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Managing development progress in agile projects is a co-ordination problem. Several technical factors (e.g. source code versioning, unit testing, acceptance testing, continuous integration and releasing) affect the progress status, hence, they need to be managed. In distributed agile projects, manual-based methods (such as communication via video-conferencing tools) are insufficient. Distributed agile teams find it difficult, with infrequent communications, to understand how the work of one team member at one site influences the work progress of another team member at a different site. Moreover, current technology-based methods (such as project management tools) are static and rely completely on team members to consider any impact of the technical factors on development progress. The lack of mechanisms to effectively manage progress change resulting from the technical factors may lead to the project being delayed or to low quality code. In this paper, we propose a holistic approach to developing a progress tracking system that supports identifying and co-ordinating the impact of the various technical factors on the development progress. The result will provide distributed agile teams with an improved awareness of the actual progress. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents abstracts on organizational communication and information systems which include the application of experience in a new product development team, the use of a commons perspective to examine the dynamic interplay between private-public interests around large-scale information technology systems, and virtual, written-based knowledge sharing.

The article focuses on the computer simulation modelling of the gymnastics coaching biomechanics interface. It claims that the modelling is important because it is used to obtain insight into the mechanics of gymnastics technique. It presents the simulation models of several gymnastics techniques including parallel bars, twisting somersaults, and high bar.

This section presents several abstracts of studies on issues related to human resources, including "Information Systems and Personnel Department Power: An Institutional Perspective," by Elaine Famdale; "Globalization from Within: Geocentric Career Opportunities in MNCS," by Orly Levy, Schon L. Beechler, Sully Taylor, and Nakiye Boyacigller; and "The Impact of Control on Job Satisfaction in Customer Service Call Centers," by Gillian Wright and Ed Rose.

The aim of the study was to establish the changes in co-ordination that occur during a 100 m breaststroke swim from a water start by: 1) measuring the kinematic changes that occur as the swimmer progressed through the four laps and, 2) analysing the co-ordination of the arms and legs (transition phase) corresponding to the time between the end of the leg propulsion and the start of the arm propulsion phases. Breaststroke participants (n=8, females and n=18, males) performed a 100 m maximal swim in a 25 m pool. They were recorded underwater using three 50 Hz cameras (one at each end of the pool and one mounted on a trolley). The last three strokes prior to turns were analysed. Significant changes in clean swim speed (p<0.05) were found between laps. Results indicate that participants reduce transition phase of the stroke to try and maintain clean swim speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]