Codification and Transferability of IT Knowledge

Software development has always been considered a complex undertaking where close interaction has been the antidote to this inherent complexity and development techniques from initial unstructuredover structuredand to object-oriented programming represent ways of managing development risks. Software knowledge has traditionally been transferred in project settings and been intrinsically linked with situated social practices. However, with the emergence of itinerant experts and highly distributed software development, the question emerges; what is the role of core software development techniques in the exchangeability and transferability of highly skilled IT knowledge? The aim of this paper is, through 30 qualitative interviews in Greece, to investigate the role of development techniques as a means of facilitating the codification and transferability of IT knowledge among itinerant IT experts and the projects they form part of. It is argued that the use of object-oriented techniques encapsulates discretionary decisions in objects and through carefully negotiated interfaces allows for the transfer and reuse across contexts. This minimises side effects and facilitates both the cultivation of complex middleware and the distribution of distinct work packages to individual itinerant experts.

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