��MANAGERIAL ISSUES IN SOFTWARE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

�Dr.S.K.Nagarajan1 + , Dr. Vanathi Vembar2 , K.Anandhan3 1 Sr. Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Annamalai University.

2 Reader Cum Liaison Officer, Directorate of Distance Education, Annamalai University. 3 Programmer, Computer Science Wing, Directorate of Distance Education, Annamalai University.

Abstract : Software development market need more innovation and there exists a wide market opportunity for the same. Rather than looking Software as a Services (SaaS) developers can look Software as a Product (SaaP) and can grab the opportunity. The managerial issues in software product development are highlighted in this paper. Apart from using secondary sources, primary data is collected from 260 software professionals to have insight. By applying appropriate statistical tools (ANOVA) it is found that there exists a difference in skill set within a project and employees need to be trained further to have better co-ordination.

Keywords : Software Product, New Product Development, Software management

1. Introduction New product concerns the management of the disciplines involved in the development of new ideas.

These disciplines have developed their own perspective on the subject of New Product Development (NPD). Arvind Rangaswamy (1997), identified and classified the major categories of software tools that are available for supporting NPD and explained the role of software tools in the NPD process. These are largely based on the experience of involvement in the process. A product development process is an entire set of activities required to bring a new concept to a state of market readiness. This set includes everything from the initial inspiring new product vision, to business case analysis activities, marketing efforts, technical activities, development, and the validation of the product to confirm these plans. The classification by Booz, Allen and Hamilton, during 1982 identifies the commonly accepted categories of NPD. The screening of product ideas supported by the NPD process design throughout the phases Kristina Risom Jespersen (2007) and the New Product Introduction (NPI) Charles Tennant (2003) is widely accepted.

The success in business depends on the success in introducing new products to the market place. Time to market is frequently identified as one of the key factors that enable technology-intensive firms to compete and succeed. An application is “custom-built" for a single organization or set of users, but a product is "generic" and is built to cater to the demands of a wide variety of users. However, each user needs to be able to use the product in a way that suits him/her. Hence, a product must be customizable, scalable, well architected, and must have a solid framework on which one can build new features.

2. Review Of Literature Petra C. De Weerd-Nederhofl (2001), shares his experience on doing his research project on

organizing and managing new product development systems. In a similar work by Ganesh N Prabhu (2005), seeks to understand the complexities of the NPD process with a panel discussion at IIM-Bangalore,

� + Corresponding Author, Dr.S.K.Nagarajan, +91-99444 42022, naga_skn@yahoo.com

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2011 3rd International Conference on Information and Financial Engineering IPEDR vol.12 (2011) © (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore

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The success in business depends on the success in introducing new products to the market place. Time to market is frequently identified as one of the key factors that enable technology-intensive firms to compete and succeed. Software is gaining importance in the global market. An application is “custom-built" for a single organization or set of users, but a product is "generic" and is built to cater to the demands of a wide variety of users. However, each user needs to be able to use the product in a way that suits him/her. Hence, a product must be customizable, scalable, well architected, and must have a solid framework on which one can build new features.

To measure the project management skills, basic five areas like identification, screening, unit analysis, integration analysis, and field study were considered. A questionnaire is developed; validated and primary data is collected to understand the product development market. 893 data were received out of that 260 samples were identified as appropriate and considered for the study. The integration between technical, HR, Marketing, Product development, Finance, were considered for the study.

Table – 1. Relationship between Product development activities

No. of respondents Anova repeated measure

Deviance contrast result Omitted Low Medium High Excel Mean S.D.

Project management skills [5]

0 (0.0)

30 (11.5)

46 (17.7)

148 (56.9)

36 (13.9) 3.35 0.76

F = 93.8 (p <

0.001)

All six varies

Communication between departments [10]

0 (0.0)

6 (2.2)

47 (18.2)

183 (70.4)

24 (9.2) 3.27 0.50

Planning [5] 2 (0.7)

89 (34.2)

106 (40.8)

63 (24.3)

0 (0.0) 3.27 0.68

Management Style [8]

0 (0.0)

14 (5.3)

181 (69.7)

58 (22.3)

7 (2.7) 3.68 0.49

Managerial skills [3]

1 (0.4)

62 (23.8)

122 (46.9)

52 (20.0)

23 (8.9) 3.47 0.86

Top management support [5]

4 (1.5)

9 (3.4)

71 (27.4)

110 (42.3)

66 (25.4) 4.16 0.71

[ ] – Value shows the number of questions considered for data collection.

From the Table 1, it is evident there is a significant difference between the various considered skills and all the six skill set varies among each other. Using Analysis of Variance (Anova) repeated measures and deviance contrast result it is found that there is difference between this skills set. The project is mostly on the design and the process made. Hierarchy should be maintained to have better control and also freedom to communicate is permitted for betterment.

Considering planning as an important activity in software project development five divisions was identified. Taking the management style eight most significant properties were measured for the study. The managerial skills are sub-divided into major three segment like technical, marketing, and human skills. Every project has to be supported by top management and this study has also measured the top management support in the fields like decision making, level of support to the project, and involvement in the project, motivation on the project, and interest to share the available resources.

4. Conclusion Software development is a process which is highly technical and marketing the software product which

is managerial. In order to complete the product development in time there need a co-ordination among the team members and this involves both. It is found the implementation of cross-functional teams and co-ordination in the team needs more attention to reduce costs of NPD. The success depends on identifying a small segment and by standardizing creating a big market for the product. Development is an internal process and customer satisfaction is an external process to be managed effectively.

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5. References [1] Arvind Rangaswamy., and Gary L. Lilien., “Software Tools for New Product Development”, Journal of Marketing

Research, 1997, Feb, Vol. XXXIV, pp 177-184.

[2] Booz, Allen, Hamilton, 1982, Cited in Paul Trott.

[3] Charles Tennant, and Paul Roberts., “The creation and application of a self-assessment process for new product introduction”, International Journal of Project Management, 2003, 21, pp 77-87.

[4] Ganesh N Prabhu and Rishikesha T Krishnan, “New Product Development : Discussion”, IIMB, Management Review, 2005, Sep., pp 81-96.

[5] Kristina Risom Jespersen, “Is the screening of product ideas supported by the NPD process design?”, European Journal of Innovation Management, 2007, Vol. 10, Issue. 4, pp 453-466.

[6] Magne Jorgensen, and Dag I.K.Sjoberg., “The impact of customer expectation of software development effort estimates”, International Journal of Project Management, 2004, 22, pp 317-325.

[7] Melissa A. Schilling and Charles W.L.Hill, “Managing the new product development process : Strategic imperatives”, Academy of Management Executive, 1998, Vol. 12, No3, pp 67-81.

[8] Nagarajan S.K., “Software Product Development and Marketing : with special focus on Software product”, Doctoral Dissertation submitted in Business Administration, Annamalai University, 2008.

[9] Nagarajan S.K., and Arul.M., “Enhancing software product development with quality standards”, Journal of Humanities, Annamalai University, 2005, Vol. XLIII, 2005, pp 355 – 368.

[10] NASSCOM-BCG Innovation Report 2007 Unleashing the Innovative Power of Indian IT-ITEs Industry, 2007, New Delhi.

[11] Nelson P. Repenning., “Understanding fire fighting in new product development”, The Journal of Product Innovation Management, 2001, 18, pp 285-300.

[12] Pankaj Mishra., “Building the great Indian Software brand”, Express computer, 2003. March 24, p 1, 6.

[13] Paul Trott, “Innovation Management and New Product Development”, Financial Times, Pitman Publishing, London, 1998.

[14] Petra C. De Weerd-Nederhofl., “Qualitative case study research. The case of a PhD research project on organizing and managing new product development systems”, Management Decision, 2001, 39/7, pp 513-538.

[15] Walket Royce., “Improving software development economics : Reducing Software product complexity and improving software processes”, Information Technology, 2002. May, pp 53-57.

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