Multistage Human Resource Allocation for Software Development by Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm

ABSTRACT

Software development is a multistage process. Minimizing the project duration and minimizing the project cost are two objectives of software projects. These two goals are often in conflict with each other. The most important influencing factor of these two objectives is human resource allocation. The best compromised human resource allocation plan based on these two objectives should be provided to the project manager. This is a multistage human resource allocation problem (MHRAP) which belongs to multiple criteria problems. Genetic algorithm is a well-known solving method for multiple criteria problems.

In this paper, we propose a new multiobjective genetic algorithm (moGA). This moGA is based on a new encoding method, named Improved Fixed-length Encoding method. This encoding method is simple and effective for programming. An adaptive-weight fitness assignment mechanism is used to find a Pareto solution set. A factor weight method is proposed to find the best compromised solution from a Pareto solution set. Project managers can assign weight on each objective to decide how to arrange software for the project.

Keywords:

Software development, improved fixed-length encoding, multistage human resource allocation problem (MHR, multiobjective genetic algorithm (moGA).