The management of organizational change is an essential element of successful software process
improvement efforts. This paper describes ten factors that affect organizational change in software
process improvement initiatives based on the Capability Maturity Model or the ISO 9000 quality
standards. It also assesses the relative importance of these factors and compares the findings with
the results of previous research into organizational change in software process improvement. The
paper is based on an analysis of published experience reports and case studies of 56 software
organizations that have implemented an ISO 9000 quality system or that have conducted a CMMbased
process improvement initiative.