Motivation of software engineers: A qualitative case study of a research and development organisation

Abstract

Understanding motivation of software engineers has important implications for industrial practice. This complex construct seems to be affected by diverse environmental conditions and can affect multiple dimensions of work effectiveness. In this article, we present a grounded theory that describes the motivation of software engineers working in a not-for-profit private research and development organisation. We carried out a holistic case study for seven months, using structured interviews, diary studies, and documental analysis for data collection, and grounded theory techniques for data analysis and synthesis. The results point to task variety and technical challenges as the main drivers of motivation, and inequity and high workload (caused by poor estimations in the software process) as the main obstacles to motivation in the organisation.