Software Process Improvement as organizational change: A metaphorical analysis of the literature

Software Process Improvement (SPI) typically involves rather complex organizational changes. Acknowledging that managers can approach these changes in quite different ways, this paper addresses the following question:what perspectives do the research literature offer on SPI as organizational change and how is this knowledgepresented andpublished?To answer this question,weanalyzed SPI researchpublicationswith amain emphasis on organizational change using GarethMorgan’s organizationalmetaphors (1996) as analytical lenses. In addition, we characterized each article along the following dimensions: knowledge orientation (normative versus descriptive), theoretical emphasis (high versus low), main audience (practitioner versus academic), geographical origin (Scandinavia, the Americas, Europe, or the Asia-Pacific), andpublication level (high versus low ranked journal). The reviewdemonstrates that the literatureas awhole isfirmlygrounded inboth theoryandpractice, it appropriately targetsbothpractitioner and academic audiences, and Scandinavian and American researchers are the main contributors. However, the distribution of articles acrossMorgan’smetaphors is uneven and reveals knowledge gaps that present newavenues for research. The current literature offers important insights into organizational change in SPI when viewed through machine, organism, flux and transformation, and brain metaphors. Practitionersmay use these articles to guide SPI initiatives. In contrast, the impact of culture, dominance, psychic prison, and politics in SPI has only received scant attention. We argue that these perspectives could offer important additional insights into the challenges involved in managing SPI. Researchers are therefore advised to engage in new SPI research based on one or more of these perspectives. Overall, the paper offers research directions andmanagement lessons, and it provides a roadmap to help identify les re insights and specific artic