Welcome to the InfoSci Platform
Reference Hub6
The Impact of Conflict Judgments between Developers and Testers in Software Development

The Impact of Conflict Judgments between Developers and Testers in Software Development

Xihui Zhang, Jasbir S. Dhaliwal, Mark L. Gillenson, Thomas F. Stafford
Copyright: © 2013 |Volume: 24 |Issue: 4 |Pages: 25
ISSN: 1063-8016|EISSN: 1533-8010|EISBN13: 9781466634749|DOI: 10.4018/JDM.2013100102
Cite Article Cite Article

MLA

Zhang, Xihui, et al. "The Impact of Conflict Judgments between Developers and Testers in Software Development." JDM vol.24, no.4 2013: pp.26-50. http://doi.org/10.4018/JDM.2013100102

APA

Zhang, X., Dhaliwal, J. S., Gillenson, M. L., & Stafford, T. F. (2013). The Impact of Conflict Judgments between Developers and Testers in Software Development. Journal of Database Management (JDM), 24(4), 26-50. http://doi.org/10.4018/JDM.2013100102

Chicago

Zhang, Xihui, et al. "The Impact of Conflict Judgments between Developers and Testers in Software Development," Journal of Database Management (JDM) 24, no.4: 26-50. http://doi.org/10.4018/JDM.2013100102

Export Reference

Mendeley
Favorite Full-Issue Download

Abstract

The primary role of testers is to verify and validate the software produced by developers to ensure its quality. Testing is designed to catch problems in the software and report them for correction, so it is a conflict-laden, confrontational, and judgmental process. This “audit” role of testing is inherently adversarial, ensuring the development of components of interpersonal conflict judgments between developers and testers. Prior research indicates that such conflict is likely to be negatively associated with software quality and job satisfaction, producing negative judgments about the artifact production process and about the job itself. This study addresses the question: How do judgments of conflict between developers and testers impact the software development process? The authors develop and empirically test a research model which proposes that the conflict judgment targets of both the tasks and the persons who perform them will have direct impact on both software quality and job satisfaction judgments. Results of testing this model indicate that interpersonal judgments arising from conflict, as well as judgments made by testers and developers about the conflict targets of tasks and persons negatively influence subsequent software quality and job satisfaction judgments. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Request Access

You do not own this content. Please login to recommend this title to your institution's librarian or purchase it from the IGI Global bookstore.