The Influence of Situational Factors in Software Product Management: An Empirical Study

Current research in the field of software product management (SPM) and software process improvement does not take the situational context of a company into account. Taking the context into account, allows small and medium sized companies to improve their SPM processes in a more optimal manner. This research shows that situational factors (SFs) influence the selection process of method fragments for SPM in two applications: SPM process maintenance - the influence level of SFs on the SPM processes: if the SF changes value the SPM process may need to be changed; and method fragment choice - selecting a method which fits the situational context of the company. This paper presents a list of 27 situational factors in 5 categories, relevant to SPM, with the level of influence they have on the selection of (parts of) methods.