The impact of a delayed software project on product launch coordination: a case study

Abstract

An increasing number of today’s products include software as their key component. This means that more and more product launches are depending on software projects, which are infamous for delays. While the impacts of delays are well studied in the scope of a software project and the company itself, the impacts on the management of launch activities are not very well understood. This study addresses the gap by an in-depth case study of one delayed software project. The results show that the delays may increase the cost of a product launch, as well as decrease the scope and quality of the launch activities. These impacts are influenced by key personnel’s motivational factors, which in turn cause lost working time and postponing the work until it is too late to act as planned.