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Packaged software development teams: what makes them different?

Erran Carmel (Kogod College of Business Administration, American University, Washington, DC, USA)
Steve Sawyer (School of Information Studies, Center for Science and Technology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA)

Information Technology & People

ISSN: 0959-3845

Article publication date: 1 March 1998

1962

Abstract

Discusses the characteristics of packaged software versus information systems (IS) development environments that capture the differences between the teams that develop software in these respective industries. The analysis spans four levels: the industry, the dynamics of software development, the cultural milieu, and the teams themselves. Finds that, relative to IS: the packaged software industry is characterized by intense time pressures, less attention to costs, and different measures of success; the packaged software development environment is characterized by being a “line” rather than “staff” unit, having a greater distance from the actual users/customers, a less mature development process; the packaged software cultural milieu is characterized as individualistic and entrepreneurial; the packaged software team is characterized as less likely to be matrix managed and being smaller, more co‐located, with a greater shared vision.

Keywords

Citation

Carmel, E. and Sawyer, S. (1998), "Packaged software development teams: what makes them different?", Information Technology & People, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 7-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/09593849810204503

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited

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