Diverse virtual social networks: Implications for remote software testing teams

This paper evaluates offshore outsourcing in the IT testing industry and determines what conditions determine its success. There is particular focus on the influence of diversity in teams on group relationships. Two studies are described: the first, investigated the perceptions of professional software testers on the critical factors of offshore outsourcing; and the second study looked at the ability for diverse teams to form close working relationships through virtual networks. We find that overt diversity factors inhibit interaction across nationality boundaries. The limitations of virtual networks for fostering personal communications is apparent in preventing group members from overcoming the initial aversion to mix with out-group members, which could be achieved with closer and more personal communications between members with different diversity factors in normal face to face communications. Where software testing teams are outsourced globaly, and must rely on virtual communications, there seems potential for significant difficulties in developing close working relationships, which on the one hand, can be negative for group cohesion, but one the other hand, can be positive for encouraging imparitality

Review of the IS Offshoring Literature: The Role of Cross-Cultural Differences and Management Practices

There is a world-wide trend towards global cross-cultural networks of outsourcing relationships that are enabled by the extensive use of information- and communication technology (ICT). While ICT reduces national boundaries of global collaboration, cultural differences between outsourcers and vendor firms in offshore locations pose unique management challenges. This literature review analyzes the role of cultural differences between client and vendor companies and management practices in the information systems (IS) offshore outsourcing context. The analysis of the existing IS literature reveals limitations concerning prior conceptualizations of culture and cultural differences and provides ideas for future research on the effect of cultural differences as well as cultural, relationship, knowledge, and project management techniques. In particular, the existing literature can be grouped into formal and informal mechanisms as well as learning issues. Future research could adopt a more integrated and balanced perspective, taking into account formal and informal mechanisms and analyzing the interplay with learning issues

Control, Process Facilitation, and Requirements Change in Offshore Requirements Analysis: The Provider Perspective

Process, technology, and project factors have been increasingly driving organizations to offshore early software development phases, such as requirements analysis. This emerging trend necessitates greater control and process facilitation between client and vendor sites. The effectiveness of control and facilitation has, however, not been examined within the context of requirements analysis and change. In this study, we examine the role of control and facilitation in managing changing requirements and on success of requirements gathering in the Indian offshore software development environment. Firms found that control by client-site coordinators had a positive impact on requirements analysis success while vender site-coordinators did not have similar influence. Process facilitation by client site-coordinators affected requirements phase success indirectly through control. The study concludes with recommendations for research and practice

An empirical evaluation of client-vendor relationships in high maturity Indian software outsourcing companies

The study presented in this thesis investigates offshore software outsourcing relationships. Offshore software outsourcing has been increasing continuously for the last decade. More and more software vendor companies from different countries such as India, Russia, Brazil and China are joining the offshore `bandwagon'. Indian software companies especially have managed to secure a leading position as offshore software outsourcing vendors. However, with more client companies outsourcing their software operations offshore, issues associated with the establishment and management of offshore outsourcing relationships have become more important. With the growing volume of offshore outsourcing, the number of failures is also increasing. A review of the literature suggests that success or failure is mainly dependent on the management of relationships between client and vendor. Subsequently, it is imperative to identify critical factors that can help to better manage offshore software outsourcing relationships. Furthermore, it is also important to identify the difficulties faced in managing offshore relationships and also how clients and vendors develop mutual trust. Trust is important to understand in the offshore software outsourcing context as it has been reported as the most significant contributor to the management of any human relationship. Nonetheless, different advantages that motivate clients to outsource are also important in understanding offshore software outsourcing. In this study, motivators, difficulties, critical relationship management factors and trust building factors are studied by means of empirical investigation into eighteen high maturity Indian software companies and six of their clients based in the USA and Europe. Multiple case studies with grounded theory analysis techniques are used to conduct the empirical investigation. Grounded theory, which is a part of qualitative research, helps to develop emergent model from empirical data. Furthermore, multiple case studies are used as objects to collect qualitative data and organise overall investigation. The research methods used were piloted with two Indian software companies before conducting the full empirical investigation. The results of this investigation suggest that client companies are motivated to outsource their software offshore by cost savings, quality, flexibility, core competence, skills availability, higher productivity, faster development, technical expertise and high maturity of vendor. The results also uncovered difficulties faced by clients and vendors in managing relationships. Difficulties include managing cultural differences, expectation mismatch, language differences, loss of control, distance, time zone differences, workforce reshuffling and post-contractual matters. This investigation further identifies critical factors to managing offshore outsourcing relationships such as effective communication, a process driven approach, commitment to the project, transparency in actions, consistency in performance, value addition and allocating resources effectively in the project. Furthermore, results from this study suggest that previous work reference, experience and reputation in the offshore outsourcing business, background of the key vendor employees, investments, prototyping and personal visits from the client are important for achieving trust. This study also identifies that to maintain trust in the relationship both clients and vendors perceive critical factors such as commitment, process driven approach, communication, confidentiality, performance, honesty, transparency, demonstrability, personal relationships and working together in outsourcing project. Based on the results of the empirical results and their discussions, this study presents an emergent model and practical guidelines for managing offshore software outsourcing relationships. The uniqueness of this investigation is in its large scale empirical investigation into high maturity software companies. Furthermore, most previous studies have investigated either clients or vendors, whereas this study investigates vendors and their corresponding clients. An investigation into trust in offshore software outsourcing relationships is also a significant addition to the existing literature relevant to software outsourcing. The empirical investigation gave rise to proposals for discussions and to an emergent empirical model. Thus the current body of knowledge in offshore software outsourcing is enhanced by this work. Moreover, practical guidelines, based on empirical results are proposed for client and vendors to help them manage their offshore software outsourcing relationships

Information Systems Offshoring—A Literature Review and Analysis

IS offshoring has become one of the most discussed phenomena in IS research and practice. Particularly due to its rapid evolvement, current research on IS offshoring lacks a consolidated view on existing results. The article at hand seeks to meet this need by systematically reviewing and analyzing prior academic literature on IS offshoring. Based on a review of top-ranked IS and management journals as well as IS conference proceedings, we compile an exhaustive bibliography of ninety-six publications solely focusing on IS offshoring from a (project) management perspective. To adequately address the immense diversity of these publications, a multi-perspective research framework consisting of three perspectives, namely, research focus, research approach, and reference theory, is introduced and forms the basis for our literature analysis. The analysis results confirm the appropriateness of our framework and reveal directions for future research along the framework perspectives: Most importantly, in an effort to increase the significance and the trustworthiness of their results, researchers should apply a more theory-driven approach and provide a better description of their research context. Moreover, future research needs to pay particular attention to the pre-implementation stages of an IS offshoring initiative as well as the special nature of nearshoring and captive offshoring. Across all project stages, researchers should not only concentrate on the client point of view but incorporate multiple points of view

IDENTITY AND CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT IN GLOBALLY DISTRIBUTED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WORK

An interpretive case study was conducted to examine how team members construct their identities and manage cultural differences in globally distributed information technology work. Research investigating globally distributed information technology work acknowledges the influence of culture on team members and their work activities, but issues of team members’ individual identity and agency are under explored. Guided by social identity theory, our research findings suggest four identity categories constructed by global virtual team members, which are affected by societal culture, organizational culture, individual experience, and structure of the globally distributed IT work. They are: national identity, organizational identity, individual identity, and power identity. Manifestation of each identity is discussed along with how the enactment of these identities affects the ways in which global virtual team members manage cultural differences

Client Communication Practices in Managing Relationships with Offshore Vendors of Software Testing Services

Enabled by the globalization and advances in technology, offshore outsourcing of software development to countries such as India, China, and Russia, continues to increase. Much of the extant research has not focused on the communication practices observed in thriving offshore client−vendor relationships. Our research identifies communication practices found in a case study of a large multinational client’s multi-vendor relationship in offshore outsourcing of software testing projects. We discuss the empirically grounded communication practices in the light of existing literature to highlight how the client−vendor relationships deliver long-term value. Through this discussion, we delineate and discuss communication techniques. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed

Global business services: a cultural approach on offshoring

Os Global Business Services (GBS) surgiram como uma evolução do modelo de serviços partilhados, moldando o futuro das operações organizacionais. À medida que os GBS estendem o seu alcance a novos locais e adotam estratégias de offshoring para a redução de custos e melhorar a eficiência, confrontam-se com vários impactos interculturais, que têm sido ignorados pela literatura. O objectivo desta dissertação é realçar a influência positiva do interculturalismo em iniciativas de offshoring, quando as características interculturais são adequadamente abordadas e monitorizadas pelas empresas. As formações e treinos interculturais surgem como um elemento crucial, que não só influencia o sucesso do offshoring, mas também promove um ambiente de trabalho mais inclusivo para equipas culturalmente diversas em GBS. Para investigar os impactos interculturais do offshoring foram realizadas entrevistas com participantes de um projecto de offshoring numa organização GBS. Os resultados revelaram que a língua e a competência cultural são aspectos interculturais fundamentais, e que exigem uma análise cuidada. Já as barreiras linguísticas e de comunicação, a passagem de conhecimentos, e as disparidades nas leis e regulamentos surgiram como os aspetos mais desafiantes do offshoring. Além disso, foi observada uma potencial lacuna geracional entre a familiaridade com conceitos interculturais, e a confiança e capacidade na atuação em diferentes contextos culturais. A pesquisa destacou também a necessidade de iniciativas de formação intercultural e enfatizou a importância de uma comunicação clara sobre as expectativas do projecto, juntamente com uma abordagem estruturada para gerir a diversidade cultural. Esta dissertação destaca a crescente importância das práticas de offshoring no cenário global, exigindo uma cuidadosa consideração das implicações interculturais. Como resultado, a decisão de proceder com iniciativas de offshoring deve ser cuidadosamente considerada. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo contribuir para a literatura, e proporcionar uma compreensão profunda sobre as implicações interculturais no contexto de offshoring em GBS.Global business services (GBS) have arisen as a gradual evolution of the shared services model, shaping the future of organizational operations. As GBS spreads its reach to new locations and embraces offshoring strategies for cost reduction and better efficiency, it confronts a variety of intercultural implications that have been disregarded in the existing literature. The purpose of this dissertation is to shed light on the positive influence of interculturalism in offshore initiatives when cultural concerns are appropriately addressed and monitored by businesses. Intercultural training emerges as a critical element that not only influences the success of sourcing activities but also fosters a more inclusive work environment for culturally diverse teams of the GBS. To investigate the intercultural implications of offshoring, personal interviews were conducted with active participants of an offshore project within a GBS organization. Findings revealed language and cultural competence as pivotal intercultural aspects that demand careful consideration. Language and communication barriers, knowledge transfer, and disparities in legal and regulatory frameworks emerged as the most challenging facets of offshoring. Additionally, a potential generational gap was observed between familiarity with intercultural concepts and confidence in navigating diverse cultural contexts. The study underscored the pressing need for intercultural training initiatives and emphasized the importance of clear communication regarding project expectations, along with a structured approach to managing cultural diversity. The importance of this dissertation lies in the premise that offshoring practices will continue to rise, fueled by globalization and digitization. As a result, the decision to engage in offshore initiatives must be carefully considered, scrutinizing potential concerns associated with interculturalism. This research endeavors to contribute to the literature and o bring to the businesses a deeper understanding of intercultural implications within the context of offshoring in GBS

Assessing the impacts of IS offshoring: preliminary conclusions questioning the validity of cultural consideration

This paper defines an analytic framework with which to research the impact of IS offshoring on its various stakeholders and applies this to two significant case studies of offshoring in the financial services industry. It presents conclusions on one particular segment of the research programme, namely the extent to which IS offshoring drives cultural change for IS practitioners in offshore locations. It concludes that the resultant impact is notable, but not different in any significant way to that experienced by any IS practitioner who works overseas. Further, the cultural differences between onshore and offshore practitioners tend to diminish quickly as they adapt to new cultural environments