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A Quantitative Analysis of U.S. and Japanese Practice and Performance in Software Development

Author

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  • Michael A. Cusumano

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139)

  • Chris F. Kemerer

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139)

Abstract

Since the early 1980s, there has been a mounting debate in industry literature and in U.S. government-sponsored reports over the relative performance of software developers in Japan versus those in the United States. This literature is somewhat divided between assertions of Japanese or U.S. superiority in this technology, although many observers in the popular business press continue to insist that the U.S. maintains an overwhelming lead in this technology. However, both sides of the debate have offered evidence that, to date, has been primarily qualitative or based on one or two cases. This paper contributes to the debate in two ways. First, it offers a comprehensive literature review that analyzes existing comparisons of Japanese and U.S. practice in software development and summarizes the major proposed differences in performance. Second, it presents the first set of quantitative data collected from a statistically comparable sample of 24 U.S. and 16 Japanese software-development projects, and uses these data to test propositions from the literature. The analyses indicate that Japanese software projects perform at least as well as their U.S. counterparts in basic measures of productivity, quality (defects), and reuse of software code. The data also make it possible to offer models that explain some of the differences in productivity and quality among projects in both countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael A. Cusumano & Chris F. Kemerer, 1990. "A Quantitative Analysis of U.S. and Japanese Practice and Performance in Software Development," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(11), pages 1384-1406, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:36:y:1990:i:11:p:1384-1406
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.36.11.1384
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    Cited by:

    1. Scott A. Shane & Karl T. Ulrich, 2004. "50th Anniversary Article: Technological Innovation, Product Development, and Entrepreneurship in Management Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(2), pages 133-144, February.
    2. Tucci, Christopher L. (Christopher Luigi) & Cusumano, Michael A., 1954-, 1994. "Benefits and pitfalls of international strategic technology alliances," Working papers 3706-94. WP (Internationa, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    3. Raja Roy & Soumodip Sarkar, 2022. "Boundary conditions of the mutual forbearance hypothesis: Impact of technology evolution on multimarket competition," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2545-2556, September.
    4. Katrina Maxwell & Luk Van Wassenhove & Soumitra Dutta, 1999. "Performance Evaluation of General and Company Specific Models in Software Development Effort Estimation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(6), pages 787-803, June.

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