivation, knowledge, interpersonal/communication skills, and working/cognitive ability were perceived by research participants to be the most important categories. Our study provides a context-specific (i.e. software development team) evaluation of important characteristics of IS professionals. The results have significant implications for IS recruiting, IS training, IS staffing, and IS human resource management. Our study also supplements the research on management of IS development teams. |
| Type: | Article - Journal text |
| In Title: | Information Systems Journal |
| Copyright Notice: | This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. Pre-print: author can archive; Post-print: author can archive FULL COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: |
| Publisher URL: | |
| Link to this page: |
| title | Important characteristics of software development team members: an empirical investigation using Repertory Grid |
| contributor.author | Siau, Keng |
| contributor.author | Tan, Xin |
| contributor.author | Sheng, Hong |
| contributor.deptlab | Business & Information Technology |
| contributor.deptlab | Center for Technology-Enhanced Learning (CTEL) |
| contributor.deptlab | Information Science & Technology |
| contributor.deptlab | Laboratory for Information Technology Evaluation - LITE |
| subject | qualitative study |
| subject | software development team |
| subject.LCSH | Grounded theory. |
| subject.LCSH | Repertory grid technique. |
| date.issued | 2007 |
| publisher | Wiley/ Blackwell (Formerly Blackwell or Blackwell Synergy) |
| identifier.citation | Siau, K., Tan, X., and Sheng, H. “Important Characteristics of Software Development Team Members: An Empirical Investigation Using Repertory Grid,” Information Systems Journal, 2007. |
| identifier.pub.URI | |
| description.abstract | An information system is typically developed by a team of information systems (IS) professionals. Research shows that teams staffed with the right people are more likely to be effective and efficient. There is a paucity of study that examines the important traits of IS professionals in team contexts. The objective of this research is to identify and understand the important characteristics of good team members in software development projects. We applied an established psychological technique (Repertory Grid) to guide our interviews with 21 experienced IS professionals, who have had extensive experience in software development teams. The comprehensive list of important characteristics was analysed qualitatively using open coding method of grounded theory. Fifty-nine unique characteristics were identified and classified into eight categories. Among them, attitude/motivation, knowledge, interpersonal/communication skills, and working/cognitive ability were perceived by research participants to be the most important categories. Our study provides a context-specific (i.e. software development team) evaluation of important characteristics of IS professionals. The results have significant implications for IS recruiting, IS training, IS staffing, and IS human resource management. Our study also supplements the research on management of IS development teams. |
| type | Article - Journal |
| type.DCMIType | text |
| type.status | Postprint |
| rights | This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. |
| rights | Pre-print: author can archive; Post-print: author can archive |
| rights.URI | |
| rights.URI | |
| relation.isPartOf | Information Systems Journal |
| date.available | 2008-08-05T19:26:25Z |
| identifier.persist.URI |