Triggering specialised knowledge in the software development process: a case study analysis

Many factors determine the success of software development projects. The exchange and harnessing of specialized knowledge amongst and between the project team members is one of these. To explore this situation, an ethnographic case study of the product-testing phase of a new human resources management system was undertaken. Extempore verbal exchanges occur through the interplay of project team members in weekly meetings, as the software was tested, analyzed and altered in accordance with the customer’s needs. Utilizing tacit knowledge from the project members as well as the group, new tacit knowledge surfaces and spirals, which allows it to build over time. Five extempore triggers surfaced during the research generated through explicit stimuli, allowing project members to share and create new knowledge. Through the use of ideas developed by Husserl and Heidegger, this study has cast some light on verbal exchanges that, through their interjection, allow significant learning to take place. The theoretical development places these learning triggers in an interpretive framework, which could add value to other software development and project management contexts