Software Quality Management: Measurement and Research Directions

Recently, there has been an increasing emphasis on quality in developing software (Duggan, 2004; Harter et al. 2003; Jureta et al. 2009; Prajogo & Sohal, 2006; Tarvo, 2009). The quality of a software system is widely accepted as its conformance to customer requirements (Kan et al., 1994). The interest in quality is heightened as more system failures are attributed to issues in software quality that often lead to higher maintenance costs, longer cycle times, customer dissatisfaction, lower profits, and loss of market share (Arthur, 1993; Gopal et al., 2002; Kan et al., 1994; Tarvo, 2009). Although the importance of quality is acknowledged, managing quality efforts remains a major challenge in software development. In this context, software quality management refers to the process of carrying out key management practices necessary for achieving software quality. The problems associated with inadequate software quality belie the amount of research on AbstrAct