2. General Electrics Model of 1977
Who is the author?
Jim McCall
To whom is his perspective on quality targeted?
General Electrics Model of Jim McCall is primarily
aimed towards the developers and the system
development process.
He tried to gap the bridge between the users and
the developers.
It originates from the US Military and is particularly
developed for the US Air Force.
3. What is Quality?
According to Jim McCall’s General Electrics Model,
QUALITY is defined by three areas:
Product Revision – ability to undergo changes
The quality factors under this area are:
maintainability (ability to find and fix a
defect)
flexibility (ability to make changes required
as dictated by the business)
testability (ability to validate the software
requirements)
4. Product Transition – adaptability of the software to
new environments
The quality factors under this area are:
portability (ability to transfer the software
from one environment to another)
reusability (ease of using existing software
components in a different context)
interoperability (extent to which software
components work together)
5. Product Operation – operation characteristics
The quality factors under this area are:
correctness (functionality matches the specification)
reliability (extent to which the system fails)
efficiency (system resource usage)
integrity (protection from unauthorized access)
usability (ease of use)
6. What is Quality?
In general, Jim McCall presented his perspective
about quality in his General Electrics Model which is
presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1
