Cornut, Francis
(2009)
The discursive constitution of software development.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
The successful development of software continues to be of central interest, both as an
academic topic and in professional practice. Consequently, several software
development approaches and methodologies have been developed and promoted over
the past decades. However, despite the attention given to the subject and the
methodical support available, software development and how it should be practiced
continue to be controversial.
This thesis examines how beliefs about software development come to be socially
established as legitimate, and how they come to constitute software development
practices in an organization. It is argued that the emergence of a dominant way of
conceiving of and practicing software development is the outcome of power relations
that permeate the discursive practices of organizational actors. The theoretical
framework of this study is guided by Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic violence
and organizational discourse theory.
As a research method, ethnographic research techniques are utilized as part of a case
study to gain deep insights into the standardization of software development
practices. The research site is the IT division of a large financial services
organization and is composed of ten units distributed across eight countries. The
tumultuous development of a knowledge management programme intended to
institutionalize a standard software development process across the organization’s
units provides the case for this research.
This thesis answers the call for studies providing detailed accounts of the sociopolitical
process by which technically oriented practices are transferred and
standardized within organizations. It is submitted that a discourse theoretical
approach informed by Bourdieu’s thinking enables us to conceptualize this process in
a more meaningful, and theoretically rigorous, manner. In providing this theoretical
approach, the thesis seeks to contribute to current research on technology and
innovation management, and to offer guidance on some issues concerning the
management of the software development process.
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