IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v44y1998i4p433-450.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Software Development Practices, Software Complexity, and Software Maintenance Performance: A Field Study

Author

Listed:
  • Rajiv D. Banker

    (School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083)

  • Gordon B. Davis

    (Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455)

  • Sandra A. Slaughter

    (Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

Abstract

Software maintenance claims a large proportion of organizational resources. It is thought that many maintenance problems derive from inadequate software design and development practices. Poor design choices can result in complex software that is costly to support and difficult to change. However, it is difficult to assess the actual maintenance performance effects of software development practices because their impact is realized over the software life cycle. To estimate the impact of development activities in a more practical time frame, this research develops a two-stage model in which software complexity is a key intermediate variable that links design and development decisions to their downstream effects on software maintenance. The research analyzes data collected from a national mass merchandising retailer on 29 software enhancement projects and 23 software applications in a large IBM COBOL environment. Results indicate that the use of a code generator in development is associated with increased software complexity and software enhancement project effort. The use of packaged software is associated with decreased software complexity and software enhancement effort. These results suggest an important link between software development practices and maintenance performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajiv D. Banker & Gordon B. Davis & Sandra A. Slaughter, 1998. "Software Development Practices, Software Complexity, and Software Maintenance Performance: A Field Study," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(4), pages 433-450, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:44:y:1998:i:4:p:433-450
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.44.4.433
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.44.4.433
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.44.4.433?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    2. Rajiv D. Banker & Chris F. Kemerer, 1992. "Performance Evaluation Metrics for Information Systems Development: A Principal-Agent Model," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 3(4), pages 379-400, December.
    3. Rajiv D. Banker & Srikant M. Datar & Chris F. Kemerer, 1991. "A Model to Evaluate Variables Impacting the Productivity of Software Maintenance Projects," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(1), pages 1-18, January.
    4. Charles H. Kriebei & Artur Raviv, 1980. "An Economics Approach to Modeling the Productivity of Computer Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 297-311, March.
    5. Gus W. Grammas & June R. Klein, 1985. "Software Productivity as a Strategic Variable," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 116-126, June.
    6. Wood, Robert E., 1986. "Task complexity: Definition of the construct," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 60-82, February.
    7. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rajiv D. Banker & Sandra A. Slaughter, 2000. "The Moderating Effects of Structure on Volatility and Complexity in Software Enhancement," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 219-240, September.
    2. Amavilah, Voxi & Asongu, Simplice A. & Andrés, Antonio R., 2017. "Effects of globalization on peace and stability: Implications for governance and the knowledge economy of African countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 91-103.
    3. Rajiv D. Banker & Robert J. Kauffman, 2004. "50th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Research on Information Systems: A Fiftieth-Year Survey of the Literature in Management Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(3), pages 281-298, March.
    4. Brown, Paul J & Matolcsy, Zoltan & Wells, Peter, 2014. "Group versus individual compensation schemes for senior executives and firm performance: Some evidence based on archival data," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 100-114.
    5. Ana González Galán & Juan José García del Hoyo & Félix García Ordaz, 2021. "Investment and Decapitalization in the Fishing Industry: The Case of the Spanish Crustacean Freezer Trawler Fleet," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-22, August.
    6. Karpoff, Jonathan M. & Lee, Gemma & Masulis, Ronald W., 2013. "Contracting under asymmetric information: Evidence from lockup agreements in seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 607-626.
    7. Nishtha Langer & Sandra A. Slaughter & Tridas Mukhopadhyay, 2014. "Project Managers' Practical Intelligence and Project Performance in Software Offshore Outsourcing: A Field Study," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 364-384, June.
    8. Hagen, Tobias & Waldeck, Stefanie, 2014. "Using panel econometric methods to estimate the effect of milk consumption on the mortality rate of prostate and ovarian cancer," Working Paper Series 03, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Business and Law.
    9. Dominik Schreyer, 2019. "Football spectator no-show behaviour in the German Bundesliga," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(45), pages 4882-4901, September.
    10. S. Arunachalam & Sridhar N. Ramaswami & Pol Herrmann & Doug Walker, 2018. "Innovation pathway to profitability: the role of entrepreneurial orientation and marketing capabilities," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 744-766, July.
    11. Timothy Erickson & Toni M. Whited, 2000. "Measurement Error and the Relationship between Investment and q," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(5), pages 1027-1057, October.
    12. Paul W. Miller & Barry R. Chiswick, 2002. "Immigrant earnings: Language skills, linguistic concentrations and the business cycle," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(1), pages 31-57.
    13. Fors, Gunnar & Zejan, Mario, 1996. "Overseas R&D by Multinationals in foreign Centers of Excellence," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 111, Stockholm School of Economics.
    14. Rodrigo M. S. Moita & Claudio Paiva, 2013. "Political Price Cycles in Regulated Industries: Theory and Evidence," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 94-121, February.
    15. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/7172 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Butler, Marty & Leone, Andrew J. & Willenborg, Michael, 2004. "An empirical analysis of auditor reporting and its association with abnormal accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 139-165, June.
    17. Baiyegunhi, L.J.S. & Oppong, B.B., 2016. "Commercialisation of mopane worm (Imbrasia belina) in rural households in Limpopo Province, South Africa," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 141-148.
    18. MacKinnon, J G, 1989. "Heteroskedasticity-Robust Tests for Structural Change," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 77-92.
    19. Fenech, Jean-Pierre & Skully, Michael & Xuguang, Han, 2014. "Franking credits and market reactions: Evidence from the Australian convertible security market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 1-19.
    20. François Desmoulins-Lebeault & Jean-François Gajewski & Luc Meunier, 2018. "Personality and Risk Aversion," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(1), pages 472-489.
    21. Lillemo, Shuling Chen, 2014. "Measuring the effect of procrastination and environmental awareness on households' energy-saving behaviours: An empirical approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 249-256.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:44:y:1998:i:4:p:433-450. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.