The Impacts of Software Engineering Organization and CMMI Implementation: A study from an Organizational Culture Perspective

This paper presents two case studies to theorize how project team culture in software engineering organizations affects CMMI implementation from an organizational culture framework. We contend that CMMI implementation success is positively related to project team culture along the eight dimensions of organizational culture, such as orientation to horizon. The results indicate the extent of the impact of project team culture on CMMI implementation. In addition, we develop a cultural construction that shows the dimensions of culture that best facilitate a strong project team culture in CMMI implementation. Possible research questions on which future research can be based are also identified. Managerial relevance statement This paper proposed cultural construction and research model arising from data collected in our two case studies in practice extend theory about the impact upon CMMI implementation. They provide a theoretically grounded basis upon which future research can be built. Findings of this paper suggest that CMMI implementation project teams are influenced, but not necessarily bound by existing organizational culture. Moreover, CMMI is often implemented to support change in the fundamental structure of an organization, it can also require or bring about changes in the underlying organizational culture to support the integration in a software engineering organization. Furthermore, the requirements for the impact do not stop with the implementation. Therefore, rather than forming a sub-culture, the initiatives that CMMI implementation project teams pursue in order to conquer cultural obstacles to the impact on the team during implementation may actually form the framework for changes in the broader organizational culture in a software engineering organization.