Software Engineering Module: Understanding and Developing Managerial Skills
"Knowledge without practice breeds a "blue-sky"
theorist. Practice without knowledge breeds a trial-and-error
layperson. Knowledge and practice breed a well-grounded, competent
practitioner." - Michael Badawy [Badawy, p. xiv]
- The purpose of this module is to introduce the
student to management which
cuts across the boundaries of many disciplines. Without
competent management, most organizations would not exist and projects would
not be accomplished. In fact, management is the key to bringing people,
money, plans, schedules, and other resources together to accomplish work
which could not be done by only one person.
- Specifically, this module covers an introduction to management,
how the transition to management may be made, how organization is used
to facilitate management, and the types of functions managers perform:
planning, decision making, controlling, and evaluating. In addition,
some material is included that pertains to how management applies to
software engineering, however, later modules go into software project
management in more detail.
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- The student should
- be an upper-level undergraduate or graduate student.
- have an understanding of basic software engineering
concepts, such as software process, requirements analysis, design,
implementation, quality assurance, and software testing.
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- At the end of this module, the student should understand:
- how management is used at all levels of an organization
- where project management fits into an organization
- the responsibilities and difficulties of managing
- how to organize departments and people for effective managing
- the basics of how to plan and make decisions
- the basics of how to control and evaluate management entities
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- Overview of Management
[Badawy, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5]
- Organization
[Badawy,
Chapters 7, 8, 9]
- Planning and Decision Making
[Badawy, Chapters 10, 11]
- Controlling and Evaluating
[Badawy, Chapters 12, 13]
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- The two articles below will give the student more specific information on management and
interesting management situations.
- Sheila Brady and Tom DeMarco. "Management-Aided Software
Engineering." IEEE Software, vol. 11, no. 6, November 1994, pp.
25-32.
- This article talks about the management experiences of Sheila
Brady and Tom DeMarco who are experienced software engineering
managers. It will help the student to understand some of the
problems in software project management and how to reduce them.
- What suggestions given by Sheila Brady and Tom DeMarco would help with
the situation below? Be specific in your answer.
- You have been selected to become the project manager on a project that
is just starting, but that will be large and complex. In fact, the
software is to help a pilot fly a new Air Force jet fighter and to
assist with keeping the pilot safe in combat. Your task is to put
together the team to accomplish this project. There is some
pressure that this project be successful as many of your company's
government projects have been reviewed and cancelled; i.e., 90 out of
100 projects were cut by the government. Employees are under a
state of stress and feel uncertain about whether or not they will be
laid off. Upper management has been making many noises about
implementing more quality controls and rules to make sure that
languishing projects either do not happen or are found early so that
corrective action can be done more quickly. Technical workers and
management feel poorly toward each other.
- Thomas Teal. "The Human Side of Management." Harvard
Business Review, November/December 1996, pp. 35-44.
- This article talks about the experiences of several managers,
their pitfalls, and their good decisions. It will help the
student understand the difficulty of managing and transitioning from
bad to good management.
- Using the examples of managers in the paper,
how would you approach the situation in the previous problem? Be specific in mentioning
which managers you are using in your solution.
- In [Badawy], many exercises are given that take students
through management scenarios that help to broaden the student's view of how
managers operate. Some suggested exercises are:
- Case Study 1.2 Promoted Engineer - new manager dealing with difficult
employee problems of declining productivity.
- Case Study 2.1 The Overworked Engineering Manager - a manager who
really is an engineer rather than a manager.
- Case Study 3.1 Ed the Engineer - follows the career of a technologist
as he progresses from a technical professional to a program manager.
- Case Study 5.2 Time Management - managing time as a manager.
- Case Study 7.1 Bypassing the Boss - when employees go around the boss.
- Case Study 8.1 White Manufacturing Company - new manager and new
rules.
- Case Study 9.1 Introducing the Matrix - deciding to implement matrix
management.
- Case Study 10.1 Planning the Overtime - schedule changes and overtime.
- Case Study 10.2 Proper Communication - managers who do not
communicate.
- Case Study 12.1 Who Controls the Cost? - trying to lower costs.
- Case Study 12.2 Employee Work Control - declining employee morale.
- Case Study 13.1 The Performance Appraisal - appraising an employee's
performance.
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- Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering
Institute - This institute is dedicated to the improvement of software
engineering and has resources on software project management.
- Construx - Construx is a
software company that develops software and offers several training courses
on software engineering subjects including management. The CEO and
Chief Software Engineer of Construx, Steve
McConnell, has published several books on developing software which
provide hard-earned management advice.
- IEEE Software Engineering
Standards - include standards for software engineering documents, such
as project management plans.
- Project Management Institute -
professional organization established in 1969 and dedicated to the
profession of project management. It publishes and maintains the
project management body of knowledge, offers seminars, defines project
management standards, and offers certifications in project management.
- Software Engineering Body of Knowledge
- This guide is a broad and in-depth study of the knowledge that pertains to
software engineering and is available in published final form through the
IEEE Computer Society. One of the knowledge areas of interest is
software project management.
- You may want to explore undergraduate and graduate management degrees at
higher education institutions.
- You may want to look up management associations and standards in your own
country and/or
other countries.
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- [Badawy] Michael K. Badawy. Developing Managerial Skills in Engineers and
Scientists, 2nd Ed. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, ISBN
0-442-01861-4, 1995.
- This book is well referenced and discusses how to transition from a technological
professional to management.
- Dr. Michael K. Badawy has refereed publications
on managing technical professionals and experience as a practitioner,
researcher, educator, and trainer.
- This book is chosen because it is one of a
few that address how to become a manager. In addition, this book
contains case studies which reinforce the author's material.
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- Author: Dr. Susan A. Mengel, Texas Tech University, Computer
Science, susan.mengel@ttu.edu
- Course: CS 5363 Software Project Management
- This module may be taught in four lectures depending upon
what other material is added by the instructor. For example, when lecturing, the author adds material from personal experiences and challenges the
students to come up with answers to management problems themselves
during the lecture. [Badawy] has a number of good problems
and case studies to present to students.
- The learning material in the module is used to reinforce the lectures.
- The author does not use slides to teach this
material, but instructors who would like to use slides may wish to
include some of the material in [Badawy] not present in the learning
material.
- Most of the learning material for this module is condensed from [Badawy].
Additional material is included from thoughts and experiences by the author
and her students. Additional references are given in the learning
material as they are used.
- This module was created in order to enable students to understand the
broader context of management. This helps students understand where
project management fits into an organization, what project management is,
and the problems of project management. In addition, this module facilitates the
introduction of software engineering project management concepts to students
by creating a common management vocabulary and taking advantage of management
themes common to many disciplines.
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