pax

Offshore outsourced IT projects continue to gain relevance in the globalized world scenario. The temporal, geographical and cultural distances involved during the development of software between distributed team members result in communication challenges. As software development involves the coding of knowledge, the management of knowledge and its transfer remain critical for the success of the project. For effective knowledge transfer between geographically dispersed teams the ongoing selection of communication medium or the media channel mix becomes highly significant. Although there is an abundance of theory dealing with knowledge transfer and media channel selection during offshore outsourcing projects, the specific role of cultural differences in the media mix is often overlooked. As a first step to rectify this, this paper presents an outsourcing case study with emphasis on the chosen media channels and the problems that arose from differences in culture. The case study is analyzed in light of several theoretical models and suggestions for extending current theory are also presented.

Exploring the media mix during IT-Offshore transition phase...

Exploring the media mix during IT-Offshore transition phase – an opportunity for a better knowledge transfer

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