A Software Development Company Is Designing an Evaluation Plan for Its

question 296

Multiple Choice

A software development company is designing an evaluation plan for its software programmers. The company feels that changes are necessary because it lacks the facts it needs to distinguish outstanding software programmers from those that are only average, or worse. Previously, the company paid software programmers a flat salary and based evaluations on supervisors' opinions. Now, however, the company is considering the following measures for its software programmers: Measurement Strategy Alpha: Software programmers will be evaluated based on the total number of lines of code that they produce.
Measurement Strategy Beta: Software programmers will be evaluated based on their ability to produce computer code that is free of errors.
Measurement Strategy Gamma: Software programmers will be evaluated based on the market success of the products they produce.
The choice to use only Measurement Strategy Beta would be vulnerable to criticism because it would give the software programmers an incentive to do what?

• A) Make overly optimistic commitments to customer-facing employees at the company
• B) Spend too much time checking their code in order to eliminate any possibility of error
• C) Develop projects that meet programming requirements but not market requirements
• D) Skip the quality assurance checks that reveal the most damaging software errors
• E) Produce more lines of code than are required to perform a given function

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Definitions:

Average Rate of Return

A financial metric used to evaluate the profitability of an investment, calculated as the average annual profit divided by the initial investment cost.

Annual Income

The total earnings or revenue generated by an individual or business in one fiscal year before any deductions.

Capital Projects

Large, long-term investments undertaken to create, expand, or replace a company's physical assets.

Cash Payback Period

The duration it takes for the earnings from an investment to cover the initial amount invested.