Agile Methods (AMs) are a set of development techniques designed to address some problems of modern software development (i.e. projects over budget and over schedule). Such methods do not pretend to be useful in any kind of software project or to be the solution to reduce costs and increase quality of any product. However, in specific contexts and for specific problems, AMs simply helps develop...

Despite documented best practices and specialized tools, managers continue to face major challenges in software development. While managers are traditionally advised to choose between plan-driven and agile principles, software organizations increasingly face situations in which they need to take advantage of both. There is, however, limited actionable advice on how managers can shape the organi...

Online interpretation and visualization of project data are gaining increasing importance on the long road towards predictable and controllable software project execution. This paper sketches the Sprint I controlling approach for software development projects and gives first evaluation results. The approach is grounded on the usage of context-oriented cluster curves and integrated in the framew...

The majority of software development organizations all over the world are small and medium enterprises. These organizations have realized that it is crucial for their business to improve their processes and working methods but they are lacking the knowledge and resources to do it. Successful implementation of SPI methodologies in small and medium-sized software enterprises (SMEs) is generally n...

Private rights in living objects have always been controversial. Agriculture provided the first wave in human civilization. Therefore, agriculture including plant breeding and agricultural methods pre-dated any form of IPR protection unlike industry and commerce. Traditionally, IPR was not applied to agriculture. In recent times, this position has changed and increasingly agriculture is seen as...

This study focused on the effect of micro-credit on the profitability of crop production in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. A sample size of 166 small-scale farmers was randomly selected from the farming communities in Orhionmwon Local Government Area. Ninety two (92) beneficiaries and 74 non-beneficiaries were randomly selected from the study area. A well-structured que...

Synopsis: The Tractor Supply Company case introduces students to a unique retailing story. By recognizing a target market with unique needs, TSC repositioned its traditional tractorparts business into a specialty retailer serving a variety of needs for consumers entertaining their interests in part-time farming and ranching. This growing consumer segment has been TSC’s focus for the past 15 yea...

Purpose: The development of leisure agriculture is an important means of agricultural industry structure adjustment of Henan province, China, to realize the transition from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. Design/methodology/approach: The SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis of Henan leisure agriculture will contribute to the sustainable development of Henan lei...

In this short paper, we present the outline of a process for developing design products. The advantage of having a process for these types of projects is that it allows us to focus on the creative aspects of the project, by reducing team stress. The design process also allows us to integrate the creative aspects of a Web project with the more mundane aspects of software development.