References
Crunch Mode Stories and Recent Press
ea_spouse
The spouse of an Electronic Arts employee relates her experiences being
engaged to an EA employee during extended crunch time. The resulting
collection of comments and attention turned her LiveJournal page into a
broad internet resource.
joestraitiff's Journal
Another blog posting about work conditions at Electronic Arts that
received a great deal of press coverage. Joe Straitiff describes the
conditions at his employer and his experiences up until his termination
from the company.
Santa's sweatshop
A good overview article of the Electronic Arts and game industry working
situation. Discusses the issue of the legality of unpaid overtime.
News.Com
Contains a variety of stories about Electronic Arts and how they have
publicly responded to criticism concerning ea_spouse's posting.
Additionally, there is an open class action lawsuit against EA for
failing to pay over time to their graphics arts workers.
Code Rush. PBS Home Video, 2000.
Documentary of the lives of programmers working at Netscape during the
company's crunch to get the Mozilla browser out the door (in a vain
attempt to compete with Microsoft). Shows clearly how the lives of
software developers are impacted by crunch mode.
Zachary, G.P. Showstopper! The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the
Next Generation at Microsoft. 1994: Simon & Schuster Inc., New York, NY.
This book portrays the human drama of the gargantuan undertaking of the
Microsoft NT project. It reveals the personalities that stand behind
the great advances and shows them as they wrestle with the forces that
threaten to tear them apart before the project is completed.
The Economics of Crunch Mode
TimeWork web
Provides a solid economic motivation for shorter work hours resulting
in an increase in productivity.
Robinson, E. "Why Crunch Mode Doesn't Work".
Provides an analysis of where "crunch mode" may have originated
historically. Points out that it has been shown for many industries
that productivity is maximized when a 40 hour work week is adhered to.
Robinson, E. "Can People Really Program 80 Hours a Week?" Mischievous Ramblings.
A blog post which critiques the common computer industry practice of long
work hours. The author has had personal experience working in "crunched"
workplaces.
Ask Slashdot post: "Can People Really Program 80+ Hours a Week?"
Slashdot posters engage in a discussion concerning the utility of
programming long hours. Most (if not all) agree that long hours are
productive only when employed for short periods of time.
Muensterberg, Hugo. "Psychology and Industrial Efficiency." 1913.
A very early article on the relation between hours worked and
productivity. Notes a case in which reducing work hours from 9 to 8 in a
factory actually increased total productivity.
Death March: Causes and Solutions
Yourdon, Edward. Death March Second Edition. Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Copyright 2004.
Describes why companies go into death-march, crunch mode on projects and
how managers and employees can survive circumstances which might otherwise
spell failure.
International Game Developers Association, IGDA - Quality of Life
Excellent collection of other resources, including an extensive white
paper outlining the state of the industry, the benefits of a reduced
work week, and suggested plans of action. Seeks to collect information
about company practices, highlighting companies which have employee
friendly policies.
Howie, Hank. "Making Great Games In 40 Hours Per Week"
Article written by a manager at a game development company that insists
its employees work only 40 hours per week. The author explains the
benefits of his company's approach and outlines how, exactly, it is
implemented.
Avitzur, Ron. The Graphing Calculator Story
http://www.pacifict.com/Story/
U.S. Department of Labor. FairPay Fact Sheet by Exemption Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs
Anonymous. Electronic Arts Overtime Litigation
http://www.eaovertimecase.com/
Frauenheim, Ed. At tech firms, time again for flextime?
, CNET News.com. CNET Networks, Inc.. 2005. http://news.com.com/At+tech