A framework for the analysis of coordination in global software development

Abstract

This paper attempts a conceptualization of coordination in Global Software Development (GSD) by arguing that distribution is a significant conditioner of software development that engenders distance-related, socio-cultural and technological conditioners. It is proposed that the core organising dimensions on which coordination analysis in GSD should focus are people, processes, information, technology and the interactions between them. It is also argued that these dimensions are characterized by process interdependencies, interpersonal and interunit conflicts, information uncertainties and equivocalities, technology representations, and their interrelations. The final argument is that the management of the dimensions' characteristics - which defines coordination - will be conditioned by distribution, and that the awareness of this conditioning must be central in coordination analysis. The resultant is an analytical framework that will hopefully proffer a theoretical foundation for research on coordination in GSD.