Adaptation in Distributed Projects: Collaborative Processes in Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants

The emergence and widespread use of collaborative technologies for distributed project management has opened up opportunities for off-shore outsourcing and collaborative development. The use of collaborative technologies by participants in distributed projects varies greatly affecting the success of the projects. This paper investigates collaborative interactions among two sets of globally distributed participants. The two sets of distributed groups vary in size, age and experience with the collaborative technologies. Through a comparative analysis using grounded theory analysis of both sets of group interactions, this paper provides insight into the extent and type of adaptation required for successful distributed projects.