SELECTING WORKING TEAMS FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OUTSOURCING PROJECTS THROUGH A COMBINATION OF METHODOLOGIES

Castellini, María Alejandra; Zanazzi, José Luis; Cabrera, Gabriela Pilar

doi:10.1590/0101-7438.2017.037.01.0067

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Articles • Pesqui. Oper. 37 (1) • Jan-Apr 2017 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-7438.2017.037.01.0067 copy

SELECTING WORKING TEAMS FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OUTSOURCING PROJECTS THROUGH A COMBINATION OF METHODOLOGIES

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

This paper deals with a problem that Information Technology outsourcing suppliers generally face when selecting a working team technically capable for specific roles in software development projects. A combination of methodologies, interactively integrated, is proposed. They are Soft System Methodology to structure the problem, Repertory Grid for individual interviews and elicitation of the selection criteria, DRV Processes to assess the candidates and to generate knowledge and consensus on the selection process and Linear Programming to assign people to each position. This multimethodology allowed finding a more comprehensive solution than that initially requested by the company, since it helped to establish the necessary transformations for the selection model to operate in the right way, set the competencies to be considered as selection criteria, develop a consensus estimate of the weighted criteria, and award global values to candidates, optimizing the assignment of roles in the group for the project.

Keywords:
outsourcing; information technology; SSM; Repertory grid; DRV Processes; Linear Programming; TODIM

	Appreciation of	Analysis of	Assessment of	Action to
Social	Social practices, power relations SSM	Distortions, conflicts, interests	Ways of altering existing structures	Generate empowerment and enlightenment DRV Process
Personal	Individual beliefs, meanings, emotions SSM, Repertory grid	Differing perceptions and personal rationality SSM	Alternative conceptualizations and constructions SSM	Generate accommodation and consensus DRV Process, SSM
Material	Physical circumstances SSM	Underlying causal structure	Alternative physical and structural arrangements	Select and implement best alternatives Linear programming DRV Process

Methodology	Input	Main Product	By-products
SSM	Systems Survey. Identification of problems that may affect the selection process.	Selection model requirements. Necessary transformations for the model to operate accurately.	Organization members’ perceptions and priorities. Build consensus on the action plain.
Kelly’s Repertory Grid	Selection model requirements.	Competences adopted as selection criteria to recruit the working team.	Participants commitment and attitude.
DRV Processes	Competences adopted as selection criteria.	Consensus estimate of the weights of the criteria. Global values assigned to candidates.	Spaces for exchanging knowledge and experiences. Uncertainty reduction in the decision-making process.
Integer Linear Programming	Global values assigned to candidates.	Optimal allocation of people available to the different roles for a project working team.	Objectivity.

	Client	Actors	Transformation		Reasons that justify transformation	Owner	Restrictions
	Client	Actors	Initial	Ideal
1	Company-Client	Development Manager	Staff does not share time and physical space	Dynamics of work including moments and space to share	To develop shared spaces and times to increase group cohesion and loyalty	Client Company	Urgency of Projects
	Employees	Development Manager				Client Company	Geographic distribution
	Outsourcing organization	Partner-Managers				Partner-Managers	Employees schedule
2	Company-Client	Development Manager	Human Capital (HC)	Development of an adequate system of Human Capital (HC)	To facilitate the selection and assignment of HC To explicit nd observe the required competencies	Partner-Managers	Quality System Requirements
	Employees	Development Manager	Human Capital (HC)	Development of an adequate system of Human Capital (HC)
	Outsourcing organization	Facilitators	Management is not systematic	Management
3	Company-Client	Development Manager	There is no methodology for the process of selection and assignment of HC for a required role in a project	Availability of a methodology that makes it possible to select and then assign appropriate team members for a required role in a project; so that this process is sustained by empirical evidence and improve the reliability of HC	To facilitate and optimize the selection and assignment of HC.	Partner-Managers	Urgency of Projects.
							Employees schedule.
							Quality system.
	Employees	Referents			To explicit, observe and measure the competences required.	Development	Specific characteristics of the generation Y.
	Employees	Referents			To explicit, observe and measure the competences required.	Development	Employees’ permanence.
	Outsourcing organization	Facilitators			To compare employees based on empirical evidence.	Manager	High demand from employees.
	Outsourcing organization	Facilitators			To compare employees based on empirical evidence.	Manager	Availability of information.
4	Company-Client	Development	The Referent of the company is not defined.	Development and empowerment of the Referent role.	To collect and process information related to the needs of customers and employees.	Partner-Managers	Specific characteristics of the generation Y.
	Employees	Manager Referents					Employees’ permanence.
	Outsourcing organization	Facilitators			To promete cohesion and loyalty.		Urgency of Projects.
5	Development Manager	Facilitators	No studies have been conducted to determine the impact of economic and non-economic variables in the permanence of an employee.	Availability of a model to assess the impact of economic and non-economic variables in the permanence of an employee.	To predict the behavior of employees in their permanence in the company.	Partner-Managers	Quality system.
							Availability of information
							Urgency Projects
							High demand for employees
							Geographic distribution
	Outsourcing organization				To enhance training activities.		Employee schedule.

Role	Description
Functional Analyst	Functional Analyst is responsible for data collection, analysis and design of solutions to meet user requirements. May or may not participate in the development itself. He follows-up the project up to the implementation, may design testing instances with users to validate the products. He must know the client’s business since users can not always explain their needs. He is generally responsible for the initial basic training of the user.
Developer	Developer must be able of interpreting the requirements indicated by the Functional Analyst, resolves solely technical issues. He may perform unitary tests when requested by the Functional Analysts, and has nocontact with the user.
Testing Analyst	Testing Analyst is responsible for testing, at the functional level, that user requirements have been correctly interpreted, validates the product, followsup that it has the behavior expected by the user and verifies that it meets standards of development. He may control or facilitate the correct implementation process.
Referent of the company	Referent is the nexus between the business needs and the employee and vice versa, also links the customer’s needs with those of the company. He coordinates daily tasks and activities for the people in charge.

Emerging Constructs	Recurrence Rate (%)
Communication	100
Experience	100
Leadership	87
Knowledge of the Business	87
Initiative	80
Creativity	67
Commitment	53
Self-confidence	53
Decision-making	40
Working in teams	40
Others	Less than 40

Criteria	Definition
Initiative (I)	Proactivity, vocation for innovative and feasible proposals. Willingness to take responsability.
Experience (E)	Concrete experience in exercising the role or related roles.
Knowledge of the Business (N)	Knowledge of the processes of the organization, where he/she would work.
Leadership (L)	Ability to guide, monitors, motivates and transmits the vision of the business to its peers.
Communication (C)	Skills to transmit ideas liston to group members and develop interpersonal relationships.

Role	Experience	Knowledge of Business	Commmunication	Leadership	Initiative
Functional Analyst	0,29	0,3	0,11	0,2	0,1
Testing Analyst	0,2	0,32	0,27	0,09	0,12
Developer	0,45	0,09	0,15	0,06	0,25
Referent of the organization	0,15	0,23	0,28	0,16	0,18

Candidate	Developer	Functional Analyst	Testing Analyst	Referent of the organization
X ₁	0,144	0,17	0,173	0,188
X ₂	0,229	0,221	0,171	0,171
X ₃	0,157	0,161	0,171	0,154
X ₄	0,123	0,144	0,129	0,148
X ₅	0,2	0,166	0,202	0,198
X ₆	0,148	0,138	0,153	0,14

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