On the relationship between quality assurance and productivity in software companies

Quality assurance methods based on software process im- provement models have been regarded as a main source of variability in software productivity. In this paper, we investi- gate the relationship between labor productivity and quality assurance levels, using a data set containing more than 500 Brazilian software rms. We perform statistical analyses relating labor productivity, as measured through the annual gross revenue per worker ratio, to quality levels, whose ma- turity was examined in appraisals performed from 2006 to 2012 according to two distinct software process improvement models (CMMI and MPS.BR). As a preparatory step to our ndings, we investigate the relationship between these mod- els. We show that CMMI and MPS.BR appraised maturity levels are correlated, but we nd no statistical evidence that the implemented quality assurance methods are related to higher labor productivity or productivity growth.