An experimental investigation of the interaction between feedback and goals on staff resource allocation

Abstract

The Department of Defense Information Technology budget stands at nine billion dollars and is under severe scrutiny while the backlog of required software continues to grow. It is thereby necessary to improve the efficiency of managing the software process. This thesis uses the Systems Dynamic Model of Software Project Management to investigate the effects of stated goals and project feedback on project manager behavior. Specifically, the experiment focuses on how software project managers allocate resources in both factual and erroneous feedback environments. The effect of goals and feedback on manager performance are measured in terms of staffing level decisions, percent of staff allocated to quality assurance activities, estimated schedule; estimated programmer productivity, and estimated cost. The results show that manager performance is highly sensitive to stated goals.