Understanding software engineers’ skill development in software development
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Journal of Computer Information Systems
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
35899
Funders
Dongbei University of Finance and Economics
Abstract
Organizations increasingly use virtual teams to support their business processes. With software development as its context, this study aims to examine how software engineers are motivated to work in virtual teams, as well as the subsequent impacts this has on their programming and collaboration skills development. A theoretical model was developed based on self-determination theory. Data were collected from longitudinal surveys taken by software engineers in China. Our research results show that trust is positively related to software engineers’ autonomous motivation, whereas social influence is positively related to their controlled motivation. Besides, autonomous motivation enhances the amount of effort software engineers put into programming, whereas controlled motivation does not. Programming effort, in turn, increases their programming and collaboration skills. These research findings can advance our understanding about software engineers’ motivations in the context of software development. Our work also has important implications for organizations and software engineers.
DOI
10.1080/08874417.2019.1566805
Access Rights
subscription content
Comments
Wang, X., Lin, X., & Hajli, N. (2019). Understanding software engineers’ skill development in software development. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 61(2), 108-117. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2019.1566805