Understanding the effectiveness of Capability Maturity Model Integration by examining the knowledge management of software development processes

Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is one of the well-known models that provide best practices for software quality improvement. Many articles praise the benefits of CMMI adoption, such as enhanced knowledge management of software development, improved software quality and increased efficiency of software development. However, these intangibles, especially those relating to knowledge management, have not been investigated yet. To build a deeper understanding of CMMI this paper intends to investigate the effectiveness of CMMI by examining the impact of quality management on the knowledge management of software development processes. A case study approach was employed to collect complete information of the impact of CMMI on software knowledge management from different aspects. The results reveal that the incongruence between managing the knowledge of software development and managing the process of software knowledge management has created blind points in the adoption of the CMMI programme. In addition to complying with the CMMI prescriptive guidelines CMMI-adoption organisations would need to integrate knowledge from both internal and external customers.