Using System Dynamics to Analyze the Effect of Funding Fluctuation on Software Development
Name
esd-wp-2014-32.pdf
Size
668.69 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
663f7ba7aa52167dffc2753ca6146088
Author(s)
Trammell, Travis
Madnick, Stuart E.
Moulton, Allen
Date Issued
October 2014
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division
Series/Report no.
ESD Working Papers;ESD-WP-2014-32
Abstract
Almost everyone understands that budget fluctuations have an impact on software development, but it is difficult to estimate the magnitude of the impact and all the causes. This paper uses System Dynamics modeling to examine how gaps in funding affect software development productivity and product delivery delay. The results provide decision makers with an improved sense of the negative impacts of budget fluctuations. Two key insights include the “ramp up tax” that slows development and the “gap tax” due to the loss of project-related skill and familiarity when employees are transferred off of a project and then return. The model experiments also compare the different impacts of temporarily stopping a project versus stretching out a project by temporarily reducing the funding level.
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