Organisational Dynamics in the Software Process Improvement: The Agility Challenge

Abstract

It is a challenge to keep up momentum in Software Process Improvement (SPI) during organizational changes. SPI initiatives get interrupted, are sidetracked and progress slowly when changes occur in the target organization. This paper explores this crucial relation between SPI initiatives and the dynamics of the organization to be changed. The study builds on longitudinal data from the introduction of a new approach to requirements management into a software unit within Ericsson. Our focus is on the challenges involved in managing the SPI initiative as a sequence of organizational changes occurs in software development. We discuss the findings from this study in relation to the SPI literature and the literature on organizational agility and software agility. Our research indicates that SPI can benefit from agility ideas if the innovations are integrated well with other agility initiatives within the software organization. We therefore suggest that there is a need to coordinate and align the software agility movement with SPI issues to arrive at a comprehensive and holistic understanding of how software organizations can respond effectively to dynamics in their environment.Key wordsSoftware Process ImprovementAgilityOrganizational DynamicsSPI Implementation Success