The coordination issues of relocations: How proximity still matters in location of software development activities\r\n

Abstract

The objective of this article is to investigate the dynamics of relocations at the micro-economic level. By proposing a grid of “dynamics of proximities”, we focus on the coordination issues which seem to be missing from most of analyses carried about relocations. We apply our framework to software development activities. The proposition we develop in this paper is the following: mobility, ICT use and modularity reduce the need for geographical proximity and favour relocations but, in order to succeed, relocations need to have the support of organisational and institutional proximities to ensure effective coordination between entities and individuals.relocation, software development, dynamics of proximity, coordination.