It is widely acknowledged that there is a shortage of software developers with the right skills and knowledge. In respect of their university education, students want to take courses and carry out projects that clearly relate to their lives and their goals. The software development industry on the other hand, expects students to be educated in courses and projects, which are relevant for their professional career and equip them to be well-prepared for the workplace. In the middle, between the students and the industry, is the university that is expected to meet the needs of the students on the one side and the software industry on the other side. The unique contribution of this research is the development of a framework for relevant software development education by addressing the question: How can universities ensure that software development education provides knowledge and skill sets that are relevant to both the software development industry and software development students? The literature study investigates the software development class, focusing on the students and the educators. Furthermore, a review of the software development workplace is done with attention to the software developers and their employers. The problems and challenges facing three role players in software development education, namely the students, the university and the industry are investigated. Lastly, the role of the university in relevant software development education is considered with a specific focus on curricula. In the empirical study a questionnaire was developed to investigate the relevance of software development education from the perspective of the students. The questionnaire enquired about students’ interests in each of a list of software development topics and further questions relating to students’ views and needs for a relevant education are presented. The questionnaire was completed by 297 software development students and it was found that although a gap exists between students' needs and software development education, students’ education does have a predominantly social relevance and also a moderate personal and professional relevance. A second questionnaire was developed to investigate the relevance of software development education as it pertains to the software industry. The questionnaire enquired about the perceptions of professional software developers regarding what topics they learned from their formal education and the importance of these topics to their actual work. The questionnaire was completed by 214 software development professionals and again it was found that there is a gap between the industry’s needs and software development education. Questions related to the industry’s needs, as well as an open-ended question at the end of the questionnaire offered rich insights into the industry’s view of its new graduates and the problems and challenges surrounding software development education. The quantitative data, as well as the qualitative data offered solutions to these problems and challenges. The students’ views are compared with the professional software developers’ views to investigate the compatibility between the relevance of software development education for students and the relevance for the software industry. The analysis reveals matching and differing views. A framework for relevant software development education was developed to address the gap between software development education and the students’ needs, as well as the gap between software development education and the industry’s needs. The problems and challenges that might cause SD education to be less relevant are presented and recommendations to industry and university for relevant software development education are made. / PhD (Natural Sciences Education), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

A dissertação trata do padrão de especialização e inserção internacional da indústria de software brasileira à luz de experiências paradigmáticas do setor, como é o caso da Índia, Irlanda e Israel. O desenvolvimento inicial do setor nos países centrais das redes globais de produção seguiu os avanços da indústria eletrônica e lhes permitiu acumular competências e trancar a trajetória tecnológica em determinados segmentos, como é o caso do software pacote. No entanto, as respostas de alguns países emergentes frente uma indústria caracterizada pela rápida mudança e pelas altas taxas de oportunidades tecnológicas, cujas possibilidades foram ampliadas com o advento da globalização, são a principal motivação do trabalho. A despeito da difundida idéia de que Índia, Irlanda e Israel representariam casos subordinados às limitações de um modelo terciário-exportador, argumenta-se aqui que eles retratam trajetórias plurais e dinâmicas de desenvolvimento desta indústria. Plurais posto que reproduzem diferentes padrões de especialização e inserção internacional e dinâmicos dados os elementos de mudança evidenciados por parte da literatura especializada. Este dinamismo se faz presente, na indústria de software brasileira, através dos mecanismos de diferenciação e diversificação que lhe permitem adicionar valor aos produtos e obter resultados positivos na forma de incrementos de produtividade de outros setores de atividade econômica. Embora seja caracterizado pela integração competitiva que a difere, de partida, da caracterização terciário-exportadora, é para o caráter dinâmico do debate acerca destas configurações que a dissertação pretende contribuir. / The dissertation deals with the pattern of specialization and international integration of Brazilian software industry in light of paradigmatic experiences of the sector, such as India, Ireland and Israel. The sectors early development in the core countries of the global production networks has followed the progress of the electronics industry and allowed them to accumulate competences and to lock-in the technological trajectory in some segments, such as the packaged software. However, the responses of some emerging countries face an industry characterized by rapid changes and high rates of technological opportunities, whose possibilities have been expanded with the advent of globalization, are the main motivation of the study. Despite the widespread idea that India. Ireland and Israel represent cases that are subject to the limitations of a tertiary export model, it is argued here that they represent plural and dynamic trajectories of development of this industry. Plural once they reproduce different patterns of specialization and international integration and dynamic if considered some elements of change made evident by part of the literature. This dynamism is present in the Brazilian software industry through the mechanisms of differentiation and diversification that allow it to add value to products and achieve positive results in form of increased productivity in other sectors of economic activity. Although it is commonly characterized by a competitive integration that differs it from the tertiary export aspect, the dynamic nature of the debate about these settings is the aim contribution of the dissertation.

A promoção da inovação tecnológica é um desafio para o aumento da competitividade da indústria brasileira. O setor de tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TICs) é um importante celeiro de novas tecnologias e suas criações intelectuais são passíveis de proteção pelas normas de propriedade industrial (e.g. patentes), direitos autorais (e.g. software) e segredo de negócio ou industrial. No Brasil, o setor de TICs, anteriormente designado setor de informática, obteve tratamento prioritário nos programas governamentais de incentivo ao desenvolvimento tecnológico nacional. Contudo, as empresas brasileiras de TICs ainda não são consideradas inovadoras em comparação à concorrência estrangeira. A Lei nº 10.973/2004, também conhecida como Lei de Inovação, dispõe sobre instrumentos jurídicos para a articulação de interesses do setor privado e das Instituições Científicas e Tecnológicas (ICTs) que são órgãos e entidades da administração pública com a missão de executar atividades de pesquisas básica e aplicada, seja de caráter científico ou com a finalidade de desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias. A hipótese de pesquisa desta dissertação é de que os acordos celebrados entre as ICTs e o setor privado estão concentrados nos objetos da transferência de tecnologia ou no licenciamento de uso de criações desenvolvidas pela ICT, que limitados ao regime do direito público, não são eficazes para promoção da inovação tecnológica no setor de TICs. Esta dissertação propõe: (i) analisar o arcabouço normativo do Sistema Nacional da Inovação Tecnológica; (ii) analisar os programas governamentais de estímulo ao desenvolvimento tecnológico do setor de informática brasileiro; (iii) examinar o papel da proteção da propriedade intelectual do software na promoção da inovação tecnológica; (iv) investigar as deficiências na articulação dos interesses de ICT e setor privado, conforme os instrumentos jurídicos previstos na Lei de Inovação; e (v) sugerir proposições para contornar os problemas identificados. Utilizou-se uma metodologia segmentada no estudo normativo das leis aplicáveis ao Sistema Nacional da Inovação Tecnológica e à proteção da propriedade intelectual do software e na análise dos arranjos jurídicos enunciados na Lei de Inovação, a partir dos resultados da Pesquisa de Inovação Tecnológica do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (PINTEC 2008/IBGE) e das informações das ICTs, consolidadas pelo Ministério de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) e pelos próprios Núcleos de Inovação Tecnológica (NITs) das ICTs selecionadas nesta pesquisa (sendo elas, USP, UNICAMP, UFMG e UFRJ) cujos dados disponíveis apresentaram semelhança entre si. Concluiu-se com a comprovação da hipótese de que os instrumentos jurídicos utilizados por ICT e empresários são ineficazes para promoção da inovação tecnológica no setor de TICs. Por fim, destacou-se o conhecimento como o desafio para promover o processo inovador no setor brasileiro de TICs. Dentro do propósito do aproveitamento do conhecimento acumulado nas ICTs, a ampliação do conceito de ICT para incorporar as instituições privadas, como previsto nos Projetos de Lei do Código Nacional de Ciência Tecnologia e Inovação nº 2.177/2011 e nº 619/2011 em tramitação no Congresso Nacional, assim como a participação de capital privado na reformulação da figura da sociedade de propósito específico, prevista no art. 5º da Lei de Inovação, são possíveis soluções para contornar os problemas identificados nesta dissertação. / The promotion of technological innovation is a challenge for the increase of competitiveness of the Brazilian industry. The information and communication technologies (ICT) industry is an important source of new technologies and its intellectual creations may be protected under industrial property rights (e.g. patents), copyrights (e.g. software) and trade secret or industry secret laws. In Brazil the ICT industry, previously known as the computer industry, received a priority treatment in the national governmental incentive programs for the development of technology. However, Brazilian ICT companies are not considered innovative in comparison with their foreign competitors. The Brazilian Law #10,973/2004, also known as Brazilian Innovation Law, establishes legal means for the orchestration of interests of the private sector and those of Scientific and Technological Institutions (STIs), which are agencies and public entities whose dedicated to basic and applied research, whether having scientific purpose or aiming at the creation of new technologies. This research hypothesis is that the agreements entered by the STIs and the private sector aim technology transfers or the license of use of the STIs creations and those agreement governed by public law are not effective for the promotion of technological innovation in the ICT industry. This study proposes to: (i) review the legal framework of the National System of Innovation; (ii) analyze the governmental programs created to stimulate the technological development of the Brazilian computer industry; (iii) review the role of the intellectual property protection of software for the promotion of technological innovation; (iv) inquire the deficiencies in the articulation of the interests of STI and private sector according to the agreements provided on the Brazilian Innovation Law and (v) suggest alternatives to overcome the identified problems. A segmented methodology was used in the exam of the laws applicable to the National System of Innovation and the laws of intellectual property protection of the software and the analysis of the agreements entered under the Brazilian Innovation Law provisions, considering the results of the Research of Technological Innovation of the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (PINTEC 2008/IBGE) and the STIs consolidated information by the Ministério de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) and also with the Centers of Innovation Technology (NITs) of the STIs studied in this masters dissertation (which are, USP, UNICAMP, UFMG and UFRJ) whose available data were similar. The studys conclusion confirms the hypothesis that the agreements entered by STIs and private companies are ineffective to stimulate the technological innovation in the ICT industry. Lastly the knowledge was highlighted as a challenge to promote the innovative process in the Brazilian ICT sector. Within the purpose of using the STIs accumulated knowledge, expanding the concept of STIs to incorporate private institutions, as provided into the Legislative Bill of the National Code of Science and Technological Innovation #2,177/2011 and #619/2011 in discussion in the National Congress, as well as the participation of private capital in reformulating the concept of the special purpose vehicle provided under Article 5 of Brazilian Innovation Law are possible solutions to overcome the problems identified in this study.

As empresas utilizam vários tipos de recursos tais como matérias primas, insumos, recursos humanos e recursos financeiros para gerar seu portfólio de produtos e/ou serviços. No último século os gestores das empresas desenvolveram práticas e ferramentas de gerenciamento para maximizar os resultados decorrentes da aplicação destes recursos. Nas últimas duas décadas o conhecimento passou a ser considerado mais um dos recursos a serem geridos e aplicados pelas empresas para alcançar diferenciais competitivos frente aos seus concorrentes. Por ser um recurso intangível com características diferentes dos demais recursos, várias práticas e ferramentas específicas foram desenvolvidas com o objetivo de explorar ao máximo os resultados do uso do conhecimento nas empresas. Esta tese teve como objetivo identificar e especificar as práticas de gestão do conhecimento e as ferramentas de tecnologia da informação e comunicação empregadas em empresas instaladas na indústria de software no Brasil, incluindo aquelas que são utilizadas por teletrabalhadores. Buscou ainda identificar e especificar se há diferença na utilização dessas práticas e ferramentas em ambientes de teletrabalho, além de verificar as influências da gestão do conhecimento na eficácia empresarial dessas mesmas empresas. Para tanto, como método de pesquisa foi realizado um estudo descritivo-quantitativo junto a 319 funcionários de 15 diferentes empresas de médio e grande portes integrantes da indústria de software do país. Os dados coletados foram tratados por meio de análises estatísticas descritivas e da modelagem de equações estruturais, mediante o emprego dos aplicativos SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) e PLS-PM (Partial Least Squares Path Modeling). Os resultados encontrados permitem concluir que: a) as práticas de gestão do conhecimento mais utilizadas nas empresas pesquisadas são: reuniões e conferências virtuais, treinamentos virtuais, treinamentos presenciais, e-learning, call center/help desk/suporte online, portal corporativo, biblioteca corporativa, sistema de avaliação, centros de inovação, mapeamento de processos e gestão da inovação; b) as ferramentas de tecnologia da informação e comunicação voltadas à gestão do conhecimento mais empregadas nas empresas analisadas são: e-mail, telefone via internet, telefone celular/rádio, intranet; servidores web e navegadores, telefone fixo, mensagens instantâneas, portal corporativo e treinamento baseado em computador; c) as práticas e ferramentas de tecnologia da informação e comunicação empregadas na gestão do conhecimento são mais usadas em ambientes de teletrabalho do que em ambientes de trabalho presencial e, por fim; d) as práticas e ferramentas de tecnologia da informação e comunicação voltadas à gestão do conhecimento influenciam a eficácia empresarial das empresas examinadas, com prevalência das práticas sobre as ferramentas. A conclusão é que as práticas e ferramentas empregadas na gestão do conhecimento são mais utilizadas em ambientes de teletrabalho e que a gestão do conhecimento em si influencia a eficácia empresarial das empresas. / The companies use some types of resources such as raw material, human resources and financial resources to generate its set of products and/or services. In the last century the managers of the companies had developed management practices and tools to maximize the decurrent results of the application of these resources. In last the two decades the knowledge became to be considered another one of the resources to be managed and applied by companies in order to reach competitive differentials comparing to its competitors. As the knowledge is an intangible resource with different characteristics comparing to other resources, several specific practices and tools had been developed in order to better explore the results of the use of the knowledge in the companies. This thesis proposed to identify and specify the knowledge managements practices and information and communication technology tools used in companies of Brazils software industry. It also attempted to identify and specify if theres a difference in the use of these practices and tools in teleworking or face to face working environments, besides verifying the influences of knowledge management in these companies organizational effectiveness. Because of this, a quantitative-descriptive research was conducted with the application of a questionnaire with 319 employees of 15 different midsize and large companies that operate in the countrys software industry. The collected data were dealt by descriptive statistics analysis and structural equations shaping, by the use of SPSS application (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and PLS-PM (Partial Least Squares Path Modeling). The results show that it is possible to identify: a) the most used practices of knowledge management in the researched companies are: meetings and virtual conferences, virtual training, face to face training, e-learning, call center/help desk/online support, corporative gateway, corporative library, evaluation system, innovation centers, process mapping and innovation management; b) the most used information and communication technology tools turned to knowledge management in the analyzed companies are: email, web phone calling, cell phone/radio, intranet, browsers and web servers, landline phone, instant messaging, corporative gateway and computer based training; c) the practices and information and communication technology tools used in knowledge management are more used in teleworking environment than in face to face working environment, and finally; d) the practices and information and communication technology tools turned to knowledge management influence the organizational effectiveness of the surveyed companies, with more influence of the practices than the tools. The conclusion is that the practices and tools used in knowledge management are more used in telework environment and that knowledge management influences the companies organizational effectiveness.

A promoção da inovação tecnológica é um desafio para o aumento da competitividade da indústria brasileira. O setor de tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TICs) é um importante celeiro de novas tecnologias e suas criações intelectuais são passíveis de proteção pelas normas de propriedade industrial (e.g. patentes), direitos autorais (e.g. software) e segredo de negócio ou industrial. No Brasil, o setor de TICs, anteriormente designado setor de informática, obteve tratamento prioritário nos programas governamentais de incentivo ao desenvolvimento tecnológico nacional. Contudo, as empresas brasileiras de TICs ainda não são consideradas inovadoras em comparação à concorrência estrangeira. A Lei nº 10.973/2004, também conhecida como Lei de Inovação, dispõe sobre instrumentos jurídicos para a articulação de interesses do setor privado e das Instituições Científicas e Tecnológicas (ICTs) que são órgãos e entidades da administração pública com a missão de executar atividades de pesquisas básica e aplicada, seja de caráter científico ou com a finalidade de desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias. A hipótese de pesquisa desta dissertação é de que os acordos celebrados entre as ICTs e o setor privado estão concentrados nos objetos da transferência de tecnologia ou no licenciamento de uso de criações desenvolvidas pela ICT, que limitados ao regime do direito público, não são eficazes para promoção da inovação tecnológica no setor de TICs. Esta dissertação propõe: (i) analisar o arcabouço normativo do Sistema Nacional da Inovação Tecnológica; (ii) analisar os programas governamentais de estímulo ao desenvolvimento tecnológico do setor de informática brasileiro; (iii) examinar o papel da proteção da propriedade intelectual do software na promoção da inovação tecnológica; (iv) investigar as deficiências na articulação dos interesses de ICT e setor privado, conforme os instrumentos jurídicos previstos na Lei de Inovação; e (v) sugerir proposições para contornar os problemas identificados. Utilizou-se uma metodologia segmentada no estudo normativo das leis aplicáveis ao Sistema Nacional da Inovação Tecnológica e à proteção da propriedade intelectual do software e na análise dos arranjos jurídicos enunciados na Lei de Inovação, a partir dos resultados da Pesquisa de Inovação Tecnológica do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (PINTEC 2008/IBGE) e das informações das ICTs, consolidadas pelo Ministério de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) e pelos próprios Núcleos de Inovação Tecnológica (NITs) das ICTs selecionadas nesta pesquisa (sendo elas, USP, UNICAMP, UFMG e UFRJ) cujos dados disponíveis apresentaram semelhança entre si. Concluiu-se com a comprovação da hipótese de que os instrumentos jurídicos utilizados por ICT e empresários são ineficazes para promoção da inovação tecnológica no setor de TICs. Por fim, destacou-se o conhecimento como o desafio para promover o processo inovador no setor brasileiro de TICs. Dentro do propósito do aproveitamento do conhecimento acumulado nas ICTs, a ampliação do conceito de ICT para incorporar as instituições privadas, como previsto nos Projetos de Lei do Código Nacional de Ciência Tecnologia e Inovação nº 2.177/2011 e nº 619/2011 em tramitação no Congresso Nacional, assim como a participação de capital privado na reformulação da figura da sociedade de propósito específico, prevista no art. 5º da Lei de Inovação, são possíveis soluções para contornar os problemas identificados nesta dissertação. / The promotion of technological innovation is a challenge for the increase of competitiveness of the Brazilian industry. The information and communication technologies (ICT) industry is an important source of new technologies and its intellectual creations may be protected under industrial property rights (e.g. patents), copyrights (e.g. software) and trade secret or industry secret laws. In Brazil the ICT industry, previously known as the computer industry, received a priority treatment in the national governmental incentive programs for the development of technology. However, Brazilian ICT companies are not considered innovative in comparison with their foreign competitors. The Brazilian Law #10,973/2004, also known as Brazilian Innovation Law, establishes legal means for the orchestration of interests of the private sector and those of Scientific and Technological Institutions (STIs), which are agencies and public entities whose dedicated to basic and applied research, whether having scientific purpose or aiming at the creation of new technologies. This research hypothesis is that the agreements entered by the STIs and the private sector aim technology transfers or the license of use of the STIs creations and those agreement governed by public law are not effective for the promotion of technological innovation in the ICT industry. This study proposes to: (i) review the legal framework of the National System of Innovation; (ii) analyze the governmental programs created to stimulate the technological development of the Brazilian computer industry; (iii) review the role of the intellectual property protection of software for the promotion of technological innovation; (iv) inquire the deficiencies in the articulation of the interests of STI and private sector according to the agreements provided on the Brazilian Innovation Law and (v) suggest alternatives to overcome the identified problems. A segmented methodology was used in the exam of the laws applicable to the National System of Innovation and the laws of intellectual property protection of the software and the analysis of the agreements entered under the Brazilian Innovation Law provisions, considering the results of the Research of Technological Innovation of the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (PINTEC 2008/IBGE) and the STIs consolidated information by the Ministério de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) and also with the Centers of Innovation Technology (NITs) of the STIs studied in this masters dissertation (which are, USP, UNICAMP, UFMG and UFRJ) whose available data were similar. The studys conclusion confirms the hypothesis that the agreements entered by STIs and private companies are ineffective to stimulate the technological innovation in the ICT industry. Lastly the knowledge was highlighted as a challenge to promote the innovative process in the Brazilian ICT sector. Within the purpose of using the STIs accumulated knowledge, expanding the concept of STIs to incorporate private institutions, as provided into the Legislative Bill of the National Code of Science and Technological Innovation #2,177/2011 and #619/2011 in discussion in the National Congress, as well as the participation of private capital in reformulating the concept of the special purpose vehicle provided under Article 5 of Brazilian Innovation Law are possible solutions to overcome the problems identified in this study.

Abstract not available

As software becomes increasingly important to all aspects of industry, there is a need to encourage practitioners to adopt best practice so as to improve the quality of the processes in use, and therefore achieve targets relating to time, budget and quality. The software development industry in Australia is dominated by a myriad of small firms. This presents a challenge in terms of determining the current practices of industry participants, and in devising improvement initiatives which are feasible for small organisations. Currently, the level of adoption of best practice among local software developers is unknown. To help improve the software industry, it is necessary to determine the current status of use of practices and techniques. Furthermore, the effectiveness of assessment-based software process improvement for small organisations needs to be evaluated. The objective of this research is to understand the extent of software development practices currently in use, and to evaluate the effectiveness of assessment-based software process improvement initiatives for small firms. To achieve this objective, an extensive mail survey of the Queensland software industry was conducted to identify and compare best practice in software development with current practice. The survey was based on the software best practice questionnaire used by the European Software Institute. Following on from this, a detailed evaluation of a process improvement program in 22 small firms was carried out. The program used the Rapid Assessments for Process Improvement for software Development (RAPID) model and method. RAPID is based on ISO/IEC 15504 (SPICE) and includes eight processes: requirements elicitation, software development, configuration management, quality assurance, project management, problem resolution, risk management, and process establishment. The evaluation analysed the process capability of the firms as reported from one-day software process assessments and also the extent of improvement as recorded at follow-up meetings held 7 to 16 months after the assessment. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to analyse the assessment reports. The study confirmed that there is wide variation in the extent of adoption of software development best practice in terms of the individual practices, as well as the organisations. While project management planning and customer involvement practices are widely adopted, the use of metrics for estimating and testing are barely used by the organisations that responded to the survey. Overall, practices of a technical nature are more widely adopted compared to techniques related to support and management. Organisations involved in developing commercial off-the-shelf software have higher adoption than firms which do not develop such systems, and adoption of best practice is associated with the size of the development group. The leaders in adoption have significantly better practices when compared to the laggards for 40 of the 44 practices included in the survey. Furthermore, organisations from the finance, insurance and utilities sectors exhibited higher adoption of best practice compared to organisations from other sectors. The overall adoption of 48 percent implies that the organisations which responded have adopted, on average, almost half of the best practices in the questionnaire. While this overall adoption rate places the Queensland software industry in a competitive position compared to adoption of firms in European countries, there is scope for improvement. The process improvement assessments of 22 firms also confirmed that the capability of technical processes is higher than that of management processes; and suggested that higher capability is associated with the proportion of experienced staff and the proportion of staff with post graduate qualifications. Higher process capability is also associated with firms undertaking projects of lengthy durations. Most of the processes were rated at the lowest levels. Almost one third of all the processes were rated as incomplete (level 0) and 46 percent were rated as performed (level 1). The evaluation of the process improvement program was conducted by analysing the 22 assessment reports, and the 20 final reports from the follow-up meetings. The extent of improvement is associated with the proportion of technical staff and the proportion of formally qualified staff. The evaluation revealed that assessment-based process improvement programs are effective for small firms, regardless of the maturity of the processes at the time of the assessment. As well as detailing the process capability of 22 small software firms, this study provides an interesting insight into the actions, reasons for inaction, and reactions of the firms as far as implementing the recommendations from the assessments. Analysis of the reactions of the participants of this program suggests that for small firms, mentoring, training and organisation stability are important factors, while senior management support may not be an issue of concern. The study indicates that small firms can benefit from a low cost process improvement program with a restricted scope, a short time frame to evaluation, and mentoring from external assessors/consultants. It is also crucial that the firm is not disrupted by internal or external events during the course of the software process improvement program. Furthermore, this study provides a contribution to assessment methods by validating the RAPID model and method, and providing recommendations to improve the RAPID method. The outcomes from this research have the potential to better equip practitioners and consultants to undertake software process improvement, hence increasing the success of small software development firms in domestic and global markets.

<p>Background: The software industry is being described as an industry of fierce competition and rapid technology change. The innovation pace is said to be so high that today's new technology might be history tomorrow. Where do the companies of the software industry focus when making strategic decisions? According to the strategic literature, a firm can focus on either the external environment or the internal environment as strategic starting points. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to find out what determines the strategy of firms in the software industry. </p><p>Procedure: Interviews with six software companies in Sweden. </p><p>Result: Four strategic determinants were identified: Flexible software solution, Markets that fit the software solution, Market Segmentation, Customers within the market segment. In this way, both the internal and external environment determines the strategies of the software companies.</p>

<p>It is generally recognized that firms face both internal and external environmental forces. However, few studies have attempted to describe the importance of various strategic factors and the relation between them. This study has been conducted to identify the main strategic determinant in the software industry and the reason behind the existence of these determinants. The study is based on a qualitative study. The empirical data have been collected from interviews. However, the frame of reference is based on well- established theories within the field of business strategy. The research identified certain strategic determinants in software industry. These are Market/Customer, Technology, Economy, Rivalry, Core Competences, Core Products, Technical and Human Resources. These factors have an impact on researched firms separately and jointly as well. However, competitive advantage can be achieved by focusing on product innovation and development, relation building with customers, technology and human resource management, capabilities/competences building and alliances with other companies and industries.</p>

Background: The software industry is being described as an industry of fierce competition and rapid technology change. The innovation pace is said to be so high that today's new technology might be history tomorrow. Where do the companies of the software industry focus when making strategic decisions? According to the strategic literature, a firm can focus on either the external environment or the internal environment as strategic starting points. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to find out what determines the strategy of firms in the software industry. Procedure: Interviews with six software companies in Sweden. Result: Four strategic determinants were identified: Flexible software solution, Markets that fit the software solution, Market Segmentation, Customers within the market segment. In this way, both the internal and external environment determines the strategies of the software companies.