Intercultural challenges in offshore software development outsourcing relationships: an exploratory study using a systematic literature review

Abstract

Offshore software development outsourcing (OSDO) is an emerging business paradigm implemented by many software development organisations. OSDO faces a variety of challenges including temporal, geographical and intercultural differences. The objective of this research is to identify the intercultural challenges faced by vendors in OSDO relationships. A systematic literature review process for the identification of these challenges from vendors’ perspective has been used. The findings reveal ‘language and language proficiency’, ‘national culture’ and ‘organisational culture’ as the critical intercultural challenges for vendors in OSDO relationships. These challenges based on study strategy have been further analysed.