Extending process-centered environments with organizational competence

Abstract

The baseline of this paper is a process-driven approach to software engineering supported by a process-centered environment. We plead for the extension of PSEEs with organizational competence for two reasons. First, software process improvement relies on the organizational environment within which processes are performed. Second, a PSEE needs organizational knowledge in order to realize its process management potential. The organizational competence of a PSEE has to take into account the special characteristics of software development, namely the existence of a dynamic process-oriented organization between static organization and process. We propose different functional components for extending PSEEs with organizational competence. An organizational modeling approach is needed as well as functionality to manage process team models and process team population. Team modeling and team population has to rely on process progress according to the process model. Furthermore, we propose an agent management function in order to manage agent — activity associations for process performance. Last but not least, we suggest an evolution function to adjust team model and population to changing processes.