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Brooks' Law Revisited: Improving Software Productivity by Managing Complexity


Joseph Blackburn


Vanderbilt University - Operations Management

Michael A. Lapre


Vanderbilt University - Owen Graduate School of Management

Luk N. Van Wassenhove


INSEAD
May 2006


Abstract:     
According to Brooks' law for software development projects "adding manpower to a late software project makes it later." Building on Brooks' law, we argue that complexity increases the maximum team size in software development projects (Hypothesis 1), and that maximum team size decreases software development productivity (Hypothesis 2). We test these hypotheses with a dataset of 117 software development projects conducted in Finland. Hypothesis 1 is supported for two out of three measures of complexity. We also find strong support for Hypothesis 2. In order to mitigate the negative impact of team size on productivity, managers should pay close attention to the logical complexity of software as well as the interfaces to other software.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 24

Keywords: Project Management, Software Development, Software Productivity, Complexity, Project Team Size

JEL Classification: M10

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Date posted: August 8, 2006  

Suggested Citation

Blackburn, Joseph D., Lapre, Michael A. and Van Wassenhove, Luk N., Brooks' Law Revisited: Improving Software Productivity by Managing Complexity (May 2006). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=922768 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.922768

Contact Information

Joseph D. Blackburn
Vanderbilt University - Operations Management ( email )
Nashville, TN 37203
United States

Michael A. Lapre (Contact Author)
Vanderbilt University - Owen Graduate School of Management ( email )
401 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
United States
615-322-2389 (Phone)
615-343-7177 (Fax)
HOME PAGE: http://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt/About/faculty-research/f_profile.cfm?id=114
Luk N. Van Wassenhove
INSEAD ( email )
Boulevard de Constance
77 305 Fontainebleau Cedex
France
(33) (0)1 60 72 42 66 (Phone)
(33) (0)1 60 72 40 49 (Fax)
Feedback to SSRN (Beta)


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