Awareness and Management of Social Debt in the German ICT Industry: A Multi-Perspective Analysis

IEEE Access, vol. 14, pp. 31068–31085

Abstract

Social debt (SD) is the cumulative burden of unresolved interpersonal, communicative, and organizational issues within software teams. Although individual issues, such as demotivation, communication breakdowns, and inefficient collaboration, are widely acknowledged, the concept of SD and its preventive management are largely unexplored in practice. This study advances the operationalization of SD by identifying concrete indicators, root causes, and mitigation strategies. Drawing on 24 semi-structured interviews with experienced IT professionals in Germany, we examine how SD is perceived, interpreted, and addressed across gender, company size, and professional roles. Our findings, structured via a preliminary Input-Process-Output (IPO) model, reveal that SD is often recognized only in retrospect, highlighting a significant gap in proactive identification. While developers typically view SD as operational inefficiency, managers interpret it as a strategic leadership challenge impacting project costs. Exploratory patterns suggest subtle nuances in relational awareness among participants, which are discussed in the context of role expectations rather than innate traits. We argue that establishing a shared vocabulary is a crucial initial management approach to transforming diffuse social tensions into tangible project governance issues. This work provides actionable recommendations for industry practitioners to foster sustainable collaboration and mitigate organizational blind spots.

Authors 7

1. Philipp M. Zähl Aachen Institute for Digitalization Aachen

   FH Aachen

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Digitalization Aachen, FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Aachen, Germany

2. Martin Wolf Aachen Institute for Digitalization Aachen

   FH Aachen

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Digitalization Aachen, FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Aachen, Germany

3. Sabrina Cornelia Eimler

   Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Computer Science, Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences, Bottrop, Germany

4. Karolin Eva Kappler

   Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine – Westphalia

   Affiliation as printed

   Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne, Germany

5. Leonie Mohr

   SRH Fernhochschule – The Mobile University

   Affiliation as printed

   SRH Fernhochschule—The Mobile University, Riedlingen, Germany

6. Leonie Schulte Aachen Institute for Digitalization Aachen

   FH Aachen

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Digitalization Aachen, FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Aachen, Germany

7. Anika Hennig Aachen Institute for Digitalization Aachen

   FH Aachen

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Digitalization Aachen, FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Aachen, Germany