Abstract
Organisational globalisation has strengthened the popularity of virtual information systems development (ISD) teams, by maximising the availability of resources. However, few studies investigate the practices of virtual ISD teams. This paper presents findings from a survey on the use of ISD methodologies by virtual ISD teams. Virtual ISD teams appear to employ the use of methodologies to a greater extent than do colocated teams. Teams employed a structured approach to the ISD process, following a methodology with clear emphasis on the importance of documentation and constant communication between team members. Conversely, ISD literature on colocated teams presents a view that methodologies are not wholly used and where they are used, a tailoring of the methodology takes place. The virtual teams involved in this study did not engage in a tailoring of methods during development. Most teams utilised an internally developed methodology specific to the organisation. The results lead to recommendations for future research into virtual ISD teams.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahuja, M. K. and Galvin, J. E. (2003). Socialization in virtual groups, Journal of Management, Vol. 29, Iss. 2, pp. 161–185.
Ambler, S. (2002). Agile development best dealt with in small groups, Computing Canada, Vol. 28, Iss. 9, pp. 9.
Andres, H. P. (2002). A comparison of face-to-face and virtual software development teams, Team Performance Management, Vol. 8, Iss. 1/2, pp. 39.
Andriessen, J. H. E. and Verburg, R. M. (2004). ‘A model for the analysis of virtual teams’, In Virtual and Collaborative Teams. Process, Technologies and Practice, Edited by Godar, S. H. and Ferris, S. P., Idea Group, London.
Armour, P. G. (2007). Agile... and Offshore, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 50, Iss. 1, pp. 13–16.
Baskerville, R., Travis, J. and Truex, D. (1992). ‘Systems without method: The impact of new technologies on information systems development projects’, In The Impact of Computer Supported Technologies on Information Systems Development, Edited by Kendall, J. E. and Kendall, K. E., Elsevier, Holland.
Chatzoglou, P. D. and Macaulay, L. A. (1996). Requirements capture and IS methodologies, Information Systems Journal, Vol. 6, pp. 209–225.
Clarke, S. and Lehaney, B. (2000). Mixing methodologies for information systems development and strategy: A higher education case study, Journal of Operational Research Society, Vol. 51, pp. 542–556.
Coleman, G. (2005). ‘An empirical study of software process in practice’, In Proceedings of 38th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, IEEE, Hawaii.
Connaughton, S. L. and Daly, J. A. (2004). ‘Leading from afar: Strategies for effectively leading virtual teams’, In Virtual and Collaborative Teams. Process, Technologies and Practice, Edited by Godar, S. H. and Ferris, S. P., Idea Group Publishing, London.
Cramton, C. D. (2001). The mutual knowledge problem and its consequences for dispersed collaboration, Organization Science, Vol. 12, Iss. 3, pp. 346.
Cramton, C. D. (2002). Finding common ground in dispersed collaboration, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 30, Iss. 4, pp. 356–367.
Daft, R. L. and Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organisational information requirements, media richness and structural design, Management Science, Vol. 32, Iss. 5, pp. 554–571.
De Vaus, A. D. (2002). Surveys in Social Research, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, Australia.
Faraj, S. and Sproull, L. (2000). Coordinating expertise in software development teams, Management Sciences, Vol. 46, Iss. 12, pp. 1554–1568.
Fiore, S. M., Salas, E., Cuevas, H. M. and Bowers, C. A. (2003). Distribution coordination space: Toward a theory of distributed team process and performance, Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, Vol. 4, Iss. 3/4, pp. 340–364.
Fitzgerald, B. (1997). The use of systems development methodologies in practice:A field study, Info Systems Journal, Vol. 7, pp. 201–212.
Fitzgerald, B. (1998). An empirical investigation into the adoption of systems development methodologies, Information and Management, Vol. 34, pp. 317–328.
Furst, S., Blackburn, R. and Rosen, B. (1999). Virtual team effectiveness: a proposed research agenda, Information Systems Journal, Vol. 9, Iss. 4, pp. 249–269.
Iivari, J. and Hirschheim, R. (1996). Analyzing information systems development: A comparison and analysis of eight IS development approaches, Information Systems, Vol. 21, Iss. 7, pp. 551–575.
Jackson, P. J. (1999). Organizational change and virtual teams: strategic and operational integration, Information Systems Journal, Vol. 9, Iss. 4, pp. 313–332.
Kanawattanachai, P. and Yoo, Y. (2002). Dynamic nature of trust in virtual teams, The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Vol. 11, Iss. 3/4, pp. 187–213.
Kiesler, S. and Cummings, J. N. (2002). ‘What do we know about proximity and distance in work groups? A legacy of research’, In Distributed Work, Edited by Hinds, P. J. and Kiesler, S., MIT Press, London.
Kraut, R. E., Fussell, S. R., Brennan, S. E. and Siegel, J. (2002). ‘Understanding effects of proximity on collaboration: Implications for technologies to support’, In Distributed Work, Edited by Hinds, P. J. and Kiesler, S., MIT Press, London.
Layman, L., Williams, L., Damian, D. and Bures, H. (2006). Essential communication practices for Extreme Programming in a global software development team, Information and Software Technology, Vol. 48, pp. 781–794.
Lipnack, J. and Stamps, J. (2000). Virtual Teams. People working across boundaries with technology, Wiley, New York.
Lurey, J. S. and Raisinghani, M. S. (2001). An empirical study of best practices in virtual teams, Information and Management, Vol. 38, pp. 523–544.
Mannix, E. A., Griffith, T. and Neale, M. A. (2002). ‘The phenomenology of conflict in distributed work teams’, In Distributed Work, Edited by Hinds, P. J. and Kiesler, S., MIT Press, London.
Mathiassen, L. and Purao, S. (2002). Educating reflective systems developers, Information Systems Journal, Vol. 12, Iss. 2, pp. 81–102.
McGrath, J. E. and Hollingshead, A. B. (1994). Groups Interacting with Technology, Sage, California.
McKenny, J. L., Zack, M. H. and Doherty, V. S. (1992). ‘Complementary communication media: A comparison of electronic mail and face-to-face communication in a programming team’, In Networks and Organizations: Structure, Form, and Action, Edited by Nohria, N.and Eccles, R. G., Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
McManus, J. and Wood-Harper, T. (2003). Information systems project management:The price of failure, Management Services, Vol. 47, Iss. 5, pp. 16.
Meyerson, D., Weick, K. E. and Kramer, R. M. (1996). ‘Swift trust and temporary groups’, In Trust in Organisations: Frontiers of theory and research, Edited by Kramer, R. M. and Tyler,T. R., Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp. 166–195.
Mortensen, M. and Hinds, P. J. (2002). ‘Fuzzy teams: Boundary disagreement in distributed and collocated teams’, In Distributed Work, Edited by Hinds, P. J. and Kiesler, S., MIT Press, London, pp. 283.
Nandhakumar, J. and Avison, D. E. (1999). The fiction of methodological development: A field study of information systems development, Information Technology and People, Vol. 12, Iss. 2, pp. 176–191.
Ovaska, P. (2005). ‘Working with methods: Observations on the role of methods in systems development’, In Information Systems Development: Advances in Theory, Practice and Education, Edited by Vasilecas, O., Springer, Heidelberg.
Ovaska, P., Rossi, M. and Marttiin, P. (2003). Architecture as a coordination tool in multi-site software development, Software Process Improvement and Practice, Vol. 8, pp. 233–247.
Robson, c. (2002). Real World Research. A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers, Blackwell, London.
Russo, N. L., Hightower, R. and Pearson, J. M. (1996). ‘The failure of methodologies to meet the needs of current development environments’, In Proceedings of 4th Annual Conference on Information Systems Methodologies, British Computer Society Information Systems Methodologies Specialist Group, University College Cork, Ireland, 12–14 Sept. 1996.
Sproull, L. and Kiesler, S. (1991). Connections. New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization, MIT Press, London.
Truex, D., Baskerville, R. and Travis, J. (2000). Amethodical systems development: The deferred meaning of systems development methods, Accounting, Management and Information Technology, Vol. 10, pp. 53–79.
Turk, D., France, R. and Rumbe, B. (2005). Assumptions underlying agile software-development processes, Journal of Database Management, Vol. 16, Iss. 4, pp. 62.
Walz, D. B., Elam, J. J. and Curtis, B. (1993). Inside a software design team: Knowledge acquisition, sharing and integration, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 36, Iss. 10, pp. 63.
Wynekoop, J. L. and Russo, N. L. (1993). ‘System development methodologies: Unanswered questions and the research-practice gap’, In Proceedings of International Conference on Information Systems, Orlando, Florida.
Wynekoop, J. L. and Russo, N. L. (1997). Studying system development methodologies: An examination of research methods, Information Systems Journal, Vol. 7, pp. 47–65.
Yoo, Y. and Alavi, M. (2001). Media and group cohesion: Relative influences on social presence, task participation, and group consensus, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 25, Iss. 3, pp. 371–391.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mullally, B., Stapleton, L. (2009). Methodology Usage by Virtual Information Systems Development Teams. In: Wojtkowski, W., Wojtkowski, G., Lang, M., Conboy, K., Barry, C. (eds) Information Systems Development. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-68772-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-68772-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-30403-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-68772-8
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)