Skip to main content

Overcoming the First Hurdle: Why Organizations Do Not Adopt CMMI

  • Conference paper
Trustworthy Software Development Processes (ICSP 2009)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 5543))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

This paper further examines why some software development organizations decide not to adopt CMMI by replicating an earlier Australian study in another country. The study examines data collected from the efforts of three consulting firms to sell a CMMI Level 2 program subsidized by the Malaysian government. The most frequently cited reasons for not adopting CMMI were: the program was too costly; the companies were unsure of the benefits; the organization was too small; and/or the organization had other priorities. The Malaysian study extends and generally supports the Australian study (differences were found in the frequency ordering of reasons and two new reason categories had to be introduced). It also adds to our understanding of CMMI adoption decisions. Based on the results, we conclude that to achieve broader impact in practice, software process improvement (SPI) researchers need to develop a stronger cost-benefit analysis for SPI, recognising it as a business investment rather than just a product or process quality improvement technique, and provide flexible entry options to enable more companies of difference sizes to take the adoption leap.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Abrahamsson, P., Iivari, N.: Commitment in Software Process Improvement: In Search of the Process. In: Proceedings of 35th Hawaii International Conference on System Science (HICSS 2002), vol. 8. IEEE Computer Society, Washington (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Alstrom, D., Bruton, G.: Turnaround in Asia: What do we know? Asia Pac. J. Manage. 21, 5–24 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Baddoo, N., Hall, T.: De-motivators for Software Process Improvement: an Analysis of Practitioners’ Views. J. Syst. & Softw. 66(1), 23–33 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Brodman, J.G., Johnson, D.L.: What Small Business and Small Organizations Say about the CMM: Experience Report. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 1994), pp. 331–340. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos (1994)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  5. Chrissis, M.B., Konrad, M., Shrum, S.: CMMI: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement. Addison-Wesley, Reading (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Coleman, G., O’Connor, R.: Investigating Software Process in Practice: A Grounded Theory Perspective. J. Syst. & Softw. 81(5), 772–784 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Conradi, R., Fuggetta, A.: Improving software process improvement. IEEE Softw. 19(4), 92–99 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Fink, D., Laupase, R.: Perceptions of Web Site Design Characteristics: A Malaysian/ Australian Comparison. Internet Res. 10(1), 44–55 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Gibson, R.: Software Process Improvement: Innovation and Diffusion. In: Larsen, T.J., McGuire, E. (eds.) Information Systems Innovation and Diffusion: Issues and Directions, pp. 71–87. Idea Group Publishing (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Guerrero, F., Eterovic, Y.: Adopting the SW-CMM in Small IT Organizations. IEEE Softw. 21(4), 29–35 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hansen, B., Rose, J., Tjørnehøj, G.: Prescription, Description, Reflection: The Shape of the Software Process Improvement Field. Int. J. Inform. Manage. 24(6), 457–472 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hersleb, J., Carleton, A., Rozum, J., Siegel, J., Zubrow, D.: Benefits of CMM-Based Software Process Improvement: Initial Results. Software Engineering Institute, CMU/SEI-94-TR-013 (August 1994)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hofstede, G.J.: Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. McGraw-Hill Professional, New York (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Humphrey, W.S.: Software Process Improvement – A Personal View: How it Started and Where it is Going. Softw. Process Improv. & Pract. 12(3), 223–227 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Mehta, C.R., Patel, N.R.: ALGORITHM 643: FEXACT: a FOTRAN Subroutine for Fisher’s Exact Test on Unordered rxc Contingency Tables. ACM Trans. on Math. Softw. 12(2), 154–161 (1986)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  16. National SME Development Council: Definitions for Small and Medium Enterprises in Malaysia (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Niazi, M., Ali Babar, M., Katugampola, N.M.: Demotivators of Software Process Improvement: An Empirical Investigation. Softw. Process Improv. & Pract. 13(3), 249–264 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. R Development Core Team, R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Richardson, I., von Wangenheim, C.G.: Why Are Small Software Organizations Different. IEEE Softw. 24(1), 18–22 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Shull, F.J., Carver, J.C., Vegas, S., Juristo, N.: The role of replications in Empirical Software Engineering. Empir. Softw. Eng. 13, 211–218 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Smith, P.B.: Organizational Behaviour and National Culture. Br. J. Manage. 3(1), 39–50 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Staples, M., Niazi, M., Jeffery, R., Abrahams, A., Byatt, P., Murphy, R.: An exploratory study of why organizations do not adopt CMMI. J Syst. & Softw. 80(6), 883–895 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Staples, M., Niazi, M.: Systematic Review of Organizational Motivations for Adopting CMM-based SPI. Inform. & Softw. Technol. 50(7/8), 605–620 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Trewin, D.: Small Business in Australia: 2001. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1321.0 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Wilkie, F.G., Rombach, D., Penn, M.L., Jeffery, R., Herndon, M.A., Konrad, M.: Motivating Small to Medium Sized Enterprises to Adopt Software Process. In: Proceedings of the International Process Research Consortium (October 2004)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Khurshid, N., Bannerman, P.L., Staples, M. (2009). Overcoming the First Hurdle: Why Organizations Do Not Adopt CMMI. In: Wang, Q., Garousi, V., Madachy, R., Pfahl, D. (eds) Trustworthy Software Development Processes. ICSP 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5543. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01680-6_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01680-6_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-01679-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-01680-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics