Title: How project duration, upfront costs and uncertainty interact and impact on software development productivity? A simulation approach

Authors: Li Liu; Xiaoying Kong; Jing Chen

Addresses: Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies, The University of Sydney, Australia ' Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia ' School of Business, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada

Abstract: Identifying impact factors on software development productivity and the static relations between the impact factors and performance has been the main focus in the literature. Insight into the dynamic relation between key factors and performance dimensions would expand and complement the conventional wisdom on software development productivity. This is the first study to present such dynamic relationship based on an Analytical Theory of Project Investment. Through simulation, we have demonstrated the dynamic relationship between project duration, the uncertainty level of the perceived project value, the fixed project upfront cost and software development productivity. The findings provide practitioners with insight into how these factors interact and impact on software development project productivity.

Keywords: software development methodology; software development productivity; modelling; simulation; project duration; upfront costs; uncertainty; software projects; perceived value; project value; fixed costs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJASM.2015.068605

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 2015 Vol.8 No.1, pp.39 - 52

Received: 01 May 2014
Accepted: 09 Sep 2014
Published online: 06 Apr 2015 *

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