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238 Chapter 7

Organizational Maturity Models

It is very important to keep in mind that culture is not a static object stored somewhere
in the organization. Culture is a fl uid, dynamic medium that encompasses the orga-
nization. In fact, there is usually a series of “ microcultures ” that are typical of different
work groups within a given organization. Culture is a complex entity that represents
a moving target of sorts. One of the ways in which culture changes within an orga-
nization is through a maturing process. As organizations mature, so does the culture
of that organization. The notion of an optimal point or a threshold point that
should be reached before effective KM can be implemented is inherent in a number
of organizational, KM, and community maturity models.
Maturity models have their roots in software engineering. The Carnegie Mellon
Software Engineering Institute defi nes a maturity model as “ a model that describes
the characteristics of good processes, thus providing guidelines for companies
developing or honing their own sets of processes. ” ( Grenier 2007, 1 ). There are a
number of organizational and KM maturity models, most derived from the capability
maturity model, CMM ( Paulk et al. 1995 ). The CMM was developed to better describe
the phases of software development processes and the model was subsequently
updated to the capability maturity model integration in 2000 ( CMMI Project Team
2002 ).
The CMM is an organizational model that describes fi ve evolutionary stages (levels)
in which an organization manages its processes. An organization should be able to
absorb and carry its software applications. The model also provides specifi c steps and
activities to get from one level to the next.
The fi ve stages of the CMM are:
Initial Processes are ad hoc, chaotic, or not well defi ned.
Repeatable Basic processes are established and there is a level of discipline to stick to
these processes.
Defi ned All processes are defi ned, documented, standardized, and integrated into each
other.
Managed Processes are measured by collecting detailed data on the processes and
their quality.
Optimizing Continuous process improvement is adopted and in place by quantitative
feedback and from piloting new ideas and technologies.
CMM is useful not only for software development, but also for describing evolution-
ary levels of organizations in general. The CMM and the CMMI can be extended to