The value of a certified quality management system: the perception of internal developers

There is growing interest among internal information technology (IT) departments in implementing a certified quality management system (QMS). This paper examines the forces that have influenced organizations that supply development services to adopt QMS models and explores the relevance of these forces to internal IT developers. The perceptions of internal developers regarding the value of QMS in addressing these forces were studied using a multiple case study involving four organizations. The results suggest that while the reasons given by external developers concern mainly the marketing advantages of adopting a QMS, internal developers envisage the major advantage to be an improvement in the development process.