Abstract
M.Ing.
Software engineering organizations face a struggle for daily survival in an extremely volatile climate. Numerous times it has been shown that the quality of a service or product could make the difference between an organization existing or closing down. The way in which quality is approached in any organization is part of a strategy; unbeknown to the managers and employees in many instances. Even though there are numerous books, articles, internet sites and other sources devoted to the subject of quality, total quality management, and strategic planning, not many of these information sources link quality and the strategy of the organization in such a way as to consider the quality of the organization’s products and services to be a major factor of strategic survival – or even the very existence of the organization.
Quality is known under various names and terms in organizations, these terms and definitions will be investigated to grasp the true meaning of software quality and strategy as it concerns modern software engineering organizations. The tools and techniques required to improve and measure strategy and quality will also be scrutinized. One dominant factor about quality and strategy should be borne in mind, and that is that these programs depend on teamwork and management support as the major underlying framework.
There are many tools and techniques that leaders and members of software teams can employ, but one of the most important factors is to gain a picture of the total process of continuous improvement and measurement. For this reason the author has included a large section on Jack Welch, who managed to use continuous improvement techniques to create one of the best, and biggest international organizations in recent years. It is vital that all people realize that they need an improvement and measurement model, and they need guidance in using such a model.
This dissertation investigates the reasoning behind implementing strategic quality processes in software engineering organizations. Following the investigation into the necessity for a quality strategy, the methods, processes, tools and techniques that are required for a strategic quality framework (improvement and measurement model) for software engineering organizations will be researched to provide a basic framework and guidance in implementing such a model.