The influence of organizational structure on the adoption of extreme programming in software and product development
Cristiano Tolfo, Raul Sidnei Wazlawick, Fernando Antonio Forcellini, Marcelo Gitirana Gomes Ferreira
Abstract
If fully applied, the XP - Extreme Programming - method may provide a high degree of performance and quality for software companies, as well as for companies which develop their products with embedded software or develop systems somehow related to their product development process. However, differently from the more prescriptive methods for software development, XP is strongly based on interaction among people and related human aspects such as cooperation, communication and democratic leadership. Considering that the presence of such aspects depends on the way the organizational structure of the software companies is organized, this article analyzes this structure under the perspective of the XP method suppositions. The result of this analysis consists on the identification of favorable and unfavorable aspects to XP adoption - which serves as parameters for careful consideration on the convenience of implementing the aforementioned method.