Are team personality and climate related to satisfaction and software quality? Aggregating results from a twice replicated experiment

Research into software engineering teams focuses on human and social team factors. Social psychology deals with the study of team formation and has found that personality factors and group processes such as team climate are related to team effectiveness. However, there are only a handful of empirical studies dealing with personality and team climate and their relationship to software development team effectiveness. Objective We present aggregate results of a twice replicated quasi-experiment that evaluates the relationships between personality, team climate, product quality and satisfaction in software development teams. Method Our experimental study measures the personalities of team members based on the Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) and team climate factors (participative safety, support for innovation, team vision and task orientation) preferences and perceptions. We aggregate the results of the three studies through a meta-analysis of correlations. The study was conducted with students. Results The aggregation of results from the baseline experiment and two replications corroborates the following findings. There is a positive relationship between all four climate factors and satisfaction in software development teams. Teams whose members score highest for the agreeableness personality factor have the highest satisfaction levels. The results unveil a significant positive correlation between the extraversion personality factor and software product quality. High participative safety and task orientation climate perceptions are significantly related to quality. Conclusions First, more efficient software development teams can be formed heeding personality factors like agreeableness and extraversion. Second, the team climate generated in software development teams should be monitored for team member satisfaction. Finally, aspects like people feeling safe giving their opinions or encouraging team members to work hard at their job can have an impact on software quality. Software project managers can take advantage of these factors to promote developer satisfaction and improve the resulting product.

The analysis of the basketball coach speech during the moments of game and pause in relation to the performance in competition

In the area of the professional competition, the coach is a fundamental part in the management of a team and more concretely in the game planning. During the competition, the management of the times of pause and times out as well as the conduct of the coach during the same ones is an aspect to analyze in the sports performance. It is for this that it becomes necessary to know some of the behaviors that turn out to be more frequent by the coach and that are more related to a positive performance of his players. For it there has been realized a study of 7 cases of expert coaches in those that his verbal behavior has observed during 4 games. It has focused on the content of the information only to verbal level, on his meaning. The information that have been obtained in the study shows a major quantity of information elaborated during the pauses of the games and a major tactical content with regard to the moments of game. On the other hand, a relation exists between a major number of questions and a minor number of psychological instructions when the score is adverse, whereas in case of victory, a direct relation does not exist with any category. The rest of categories of the speech do not meet influenced directly for the result, for what it is not possible to consider a direct and immediate relation between the coach verbal behavior during the pauses and the result of the game, except in punctual moments.

Performance of buildings with masonry infill walls during the 2011 Lorca earthquake

On Wednesday 11th May 2011 at 6:47 pm (local time) a magnitude 5.1 Mw earthquake occurred 6 km northeast of Lorca with a depth of around 5 km. As a consequence of the shallow depth and the small epicentral distance, important damage was produced in several masonry constructions and even led to the collapse of one of them. Pieces of the facades of several buildings fell down onto the sidewalk, being one of the reasons for the killing of a total of 9 people. The objective of this paper is to describe and analyze the failure patterns observed in reinforced concrete frame buildings with masonry infill walls ranging from 3 to 8 floors in height. Structural as well as non-structural masonry walls suffered important damage that led to redistributions of forces causing in some cases the failure of columns. The importance of the interaction between the structural frames and the infill panels is analyzed by means of non-linear Finite Element Models. The resulting load levels are compared with the member capacities and the changes of the mechanical properties during the seismic event are described and discussed. In the light of the results obtained the observed failure patterns are explained. Some comments are stated concerning the adequacy of the numerical models that are usually used during the design phase for the seismic analysis.

Teamwork, motivational profiles and academic performance in computer science engineering

The present work is aimed at discussing several issues related to the teamwork generic competence, motivational profiles and academic performance. In particular, we study the improvement of teamwork attitude, the predominant types of motivation in different contexts and some correlations among these three components of the learning process. The above-mentioned aspects are of great importance. Currently, the professional profile of engineers has a strong teamwork component and the motivational profile of students determines both their tendencies when they come to work as part of a team, as well as their performance at work. Taking these issues into consideration, we suggest four hypotheses: (H1) students improve their teamwork capacity through specific training and carrying out of a set of activities integrated into an active learning process; (H2) students with higher mastery motivation have a better attitude towards teamwork; (H3) students with different types of motivations reach different levels of academic performance; and (H4) students show different motivation profiles in different circumstances: type of courses, teaching methodologies, different times of the learning process. This study was carried out with Computer Science Engineering students from two Spanish universities. The first results point to an improvement in teamwork competence of students if they have previously received specific training in facets of that competence. Other results indicate that there is a correlation between the motivational profiles of students and their perception of teamwork competence. Finally, results point to a clear relationship between some kind of motivation and academic performance. In particular, four kinds of motivation are analyzed and students are classified into two groups according to them. After analyzing several marks obtained in compulsory courses, we perceive that those students that show higher motivation for avoiding failure obtain, in general, worse academic performance.

Performance profiles of football teams in the UEFA Champions League considering situational efficiency

Performance of football teams varies constantly due to the dynamic nature of this sport, whilst the typical performance and its spread can be represented by profiles combining different performance-related variables based on data from multiple matches. The current study aims to use a profiling technique to evaluate and compare match performance of football teams in the UEFA Champions League incorporating three situational variables (i.e. strength of team and opponent, match outcome and match location). Match statistics of 72 teams, 496 games across four seasons (2008-09 to 2012-13) of this competition were analysed. Sixteen performance-related events were included: shots, shots on target, shots from open play, shots from set piece, shots from counter attack, passes, pass accuracy (%), crosses, through balls, corners, dribbles, possession, aerial success (%), fouls, tackles, and yellow cards. Teams were classified into three levels of strength by a k-cluster analysis. Profiles of overall performance and profiles incorporating three situational variables for teams of all three levels of strength were set up by presenting the mean, standard deviation, median, lower and upper quartiles of the counts of each event to represent their typical performances and spreads. Means were compared by using one-way ANOVA and independent sample t test (for match location, home and away differences), and were plotted into the same radar charts after unifying all the event counts by standardised score. Established profiles can present straightforwardly typical performances of football teams of different levels playing in different situations, which could provide detailed references for coaches and analysts to evaluate performances of upcoming opposition and of their own.

Desarrollo de una aplicación para la escalada y oferta de servicios web

El autor de este proyecto es miembro reciente de la asociación SoloBoulder, dedicada a la modalidad de escalada boulder, noticias y actualidad, contenido multimedia, promoción de un equipo de escaladores y defensa de valores medioambientales en la montaña. El principal canal de distribución de contenidos es una página web existente previa a este proyecto. La asociación ha detectado una escasez y mala calidad de recursos en internet en cuanto a guías de zonas donde poder practicar el boulder. Tal circunstancia impulsa la iniciativa de este proyecto fin de carrera. El objetivo general es el desarrollo de una nueva aplicación que proporcione a los usuarios a nivel mundial una guía interactiva de boulder y otros puntos de interés, una red social que permita la creación cooperativa y orgánica de contenido, y servicios web para el consumo de la información desde otras plataformas u organizaciones. El nuevo software desarrollado es independiente de la página web de SoloBoulder previa. No obstante, ambas partes se integran bajo el mismo domino web y aspecto. La nueva aplicación ofrece a escaladores y turistas un servicio informativo e interactivo de calidad, con el que se espera aumentar el número de visitas en todo el sitio web y poder ampliar la difusión de valores medioambientales, diversificar las zonas de boulder y regular las masificadas, favorecer el deporte y brindar al escalador una oportunidad de autopromoción personal. Una gran motivación para el autor también es el proceso de investigación y formación en tecnologías, patrones arquitecturales de diseño y metodologías de trabajo adaptadas a las tendencias actuales en la ingeniería de software, con especial curiosidad hacia el mundo web. A este respecto podemos destacar: metodología de trabajo en proyectos, análisis de proyectos, arquitecturas de software, diseño de software, bases de datos, programación y buenas prácticas, seguridad, interfaz gráfica web, diseño gráfico, Web Performance Optimization, Search Engine Optimization, etc. En resumen, este proyecto constituye un aprendizaje y puesta en práctica de diversos conocimientos adquiridos durante la ejecución del mismo, así como afianzamiento de materias estudiadas en la carrera. Además, el producto desarrollado ofrece un servicio de calidad a los usuarios y favorece el deporte y la autopromoción del escalador. ABSTRACT. The author of this Project is recent member of the association SoloBoulder, dedicated to a rock climbing discipline called bouldering, news, multimedia content, promotion of a team of climbers and defense of environmental values in the mountain. The main content distribution channel is a web page existing previous to this project. The association has detected scarcity and bad quality of resources on the internet about guides of bouldering areas. This circumstance motivates the initiative of this project. The general objective is the development of a new application which provides a worldwide, interactive bouldering guide, including other points of interest, a social network which allows the cooperative and organic creation of content, and web services for consumption of information from other platforms or organizations. The new software developed is independent of the previous SoloBoulder web page. However, both parts are integrated under the same domain and appearance. The new application offers to climbers and tourists a quality informative and interactive service, with which we hope to increase the number of visits in the whole web site and be able to expand the dissemination of environmental values, diversify boulder areas and regulate the overcrowded ones, encourage sport and offer to the climber an opportunity of self-promotion. A strong motivation for the author is also the process of investigation and education in technologies, architectural design patterns and working methodologies adapted to the actual trends in software engineering, with special curiosity about the web world. In this regard we could highlight: project working methodologies, project analysis, software architectures, software design, data bases, programming and good practices, security, graphic web interface, graphic design, Web Performance Optimization, Search Engine Optimization, etc. To sum up, this project constitutes learning and practice of diverse knowledge acquired during its execution, as well as consolidation of subjects studied in the degree. In addition, the product developed offers a quality service to the users and favors the sport and the selfpromotion of the climber.

Conflict Resolution to Project Performance

Conflict resolution is a key issue to manage when dealing with diverse stakeholders. By analysing in depth the most relevant and implicit aspects of the construct "conflict", this study focuses on examining how the five main strategies in solving common disagreements are adopted by considering different conflict sources. Hypotheses are tested using data collected from both the academic and business world. Perceptions of project managers and team members allows the authors not only to find significant differences by role played or type of organization, but to narrow the design of future approaches to investigate the relation between conflict and project performance. More specifically, the research indicates that project managers adopt confronting and compromising styles in most cases as first options, highlighting the influence of responsibility degree factor in how issues are undertaken within a project team.