Finding a Common Language for Global Software Projects

by Alexandre G. Rodrigues

The rapid globalization of the world economy is forcing companies to focus their business on international market segments. In order to reach their global target groups, many projects are now implemented and managed by international teams, thus gathering people from different cultural backgrounds. Effective cooperation among these teams is vital to success. In the software industry, technical teams in the US and European Union (EU) are increasingly incorporating programmers from other parts of the world, often through geographically dispersed groups. Technology has been helping organizations to overcome communication barriers through multimedia-based systems for cooperative work. However, at the management level, cultural differences are probably the more significant influence -- language, life rhythms, perception of time urgency, values, and codes of conduct all may differ.