Leonor Barroca

Bio: Leonor Barroca is an academic researcher from Open University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Agile software development & Open educational resources. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 67 publications receiving 890 citations. Previous affiliations of Leonor Barroca include University of York.

The challenges that challenge

Abstract: ContextThere continues to be concern that research is not addressing the challenges that practice faces. For the benefit of academia and industry, researchers need to be aware of practitioners' challenges and their context so that relevant and applicable research is undertaken. ObjectiveThis paper investigates two research questions: what challenges do agile practitioners face? and, how do practitioner challenges manifest themselves in an organisational setting? It aims to map the practitioner challenge landscape, explore challenge characteristics, compare findings with previous literature and identify implications for research that is relevant to practice. MethodA combination of methods was used: elicitation of practitioner challenges collected using a Challenge Wall at a series of practitioner events; organisational case study using interviews, document analysis and observation; and online survey. Findings were then compared to previous publications. ResultsChallenges collected from the Challenge Wall were grouped under 27 subthemes and seven themes: claims and limitations, organisation, sustainability, culture, teams, scale, and value. Investigating one challenge in the case study uncovered a set of new challenges, which were inter-related. Over 50% of survey respondents experienced challenges highlighted in the case study. ConclusionThe landscape of agile practitioner challenges is complex and intertwined. Some challenges, such as doing agile in a non-agile environment, are multi-dimensional, affect many aspects of practice, and may be experienced simultaneously as business, organisational, social and adaptation problems. Some challenges, such as understanding cultural change or measuring agile value, persist and are hard to address, while others, such as adoption, change focus over time. Some challenges, such as governance and contracts, are under-researched, while others, such as business and IT transformation, have been researched but findings have not had the expected impact. Researchers wishing to address practitioner challenges need to treat them in context rather than in isolation and improve knowledge transfer.

Civic crowdfunding research: Challenges, opportunities, and future agenda

Abstract: Civic crowdfunding is a sub-type of crowdfunding through which citizens, in collaboration with government, fund projects providing a community service. Although in the early stages of development, civic crowdfunding is a promising area for both research and application due to its potential impact on citizen engagement, as well as its influence on the success of a wide range of civic projects ranging from physical structures to amenities and local services. However, the field remains under-addressed in academic research and underdeveloped in terms of the number of civic projects posted to crowdfunding platforms. Acknowledging these issues, we outline the history of civic crowdfunding and describe the current landscape, focusing on online crowdfunding platforms established specifically for the funding of civic projects (Citizinvestor, ioby, Neighbor.ly, Spacehive). The challenges and the opportunities of civic crowdfunding are examined, and its distinguishing characteristics are outlined, including a consid...

Formal Methods: Use and Relevance for the Development of Safety-Critical Systems

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the use and relevance for the development of safety-critical systems. Technically, the most significant difference between the two classes of techniques is that formal methods permit functionality to be specified precisely whereas structured methods only allow system structure to be specified precisely. Most of the methods have set theory and predicate logic as their underlying basis so there is some technical similarity between all the approaches. Structured methods are used fairly widely in industry. Formal methods are employed much less widely, but their use is on the increase. Software is quite different to hardware in that its only failure modes are through design faults rather than any form of physical mechanism such as aging. Assurance is based on a number of issues, including the level of trust that is there in the individuals carrying out the development, etc. Analytic reasoning is something that can be carried out entirely within a logical framework.

Composing requirements using problem frames

Abstract: Problem frames are a systematic approach to the decomposition of problems that allows us to relate requirements, domain properties, and machine specifications. Having decomposed a problem, one approach to solving it is through a process of composing solutions to sub-problems. In This work, we contribute to supporting such a process by providing a way to compose multiple problem frames. We develop a systematic approach to composing inconsistent requirements. We introduce composition frames, a requirements construct that models relevant aspects of composition and thus deals with unwanted effects, such as interference of overlapping reactions to events. Throughout the paper, we use a simple case study to illustrate and validate our ideas.

Agile Challenges in Practice: A Thematic Analysis

Abstract: As agile is maturing and becoming more widely adopted, it is important that researchers are aware of the challenges faced by practitioners and organisations. We undertook a thematic analysis of 193 agile challenges collected at a series of agile conferences and events during 2013 and 2014. Participants were mainly practitioners and business representatives along with some academics. The challenges were thematically analysed by separate authors, synthesised, and a list of seven themes and 27 sub-themes was agreed. Themes were Organisation, Sustainability, Culture, Teams, Scale, Value and Claims and Limitations. We compare our findings against previous attempts to identify and categorise agile challenges. While most themes have persisted we found a shift of focus towards sustainability, business engagement and transformation, as well as claims and limitations. We identify areas for further research and a need for innovative methods of conveying academic research to industry and industrial problems to academia.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

Abstract: How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

Cognition In The Wild

Abstract: Thank you very much for reading cognition in the wild. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look hundreds times for their favorite books like this cognition in the wild, but end up in malicious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they cope with some harmful virus inside their laptop. cognition in the wild is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our book servers spans in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the cognition in the wild is universally compatible with any devices to read.

Teaching for quality learning at university

Abstract: by J. Biggs and C. Tang, Maidenhead, England, Open University Press, 2007, 360 pp., £29.99, ISBN-13: 978-0-335-22126-4