1. Global Software Development - A Research Proposal - Haiyan Huang School of Information Sciences and Technology The Pennsylvania State University December 12, 2004

2. Research Backgrounds Software and information systems development work is increasingly outsourced globally A variety of stakeholders seek global software development (GSD) as opportunities for taking advantage of the global market and resources Global software development practices are facing a number of challenges associated with the risks and difficulties of cross-national collaboration, cross- cultural management, time, space and cultural barriers

3. Conceptualizing Global Software Development Multiple levels of analysis – Global software development is situated with a complex socio-cultural context Influence-impact – Global software development is dynamically changing Situated perspective – Global software development is culturally diversified

4. Research Framework

5. Research Proposal Research Goals –Gaining empirically in-depth understandings of: how socio-cultural factors from different levels interrelate and influence the global software development practice in different global settings how global software development practices affect the surrounding socio-cultural context at various levels –Integrating and developing theories to address GSD related issues across different levels Research Methods –Longitudinal comparative case studies in multiple GSD Settings

6. COMMENTS