IN DISTRIBUTED SOFTWARE TEAMS by

..................................................................................................................................... VIII ABSTRACT (IN ITALIAN)............................................................................................................... XIIN ITALIAN)............................................................................................................... XI LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................... XIV LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................... XVI CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................18 1.1. BACKGROUND .....................................................................................................................18 1.2. OUTLINE OF THE RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS .....................................................................24 1.3. OUTLINE OF THE THESIS STRUCTURE ..................................................................................24 CHAPTER 2 : THE ROLE OF DISTRIBUTED REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING IN DISTRIBUTED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................26 2.1. THE BENEFITS OF DISTRIBUTED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ...............................................26 2.2. THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF DISTANCE................................................................................28 2.3. REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING ............................................................................................33 2.3.1. Requirements Elicitation................................................................................................35 2.3.2. Requirements Negotiation..............................................................................................37 2.4. DISTRIBUTED REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING ......................................................................39 2.4.1. Tool Support for Distributed Requirements Workshop ..................................................40 2.5. SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................42 CHAPTER 3 : GROUP RESEARCH ................................................................................................43 3.1. METHODS FOR GROUP RESEARCH .......................................................................................43 3.2. TASK CLASSIFICATION FRAMEWORKS.................................................................................46 3.3. GROUP DYNAMICS...............................................................................................................49 3.4. TEAMS WITH NO PAST AND FUTURE, OR AD HOC GROUPS..................................................51 3.5. CHALLENGES AND NEEDS IN SUPPORTING DISTRIBUTED AD HOC GROUPS.........................54 3.6. SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................57 CHAPTER 4 : COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION..................................................58 4.1. STILL MOTIVATION FOR RESEARCH ON TEXT-BASED COMMUNICATION?...........................58 4.2. SOCIAL PRESENCE THEORY .................................................................................................60 4.3. MEDIA RICHNESS THEORY ..................................................................................................61 4.4. COMMON GROUND THEORY ................................................................................................63 4.5. MEDIA SYNCHRONICITY THEORY........................................................................................66 4.6. MEDIA RICHNESS PARADOX................................................................................................71 4.7. SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................75 CHAPTER 5 : DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK FOR GROUP, TASK, AND MEDIA FACTORS .......................................................................................................76 5.1. MANAGING THE CONTEXT: THE INTERTWINED EFFECTS OF TASK, MEDIA, AND GROUP FACTORS............................................................................................................................................76 5.2. MATCHING TASK AND MEDIA CHARACTERISTICS ...............................................................77 5.2.1. Time-Interaction-Performance Theory ..........................................................................78 5.2.2. Task/Technology Fit Theory...........................................................................................79 5.3. MATCHING GROUP AND MEDIA CHARACTERISTICS ............................................................80 5.4. DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................81