To branch or not to branch?

The study of Software Configuration Management (SCM) has so far focused on the use of tools, SCM models, strategies, patterns or best practices. There are few industry studies on how an organization actually practices file branching and merging. In this empirical study at Océ, we have observed that some developers create branches freely without regards to their consequences on merging. This contradicts recommended best practices and SCM processes. So we investigate if there are hidden costs in propagating or merging changes at Océ. The investigation led us to understand that branching and merging can be done freely under certain circumstances to provide development concurrency. However, some files cannot be branched freely and it may be better to use recommended practices to edit them. Some roles were also noted to be more affected by branching of files.