Software Developers in India and Norway: Professional or National Cultures?

  • Authors:

  • Bendik Bygstad;Gheorghita Ghinea;Manoranjan Satpathy

  • Affiliations:

  • Norwegian School of Information Technology, Norway;Brunel University, UK, and Norwegian School of Information Technology, Norway;Abo Akademi University, Finland

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Information Technology Research
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

In this paper, the authors investigate the professional practices of software developers from two different cultures-Norway and India. The authors examine if systematic differences exist between Norwegian and Indian software developers in their professional practice. Using Hofstede's cultural dimensions, the authors expected to find cultural differences between the two groups of professionals. Building on a survey among software developers in the two countries, the authors have the following conclusions. Firstly, the main finding is that there are surprisingly few differences between the two groups, giving support to the view of a common professional culture. Secondly, the few differences that are observed cannot easily be explained by Hofstede's cultural dimensions.