How do Cultural Characteristics and Software Engineering Practices Interplay?

Abstract: This paper is an empirical study looking at the usage of software engineering practices and culture characteristics through the culture dimensions defined by Geert Hofstede. Using a survey to collect data from software engineering professionals worldwide, in a timespan of three weeks, the data is analysed by taking the responses from Indonesia and Sweden, and mapping them to the selected four culture dimension indices. This study focuses especially on software engineering practices that affect software architecture.