An experimental investigation of the impact of conflicting project goals on staff resource allocation

The Department of Defense Information Technology budget stands at nine billion dollars and is under severe scrutiny while the backlog of required software continues to grow. It is thereby necessary to improve the efficiency of managing the software process. This thesis uses the Systems Dynamic Model...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Swett, Clinton L.
Other Authors: T. Hamid
Language:en_US
Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10945/31495
Description
Summary:The Department of Defense Information Technology budget stands at nine billion dollars and is under severe scrutiny while the backlog of required software continues to grow. It is thereby necessary to improve the efficiency of managing the software process. This thesis uses the Systems Dynamic Model of Software Project Management to investigate the effects of stated goals on project manager behavior. Specifically, the experiment focuses on how software project managers allocate resources in both relaxed and constrained resource environments. The effect of goals on manager performance are measured in terms of staffing level decisions, percent of staff allocated to quality assurance activities, estimated schedule, and estimated cost. The results show that manager performance is highly sensitive to stated goals.