{"title":"Globally distributed technology projects thrive on experience working together apart: Impacts of team balance, task balance, and task heterogeneity","authors":"Alex Alblas","doi":"10.1002/joom.1206","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Enabling shared experiences could be key to managing technology projects successfully. The advantages gained from the experience of working together can be complemented, but also offset, by common aspects of technology projects—like the dispersion of team members and the integration of heterogeneous tasks across global sites. This study develops and tests a conceptual framework that scrutinizes the impact of team familiarity and task allocation challenges. It identifies three elements of task allocation in technology projects that affect the familiarization process: (i) <i>team (im)balance</i>, (ii) <i>task (im)balance</i>, and (iii) <i>task heterogeneity</i>. An examination of 27,948 software tasks in six projects involving teams working apart on heterogeneous and dispersed tasks in the Netherlands and India shows that the experience of working together apart reduces the average cost of software tasks. This positive effect is enhanced by task heterogeneity and team balance, despite being hampered by task balance. These findings shed new light on task allocation challenges in cross-organizational technology projects distributed over the world.</p>","PeriodicalId":51097,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Operations Management","volume":"68 6-7","pages":"728-754"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/joom.1206","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Operations Management","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joom.1206","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MANAGEMENT","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
Enabling shared experiences could be key to managing technology projects successfully. The advantages gained from the experience of working together can be complemented, but also offset, by common aspects of technology projects—like the dispersion of team members and the integration of heterogeneous tasks across global sites. This study develops and tests a conceptual framework that scrutinizes the impact of team familiarity and task allocation challenges. It identifies three elements of task allocation in technology projects that affect the familiarization process: (i) team (im)balance, (ii) task (im)balance, and (iii) task heterogeneity. An examination of 27,948 software tasks in six projects involving teams working apart on heterogeneous and dispersed tasks in the Netherlands and India shows that the experience of working together apart reduces the average cost of software tasks. This positive effect is enhanced by task heterogeneity and team balance, despite being hampered by task balance. These findings shed new light on task allocation challenges in cross-organizational technology projects distributed over the world.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Operations Management (JOM) is a leading academic publication dedicated to advancing the field of operations management (OM) through rigorous and original research. The journal's primary audience is the academic community, although it also values contributions that attract the interest of practitioners. However, it does not publish articles that are primarily aimed at practitioners, as academic relevance is a fundamental requirement.
JOM focuses on the management aspects of various types of operations, including manufacturing, service, and supply chain operations. The journal's scope is broad, covering both profit-oriented and non-profit organizations. The core criterion for publication is that the research question must be centered around operations management, rather than merely using operations as a context. For instance, a study on charismatic leadership in a manufacturing setting would only be within JOM's scope if it directly relates to the management of operations; the mere setting of the study is not enough.
Published papers in JOM are expected to address real-world operational questions and challenges. While not all research must be driven by practical concerns, there must be a credible link to practice that is considered from the outset of the research, not as an afterthought. Authors are cautioned against assuming that academic knowledge can be easily translated into practical applications without proper justification.
JOM's articles are abstracted and indexed by several prestigious databases and services, including Engineering Information, Inc.; Executive Sciences Institute; INSPEC; International Abstracts in Operations Research; Cambridge Scientific Abstracts; SciSearch/Science Citation Index; CompuMath Citation Index; Current Contents/Engineering, Computing & Technology; Information Access Company; and Social Sciences Citation Index. This ensures that the journal's research is widely accessible and recognized within the academic and professional communities.
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