Global IT Outsourcing: Software Development across Borders

This book offers key insights into how to manage software development across international boundaries. It is based on a series of case studies looking at the relationships between firms from North America, the UK, Japan and Korea with Indian software houses. In these case studies, which have typically been compiled over a 3-4 year timespan, the authors analyse the multi-faceted challenges encountered in managing these Global Software Alliances (GSAs). These challenges range from the conflicts that managers face when dealing with distance, to the tensions of transferring knowledge across time and space, to issues in trying to establish universal standards in a context of constant change, and the problems of identity that developers and clients experience in having to deal with different organizations and countries. Throughout the book, the authors draw on their extensive research and experience to offer constructive advice on how to manage GSAs more effectively.

Table of Contents:
List of figures; List of tables; List of boxes; Foreword; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Introducing the phenomenon of global software work; 2. Globalization and global software work; 3. Globtel's GSA programme In India; 4. The Globtel-Witech relationship: a 'standardization' perspective; 5. Global software work: an identity perspective; 6. The Globtel-MCI relationship: the dialectics of space and place; 7. Managing the knowledge transfer process: the case of Sierra and its Indian subsidiary; 8. The case of Gowing and Eron GSA: power and control; 9. Cross-cultural communication challenges: GSAs between Japanese and Indian firms; 10. Reflections and synthesis on theoretical insights; 11. Managerial implications; Index.

About the Author :
Sundeep Sahay is a Professor in Informatics at the University of Oslo, Norway. After completing his doctoral studies at Florida International University, he has held research and teaching positions at the Universities of Cambridge, the University of Salford and at the University of Alberta. Brian Nicholson is a lecturer in information systems at the University of Manchester. His research interests focus on the complexities of software development and software outsourcing between UK and Indian companies. S. Krishna is a professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. His research interests concern global software work arrangements. He holds a PhD in software engineering and chairs IIM's software enterprise management programme, focusing on research and management education in partnership with local software industry.

Review :
'Global outsourcing is now very big news. This looks at one aspect and is a real in-depth study.' The Bookseller 'This book will be of interest not only to the sociologist and the manager but also to anyone who wants to get a clear picture of what globalization actually means and who wants to go beyond the slogans and clichés of the heated debate being held in the streets and in the plush chairs of countless conferences.' Leonardo Reviews