Table of Contents
Advocating Ackoff’s Interactive Planning C oncepts and
Principles for Software Project Management
1G ary Bell, Maggie Cooper, and ‘Jon Warwick
‘South Bank University City University
School of Computing, IS and Maths Department of Computing
Borough Road Northampton Square
London SE1 0AA London EC1V OHB
Tel: 44 020 7815 7498 Tel: 44 020 7477 8416
Email: bellgaa@ sbu.ac.uk Email: maggie@ soi.city.ac.uk
http://www.sbu.ac.uk/immage/hrg
Abstract
This poster extends the use of Ackoff’s interactive planning concepts and principles to
the domain of software project management. His criticisms of traditional operational
research are highlighted and applied to current algorithmic cost models and preparation
methods used for software estimation. A review of selected models is provided. These
are evaluated through examining their estimation performance and explanatory
capability. A limited survey of independent empirical research on the estimation
performance of specific models is presented. Next, an archetypal cost model is matched
against the top ten software risks in order to examine its explanatory capability. The
survey and comparative study together indicate that over the last two decades there has
been no significant improvement in software cost estimation. Several researchers have
identified reasons for the lack of progress which can be linked with criticisms of
traditional operational research. We conclude by showing how Ackoff’s
reconceptualisation of operational research and its supporting principles could guide
future directions in software project management, with reference to the general
approach to developing and applying algorithmic cost models and key meta-
characteristics underpinning them.
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