Cultural influences and globally distributed information systems development: experiences from Chinese IT professionals

Abstract

Global information systems development has become increasingly prevalent and is facing a variety of challenges, including the challenge of cross-cultural management. However, research on exactly how cross-cultural factors affect global information systems development work is limited, especially with respect to distributed collaborative work between the U.S. and China. This paper draws on the interviews of Chinese IT professionals and discusses three emergent themes relevant to cross-cultural challenges: the complexity of language issues, culture and communication styles and work behaviors, and cultural understandings at different levels. Implications drawn from our findings will provide actionable knowledge to organizational management entities.