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On this backdrop, this paper aims to investigate how adoption of SPI technology was shaped over a ten year period (1996\u20102005) in a small Danish software firm.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>The investigation is based on a longitudinal, interpretative case study of improvement efforts over a ten\u2010year period. To help structure the investigation, we focus on encounters that impacted engineering, management, and improvement practices within the firm. The study contributes to the SPI\u2010literature and the literature on organizational adoption of technology.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The paper finds the improvement effort fluctuating and shaped between management's attempt to control SPI technology adoption and events that caused the process to drift in unpredictable directions.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Practical implications<\/jats:title><jats:p>The experiences suggest that managers of small software firms remain flexible and constantly negotiate technology adoption practices between control and drift, creating momentum and direction according to firm goals through attempts to control, while at the same time exploring backtalk, options, and innovations from drifting forces inside and outside the firm.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>Based on the research, the paper recommends substituting the \u201cfrom control to drift\u201d perspective on organizational adoption of complex technologies like SPI with a \u201cnegotiating control and drift\u201d perspective.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/09593840810860333","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2008,3,8]],"date-time":"2008-03-08T07:06:10Z","timestamp":1204959970000},"page":"69-90","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Between control and drift: negotiating improvement in a small software firm"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Gitte","family":"Tjornehoj","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lars","family":"Mathiassen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022020920154191400_b1","unstructured":"Aaen, I., Arendt, J., Mathiassen, L. and Ngwenyama, O. 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