Context Cost advantage has been one of the primary drivers of successful offshoring engagements of Indian software and services companies. However, the emphasis has shifted to the ability of the vendors to provide high quality over cost advantage in delivering software products and services. Meeting high quality requirements of the clients is a challenge due to the very nature of development and delivery of software through offshoring. Objective The objective of this research paper is to identify and evaluate the key determinants of quality in the case of software projects delivered through offshoring model. Method A detailed survey was conducted among project managers/project leaders (leads) of a leading midsize Indian IT services company to evaluate the relationship of the determinants on the attributes of quality. Results Out of six determinants, our research reveals requirements uncertainty has significant association with all the attributes of quality. While process maturity and trained personnel have moderate association, communication and control, knowledge transfer and integration and technical infrastructure have relatively low association on software quality attributes in the case of offshoring. Conclusion It is concluded that the complexities in offshoring necessitates proper capturing of requirements. In addition high level of process maturity and availability of trained personnel to the project will help vendors to achieve software quality. The paper provides a set of implications for practice and directions for further research.

Determinants of software quality in offshore development – An empirical study of an Indian vendor

Assessing the impact of quality determinants and user characteristics on successful enterprise resource planning project implementation

Quality vs risk: An investigation of their relationship in software development projects

INTRODUCTION Greater top management support for information systems results in better design, use, and management of such systems, and thus in improved organizational performance. Considerable research has therefore been conducted concerning the impact of top management support on the contribution of information systems to performance (Choe, 1996; Igbaria et al., 1995; Jarvenpaa and Ives, 1991; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2004; Sabherwal et al., 2006). For example, continuous involvement from top management has been shown to resolve problems when crises and conflicts arise in uncertain environments (Pinto & Slevin, 1987). However, little is known about how the cognitive processes of a supportive top management facilitate performance (Meindl et al., 1994). Recently, the concept of mindfulness has been introduced to IS research to help explain innovation and the achievement of information systems reliability in organizations (Swanson & Ramiller, 2004; Butler & Gray, 2006). Mindfulness is a cognitive process that facilitates the discovery and correction of errors that might escalate (Weick et al., 1999). Swanson and Ramiller (2004) call for an examination of top management support in the mindfulness context and remark that strategic mindfulness is needed to deal with the disruptive effects of IT initiatives. Such mindfulness includes a concern for the firm's long-term viability, and thus is the responsibility of top management. Without mindfulness, the use of such resources as money and people might not be sufficient to permit the new IT to be successfully implemented and adopted. The purpose of this study is to apply mindfulness theory to understand how top management support can enhance IS performance. The study tests the effect of top management support (i.e., top management understanding and involvement) on the collective mindfulness of top management (i.e., attentiveness to five specific factors described below), and the effect of such mindfulness on IS performance. The next sections explain the constructs, define hypotheses, and elucidate the methodology and analysis. After a discussion of the findings, implications for research and practice follow. LITERATURE The research model contains five constructs: top management support; collective mindfulness comprising five dimensions of preoccupation with IS failure, reluctance to simplify IS, sensitivity to IS operations; commitment to IS resilience and deference to IS expertise; and IS performance. The model appears in Figure 1. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] TOP MANAGEMENT SUPPORT Top management support is the degree to which senior executives understand the importance of the IS function and are involved in IS activities (Ragu-Nathan et al., 2004). Under such circumstances, the executives are interested in the IS function and encourage operating units to collaborate with information systems professionals (Boynton et al., 1992). The executives consider such systems as a strategic resource and understand the opportunities offered by them (Clemons et al., 2009). Research has considered the impact of top management support. It has shown, for example, such support to be a critical success factor for IS disaster recovery planning (Chow & Ha, 2009) and for successful alignment of IS plans with business plans (Teo & Ang, 1999). Top management support leads to the improved quality of shared information in interorganizational systems usage (Hartono et al., 2010), and to successful software process improvement (Ngwenyama & N0rbjerg, 2010). Top management support influences both perceived ERP system usefulness and usage (Lin, 2010), leads to successful SAP and business process management systems implementation (Becerra-Fernandez at al., 2005; Ravesteyn & Batenburg, 2010), and is a characteristic of successful e-commerce (Epstein, 2005). At the same time, lack of top management support leads to failed projects and lost opportunities (Andriole, 2009). …

https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=jitim

Top Management Support, Collective Mindfulness, and Information Systems Performance

Despite much research and progress in the area of software project management, many software projects have a very high failure rate. This risk is not always avoidable, but it is controllable. The aim of this paper is to propose the new framework software risk management methodology for successful software project. There are 5 main phases such as identification risk, risk analysis and evaluation, risk treatment, risk controlling, risk communication and documentation for software development life cycle. Indeed, our approach focuses on identifying software risk factors, and risk management techniques and on how to manage software risk factors with statistical and mining techniques. Our framework derived data from questionnaires and historical data from software companies. Successful software project risk management methodology will greatly improve the probability of software project success.
Keywords:

An enhancement of framework software risk management methodology for successful software development

Software quality is important for the success of any information systems (IS). In this research, we find the determinants of software quality. We used five attributes for software quality: system reliability, maintainability, ease of use, usefulness, and relevance. By surveying 112 IS project managers, we collected data about their perceptions on the software quality attributes and their determinants. We arrived at six factors through exploratory factor analysis. We determined the individual factors that impacted the software quality attributes; for example, reliability is associated with responsiveness of IS department; ease of use is influenced by the capabilities of users and attitude of management; and usefulness is impacted by capabilities of IS department and responsiveness of IS department. We show that organizational factors are more important than technical factors in impacting software quality in IS projects. We provide implications of our research to practice and to future research.

Determinants of software quality: A survey of information systems project managers

/pdf/factors-affecting-mis-project-success-1ksw5lc9wo.pdf

Shang-Che Lin

Papers

Determinants of software quality: A survey of information systems project managers

Factors Affecting MIS Project Success