Don Harter

PhD (information systems), Carnegie Mellon University

Research Topics

• Project management
• Software process improvement
• Effect of information technology improvements on product quality
• Productivity
• Hiring
• Salaries
• And attrition

Professor Harter teaches the MBA courses in management information systems and project management, and a PhD seminar in software engineering economics.

Professor Harter’s research focuses on project management and software process improvement. This research examines the organizational benefits of process maturity on software quality, development effort, and development time. His current work examines the effect of software improvements on personal issues, including hiring policies, salaries, promotions, attrition, management span of control, and organizational design.

Selected Publications
"Impact of Budget and Schedule Pressure on Software Development Cycle Time and Effort," IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 35(5) 624-637, with Nan, N., September/October 2009

"Quality Improvement and Infrastructure Activity Costs in Software Development: A Longitudinal Analysis," Management Science, 49(6) 784-800,  with Slaughter, S., June 2003.  

"Cognitive Support for Real-Time Dynamic Decision-Making," Information Systems Research (ISR), 12(1) 63-82, March 2001. 

"Effects of Process Maturity on Quality, Cycle Time, and Effort in Software Product Development," Management Science, 46(4) 451-466, April 2000

“Evaluating the Cost of Software Quality,” Communications of the ACM, 41(8) 67-73, August 1998Selected Publications

• "Quality Improvement and Infrastructure Activity Costs in Software Development: A Longitudinal Analysis", Quality Control and Applied Statistics, 49(2) 221, 2004, (with Slaughter, S. )
• "Impact of Budget and Schedule Pressure on Software Development Cycle Time and Effort", IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, forthcoming, (with Ning, N.)

• US News & World Report ranks Whitman School as one of nation’s “lowest-priced” business schools 7.9.12
  U.S. News & World Report has recognized the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University as one of the “10 Lowest-Priced Business Schools” for 2011-2012. In U.S. News’s Short List, comparing MBA tuition and fees, the Whitman Scho Read more>>
• Nicholson, Comprix and Harter named 2011 Whitman Professors of the Year 5.26.11
  Amanda Nicholson, assistant professor of retail management in the Whitman School of Management, has been chosen as 2011 Undergraduate Professor of the Year. Joseph Comprix, assistant professor of accounting, and Don Harter, associate dean for masters programs and assistant professor of management in Read more>>