| Summary: | Software process improvement initiatives are not unlike other process reengineering efforts. They are influenced by such dynamics as resistance to change, organizational structure, cultural barriers, and other issues. An effective plan for software process improvement implementation must address concepts of organizational change. In this thesis three perspectives on organizational change provide the frameworks for analyzing the software process improvement efforts of four organizations. Based on the change theory and implementation strategies of four organizations best practices relative to preparing an organization for process improvement, implementing process improvements, and sustaining the improvement effort are derived. A process improvement survey, archival material, personal interviews and site visits provide data on the process improvement efforts of the Financial Systems Activity Kansas City. These data are analyzed to characterize the challenges to the organization's process improvement efforts. Recommendations for mitigating these challenges are provided. The recommendations include an explicit design for planned change, transition management teams, piloting, integration of process improvement activities into the project cycle, and scanning the environment.
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