Jan. 25, 2020
ソフトウェア開発における早期すり合わせの効果と働き方改革への示唆
Impact of Early-Stage Coordination in Software Development and Its Implications for “Work Style Reform”
要旨Abstract
働き方改革の議論が進む中，生産性や質を高めながら残業を削減する方法が模索されている．本論文では，早期のコーディネーションを目的に開発プロセスを変更した自動車部品メーカーにおけるソフトウェア開発のプロジェクト進捗管理データを用いて，ソフトウェア開発におけるすり合わせ時期の前倒しの影響を定量的に計測した．取り組みの有効性をみるため，残業時間，製品の質，生産性への影響を検証した．開発プロセスの変更は，(1)労働時間の平準化を通じ残業時間を減少させ，(2)出荷後に発見される欠陥率を有意に引き下げたが，(3)開発期間中の仕様変更とコミュニケーションの頻度の著しい増加の結果，生産性には有意な影響を及ぼさなかった．興味深いことに，経験(勤続年数)による欠陥率(統合テストおよび出荷後)の低減効果は，プロセス変更後有意に小さくなった．早期すり合わせが仕事と労働者の生活の質を向上させると同時に，情報共有を通じたチームでの問題解決を容易にすることで，属人的な知識や経験への過度の依存を回避させたと解釈できる．
With continuing public debates on work style reform (the nation-wide efforts to reform the way people work), businesses explore for ways to reduce overtime work while raising productivity and quality. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of a process change in software development that advanced the timing of integration test to induce early-stage coordination, using a novel dataset from the project management system at an automobile parts manufacturer. In order to see the effectiveness of the new development process, we examine variations in overtime hours, product quality, and productivity before and after the process change. We find that the change: (1) reduced overtime hours by leveling working hours over the course of the project; (2) significantly lowered the defect rate discovered after shipment; but (3) did not cause any significant changes in productivity due to a significant increase in specification changes and communication among the manufacturer and the suppliers. Interestingly, the defect rates--both at the time of integration test and after shipment--became significantly less dependent on engineers’ experience (years of service) after the process change. We interpret our findings as showing that the early-stage coordination improved the quality of work as well as the quality of life for workers, and at the same time reduced the excessive dependence on individual knowledge and experience by exploiting the team’s problem solving capability through information sharing.
書誌情報Bibliographic information
Vol. 69, No. 1, 2018 , pp. 1-17
HERMES-IR（一橋大学機関リポジトリ）: https://doi.org/10.15057/29030
JEL Classification Codes: J24, L15, L62, M11
