A qualitative model for barriers to software reuse adoption

With the increased pressures to deliver software applications at a faster rate and at a lower cost, software reuse is rapidly becoming an influential technology for software development. In this paper, software reuse is viewed as a systematic approach, encompassing all attempts to leverage software assets across systems by reusing them in development efforts. This paper focuses on grounding a descriptive and explanatory theory of the individual and organizational barriers associated with the adoption of reuse. A case study research method was used. A series of five cases were selected on the basis of theoretical replication. The five sites share commonalties in issues critical to the research. The findings of this research indicate that barriers occur at both the individual and at the organizational level. One of the key findings was that barriers at the individual level are actually a consequence of the interaction of barriers caused at the organizational level. Several other significant findings emerged as well.