Exploratory testing (ET) is an agile approach towards software testing. It is simultaneous learning, testing, reporting of problems and then generating new tests based on the learning. The aim of this thesis is to investigate exploratory testing in the industry. This thesis was proposed by Sogeti AB in Lund. Therefore the research questions were formulated and finalized according to their requirements and consent. Initially, a literature survey was conducted to study the different concepts of ET. After that a descriptive case study was conducted to investigate ET practices in an industrial environment. The research methodology used is qualitative. It comprises of ten semistructured interviews with industrial practitioners including both ET testers and customers having different perspectives. The study explores the misconceptions about ET and also identifies its claimed pros and cons. The investigation also studies its suitability with different types of testing and its effective combination with other techniques. In addition to the interviews, a survey was conducted to further investigate and analyze our findings with a larger sample of 25 practitioners. A framework for a session-based exploratory testing as practiced by the industrial partner is presented as part of our results. ET has different opinions and it is hard to say whether they are misconceptions or not. The most prominent advantage of ET from the testers view point is utilization of tester’s creativity and experience however, customers think the biggest benefit of ET approach is its ability to provide focused testing. The major disadvantage according to the testers resulted to be, difficulty in finding testers with appropriate experience, skill set and knowledge. On the other hand Inability to produce decision material was the biggest concern of the customers. The results also showed that ET approach was preferred to be used in combination with other testing techniques. Combination of Risk Based Testing and ET was reported to be used the most. ET was considered very suitable for situations where the testing requirements included learning of the system, time constraints and complementary testing. It was considered unsuitable for testing critical systems. / +46- (0)762005979

This thesis examines the learning dynamics underpinning the resurgence of Canada's office furniture manufacturing sector, which underwent dramatic growth following its near collapse in the wake of the North American trade liberalization beginning in the late 1980s. It investigates the role that design and quality have played in prompting a move up-market and enhancing the sector's competitiveness. It also focuses on other leaning processes that drive economic growth, looking at attempts to transfer workplace practices from Continental Europe to Canada, as well as the institutional obstacles that shape and constrain these processes. Finally, it examines how furniture firms learn from their customers, and the key role played by market intermediaries such as sales agents, dealers, interior designers, and architects in linking producers with consumers as well as influencing the final furniture product. The learned behaviour hypothesis that is central to this thesis suggests that globally competitive firms operating in a Canadian institutional context prosper by learning how to produce (i.e. industrial practices and processes) and what to produce (i.e. design-intensive, high quality products) from the above sources that are both internal and external to the manufacturing firm. The scope of research considers the social and organizational practices through which manufacturing knowledge is integrated into innovation processes, as well as their dynamics, spatiality and temporality, the institutional forces that shape the skills, training, tenure and design dimensions of a high performance workplace, and the mechanisms and conditions that mediate the transfer of manufacturing knowledge at a distance. The empirical analysis entails a mixed-methods approach including a survey questionnaire and in-depth interviews with industry experts. The analysis contributes to core debates in economic geography and the social sciences concerning the role of proximity and distance in innovative production, and the structure / agency debate. In summary, it finds that economic growth in the office furniture sector in Canada is dependent upon not only local knowledge networks and flows but also global sources of innovation and competitive advantage. It also advances an agency-centered institutionalist economic geography by showing that institutions interact in complex ways with the decision-making of economic actors to shape local labour dynamics and the behaviour of firms.

This thesis examines the learning dynamics underpinning the resurgence of Canada's office furniture manufacturing sector, which underwent dramatic growth following its near collapse in the wake of the North American trade liberalization beginning in the late 1980s. It investigates the role that design and quality have played in prompting a move up-market and enhancing the sector's competitiveness. It also focuses on other leaning processes that drive economic growth, looking at attempts to transfer workplace practices from Continental Europe to Canada, as well as the institutional obstacles that shape and constrain these processes. Finally, it examines how furniture firms learn from their customers, and the key role played by market intermediaries such as sales agents, dealers, interior designers, and architects in linking producers with consumers as well as influencing the final furniture product. The learned behaviour hypothesis that is central to this thesis suggests that globally competitive firms operating in a Canadian institutional context prosper by learning how to produce (i.e. industrial practices and processes) and what to produce (i.e. design-intensive, high quality products) from the above sources that are both internal and external to the manufacturing firm. The scope of research considers the social and organizational practices through which manufacturing knowledge is integrated into innovation processes, as well as their dynamics, spatiality and temporality, the institutional forces that shape the skills, training, tenure and design dimensions of a high performance workplace, and the mechanisms and conditions that mediate the transfer of manufacturing knowledge at a distance. The empirical analysis entails a mixed-methods approach including a survey questionnaire and in-depth interviews with industry experts. The analysis contributes to core debates in economic geography and the social sciences concerning the role of proximity and distance in innovative production, and the structure / agency debate. In summary, it finds that economic growth in the office furniture sector in Canada is dependent upon not only local knowledge networks and flows but also global sources of innovation and competitive advantage. It also advances an agency-centered institutionalist economic geography by showing that institutions interact in complex ways with the decision-making of economic actors to shape local labour dynamics and the behaviour of firms.