Final Thesis: A Theory of Problems and Solutions in German/Chinese and American/Chinese Software Engineering Collaborations

Abstract: Global software development projects are rapidly increasing due to the globalization of the software industry. However, 69% of cross-regional projects fail completely or partially, because of the lack of cross cultural understanding. This thesis presents a qualitative study of the impact of cultural differences on Global Software Development (GSD). We show a theory of problems and solutions of German/Chinese and American/Chinese collaborations in GSD. The theory presents two main categories: communication, and trust. We believe that the resulting theory may help companies not only understand the cultural problems, but also knowing how to overcome them based on solutions adopted by big multinational software companies.

Keywords: Global Software Development, Cultural Differences, Qualitative Research

PDFs: Master Thesis, Work Description

Reference: Bilal Zaghloul. A Theory of Problems and Solutions in German/Chinese and American/Chinese Software Engineering Collaborations. Master Thesis, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg: 2014.