On Coordination Mechanisms in Global Software Development

The ability of an organization to successfully carry out its tasks depends on the appropriate combination of organizational structure, processes, and communication and coordination mechanisms. In this paper, we present four case studies that exemplify coordination breakdown problems in global software development. Our analysis showed those problems took place even in the presence of a collection of processes, organizational mechanisms and communication tools established to increases the ability of the teams to perform their tasks. Finally, we discuss possible solutions to overcome the identified problems.