Review: Modeling, evaluating and predicting IT human resources performance

CRC Press sent me the book  Modeling, evaluating and predicting IT human resources performance by Konstantina Richter, Reinier R. Dumke for review on my blog.

This book is really for the experts in the area of performance management. I don’t count myself in this area so a complete review is not possible from my side.

The starting point for this book are the numerous methods that exist to model and analyze the different roles, responsibilities, and process levels of IT personnel. What is lacking, and this book fills the gap, is to include the rigorous application and evaluation of human errors and their associated risks.

The authors presents an evaluation approach based on available research and enhance current approaches through strict usage of software measurement and statistical principles and criteria.

• Chapter 2: Software risk management and human factors. It starts with an overview of risk management development and an overview of risk management methods. The last part focusses on human errors, mistakes and failures.
• Chapter 3: Software engineering, team, and responsibilities. Besides a complicated analysis of risk involvement in the development process you get insides in the different organizational structures (following PMI) and an overview of roles and responsibilities (personal and technical competences) of the following functions: Project Manager, Team Leader, Business Analyst, Software Architect, Software Developer, Software Tester, and Quality Engineer.
• Chapter 4: Discovery of IT human factors. This chapter uses the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) over the different functions as described in the previous chapter and will give insights in the different human factors.
• Chapter 5: Definition and evaluation of IT human factors. This chapter starts with the explanation of the “Big Five” theory. The Big Five factors (OCEAN) are Openness (intellect), Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (emotional stability). As a next step these five are matched with the IT human factors.
• Chapter 6: Model development for IT human performance prediction and chapter 7: Experimental validation of predictive model for IT human performance are for the (statistical) experts only.

Conclusion

None from my side because I am not the expert in this area. The reason I put it on my blog is for the chapter on roles and responsibilities and the FMEA over these functions. This FMEA could be helpful for the sponsor to keep the PM under control or for the QA reviewer to judge the human factors, too.

To order: Modeling, evaluating and predicting IT human resources performance