Impact of Early-Stage Coordination in Software Development and Its Implications for “Work Style Reform”
利用汽车零部件制造商项目管理系统的数据，研究了软件开发中提前集成测试以促进早期协调的效果，发现该变化减少了加班时间、降低了发货后缺陷率，但未显著改变生产率，同时减少了对工程师经验的依赖。
With continuing public debates on work style reform（the nation-wide efforts to reform the way people work）, businesses explore for ways to reduce overtime work while raising productivity and quality. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of a process change in software development that advanced the timing of integration test to induce early-stage coordination, using a novel dataset from the project management system at an automobile parts manufacturer. In order to see the effectiveness of the new development process, we examine variations in overtime hours, product quality, and productivity before and after the process change. We find that the change:（1）reduced overtime hours by leveling working hours over the course of the project ;（2）significantly lowered the defect rate discovered after shipment; but（3）did not cause any significant changes in productivity due to a significant increase in specification changes and communication among the manufacturer and the suppliers. Interestingly, the defect rates ? both at the time of integration test and after shipment? became significantly less dependent on engineersʼ experience（years of service）after the process change. We interpret our findings as showing that the early-stage coordination improved the quality of work as well as the quality of life for workers, and at the same time reduced the excessive dependence on individual knowledge and experience by exploiting the teamʼs problem solving capability through information sharing.