December 2000
Volume 3 • Number 1

Contents

PRACTITIONER NOTES
Unleash the POWER to Improve

For every company that succeeds at software process improvement, there is at least one that fails or abandons its attempt before real gains are made. While it is accepted that process improvement takes discipline and hard work, there are traits shared by companies successful in their process improvement efforts. These companies all possessed the POWER to improve–POWER being an acronym for Predisposition, Outlook, Wherewithal, Evaluation, and Resources. This article examines these key ingredients and why they are necessary to effect true software process improvement.

Key words: change management, organizational development, process improvement, success factors

by Carol A. Dekkers, Quality Plus Technologies, Inc.

This article is based on an invited presentation at the 10th International Conference on Software Quality, sponsored by the ASQ Software Division in New Orleans, October 2000.

INTRODUCTION

With today’s marketplace demanding “quality” software that is defect-free and targeted to specific customer needs, established software vendors are turning to process improvement as a means to better satisfy and keep their customers. The Capability Maturity Model for Software (CMM), the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria, and the Balanced Scorecard are but three of many models available to assist organizations in their process improvement efforts. Many companies, however, fail to fully experience the benefits they perceived these models would bring. With software process improvement promising higher quality software, increased customer retention, overall cost savings, and streamlined workflows, it would appear that an investment in process improvement would naturally pay off in the long term.

The reality is that the highway to process improvement is littered with abandoned and failed initiatives, teams of disenchanted workers, and managers eager to find a newer, quicker road to quality software. At the same time the number of success stories about companies achieving the Baldrige Award or attaining higher CMM level 4 process maturity assessments continues to increase (Zubrow 1999). What makes these companies succeed, while other companies fail? This article examines the POWER ingredients necessary to effect true process improvement.