A Mosaic of Perspectives: Understanding Ownership in Software Engineering

TL;DR

This paper reviews literature on ownership in software engineering and psychology, emphasizing the importance of understanding ownership to improve team dynamics and proposing initial positions for future research.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of ownership concepts across disciplines and introduces foundational positions to guide future research in software engineering.

Findings

Ownership is influenced by external factors like architecture and methods.

A multidisciplinary perspective enhances understanding of ownership.

Foundational positions are proposed for future exploration.

Abstract

Agile software development relies on self-organized teams, underlining the importance of individual responsibility. How developers take responsibility and build ownership are influenced by external factors such as architecture and development methods. This paper examines the existing literature on ownership in software engineering and in psychology, and argues that a more comprehensive view of ownership in software engineering has a great potential in improving software team's work. Initial positions on the issue are offered for discussion and to lay foundations for further research.