Software productivity: Potential, actual, and perceived

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the dynamics of software development productivity throughout the software development lifecycle. Our investigation discerns three forms of productivity, namely, potential, actual, and perceived. This conceptual dissection of productivity provides a useful lens for focusing on two distinct sets of managerial concerns: losses in the efficiency of software production, and losses in the effectiveness of managerial control. Losses in production efficiency stem from faulty processes associated with motivation and communication and lead to a gap between potential productivity and actual productivity. Losses in the effectiveness of managerial control arise, particularly in the early stages of a software project, from the discrepancy between what management perceives productivity to be and what it actually is. Copyright © 1989 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.