Paper Type
Research-in-Progress Paper
Abstract
In developing countries very small software companies (VSSCs) with only 1-10 employees play an important role both in the local economy and as providers of software and services to customers in other parts of the world. Understanding and improving their IT project management (ITPM) practices and challenges are, therefore, important in the local as well as the larger context of globalized software development. There is, however, very little research into small shop software practices in developing countries. The current paper explores actual ITPM practices in Pakistani VSSCs based on a qualitative study of seven Pakistani VSSCs. We find that some Pakistani ITPM practices are similar to what is reported from VSSCs in other parts of the world, while others seem to be related to the companies' position in the global software development chain. This paper is part of a larger research project aiming to explore and compare software development practices in Very Small Software Companies in Pakistan and Denmark
Recommended Citation
Shakir, Shahid Nadeem and Nørbjerg, Jacob, "IT Project Management Practices in Very Small Software Companies : A Case of Pakistan" (2013). AMCIS 2013 Proceedings. 4.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2013/ITProjectManagement/RoundTablePresentations/4
IT Project Management Practices in Very Small Software Companies : A Case of Pakistan
In developing countries very small software companies (VSSCs) with only 1-10 employees play an important role both in the local economy and as providers of software and services to customers in other parts of the world. Understanding and improving their IT project management (ITPM) practices and challenges are, therefore, important in the local as well as the larger context of globalized software development. There is, however, very little research into small shop software practices in developing countries. The current paper explores actual ITPM practices in Pakistani VSSCs based on a qualitative study of seven Pakistani VSSCs. We find that some Pakistani ITPM practices are similar to what is reported from VSSCs in other parts of the world, while others seem to be related to the companies' position in the global software development chain. This paper is part of a larger research project aiming to explore and compare software development practices in Very Small Software Companies in Pakistan and Denmark