Nature of Course
The primary objective of the USC software engineering education program is to perpare students for leadership careers in the field. Good software engineering leadership requires an understanding of three major areas: software technology, economic factors, and human relations. This course assumes that you have a good background in software technology, and concentrates on the economic and human factors to show how they interplay with software factors.
The course focuses on a set of pervasive management and economic paradigms that are highly valuable software engineering tools: teambuilding, empowerment, continuous process improvement, business case analysis, win-win situations, production functions, economies of scale, present value, constrained optimization, risk and decision analysis, etc. It does this in the context of new software challenges (rapid development, rapid change, COTS integration, talent shortages) and new approaches to the software process, including process maturity models, Theory W, the Spiral Model, Model-based (System) Architectecting and Software Engineering (MBASE), and software risk management. These are all integrated into a framework of Value-Based Software Engineering (VBSE) and the Incremental Commitment Model (ICM).
VBSE and the ICM integrate economics and human factors into software development through the fundamental concept of reconciling stakeholder value propositions into a win-win shared vision of the products to be developed and the processes for developing them. A software project's success-critical stakeholders (SCSHs) generally include users, acquirers, developers, and maintainers; and may also include marketers, venture capitalists, operators, and representatives of the general public.
Theory W project management is based on the fundamental principle that the project manager's principal objective is to Make Everyone a Winner (customers, subordinates, bosses, users, maintainers). The course elaborates this principle into a stakeholder value-based approach that focuses on techniques for creating win-win conditions, negotiation, expectations management, and conflict resolution.
Software risk management is one of the primary Theory W elements: identifying and managing win-lose or lose-lose project risks. It is also a key driver of the ICM. The course will cover the discipline of software risk management under six primary sub-topics: risk identification, risk analysis, risk prioritization, risk management planning, risk resolution, and risk monitoring. This course offers opportunities to practice skills through several case studies. Students' careers will span many generations of software technology and practices; thus, some case studies will provide practice in learning how to learn about new technologies and practices.
Around 500 points: Homework exercises. Due dates are indicated in the Course Schedule. Assignments are due at 12 noon on the day indicated, all submission will be done online on DEN.usc.edu through the assignment manager, please check Course Q&A for all submission guidelines. A 15%-per-day penalty will apply to all late submissions.
Distance Education Network (DEN) students: please submit your homework through DEN and we will pick up your homework from DEN. Please contact DEN about the homework submission procedures or visit http://den.usc.edu/help/documentcenter.htm.
200 points: Midterm Exams: 10/3 and 11/3. 100 points each; based on lecture, homework, and reading material covered during the previous class session. Open book; bring a hand calculator with an x^y key, but no laptops, palmtops, or graphing.
300 points: Final Exam: 12/10/2008. Covering the full range of course material, but focused on topics covered in lectures and homeworks. Open book; bring at least textbooks and a hand calculator with an x^y key, but no laptops, palmtops, or graphing calculators.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SHARING OF ANYTHING IN ANY EXAMS.
Asking Questions
To get your questions answered quickly, please follow the steps below (in order):
1. Check the hot course FAQ list - we will maintain a question/answer list and update it on a daily basis. All good or popular questions will be posted there with answers.
2. Send one of the TAs an email and CC the other TAs at the same time. Please include "510" keyword in your email title - If you cannot find the answer to your question in the FAQ, please feel free to send emails to TAs.
3. If TAs cannot answer your question, please try to speak with the related course instructor after class or during his office hour, or contact him through email.
Regrading
All homework submissions are final. No modifications are allowed after submission deadline. You will have exactly 2 weeks right after the date when each homework is returned to the class, to come to the TA's office hour to discuss your regrading requests. Any request after that will not be accepted. This policy also applies to midterm and final exams.
Abut Plagiarism (using other people's work without crediting them). Minor first offenses: You lose ONE grade level (e.g., B+ instead of A-). Second offenses and/or major first offenses: You get an F for the course.