Joel on Software

But what about the CS mission of CS departments? They're not vocational schools! It shouldn't be their job to train people to work in industry. That's for community colleges and government retraining programs for displaced workers, they will tell you. They're supposed to be giving students the fundamental tools to live their lives, not preparing them for their first weeks on the job. Right?

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/ThePerilsofJavaSchools.html

it's crucial that tech support have access to the development team. This means that you can't outsource tech support: they have to be right there at the same street address as the developers, with a way to get things fixed. Many software companies still think that it's "economical" to run tech support in Bangalore or the Philippines, or to outsource it to another company altogether. Yes, the cost of a single incident might be $10 instead of $50, but you're going to have to pay $10 again and again.
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/customerservice.html

And this is the kind of environment you have to create to attract programmers. When a programmer complains about "politics," they mean—very precisely—any situation in which personal considerations outweigh technical considerations. Nothing is more infuriating than when a developer is told to use a certain programming language, not the best one for the task at hand, because the boss likes it. Nothing is more maddening than when people are promoted because of their ability to network rather than being promoted strictly on merit. Nothing is more aggravating to a developer than being forced to do something that is technically inferior because someone higher than them in the organization, or someone better-connected, insists on it.
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FieldGuidetoDevelopers.html