Navigating Cultural Diversity: Barriers and Benefits in Multicultural Agile Software Development Teams

Context: Social aspects are of high importance for being successful using agile methods in software development. People are influenced by their cultural imprint, as the underlying cultural values are guiding us in how we think and act. Thus, one may assume that in multicultural agile software development teams, cultural characteristics influence the result in terms of quality of the team work and consequently, the product to be delivered. Objective: We aim to identify barriers and benefits that may arise in multicultural agile software development teams to provide valuable strategies for both researchers and practitioners faced with barriers or potential benefits of cultural diversity. Method: The single-case study comprising two units of analysis (agile software development teams). Our approach further include a mixed-method design consisting quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods. Results: First, our results suggest that the cultural characteristics at the team level need to be analyzed individually in intercultural teams. Second, we identified key benefits regarding cultural characteristics such as a individual team subculture that fits agile values like open communication. Third, we derived strategies supporting the benefits of cultural diversity in agile software development teams. Conclusion: Our findings show, that a deeper understanding of cultural influences in multicultural agile software development teams is needed. Based on the results, we already prepare future work to validate the results in other industries.