Description

Example assignment for the 24 hour take-home exam 

At the exam, you will get three assignments similar to the single assignment described in this document. Each of the three assignments will contain three questions like the questions described in section 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 in this document. 

Your answer should include a list of the references from the curriculum that you are using, and you should insert references to the curriculum when relevant.

There are no formal requirements regarding the no of characters, but the recommendation is at most 1,5 page for 10 point assignments, and at most 3 pages for 20 point assignments. If you are using more space than recommended, you might be better off improving the text already there instead of writing more. 

Assignment 1: IT Programming

1.1 Concepts: Outsourcing. 10 points.  

You are taking part in the planning of a new systems development and implementation project. You are considering the use of out-sourcing to accomplish a part of the development process.

You decide your own case for the assignment: you decide the system and you decide the organization.

Choose and briefly describe the specific kind of system that is going to be developed and implemented. The system could be any kind of BI system or an ERP system tailored for the organization (as described in the paper by Brehm, Heinzl & Markus, 2001). It could also be any other kind of system for example a Web-shop, a home bank application etc. Describe the system in a table like the table below using max five lines of text.

Chose and briefly describe the organization that is going to use the system. It could be any organization, for example the university or a company that you are, or have been, working for, or otherwise have information about. Use max five lines of text in the table below.

Describe at most three different kinds of formal or informal controls that you could use to manage the vendor (for example you could use requirements specifications as a way of doing outcome control). Describe why you would use this specific control, and the advantages and disadvantages related to this type of control.

Use a table like the table below.

The system Briefly describe the system

The organization Briefly describe the organization

Control Briefly describe the control that you are considering.

Argumentation Describe why you choose this specific kind of control, including considerations about advantages and disadvantages related to this type of control.

Control Briefly describe the control that you are considering.

Argumentation Describe why you choose this specific kind of control, including considerations about advantages and disadvantages related to this type of control.

Control Briefly describe the control that you are considering.

Argumentation Describe why you choose this specific kind of control, including considerations about advantages and disadvantages related to this type of control.

Your answer should be short and precise, and you should provide arguments. As a part of your argumentation, you can include references to parts of the curriculum when relevant. 

1.2 The essence 20 points

Even though you get an offer from a vendor (regarding the system from 1.1), your organization decides to do the programming in house. You and the developers have promised to do the programming more efficient and effective than the external vendor can. Primarily based on the paper by Wagner & Ruhe (2018), you investigate your current way of programming, as well as the product that you are going to develop.

Describe at most six technical or soft factors that you would investigate, why you would focus on these factors, and what you would look for? Insert your answers in a table like the table below.

Factor 1 Name the factor

Why this factor? Insert your argumentation for wanting knowledge about this factor

What would you look for? What kind of data would you look for to make up your mind regarding the factor (e.g. what would you look for to determine whether the system seems complicated?)

If you are unable to determine that yourself – who would you ask?

Factor 2 Name the factor

Why this factor? Insert your argumentation for wanting knowledge about this factor

What would you look for? What kind of data would you look for to make up your mind regarding the factor (e.g. what would you look for to determine whether the system seems complicated?)

If you are unable to determine that yourself – who would you ask?

…..

…..

Your answer should be short and precise, and you should provide arguments. As a part of your argumentation, you can include references to parts of the curriculum when relevant. 

1.3. Relations and reflections 20 points

You start planning the development of the system. Among other things, you consider how to secure the quality of the system. Please describe how one or more contributions / suggestions from each of the following papers could be used during the project to inspire software quality assurance.

Paper Huo, M., Verner, J., Zhu, L., & Babar, M. A. (2004, September). Software quality and agile methods. In Computer Software and Applications Conference, 2004. COMPSAC 2004. Proceedings of the 28th Annual International (pp. 520-525). IEEE.

Idea Insert a short description of the suggestion / contribution from the paper

How to use Insert a description of the how to use the suggestion / contribution from the paper

Argumentation Insert your argumentation for the use of this suggestion / contribution in this project

Paper Petter, S., DeLone, W., & McLean, E. R. (2013). Information systems success: The quest for the independent variables. Journal of management information systems, 29(4), 7-62.

Idea Insert a short description of the suggestion / contribution from the paper

How to use Insert a description of the how to use the suggestion / contribution from the paper

Argumentation Insert your argumentation for the use of this suggestion / contribution in this project

Paper Pressman, R. S., Maxim, B.R. (2015). Software engineering: a practitioner's approach. Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 19 Quality concepts

Idea Insert a short description of the suggestion / contribution from the paper

How to use Insert a description of the how to use the suggestion / contribution from the paper

Argumentation Insert your argumentation for the use of this suggestion / contribution in this project

References

Choudhury, V., & Sabherwal, R. (2003). Portfolios of control in outsourced software development projects. Information systems research, 14(3), 291-314.

Brehm, L., Heinzl, A., & Markus, M. L. (2001, January). Tailoring ERP systems: a spectrum of choices and their implications. In hicss (p. 8017). IEEE.

Huo, M., Verner, J., Zhu, L., & Babar, M. A. (2004, September). Software quality and agile methods. In Computer Software and Applications Conference, 2004. COMPSAC 2004. Proceedings of the 28th Annual International (pp. 520-525). IEEE.

Pressman, R. S., Maxim, B.R. (2015). Software engineering: a practitioner's approach. Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 19 Quality concepts

Wagner, S., & Ruhe, M. (2018). A systematic review of productivity factors in software development. arXiv preprint arXiv:1801.06475.

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