How much independent criteria do programmers have when making decisions?

Question

Are customer requirements in the software closely followed or are developers given a bit of freedom to do things as they think customers will do better? Do developers have the opportunity to create tools and systems at their discretion on a day-to-day basis to help the team they work for without having to create a formal project? Some companies encourage programmers to take over and do things on their own initiative while in other corporate cultures they are simply there to execute what is commanded.

Answer 1

That depends on the complexity and the the type of customers. If sensitive information of the clients is involved, stricter standards are applied.