Global software teams: collaborating across borders and time zones

I. WHY GLOBAL SOFTWARE TEAMS? 1. Why We're Seeing More Global Software Teams. Crossing Borders. History of Global Software Teams. The Future of Global Software Teams. Further Reading. 2. Three Tales of Global Software Teams. PrestigeSoft's Version of Follow the Sun: Prototyping Around the Clock. Orchestral Technologies' Version of Follow the Sun: Sharing Code Between US and Russia. The Case of IBM's Version of Follow the Sun: The Global Software Factory. 3. The Bottom Line: Are Global Software Teams Successful? II. THE FIVE CENTRIFUGAL FORCES OF GLOBAL SOFTWARE TEAMS. 4. Dispersion, Coordination Breakdown, Loss of "Communication Richness," and Loss of "Teamness". Dispersion. Breakdown of Traditional Control & Coordination Mechanisms. The Loss of "Communication Richness". Loss of "Teamness". Diversity's Drawbacks. Loss of Cohesion. Building Trust Takes Time. Team Size Gets Out of Hand. Further Reading. 5. Cultural Differences. Is Culture Significant? Different Types of Culture. The Fundamentals of Cultural Differences: Hofstede, Hall and Others. Do Cultural Differences Affect Software Professionals? No, There are Essentially No Cultural Differences Amongst Software Professionals. Yes, There Certainly are Cultural Differences Amongst Software Professionals. Culture, User Design, and Application Knowledge. Conclusions. Further Reading. III. THE SIX CENTRIPETAL FORCES FOR SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL SOFTWARE TEAMS. 6. Telecommunications Infrastructure. Best Practices Roundup. Further Reading. 7. Collaborative Technology: Generic Technology and Technology to Support Software Engineering. Generic Collaborative Technology. Selected Collaborative Technologies and Their Use. The Cultural Overlay of Collaborative Technology. Collaborative Technology to Support Software Engineering (CT-SE). The Team and Collaborative Technology. Best Practices Roundup. Further Reading. 8. Development Methodology. Best Practices Roundup. Further Reading. 9. Architecture & Task Allocation. Task Allocation Strategies. Inter-site Task Allocation Criteria. Task Allocation of First- and Second-Tier Development Activities. Intra-site Task Allocation. Change in Allocation over Time Stage Model of Global Software Teams. Best Practices Roundup. Further Reading. 10. Building the Dispersed Team through Trust, Communication, and Personal Bridges. Building Trust. The Kick-off and Other Milestone Meetings. Communication. Lateral Communication. Everyone Gets a 360 View. Team Communication Protocols. Communication: The Many Forms of English. The Principle of Building Personal Bridges Between Sites. Building Personal Bridges Between Sites: The Cultural Liaison. Building Personal Bridges Between Sites: The Need for Constant Travel. Building Personal Bridges Between Sites: Expatriates. Creating the Common Team Culture. Become Aware of Culture's Effect on the Style and Speed of Decision Making. Bridging and Managing Time Zone Differences. Training. Cultural Training and Preparation. Team Governance: Contract? Maturity Models for Teams. Best Practices Roundup. Further Reading. 11. Specialized Management Techniques. Designing the Team Structure. Managing Conflict. Project Management Techniques. Measure! Recognition, Rewards, and Compensation. Selecting the Global Software Development Manager. Best Practices Roundup. Further Reading. IV. GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS TEAMS. 12. Globalization and Information Systems. Implications of Globalization for the IS Function: The Integrated Network IS organization. IS Global Outsourcing. Best Practices Roundup. Further Reading. 13. A Methodology for Defining Global Information Systems & Designing Global IS Teams. PSR-Process/System/Responsibility. Types of Global IS Application Teams. Other Specialized Global IS Teams. Best Practices Roundup. 14. Holiday Inn's 'A Passage To India'. Acquisition and the Move to Atlanta. From Insourcing to Offshore Outsourcing: Passage to India. Appendix A: A Research & Data Collection Methodology. Composition. Identification of Teams. Data Collection. Appendix B: Differences Between IS & Packaged Software Development Teams. Glossary of Key Terms. Endnotes. References. Index.