A theory of motivation and satisfaction of software engineers

• Ano de defesa: 2014
• Autor(a) principal: França, Alberto César Cavalcanti
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
• Palavras-chave em Português: Software engineer; Work Motivation; Job Satisfaction; Multi-case study; Cross-case analysis; Engenheiro de software; Motivação no Trabalho; Satisfação no Trabalho; Estudo de múltiplos-casos; Análise cross-casos
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/12006

Context: Previous research work in the Software Engineering field indicates that a proper management of motivation and job satisfaction at work can help software organisations to achieve higher levels of project success. However, the little concern with the adequate use of well-established theories to underpin these researches left unclear several theoretical and practical aspects of work motivation and job satisfaction in the software context. In fact, there is enough knowledge about job satisfaction factors, but not on specific characteristics of the work that motivate software engineers. Objective: The starting point of this research comprises the Job Satisfaction and the Job Characteristics theories, which argue that job satisfaction and work motivation are distinguishable phenomena, with distinct antecedents and different outcomes. Then, this thesis aims to clarify specifically what factors drive motivation of software engineers at work. Method: The initial theoretical framework was evaluated and enhanced based on findings from a multiple case study that comprised four different software organisations from Recife, Brazil. For 11 months, rich data was collected independently in those organisations, by means of semi-structured interviews, diary studies, and document analyses, and the synthesis followed a standard procedure of cross-case analysis. Results: The results point out that (1) practitioners are not aware of the distinction between work motivation and job satisfaction, (2) work motivation is characterized by engagement and concentration, (3) work motivation is affected by software engineering tasks characteristics and by the co-workers’ engagement, workload and technical confidence, (4) work motivation improves satisfaction moderated by feedback information provided about the individual’s performance, and (5) the mediating role of individual characteristics is pervasive. Conclusion: Based on these data, it was possible to draw up a new theory of motivation and satisfaction of software engineers (TMS-SE), which unites elements from well established theories, expands and adapts them to the software engineering specific context. The TMS-SE represents an advance on our understanding of software engineers’ behaviour as well as it raises new questions and provides an organised ground for future investigations in this area.