Andreas Rausch – författare

This book focuses on the design, development, management, governance and application of evolving software processes that are aligned with changing business objectives, such as expansion to new domains or shifting to global production. In the context of an evolving business world, it examines the complete software process lifecycle, from the initial definition of a product to its systematic improvement. In doing so, it addresses difficult problems, such as how to implement processes in highly regulated domains or where to find a suitable notation system for documenting processes, and provides essential insights and tips to help readers manage process evolutions. And last but not least, it provides a wealth of examples and cases on how to deal with software evolution in practice.

Reflecting these topics, the book is divided into three parts. Part 1 focuses on software business transformation and addresses the questions of which process(es) to use and adapt, and how to organizeprocess improvement programs. Subsequently, Part 2 mainly addresses process modeling. Lastly, Part 3 collects concrete approaches, experiences, and recommendations that can help to improve software processes, with a particular focus on specific lifecycle phases.

This book is aimed at anyone interested in understanding and optimizing software development tasks at their organization. While the experiences and ideas presented will be useful for both those readers who are unfamiliar with software process improvement and want to get an overview of the different aspects of the topic, and for those who are experts with many years of experience, it particularly targets the needs of researchers and Ph.D. students in the area of software and systems engineering or information systems who study advanced topics concerning the organization and management of (software development) projects and process improvements projects. 

This book analyses and elaborates on learning processes within work environments and explores professional learning. It presents research indicating general characteristics of the work environment that support learning, as well as barriers to workplace learning. Themes of professional development, lifelong learning and business organisation emerge through the chapters and contributions explore theoretical and empirical analyses on the boundary between working and learning in various contexts and with various methodological approaches.

Readers will discover how current workplace learning approaches can emphasise the learning potential of the work environment and how workplaces can combine the application of competence that is working, with its acquisition or learning. Through these chapters, we learn about the educational challenge to design workplaces as environments of rich learning potential without neglecting business demands.

Expert authors explore how learning and working are both to be considered as two common aspects of an individual’s activity. Complexity, significance, integrity and variety of assigned work tasks as well as scope of action, interaction and feedback within its processing, turn out to be crucial work characteristics, amongst others revealed in these chapters.

Part of the Professional and Practice-based Learning series, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in workplaces as learning environments: those within government, community or business agencies and within the research communities in education, psychology, sociology and business management will find it of great interest.