THE SOFTWARE CAPABILITY MATURITY MODEL ARCHITECTURE AND POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS: PRELIMINARY STUDY

Abstract

This preliminary research investigates the lack of a process improvement using maturity as a base. This paper considers the issue of whether the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) architecture may be modified to create a baseline framework capable of addressing industrial process improvement initiatives. The CMM is a software engineering process improvement model that emphasizes process maturity and evolution as its architectural basis. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Headnote

ABSTRACT

This preliminary research investigates the lack of a process improvement using maturity as a base. This paper considers the issue of whether the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) architecture may be modified to create a baseline framework capable of addressing industrial process improvement initiatives. The CMM is a software engineering process improvement model that emphasizes process maturity and evolution as its architectural basis.

INTRODUCTION

Because of the necessity of organizations to compete in a global economy, efficient and effective industrial management is increasingly becoming of paramount importance to strategic pursuits, competitive advantage, and corporate function. Although sound production and operations management methodologies favor process improvement activities in order to pursue and sustain corporate activities, they do not uniquely address industrial process improvement through a standardized framework using process maturity as its basis. Further, no single baseline framework exists to uniquely address process improvement issues with respect to industrial management considerations from an evolutionary and process maturation perspective.

HYPOTHESIS

Within the scope of this preliminary research, factors that necessitate such a maturity framework are investigated. An introductory proposal to outline a framework for an Industrial Process Maturity Model (IPMM), derived from the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) architecture is presented as a management tool in order to enhance process improvement initiatives within traditional industrial environments. As a method of addressing these concepts, Table 1 outlines the following hypothesis statements:

Table 2 defines the following terms commonly used in CMM writings:

LITERATURE REVIEW

Literature required to support this preliminary research is taken from the disciplines of software engineering, business management, organizational theory, and industrial engineering. The initial compilation of literature introduces numerous methodologies, philosophies, activities, and initiatives that have been employed to facilitate corporate process improvement within the context of production and operations management. However, none of the documents reveals that such initiatives address process improvement from either an evolutionary or maturity-oriented perspective. Table 3 presents existing tools, corporate environments of implementation, and their contribution to process improvement initiatives.

Each tool presented within the above table presents a powerful mechanism through which process improvement initiatives may be enhanced. However, despite the numerous benefits presented within this listing, the reviewed literature indicates that none of the existing tools addresses the maturity of production and operations processes using an evolutionary architecture as its basis. The perused literature does not indicate that a maturity model exists to describe such process considerations. The management and industrial engineering literature presents both qualitative and quantitative descriptions (e.g., re-engineering, business process improvement, cycletime reduction, financial considerations, customer satisfaction and case studies) of the tools given in Table 3. However, none of these sources considers the maturity of processes within industrial environments using a maturity framework that advocates evolutionary progression of maturity stages through time. This concept is only described within the software engineering literature, and only addresses issues within the software engineering discipline. Within the software engineering literature, descriptions of the framework are not concerned with production and operations industrial settings.

As a method of investigating process maturity across areas that are unrelated to software engineering, the literature indicates that the CMM architecture has been adapted within project management, telecommunications, and security applications. However, no models were described that address industrial settings. Given the attributes of existing variants of the CMM architecture, this preliminary research investigates a derivative maturity model architecture that uniquely addresses production and operations management environments within industrial settings. Such a model presents an original contribution to the existing body of literature, and provides a method through which existing software engineering knowledge could be integrated with unrelated disciplines.

METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The methodology involved a mail survey distributed through the U.S. Postal Service. The collected data were processed through methods of ANOVA, Chi-Squared methods, and Pearson correlation coefficients for evaluating the primary hypothesis statements and secondary data processing. All data remained anonymous and confidential.

Because of the complexity of the CMM framework, the individual key process areas for each maturity level, potential geographic and response biases, and the complexity of individual work settings across a myriad of firms, this research effort must observe limitations. The area of interest for this study was confined to examining industrial process improvement frameworks based upon the basic CMM architecture. Therefore, it was outside the scope of this study to investigate any additional area(s) of application for the CMM (e.g., general business accounting maturity, maturity of corporate security). Hence, the results of the study were limited to the production and operations domain.

It is assumed that the perceptions and responses of those participating in the survey are representative of their unique organizations. The intent of this research is to collect the views of process specialists within industrial settings who are experienced in the arts of process improvement management philosophies, process improvement leadership and direction, time and motion studies, and process innovation.

This research was conducted with large-scale environments whose infrastructures could incorporate process improvement paradigms (i.e., TQM and BPR) for improved efficiency and effectiveness as a supporting measure for competitiveness. Therefore, this research might not be completely applicable for smaller organizations that exhibit less complex infrastructures.

RESEARCH EXPECTATIONS

This research is expected to show that the CMM of the software industry can be adapted within an unrelated industry as a process maturity framework. This research is also expected to show that existing process improvement paradigms do not address issues of process maturity and that existing industrial process environments do not conform to the tenets of the CMM.

References

REFERENCES

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