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Introduction
Global software development (GSD) is the phenomenon by which software development is done in several different sites (software development centers) that could be located in different countries and even continents. A global software team executes the activities collaborating on a common software development project

In Globally Distributed Software Development, stakeholders coming from various national and organizational cultures are involved in the process of developing software. There are many benefits included in these techniques, such as access to a large labor pool, cost advantages and round-the-clock development utilization (e.g. follow-the-sun technique). However, Globally Distributed Software Development is technologically and organizationally complex and presents many challenges that need to be addressed. Particularly temporal, geographical and socio-cultural distances impose problems that are not present in traditional physical systems.

Socio-Cultural distance is a measure of an actor's understanding of another actor's values and normative practices. It is a complex dimension, involving organizational culture, national culture and language, politics, and individual motivations and work ethics. It is possible to have a low socio-cultural distance between two actors from different national and cultural backgrounds who share a common organizational culture, but a high distance between two co-nationals from very different company backgrounds. Certainly, geographical distance may imply increased cultural distance. However, the cultural distance can be great even with low geographical distribution. Similarly, a huge geographical distance does not automatically mean a huge cultural difference.

In relation to socio-cultural distance, the most widely experienced difficulty is related to language and interpretation. Many literature findings indicate that employees, in companies that use distributed techniques, mention language problems as the primary reason for misunderstandings. Even when social and bonding activities occur the conversation often is focused on work-related issues, due to lack of vocabulary. Informal communication plays a critical role in coordination activities, for co-located software development, as it allows team members to develop working relationships and allows better flow of information regarding changes in the project. Consequently, the need for informal conversation in GSD is extensive, yet there is the recognition of far less frequent communication in distributed development teams and that people find it far more difficult to identify distant colleagues and communicate effectively with them.

History
Cultural differences appear since the beginning of the GSD. Software has become a vital component of almost every business. Success increasingly depends on using software as a competitive weapon. Even before 2000s, seeking lower costs and access to skilled resources, many organizations began to experiment with remotely located software development facilities and with outsourcing. Several factors have accelerated this trend:


 * 1) The need to capitalize on the global resource pool to successfully and cost-competitively use scarce resources, wherever located.
 * 2) The business advantages of proximity to the market, including knowledge of customers and local conditions, as well as the good will engendered by local investment.
 * 3) The quick formation of virtual corporations and virtual teams to exploit market opportunities.
 * 4) Severe pressure to improve time-tomarket by using time zone differences in “round-the-clock” development.
 * 5) The need for flexibility to capitalize on merger and acquisition opportunities wherever they present themselves.

Challenges


The challenges due to Cultural diversity in GSD can ben classified in three categories :


 * 1) Communication, Coordination & Collaboration: Communication or coordination in GDSE became more difficult because face-to-face meetings are not common. Furthermore, the cultural and language distance are important factors that difficult communication, because can limit ability of clear and coherent communication.
 * 2) Requirements Engineering
 * 3) Knowledge Transfer/Management

On the following table the threats and opportunities generated by the socio-cultural context of distance in GDSE are presented.

Culture and Software Development
Culture can be defined as: “socially derived, taken for granted assumptions about how to act and think”. Culture remains below every day consciousness and only becomes obvious to those who share it when it is contrasted with different cultural norms, values and assumptions. The operation of globally distributed software development projects require a level of cooperation and coordination that cannot ignore the impact cultural diversity plays and the barriers and misunderstandings it can and does create. Cultural differences and the relevance this can have on the successful completion of GSD projects are crucial and at any case they should not be underestimated.

Geert Hofstede
Geert Hofstede’s classification of culture derived from research carried out in the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). Geert Hofstede’s research mainly focused on the values and the culture of computer professionals. His research and work is still widely utilized in information systems research. Hofstede defines culture as “the collective programming of the human mind” that distinguishes the members of one human group from another. During his research, he identified He identified 5 cultural dimensions. The five dimensions are presented next, while focusing on PDI, IDV and UAI, as these three are the ones that are more interesting from a software development perspective:
 * Power Distance (PDI). Human inequalities can be expressed in terms of prestige, wealth, and power. The most interesting aspect of this measurement from a software development perspective is in the way it applies internally to organizations, as power distance exists in every firm. High values for PDI correspond to higher levels of perceived inequality. In the development of software, the inequality of bosses and subordinates is the most relevant example. In high PDI cultures the boss has greater authority over subordinates, than in cultures with lower PDI.
 * Individualism/Collectivism (IDV). High values for IDV correspond to cultures in which individuals live independently from the groups that they belong to. These cultures with high IDV have relatively weak relationships between individuals and the groups that they belong to. For software development this index impacts the ability of a software team to form strong bonds between the team members and act cohesively. It also impacts the ability of individual team members to excel independently as "star performers" within the team.
 * Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI). Cultures with high values for UAI possess more highly evolved coping mechanisms to reduce the feelings of uncertainty. Examples of these coping mechanisms in the software development field could include rigorous adherence to waterfall development models, restrictive change control systems and elaborate process models creating procedures for dealing with every possible event during development.
 * Masculinity/Femininity(MAS). Masculinity is described as “a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards for success.” Its counterpart represents “a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life.”
 * Short-term or Long-term Orientation (LTO). This dimension associates the connection of the past with the current and future actions/challenges.

E. T. Hall’s Cultural Factors
Hall identified key cultural factors by conducting anthropological analyses. These are classified into High Context and Low Context cultures based on time and space. Context The table below explains the differences between High and Low Context cultures.

Time Hall divided Time into two categories: Monochronic and Polychronic. Regarding time Hall theorizes that cultures following Monochronic time prefer doing one thing at a time while in Polychronic time human interaction is valued over time and material things. The table below explains the above in more detail:

Alfons Trompenaars & Charles Hampden-Turner
Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner published the Seven Dimensions of Culture in their 1998 book, “Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business.” This model was developed throughout 10 years of researching the preferences and values of people in various cultures. For the specific study more than 46,000 managers participated in 40 countries. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner concluded that what distinguishes people from different cultures is where these preferences fall on the following seven dimensions:
 * Universalism versus particularism. Universalism is the belief that ideas and practices can be applied everywhere without modification, while particularism is the belief that circumstances dictate how ideas and practices should be applied.
 * Individualism versus communitarianism. Individualism refers to people regarding themselves as individuals, while communitarianism refers to people regarding themselves as part of a group.
 * Specific versus diffuse. A specific culture is one in which individuals have a large public space they readily share with others and small private space guard closely and share with only close friends and associates. A diffuse culture is one in which public space and private space are similar in size and individuals guard their public space carefully because entry into public space affords entry into private space as well.
 * Neutral versus emotional. A neutral culture is a culture in which emotions are held in check whereas an emotional culture is a culture in which emotions are expressed openly and naturally.
 * Achievement versus ascription. In an achievement culture, people are accorded status based on how well they perform their functions. In an ascription culture, status is based on who or what a person is.
 * Sequential time versus synchronous time. A sequential time culture is the one in which the people like events to happen in chronological order. Instead in synchronic cultures, they see specific time periods as interwoven periods, the use to highlight the importance of punctuality and deadlines if these are key to meeting objectives.
 * Internal direction versus outer direction. Do we control our environment or are we controlled by it?

Other researchers' contributions
Philippe d’Iribarne have the  same  approach  as  Hall  but  with  an ethnographic method  for  sense-making. Vaara has contributed with an epistemological approach  where they  state  that  culture  and  cultural  differences  exist  only when people become aware of it in their social interactions.

Methods to manage Cutural diversity issues in Global Software Engineering

 * Establishing Backup teams at various geographical locations can help  project  managers at  an  international level  to  deal  with unforeseen  or  surplus  events  that  arise  due  to  cultural differences.


 * The project managers and senior executives should be well  informed  with  the  different  cultural  and  festive  events that  happen  throughout  the year  within  various  countries where  teams  are  operating.


 * Orientation courses to gain knowledge of different cultures of team members within the team so that the team members can understand each others' behaviors.


 * Onsite visits: Team  members  should  be encouraged to visit the sites of other teams with whom they daily coordinate. Scheduling such visits to the location of the other teams serves to improve understanding between teams and team members.