CS1736 Software Engineering

Chapter 21 Project Management Concepts

Problems

21.6 You have been appointed a project manager within an information systems organization.
Your job is to build an application that is quite similar to others your team has built,
although this one is larger and more complex. Requirements have been thoroughly
documented by the customer. What team structure would you choose and why? What
software process model(s) would you choose and why?

Solution:
A closed paradigm team structure is one option. Since requirements are well defined, it will be
possible to partition requirements and allocation to sub-teams. The large size of the project also
mitigates in favor of a CD team. Since there is no discussion of schedule, we assume that
delivery date is reasonable. Therefore, it might be possible to use a linear sequential process
model (work has been done before). However, an iterative model (e.g., spiral) is also a good
possibility.

21.7 You have been appointed project manager for a small software products company. Your
job is to build a breakthrough product that combines virtual reality hardware with state-
of-the-art software. Because competition for the home entertainment market is intense,
there is significant pressure to get the job done. What team structure would you choose
and why? What software process model(s) would you choose and why?

Solution:
The random paradigm team structure is probably the only viable option, given hazy requirements
and the experimental nature of the work. A prototyping approach or an evolutionary process
model should be used.

21.8 You have been appointed project manager for a major software products company. Your
job is to manage the development of the next generation version of its widely used word-
processing software. Because new revenue must be generated, tight deadlines have been
established and announced. What team structure would you choose and why? What
software process model(s) would you choose and why?

Solution:
An open paradigm team structure is probably best, given time pressure and familiarity with the
work (however, a closed paradigm team might also work well). An incremental process model is
indicated by the deadline driven nature of this work.
21.9 You have been appointed project manager for a company that services the genetic
engineering world. Your job is to manage the development of a new software product
that will accelerate the pace of gene typing. The work is R&D oriented, but the goal is to
produce a product within the next year. What team structure would you choose and why?
What software process model(s) would you choose and why?

Solution:
A random team structure is probably best, given that the work is experimental, but that there is a
business deadline. Another possibility is to use an open paradigm team structure. An incremental
process model or an evolutionary process model could be used, given the deadline driven nature
of this work.

21.10 You have been asked to develop a small application that analyzes each course offered by
a university and reports the average grade obtained in the course (for a given term).
Write a statement of scope that bounds this problem.

Solution:
The Grade-Analyzer application will obtain grades for all undergraduate and graduate for-credit
courses contained in the Registrar's data base of courses for a given semester. Grade-Analyzer
will read all grades for each course and compute the average grade using a numerical scale in
which an A = 4.0 and other grades are assigned values as indicated in grade value document
UC29-1. Grade-Analyzer will print and/or display a report that lists each course, the instructor,
the average grade. The report may be sorted by department, by highest to lowest average grade,
by instructor or by any permutation of these characteristics. Grade-Analyzer will be implemented
to run under Microsoft Windows XP environment.