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A new book on globalization by a Harvard Business School professor concludes that the world really is round. Redefining Global Strategy: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter by Pankaj Ghemawat says you must take the differences between people and cultures into serious consideration if your business is global or using global resources. |
Indeed, most clients and companies outsourcing their software development I speak to these days are grappling with cultural differences. Some discussions degenerate into a blame game of dissatisfaction with their offshore programmers. However, there are usually two sides to the story. A poor definition of software requirements on one side runs headlong into a cultural inhibition to ask direct questions on the other.
The book is saying that reports of the “death of distance” caused by the Internet have been greatly exaggerated. It doesn’t mean that global trade in general, or global software development in particular, is doomed. You just need to be aware of the cultural differences and work with them or around them to benefit both sides.
You can read an excerpt from the book on the CIO Insight website.


















