Cultural differences affecting quality and productivity in Western/Asian offshore software development

In this paper we present the results of a survey of Western and Asian software developers focusing on cultural differences in approaches to quality and productivity. It details significant differences in approaches to both quality and productivity. In discussion, these differences are considered to be a result both of inherent cultural differences between cultures and differences in the development and structure of the relevant national software communities. Results indicate significant attitude differences in software developers not only between those working in Asia and those in the West, but also with different Asian development countries. These results have implications both for Western clients and Asian offshore vendors/partners involved in offshoring.