IBM Israel Research Seminars

There are two related trajectories in my research that I will present briefly. The first, utilizing Follow-the-Sun (FTS), is inspired by an ambitious pilot project at IBM in the 1990s. FTS is a rather simple idea: Hand-off work from one site to the next as the world turns (USA to India, for example) in order to decrease the overall project development duration. In practice, this is quite difficult and -- on close inspection in projects around the world-- has largely failed. The second trajectory is my broader study in understanding the impact of time-zone differences on distributed work. This broad study, with multiple colleagues, has been going on for 5 years. We are examining practical implications of time zone differences, such as: due to time zone differences, is it better to offshore to Mexico or India? I will discuss field research at India-based Infosys and early experimental laboratory research I am conducting in the USA.

About the Speaker
Prof. Carmel's area of expertise is global software development. He studies globally dispersed software teams, offshore sourcing of IT work, and national policy issues surrounding software. His 1999 book Global Software Teams was the first on this topic. His 2005 book, Offshoring Information Technology, covers the range of topics that managers need to know about offshore work. He has written over 70 articles, reports, and manuscripts. He consults and speaks to industry and professional groups. He is the department chair and tenured Associate Professor at the Information Technology department, Kogod School of Business at American University. In the 1990s he co-founded and led the program in Management of Global Information Technology. He has been a Visiting Professor at Haifa University (Israel) and University College Dublin (Ireland). He received his Ph.D., in Management Information Systems from the University of Arizona; his MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.