Exploring software engineering practices in small and medium-sized organizations

Abstract

Small organizations have been claimed to manage their requirements in ways that bear no relation to what the textbooks say, and what is taught in undergraduate courses. This paper explores software engineering (SE) practices in five small and medium-sized organizations in order to gain a deeper understanding on how cooperative and human aspects of the SE-related practices differ in small organizations compared to the larger ones. The paper illustrates, in detail, the central role of human collaboration in small organizations and the challenges an organization meets when it begins to grow and lose opportunities for face-to-face collaboration. The findings of this study suggest that studies on using social media are a valuable addition to software engineering research agenda.