Process improvement in manufacturing sector traditionally starts with calculation of Cost of Quality. Cost of Quality calculation enables identification of the weakest links of the process that requires immediate attention, prioritization of improvement tasks and establishment of a baseline for these tasks. In the software field, process improvement initiatives usually, leave out the cost of qu...

We present a case study of the use of a software process improvement method which is based on the analysis of defect data. The first step of the method is the classification of software defects using attributes which relate defects to specific process activities. Such classification captures the semantics of the defects in a fashion which is useful for process correction. The second step utiliz...

Knowledge transfer model of software process improvement (SPI) and the conceptual framework of influencing factors are established. The model includes five elements which are knowledge of transfer, sources of knowledge, recipients of knowledge, relationship of transfer parties, and the environment of transfer. The conceptual framework includes ten key factors which are ambiguity, systematism, t...

Software quality is a complex concept containing a large number of quality attributes. These attributes often have different meaning for different people and different attributes are not of equal importance. Moreover, the actual relations between the attributes are mostly poorly understood. Companies have to cope with these relations in their daily software development. On the one hand, compani...

We studied SPI in its organizational context through collaborative practice research (CPR), a particular form of action research. The CPR program involved close collaboration between practitioners and researchers over a three-year period to understand and improve SPI initiatives in four Danish software organizations. The problem of understanding and managing risks in SPI teams emerged in one of...

This paper describes the main design choices of a software process improvement course. The course is organised around an industrial case study. In addition it is based on lectures and group exercises. The case study is centred around four research questions: Why is process improvement important [in your company]? Which processes does your company have? Which improvement initiatives does your co...

Managing a successful Software Process Improvement (SPI) is a challenging issue that many software companies face today. Many companies have invested huge amount of money in improving their software processes. This can be confirmed through several papers that present the results of SPI programs. However, as pointed out by the literature, many of these programs have encountered difficulties to a...

The paper reports on a case study of practical application of a risk-driven software process improvement framework in a real-life software project. The framework assumes explicit modelling of the process and its deficiencies (risk factors) as well as provides for process evolution. It also includes dedicated techniques to identify process risks and to derive from them suggestions for process im...

In the rapidly growing modern telecommunications industry, software quality and reliability requirements are in contrast to the shorter time to market and higher complexity requirements dictated by strong competition on the telecommunications market. In such a rapidly changing environment, software development organization must improve almost on a daily basis in order to achieve the operational...