Software Process Improvement Implementation Research Articles

Governing Software Process Improvementsin Globally Distributed Product Development

Continuous software process improvement (SPI) practices have been extensively prescribed to improve performance of software projects. However, SPI implementation mechanisms have received little scholarly attention, especially in the context of distributed software product development. We took an action research approach to study the SPI journey of a large multinational enterprise that adopted a distributed product development strategy. We describe the interventions and action research cycles enacted over a period of five years in collaboration with the firm, which resulted in a custom SPI framework that catered to both the social and technical needs of the firm's distributed teams. Institutionalizing the process maturity framework got stalled initially because the SPI initiatives were perceived by product line managers as a mechanism for exercising wider controls by the firm's top management. The implementation mechanism was subsequently altered to co-opt product line managers, which contributed to a wider adoption of the SPI framework. Insights that emerge from our analysis of the firm's SPI journey pertain to the integration of the technical and social views of software development, preserving process diversity through the use of a multi-tiered, non-blueprint approach to SPI, the linkage between key process areas and project control modes, and the role of SPI in aiding organizational learning.

The Influence of Process Quality on Product Usability: A Systematic Review


 
 
 When organizations implement software process improvement programs they are seeking to increase productivity, reduce costs and enhance the quality of the resulting software. In fact, the quality of software products depends, to a great extent, on the processes used for their development and/or maintenance. However, despite this belief concerning the influence of the process on product quality, the specific process-product relationship has been poorly addressed in literature. This paper therefore analyzes the influence that software processes can have on software product usability, which is one of the most important quality characteristics since it influences how the user perceives the product. To this end, we present a systematic literature review examining the relationship between usability and software processes, which has allowed us to identify the processes that relevant studies consider to be important in enhancing product usability.
 
 

Competing values in software process improvement: a study of cultural profiles

PurposeThe purpose of the article is to investigate the impact of organizational culture on software process improvement (SPI). Is cultural congruence between an organization and an adopted process model required? How can the level of congruence between an organizational culture and the values and assumptions underlying an adopted process model be assessed?Design/methodology/approachThe competing values framework and its associated assessment instrument are used in a case study to establish an organizational culture profile of a software development business unit within the case company. The instrument is supplemented with a technique to produce culture profiles of texts such as process models like the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and the case company's quality management system. The different profiles are subsequently analyzed and compared.FindingsThe culture profile of the CMMI confirms previous research and depicts a result‐oriented, formalized, and structured organization. A comparison with the company's quality management system shows congruent culture profiles suggesting that the case company has succeeded in capturing underlying assumptions of the CMMI when updating the quality management system. The analysis also reveals the organizational culture profile of the business unit to be incongruent with the quality management system's profile. This disconfirms previous research claiming that congruence is a prerequisite. Further analysis reveals that actions were taken by managers in the case company to address the cultural challenges and successfully implement new processes. It is, therefore, concluded that cultural incongruence is not an insurmountable barrier to SPI. By comparing cultural profiles, some SPI implementation challenges become evident and that in turn allows for effective SPI management action.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is based on a single case study and that is sufficient to disconfirm existing research. Additional research is, however, needed to validate both the proposed text analysis technique as well as the proposed process for assessing and managing cultural challenges confronting SPI projects.Practical implicationsSPI managers are provided with a more complex view of organizational culture in which congruence is not a necessity. SPI managers can choose to compare culture profiles and decide how to address incongruences. To that end the text analysis technique is offered as a web service that allows for analysis of all text‐based process models and standards, and of internal process documentation.Originality/valueThe proposed culture management process, including the text analysis technique, is a cost‐efficient approach to analyzing and providing the basis for managing cultural challenges during SPI in a specific company. The process provides understanding and guidance in dealing with the specific challenges faced by software companies during SPI.

Applying grounded theory to understand software process improvement implementation: a study of Brazilian software organizations

Despite the fact that organizations recognize the importance of implementing software process improvement (SPI) to enhance software development capabilities, recent studies show that many organizations still struggle to successfully implement SPI. These studies demonstrate that most SPI initiatives fail due to their incapacity to overcome social---cultural critical barriers, such as lack of motivation and higher management support. Therefore, the accurate understanding of the context where SPI occurs may facilitate the development of more efficient SPI implementation strategies aiming to overcome those difficulties. The objective of this work was to present a Grounded Theory-based study that investigated SPI implementation initiatives conducted by Brazilian software organizations. The main product of this study is a theoretical framework that tries and explains the phenomenon associated to the success of SPI implementation initiatives. The theoretical framework constituted a set of interrelated SPI domain entities supported by a set of propositions assessed by experienced Brazilian SPI consultants. We expect that such theoretical framework can facilitate SPI implementation by providing better understating of the dependency relationships among critical success factors that may jeopardize SPI initiatives.

A strategy for preparing software organizations for statistical process control

Abstract Software organizations have increased their interest in software process improvement (SPI). Nowadays, there are several frameworks that support SPI implementation. Some of them, such as CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration), propose to implement SPI in levels. At high maturity levels, such as CMMI levels 4 and 5, SPI involves carrying out statistical process control (SPC), which requires measures and data suitable for this context. However, measurement problems have been pointed in the literature as one of the main obstacles for a successful implementation of SPC in SPI efforts. With this scenario in mind, we developed a strategy to help software organizations prepare themselves regarding measurement aspects in order to implement SPC. The strategy is made up of three components: a Reference Software Measurement Ontology, an Instrument for Evaluating the Suitability of a Measurement Repository for SPC, and a Body of Recommendations for Software Measurement Suitable for SPC. In this paper we present the strategy as a whole and describe each one of its components.

Method to Evaluate Process Performance Focused on Minimizing Resistance to Change

Software process improvement is a way that allows organizations to get a competitive advantage toward its competitors, therefore, in order to implement a successfully software process improvements process assessment is a key element, because it is the firsts step to know the performance of the organizational software process. Unfortunately, the current approaches to evaluate processes performance in software organizations most of the time increase the people resistance to perform software process improvement initiatives because they are based on applying questionnaires that people perceive as an assessment of their job. Besides, questionnaires used in those approaches are adaptations from models and standards mainly ISO 15504 and CMMI. Consequently the processes gaps are not focus on organization needs, however, organizations use these gaps as targets in the implementation of software process improvements. As a result, the obtained processes do not reflect the needs of the organizational business goals nor the way the organization works. This paper presents an approach to carry out internal fast assessment to software process using an alternative way to do it. So, resistance to change is minimized. The method is focused on using internal best practices and the organization business goals as a main source to assess process performance. This way allows organizations to identify improvements opportunities based on business goals needs and to address the improvement effort to those processes that need to be improved in order to achieve these needs.

Using Grounded Theory to Acquire Knowledge About Critical Success Factors for Conducting Software Process Improvement Implementation Initiatives

The successful implementation of Software Process Improvement (SPI) depends not only on the abilities of practitioners to identify processes modifications that may help to increase organizations capabilities to develop software, but also abilities to overcome barriers that can jeopardize the organizational change process provoked by SPI initiatives. The literature reports show that SPI practitioners must have experienced skills to overcome common social-cultural factors that pose as critical barriers for successfully implementing SPI. Nevertheless, there is no consensus in the area about what the critical success factors are for conducting SPI implementation initiatives. This work presents a study based on Grounded Theory methodology to acquire knowledge about SPI critical success factors. The main product of this study is a theoretical knowledge framework consisting of a set of inter-related categories grounded on a set of propositions that explains the phenomenon associated to the success of SPI implementation initiatives.

An exploratory study of software process improvement implementation risks

SUMMARYSoftware process improvement (SPI) initiatives have been around for many years, yet many companies are still facing SPI implementation problems. The objective of this exploratory research is to gain an in‐depth understanding of risks that can undermine SPI implementation from the perspective of software development practitioners.Interviews were conducted as the main approach of data collection from 34 SPI practitioners. Interviews were recorded and subsequently transcribed. The interview transcripts were systematically scrutinised to identify the major themes for SPI implementation. The identified themes were noted down and compared with the notes made during the interviews to ascertain that the former are indeed a true reflection of the discussion in the interviews. This two‐step process also verified that the transcription process had not changed the original data generated in the interviews.Five SPI risks were identified from the interview data: organisational politics, lack of support, lack of defined SPI implementation methodology, lack of awareness and lack of resources that are generally considered critical by Australian practitioners. The results also reveal the similarities and the differences in the risks identified by different group of practitioners (i.e. developers, managers and senior managers), different type of organisations (i.e. small–medium and large) and organisations with mature and immature software development processes. Practitioners identify SPI risks based on previous SPI implementation experience. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Using a web-based tool to define and implement software process improvement initiatives in a small industrial setting

Top-down process improvement approaches provide a high-level model of what the process of a software development organisation should be. Such models are based on the consensus of a designated working group on how software should be developed or maintained. They are very useful in that they provide general guidelines on where to start improving, and in which order, to people who do not know how to do it. However, the majority of models have only worked in scenarios within large companies. The authors aim to help small software development organisations adopt an iterative approach by providing a process improvement web-based tool. This study presents research into a proposal which states that a small organisation may use this tool to assess and improve their software process, identifying and implementing a set of agile project management practices that can be strengthened using the CMMI-DEV 1.2 model as reference.

MPS.BR: a successful program for software process improvement in Brazil

AbstractSoftware process improvement implementation based on software process reference models and standards is a complex and long‐term endeavor that requires investment of large sums of money. These obstacles usually hinder organizations from implementing software process improvement successfully, especially for small and medium‐size enterprises that operate under strict financial resources. This paper describes the MPS.BR, a nationwide program for software process improvement in Brazilian organizations. The main goal of this initiative is to develop and disseminate a Brazilian software process model (named MPS Model) aiming to establish a feasible pathway for organizations to achieve benefits from implementing software process improvement at reasonable costs, especially small and medium‐size enterprises. This paper presents the main components of the MPS Model and discusses the strategy executed to establish and maintain a community of MPS Model practitioners. The results of MPS Model adoption and dissemination in Brazilian software industry are also presented in this paper. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Empirical evaluation of selected best practices in implementation of software process improvement

To be successfully applied in practice, software process improvement (SPI) needs not only identifying what needs to be improved, and which factors will influence its success, but also guidelines on how to implement those improvements and meet the factors. This paper proposes an SPI implementation strategy that has been developed in lines with standard SPI models and frameworks, intended to be suitable for global software development (GSD), and exploiting ideas of incremental deliveries, short iterations with frequent reviews and close collaboration with customers. Quantitative analyses of data from case studies within large GSD show that improvement teams implementing the strategy are more likely to have better progress and achieve better effectiveness in terms of improvement deployment within development teams. The results could be useful to SPI practitioners in making their SPI initiatives more successful.

Contribuição dos modelos de qualidade e maturidade na melhoria dos processos de software

Grande parte das empresas desenvolvedoras de software criou seu próprio processo de trabalho. Devido à rápida expansão do mercado de software, a concorrência ocorre muito mais em custo do que em diferenciação. Para obter vantagem competitiva, as empresas devem atualizar-se continuamente na tecnologia, buscar a maturidade nos processos e eliminar a ineficiência operacional. Isso requer um envolvimento das pessoas, dos processos e da organização como um todo. O artigo discute a implementação de melhorias nos processos de software segundo os principais modelos de qualidade e de maturidade. Com base em um Estudo de Casos Múltiplos, verifica-se que a melhoria dos processos de software requer que a melhoria ocorra primeiramente entre cada um dos desenvolvedores e, a seguir, envolva os grupos de desenvolvimento e por fim, a organização como um todo. A pesquisa conclui que os modelos de qualidade e maturidade servem como orientadores do processo de melhoria.

Research into long‐term improvements in small‐ to medium‐sized organisations using SPICE as a framework for standards

AbstractFrom 1994 to 1999, M. Sanders worked on several European Commission (E.C.)‐sponsored programmes to transfer knowledge on how best to implement software process improvement (SPI). Each had its own formula, some using a specific standard or model. She had a hand in developing and/or delivering six programmes that reached dozens of companies in many European countries.Various reports were written about the short‐term benefits of these programmes. This research is to revisit companies that took part in these programmes to determine what long‐term (6–12 years) benefits, if any, they derived from SPI. And if they did derive benefits, how much of this can be attributed to the work done in these early SPI programmes?The overall research has a sub‐research component, that of developing a Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (SPICE)‐assessment model which can be used to evaluate the current status of companies, no matter what improvement process or standard they followed. This article describes the activities involved in development of this model and how it is being used in the context of the overall research. Other pre‐research activities are described in this article, such as selection of an assessment tool; database developed for companies; development profile for each company selected; development of tools for communications with companies—letters, questionnaires and communications protocols. We are in the middle of the research phase now. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Critical success factors for software process improvement implementation: an empirical study

AbstractIn this article, we present findings from our recent empirical study of the critical success factors (CSFs) for software process improvement (SPI) implementation with 34 SPI practitioners. The objective of this study is to provide SPI practitioners with sufficient knowledge about the nature of issues that play a positive role in the implementation of SPI programmes in order to assist them in effectively planning SPI implementation strategies.Through our empirical study we identified seven factors (higher management support, training, awareness, allocation of resources, staff involvement, experienced staff and defined SPI implementation methodology) that are generally considered critical for successfully implementing SPI. We also report on a literature survey of CSFs that impact SPI and identify six factors (senior management commitment, staff involvement, staff time and resources, training and mentoring, creating process action teams and reviews). We compared our empirical study results with the literature and confirmed the factors identified in the literature, and also identified two new CSFs (SPI awareness and defined SPI implementation methodology) that were not identified in the literature. Finally, we analyzed the CSFs identified by different groups of practitioners and found that they are aware of what is imperative for the successful implementation of SPI programmes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An empirical investigation of the key factors for success in software process improvement

Understanding how to implement software process improvement (SPI) successfully is arguably the most challenging issue facing the SPI field today. The SPI literature contains many case studies of successful companies and descriptions of their SPI programs. However, the research efforts to date are limited and inconclusive and without adequate theoretical and psychometric justification. This paper extends and integrates models from prior research by performing an empirical investigation of the key factors for success in SPI. A quantitative survey of 120 software organizations was designed to test the conceptual model and hypotheses of the study. The results indicate that success depends critically on six organizational factors, which explained more than 50 percent of the variance in the outcome variable. The main contribution of the paper is to increase the understanding of the influence of organizational issues by empirically showing that they are at least as important as technology for succeeding with SPI and, thus, to provide researchers and practitioners with important new insights regarding the critical factors of success in SPI.

A framework for assisting the design of effective software process improvement implementation strategies

A number of advances have been made in the development of software process improvement (SPI) standards and models, e.g. Capability Maturity Model (CMM), more recently CMMI, and ISO’s SPICE. However, these advances have not been matched by equal advances in the adoption of these standards and models in software development which hasresulted in limited success for many SPI efforts. The current problem with SPI is not a lack of standards or models, but rather a lack of an effective strategy to successfully implement these standards or models. In this paper we have focused on SPI implementation issues and designed three individual components in order to assist SPI practitioners in the design of effective SPI implementation initiatives. We have pulled together individual components under one SPI implementation framework (SPI-IF) using a bottom-up approach already familiar to many practitioners and researchers. The framework is based on the results drawn from SPI literature and an empirical study we have carried out. In the design of SPI-IF, the concept of critical success factors (CSFs) was used and extended. Thirty-four CSF interviews were conducted with Australian practitioners. In addition, 50 research articles (published experience reports and case studies) were also selected and analysed in order to identify factors that play positive or negative roles in SPI implementation. The SPI-IF provides a very practical structure with which to assess and implement SPI implementation initiatives. In order to evaluate SPI-IF, a practical evaluation scheme was undertaken. The evaluation results show that SPI-IF has potential to assist SPI practitioners in the design of effective SPI implementation initiatives. Thus, we recommend organizations to use SPI-IF in order to effectively design SPI implementation initiatives.

A maturity model for the implementation of software process improvement: an empirical study

Different advances have been made in the development of software process improvement (SPI) standards and models, e.g. capability maturity model (CMM), more recently CMMI, and ISO's SPICE. However, these advances have not been matched by equal advances in the adoption of these standards and models in software development which has resulted in limited success for many SPI efforts. The current problem with SPI is not a lack of standard or model, but rather a lack of an effective strategy to successfully implement these standards or models. The importance of SPI implementation demands that it be recognised as a complex process in its own right and that organizations should determine their SPI implementation maturity through an organized set of activities. In the literature, much attention has been paid to “what activities to implement” instead of “how to implement” these activities. We believe that identification of only “what” activities to implement is not sufficient and that knowledge of “how” to implement is also required for successful implementation of SPI programmes. We have adopted a CMMI approach and developed a maturity model for SPI implementation in order to guide organizations in assessing and improving their SPI implementation processes. The basis of this model is what we have studied in the SPI literature and an empirical study we have carried out. In the design of this maturity model we have extended the concept of critical success factors (CSFs). We have conducted CSF interviews with 23 Australian practitioners. We have also analysed CSFs and critical barriers using 50 research articles (published experience reports and case studies). This maturity model has three dimensions––maturity stage dimension, CSF dimension and assessment dimension. It provides a very practical structure with which to assess and improve SPI implementation processes.

Factors of software process improvement success in small and large organizations

Existing software engineering and organization development literature acknowledges that there are fundamental operational differences between small and large organizations. Despite this recognition, there has been no attempt to verify whether small and large software organizations implement software process improvement (SPI) programs differently in order to advance their businesses.This study examines whether an organization's size affects its SPI implementation strategy and the degree of SPI success. Based on an extensive literature review of critical factors of quality management, organizational learning, and SPI, a survey questionnaire was developed and data on the implementation of six organizational factors and the resulting organizational performance was collected through a mail survey of 120 software organizations. The findings show that small organizations reported that they implement SPI elements as effectively as large organizations, and in turn, achieve high organizational performance. The main lesson to be learned from this study is that to implement SPI at least as effectively as their large counterparts, small software organizations should capitalize on their relative strengths in employee participation and exploration of new knowledge.

Implementing software process improvement: an empirical study

AbstractIn this paper we present survey data characterizing the implementation of SPI in 85 UK companies. We aim to provide SPI managers with more understanding of the critical success factors of implementing SPI. We present an analysis of the critical implementation factors identified in published case studies. We use a questionnaire to measure the use of these factors in ‘typical’ software companies. We found that many companies use SPI but the effectiveness of SPI implementation is variable. Many companies inadequately resource SPI and fail to evaluate the impact of SPI. On the other hand, companies show a good appreciation of the human factors associated with implementing SPI. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Experiences in the Application of Software Process Improvement in SMES

During the last few years, many Software Process Improvement methods (SPI) have been presented to increase the quality of products and services provided by a software organization. Current Software Process Improvement (SPI) methods (i.e. ISO 15504, CBA-IPI, …), are difficult to apply to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMES) due to the costs (financial, time, and resource) associated with their application. Also, these methods are principally focused on the assessment stage. This paper presents a new SPI method, called MESOPYME, which main focus is to reduce effort and time on the SPI implementation. This method focuses on the improvement implementation stage, which is based on a concept called Action Package, whose components are described (in Section 2.1.). The results obtained in the application of a Requirements Engineering Action Package in three organizations are also presented.