Knowledge Management Challenges in Renewal of R&D Processes in Software Business (Track 3, Session 2)
Author(s) :
Nina Helander (Tampere University of Technology, Finland)
Hanna Hovila (Tampere University of Technology, Finland)
Marianne Kukko (Tampere University of Technology, Finland)
Pasi Virtanen (Tampere University of Technology, Finland)
Abstract : A software company operates in dynamic, knowledge intensive business. To stay competitive in such a business, the R&D processes and their development play a significant role. Knowledge management becomes an important factor when organizing knowledge work, which in fact is the essence of software business. This paper is based on a qualitative case study conducted in a software company moving to component based production. The case organization is quite dispersed; in the initial stage the operations of the company are based on independent teams, each responsible for their own product development, production and sales. Now they�ll start working more closely together and sharing software code. In this paper the KM challenges involved in this process are described and also some solutions to these are brought forward and suggested. Also some managerial implications of these decisions and procedures are proposed as to how these still open questions may be answered and dealt with.

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