Efficient operation of a dynamic system requires (near) optimal real-time control decisions. Those decisions depend on a set of control parameters that change over time. Very often, the optimal decision can be made only with the knowledge of future values of control parameters. As a consequence,...

Many organizations aspire to adopt agile processes to take advantage of the numerous benefits that it offers to an organization. Those benefits include, but are not limited to, quicker return on investment, better software quality, and higher customer satisfaction. To date however, there is no...

This dissertation investigates algorithmic techniques for temporal process discovery in many domains. Many different formalisms have been proposed for modeling temporal processes such as motifs, dynamic Bayesian networks and partial orders, but the direct inference of such models from data has...

The objective of this research is to show the utility ofroles and personality characteristics to the evaluation andformation of software development teams. The goals of thisresearch include demonstrating empirically that Belbin'steam roles can be used to form and evaluate software...

In recent years studies have been conducted which suggest thattaking an architecture first approach to managing large softwareprojects can reduce a significant amount of the uncertainty presentin project estimates. As the project progresses, more concreteinformation is known about the planned...

The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is generally interpreted as the set of procedures that transform inputs into outputs and as the method by which information systems are built. In the software development industry, the SDLC not only produces information systems but also is itself a type...

Intelligent Product Recommendation Agents have been used for some time now by large, well known Internet businesses such as Amazon and Netflix. Unfortunately there is little research assessing the effectiveness of these systems in influencing online consumer behavior. Businesses that sell...

Although existing laboratory research shows that software is often used inefficiently, relatively little is known about (a) how efficiently software is used in a real work environment and (b) the factors that influence the efficiency of individual users. The present research consists of an...

To sustain a market for software components, component producers and consumers must agree on contracts. These contracts must specify each party's obligations. To ensure that both sides meet their obligations, they must also agree on standards for monitoring contracts and assigning blame for...

Peer-to-peer systems, networks of egalitarian nodes without a central authority, can achieve massive scalability and fault tolerance through the pooling together of individual resources. Unfortunately, most nodes represent self-interested, or rational, parties that will attempt to maximize their...