Using the sociotechnical approach in global software developments : Is the theory relevant today?

Global software development teams are highly dependent on technology for daily activities and production. Researchers have investigated the areas such as communication and time-zone difficulties when working across global boundaries during the last decade. However, this research explores job satisfaction, efficiency and the quality of working life of people working in a medium sized globally distributed software development organisation. It is assumed that the work structures of organisations of today are influenced by the theories from the past. This paper focus upon the issues that faces an Australian organisation involved in global software development, the research compares and contrasts the feelings of the employees using a Sociotechnical approach. The discussion highlights several problems areas specific to the organisation which will lay the foundation for future research.

Property development

David Cadman’s Property Development has long been the standard textbook on the commercial property development process in the UK, and with this fifth edition the book is brought completely up to date for a new generation of readers. Accessible to students of all disciplines within the built environment, the book is geared directly towards students of property development at undergraduate or graduate levels. It provides a clear and practical overview of the property development process, together with critical analysis of the key issues faced by property professionals today.

The fifth edition retains the established structure of previous editions, by focusing on land acquisition, development appraisal, finance, planning, construction, market research and promotion. Additionally, reflecting changes in practice, there is also new material on the environmental impacts of property development, with a chapter on Sustainable Property Development, and on the growth of international working in the property sector. Excellent case studies, which are enhanced by discussion questions, illustrate the process at work. This fully revised and updated edition of a classic text for all property development students will also be of interest to early career professionals and those pursuing a professional degree in the industry.

An integrated model of subnational regional and urban economic development : framework of analysis

The mechanism of subnational regional and urban economic development has been studied extensively by economists, geographers, town planners and other academics. The existing widely varying theories of regional economic development are insufficient on their own in explaining how a region can develop and prosper. Each theory has evaluated a few facets of regional economic development. Research from these different perspectives is narrow and prevents any cross-fertilization of research from these diverse theories. Recognition of multiple factors affecting the development process has led the author to create an integrated model of regional and urban economic development. The essay first sets out to describe and explain this integrated model. Each of the components of this new model draws heavily upon seminal work in the field. This model proposes three rings. Each ring is at a different level of abstraction. The determinants of development described in each ring can influence each and every other determinant of development shown in the three-ring structure. This model recognizes that development in any centre, be it regional or urban, nascent or established, is a composite end result of the complex interplay of all the determinants. The essay then goes on to show how this model can provide a broad holistic approach to regional economic development that can assist researchers in their attempts to understand and link its various theories.

Phenomenological inquiry into the experience of web project managers

The advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web has been instrumental in bringing about the growth in the implementation of web-based information systems (WBIS). Such systems are designed with the aim of improving productivity, data accuracy, and the reduction of paperwork and administrative overheads. Moreover, unlike their conventional non-web-based predecessors, the WBIS are commonly aimed at users who are casual and untrained, geographically distributed and non-homogenous. The dissemination of WBIS necessitates additional infrastructure support in the form of a security system, workflow and transaction management, and web administration. WBIS are commonly developed using an evolutionary approach, whereby the version of the application, acquired from the vendor, is first deployed as a pilot, in order to gather feedback from the target users before the evolutionary cycles commence. While a number of web development methodologies have been proposed by existing research, there is a dearth of empirical evidence that elucidates the experiences of project initiators in pursuing the evolution of web services, a process that undoubtedly involves dealing with stakeholder issues. This research project presents a phenomenological investigation of the experiences of project managers with the implementation of web-based employee service systems (ESS), a domain that has witnessed a sharp growth in Australia in recent times. However, the project managers’ rich, multidimensional account of their experiences with the implementation of ESS revealed the social obstacles and fragility of intra-organizational relationships that demanded a cautious and tactful approach. Thus, the study provides a socio-organizational perspective to web projects in contrast to the functionalist paradigm of current web development methodologies. The research also confirms that consideration of the concerns of stakeholders by project managers is crucial to the successive cycles of ESS evolution. Project managers address stakeholder concerns by pursuing actions that are aimed at encouraging ESS usage, but at the same time, such actions can have consequences necessitating subsequent iterations of system enhancement and improvement. Finally, the research also discovered that despite the different socio-political climate prevalent in various organizations, in which ESS are being implemented, the experiences of project managers in dealing with stakeholder concerns can be captured and independently confirmed in terms of their perceived relevance and usefulness in problem-solving within the application domain.

Incorporating design explanation within formal object-oriented method (FOOM)

Requirements engineering is a commencing phase in the development of either software applications or information systems. It is concerned with understanding and specifying the customer's requirements of the system to be delivered. Throughout the literature, this is agreed to be one of the most crucial and, unfortunately, problematic phases in development. Despite the diversity of research directions, approaches and methods, the question of process understanding and management is still limited. Among contemporary approaches to the improvement of the current practice of Requirements Engineering, Formal Object-Oriented Method (FOOM) has been introduced as a new promising solution. The FOOM approach to requirements engineering is based on a synthesis of socio-organisational theory, the object-oriented approach, and mathematical formal specification. The entire FOOM specification process is evolutionary and involves a large volume of changes in requirements. During this process, requirements evolve through various forms of informal, semi-formal, and formal while maintaining a semantic link between these forms and, most importantly, conforming to the customer's requirements. A deep understanding of the complexity of the requirements model and its dynamics is critical in improving requirements engineering process management. This thesis investigates the benefits of documenting both the evolution of the requirements model and the rationale for that evolution. Design explanation explains and justifies the deliberations of, and decisions made during, the design activity. In this thesis, design explanation is used to describe the requirements engineering process in order to improve understandability of, and traceability within, the evolving requirements specification. The design explanation recorded during this research project is also useful in assisting the researcher in gaining insights into the creativity and opportunistic characteristics of the requirements engineering process. This thesis offers an interpretive investigation into incorporating design explanation within FOOM in order to extend and advantage the method. The researcher's interpretation and analysis of collected data highlight an insight-driven and opportunistic process rather than a strictly and systematically predefined one. In fact, the process was not smoothly evolutionary, but involved occasional 'crisis' points at which the model was reconceptualised, simplified and restructured. Therefore, contributions of the thesis lie not only in an effective incorporation of design explanation within FOOM, but also a deep understanding of the dynamic process of requirements engineering. The new understanding of the complexity of the requirements model and its dynamics suggests new directions for future research and forms a basis for a new approach to process management.

An observational study of health professionals’ use of evidence to inform the development of clinical management tools

Aim. This observational study sought to investigate the process of evidence use by health professionals during development of evidence-based clinical management tools.

Background. Studies conducted to explore the process of research use are scarce and knowledge of this process is essential for our understanding of the influences on research use in practice.

Design. A qualitative, non-participant, observational design.

Methods. Behaviour and actions of two separate multidisciplinary teams were observed and audio-recorded during a combined total of seven meetings for the development of clinical management tools. Semi-structured, one-to-one interviews were conducted approximately half-way through the development process and following completion of the clinical management tools.

Results. Three major themes emerged from this research. First, the process of clinical management tool development and evidence use. Nurses assumed responsibility for coordination of development which focused on describing current practice. Second, the forms of evidence employed during the development process included the use of experiential knowledge, opinions and knowledge of the context, in addition to research evidence. However, reference to research evidence was limited and its incorporation into the instrument was infrequently observed. Third, the use of research evidence emerged with respect to how such evidence was employed.

Conclusion. This study focused on real-life discussion and decision-making that occurred between health professionals when developing evidence-based clinical management tools. Health professionals may have a tendency to rely on their professional experience and current practice in preference to seeking and applying relevant research evidence.

Relevance to clinical practice. Nurses have an important role to play in the development of multidisciplinary evidence-based clinical management tools, but to actively participate in this process they need to be familiar with the relevant research evidence and have the skills and confidence to integrate the evidence into practice.

The process evaluation of it's your move!, an Australian adolescent community-based obesity prevention project

Background
Evidence on interventions for preventing unhealthy weight gain in adolescents is urgently needed. The aim of this paper is to describe the process evaluation for a three-year (2005-2008) project conducted in five secondary schools in the East Geelong/Bellarine region of Victoria, Australia. The project, 'It's Your Move!' aimed to reduce unhealthy weight gain by promoting healthy eating patterns, regular physical activity, healthy body weight, and body size perception amongst youth; and improve the capacity of families, schools, and community organisations to sustain the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity in the region.

Methods
The project was supported by Deakin University (training and evaluation), a Reference Committee (strategic direction, budgetary approval and monitoring) and a Project Management Committee (project delivery). A workshop of students, teachers and other stakeholders formulated a 10-point action plan, which was then translated into strategies and initiatives specific to each school by the School Project Officers (staff members released from teaching duties one day per week) and trained Student Ambassadors. Baseline surveys informed intervention development. Process data were collected on all intervention activities and these were collated and enumerated, where possible, into a set of mutually exclusive tables to demonstrate the types of strategies and the dose, frequency and reach of intervention activities.

Results
The action plan included three guiding objectives, four on nutrition, two on physical activity and one on body image. The process evaluation data showed that a mix of intervention strategies were implemented, including social marketing, one-off events, lunch time and curriculum programs, improvements in infrastructure, and healthy school food policies. The majority of the interventions were implemented in schools and focused on capacity building and healthy eating strategies as physical activity practices were seen by the teachers as already meeting students' needs.

Conclusions
While substantial health-promoting activities were conducted (especially related to healthy eating), there remain further opportunities for secondary schools to use a whole-of-school approach through the school curriculum, environment, policies and ethos to improve healthy eating, physical activity and healthy body perceptions in youth. To achieve this, significant, sustained leadership will be required within the education sector generally and within schools specifically.

Development of an online intervention for bipolar disorder. www.moodswings.net.au

We describe the development process and completed structure, of a self-help online intervention for bipolar disorder, known as MoodSwings (www.moodswings.net.au). The MoodSwings program was adapted as an Internet intervention from an efficacious and validated face-to-face, group-based psychosocial intervention. The adaptation was created by a psychologist, who had previously been involved with the validation of the face-to-face program, in collaboration with website designers. The project was conducted under the supervision of a team of clinician researchers. The website is available at no cost to registered participants. Self-help modules are accessed sequentially. Other features include a mood diary and a moderated discussion board. There has been an average of 1,475,135 hits on the site annually (2008 and 2009), with some 7400 unique visitors each year. A randomised controlled trial based on this program has been completed. Many people with bipolar disorder are accepting of the Internet as a source of treatment and, once engaged, show acceptable retention rates. The Internet appears to be a viable means of delivering psychosocial self-help strategies.

A data quality control program for computer-assisted personal interviews

Researchers strive to optimize data quality in order to ensure that study findings are valid and reliable. In this paper, we describe a data quality control program designed to maximize quality of survey data collected using computer-assisted personal interviews. The quality control program comprised three phases: (1) software development, (2) an interviewer quality control protocol, and (3) a data cleaning and processing protocol. To illustrate the value of the program, we assess its use in the Translating Research in Elder Care Study. We utilize data collected annually for two years from computer-assisted personal interviews with 3004 healthcare aides. Data quality was assessed using both survey and process data. Missing data and data errors were minimal. Mean and median values and standard deviations were within acceptable limits. Process data indicated that in only 3.4% and 4.0% of cases was the interviewer unable to conduct interviews in accordance with the details of the program. Interviewers’ perceptions of interview quality also significantly improved between Years 1 and 2. While this data quality control program was demanding in terms of time and resources, we found that the benefits clearly outweighed the effort required to achieve high-quality data.

Iterative development of Stand Up Australia : a multi-component intervention to reduce workplace sitting

Sitting, particularly in prolonged, unbroken bouts, is widespread within the office workplace, yet few interventions have addressed this newly-identified health risk behaviour. This paper describes the iterative development process and resulting intervention procedures for the Stand Up Australia research program focusing on a multi-component workplace intervention to reduce sitting time. The development of Stand Up Australia followed three phases. 1) Conceptualisation: Stand Up Australia was based on social cognitive theory and social ecological model components. These were operationalised via a taxonomy of intervention strategies and designed to target multiple levels of influence including: organisational structures (e.g. via management consultation), the physical work environment (via provision of height-adjustable workstations), and individual employees (e.g. via face-to-face coaching). 2) Formative research: Intervention components were separately tested for their feasibility and acceptability. 3) Pilot studies: Stand Up Comcare tested the integrated intervention elements in a controlled pilot study examining efficacy, feasibility and acceptability. Stand Up UQ examined the additional value of the organisational- and individual-level components over height-adjustable workstations only in a three-arm controlled trial. In both pilot studies, office workers’ sitting time was measured objectively using activPAL3 devices and the intervention was refined based on qualitative feedback from managers and employees. Results and feedback from participants and managers involved in the intervention development phases suggest high efficacy, acceptance, and feasibility of all intervention components. The final version of the Stand Up Australia intervention includes strategies at the organisational (senior management consultation, representatives consultation workshop, team champions, staff information and brainstorming session with information booklet, and supportive emails from managers to staff), environmental (height-adjustable workstations), and individual level (face-to-face coaching session and telephone support). Stand Up Australia is currently being evaluated in the context of a cluster-randomised controlled trial at the Department of Human Services (DHS) in Melbourne, Australia. Stand Up Australia is an evidence-guided and systematically developed workplace intervention targeting reductions in office workers’ sitting time.

Dynamics of cultural heritage development in Sarawak

This paper discusses contestation and legitimization in the heritage process in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Since 2011 the authors have assisted the Rurum Kelabit Sarawak (RKS) to plan a community museum. The museum is envisaged as an anchor for the preservation and representation of the Kelabit culture. In particular, through consultation and capacity building, the project is seeking to incorporate heritage values into development and cultural tourism plans. The paper considers the roles of historical and contemporary agents in the awakening of heritage consciousness in this community. This process has facilitated questions about priorities including, heritage, tourism, representation and the expression of identity through contemporary design, which this paper will contextualize within the discourse of cultural heritage and development in South East Asia. Apart from the RKS and their range of partners, important agents include the Sarawak Government, with jurisdiction over native customs; the Sarawak Museum Department, an official custodian of cultural heritage; UNESCO, through its promotion of the rights of indigenous people and the integration of culture and development; and the WWF, assisting with the Heart of Borneo conservation project. The authors see this case study of a community museum development process as an opportunity to reflect on the interrelated and contested roles and responsibilities of local, national and trans-national agents in a heritage project that contributes to an understanding of cultural politics and heritage-making.

The political economy of markets and development: a case study of health care consumption in the State of Kerala, India

Marketing theory has largely ignored the issue of power in influencing exchanges. Most of the studies either disregard the role of power, or resource power is the only dimension taken into account. In this study, we expand the existing understanding by centrally situating the role of socio-political power in the consumption process. We examine the health care system in the Indian state of Kerala and highlight that socio-political power is a crucial determinant of consumption levels. In the process, we argue that in a resource—constrained Third World society socio-political empowerment is critical to the development process.

Performance analysis for object-oriented software: a systematic mapping

Performance is a crucial attribute for most software, making performance analysis an important software engineering task. The difficulty is that modern applications are challenging to analyse for performance. Many profiling techniques used in real-world software development struggle to provide useful results when applied to large-scale object-oriented applications. There is a substantial body of research into software performance generally but currently there exists no survey of this research that would help identify approaches useful for object-oriented software. To provide such a review we performed a systematic mapping study of empirical performance analysis approaches that are applicable to object-oriented software. Using keyword searches against leading software engineering research databases and manual searches of relevant venues we identified over 5,000 related articles published since January 2000. From these we systematically selected 253 applicable articles and categorised them according to ten facets that capture the intent, implementation and evaluation of the approaches. Our mapping study results allow us to highlight the main contributions of the existing literature and identify areas where there are interesting opportunities. We also find that, despite the research including approaches specifically aimed at object-oriented software, there are significant challenges in providing actionable feedback on the performance of large-scale object-oriented applications.

Capturing security requirements using essential use cases (EUCs)

Capturing security requirements is a complex process, but it is crucial to the success of a secure software product. Hence, requirements engineers need to have security knowledge when eliciting and analyzing the security requirements from business requirements. However, the majority of requirements engineers lack such knowledge and skills, and they face difficulties to capture and understand many security terms and issues. This results in capturing inaccurate, inconsistent and incomplete security requirements that in turn may lead to insecure software systems. In this paper, we describe a new approach of capturing security requirements using an extended Essential Use Cases (EUCs) model. This approach enhances the process of capturing and analyzing security requirements to produce accurate and complete requirements. We have evaluated our prototype tool using usability testing and assessment of the quality of our generated EUC security patterns by security engineering experts.

A mHealth cardiac rehabilitation exercise intervention: findings from content development studies

BACKGROUND: Involving stakeholders and consumers throughout the content and study design ensures interventions are engaging and relevant for end-users. The aim of this paper is to present the content development process for a mHealth (mobile phone and internet-based) cardiac rehabilitation (CR) exercise intervention.

METHODS: An innovative mHealth intervention was developed with patient input using the following steps: conceptualization, formative research, pre-testing, and pilot testing. Conceptualization, including theoretical and technical aspects, was undertaken by experts. For the formative component, focus groups and interviews with cardiac patients were conducted to discuss their perceptions of a mHealth CR program. A general inductive thematic approach identified common themes. A preliminary library of text and video messages were then developed. Participants were recruited from CR education sessions to pre-test and provide feedback on the content using an online survey. Common responses were extracted and compiled. An iterative process was used to refine content prior to pilot testing and conduct of a randomized controlled trial.

RESULTS: 38 CR patients and 3 CR nurses participated in the formative research and 20 CR patients participated in the content pre-testing. Participants perceived the mHealth program as an effective approach to inform and motivate patients to exercise. For the qualitative study, 100% (n = 41) of participants thought it to be a good idea, and 11% of participants felt it might not be useful for them, but would be for others. Of the 20 participants who completed the online survey, 17 out of 20 (85%) stated they would sign up to a program where they could receive information by video messages on a website, and 12 out of 20 (60%) showed interest in a texting program. Some older CR patients viewed technology as a potential barrier as they were unfamiliar with text messaging or did not have mobile phones. Steps to instruct participants to receive texts and view the website were written into the study protocol. Suggestions to improve videos and wording of texts were fed back to the content development team and refined.

CONCLUSIONS: Most participants thought a mHealth exercise program was an effective way to deliver exercise-based CR. The results were used to develop an innovative multimedia exercise intervention. A randomized controlled trial is currently underway.