When Distribution of Tasks and Skills Are Fundamentally Problematic: A Failure Story from Global Software Outsourcing
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When Distribution of Tasks and Skills Are Fundamentally Problematic : A Failure Story from Global Software Outsourcing. / Matthiesen, Stina; Bjørn, Pernille.
In: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (PACMHCI), Vol. 1, No. CSCW, 74, 11.2017.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - When Distribution of Tasks and Skills Are Fundamentally Problematic
T2 - A Failure Story from Global Software Outsourcing
AU - Matthiesen, Stina
AU - Bjørn, Pernille
PY - 2017/11
Y1 - 2017/11
N2 - Using ethnographic data, we provide a critical reflection on the discrepancies between the application ofagile development principles and the conditions which render these principles effective for global softwaredevelopment work. This reflection is based on the analysis of a failed collaboration within a global softwareproject, which relied heavily on feedback from mundane project tools utilized for everyday coordination andmonitoring. Our study reveals that these tools hid serious issues relating to both the distribution of sociotechnicalskills and a discharge of accountability in task execution. As a result, markers of complexcollaborative problems were concealed. Furthermore, the imbalance evident in outsourcing setups, which isenacted through high and low status task distribution among partners, further compounds collaborationproblems by emphasizing assumptions about remote workers in the absence of direct forms of knowledgeinterchange.
AB - Using ethnographic data, we provide a critical reflection on the discrepancies between the application ofagile development principles and the conditions which render these principles effective for global softwaredevelopment work. This reflection is based on the analysis of a failed collaboration within a global softwareproject, which relied heavily on feedback from mundane project tools utilized for everyday coordination andmonitoring. Our study reveals that these tools hid serious issues relating to both the distribution of sociotechnicalskills and a discharge of accountability in task execution. As a result, markers of complexcollaborative problems were concealed. Furthermore, the imbalance evident in outsourcing setups, which isenacted through high and low status task distribution among partners, further compounds collaborationproblems by emphasizing assumptions about remote workers in the absence of direct forms of knowledgeinterchange.
KW - distributed work, distribution of socio-technical expertise, ethnography, failure, categories, global software development (gsd), invisible work, task accountability
U2 - 10.1145/3139336
DO - 10.1145/3139336
M3 - Journal article
VL - 1
JO - Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
JF - Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
SN - 2573-0142
IS - CSCW
M1 - 74
ER -
ID: 186525575