Culture Clash in Information Technology: Don’t Take “yes” For an Answer
First of all, there are general translation errors that can result in code errors based on misunderstood requirements. This causes some issues, but the majority of issues come from cultural differences. In India and some other countries, it is considered disgraceful to say “no” to a boss, so certain groups have a tendency to say “yes” to something that they don’t really understand. I had to work with a group of Korean offshorers that also had this problem. In order to get something done correctly, you had to set it up in such a way that they could learn or ask questions without seeming like they were saying they didn’t know how to do it. Businesses that don’t take this into account will pay lots of money into offshoring and get absolutely nothing worthwhile back out, other than a bunch of “yes,l understand” and then about 5 lines of code that don’t do anything.
From one of my Indian friends:
I totally agree with you Devin. Saying “no” to your boss in India is considered as asking for trouble.