Culture-Based Behaviors in Global IT Projects – An Investigative Study with Indian Managers of Outsourcing Projects

The success or failure of global IT projects is highly influenced by culture-based behaviors. But, research has primarily focused on belief and value systems which are more abstract than behaviors. This paper presents a study that analyzed cultural behavioral differences between Indian project managers and their counterparts in other countries. The conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews revealed insights into cross-cultural challenges and shed light on the complex ways that culture-based behaviors impact IT projects. The study identified 127 behaviors that significantly affected project success and cross-cultural cooperation between Indian managers and managers from all over the world. These behaviors were grouped into 19 behavior clusters. Understanding these behavior clusters can help to improve project collaboration, and inform cross-cultural training strategies. Finally, based on the study's results, the paper suggests four important components that should be added to cross-cultural training programs for international project managers.