Effects of Conflicts Between Developers, Testers, and Business Analysts on Software Development

Software development is a process that involves various groups working together to produce high-quality software on time and within budget. The collaborative efforts of these groups are important for the success of a software development project, yet conflicts occasionally occur. The goal of this nonexperimental study was to understand the effects of conflicts on software delivery deadlines among 3 groups: business analysts, developers, and testers. Following the theoretical foundation of organizational conflict, the research questions investigated (a) the relationship between delayed software delivery and the conflicts between business analysts and testers, (b) the relationship between delayed software delivery and the conflicts between developers and testers, and (c) the relationship between delayed software delivery and the conflicts between developers and business analysts. Data were collected by surveying 192 software development professionals and analyzed via Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The findings showed a statistically significant relationship between delayed software delivery and the conflict between business analysts and testers, a moderate statistical relationship between delayed software delivery and the conflict between developers and testers, and no statistical significant relationship between delayed software delivery and the conflict between developers and business analysts. These research findings may contribute to positive social change as organizations may be able to improve development teams' understanding of conflict, help reduce it, and improve on software delivery deadlines. Delivering software products on time is important, not only from the economic point of view of budget overruns, but from a lifesaving perspective for the society, as some medical equipments now depend on software.