Cultural Impact on Requirements Engineering Activities: Bangladeshi Practitioners' View

2025-07-20

AI Summary

This study investigates how Bangladeshi cultural norms influence Requirements Engineering (RE) practices, addressing the lack of cultural adaptation in cross-cultural software development. Using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis grounded in Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, we analyzed data from 32 local practitioners. Our findings systematically identify how power distance, collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance concretely shape requirements elicitation, negotiation, and validation—revealing context-specific traits such as high-context communication, hierarchical decision-making, and relationship-oriented stakeholder interaction. We propose culturally grounded RE guidelines tailored to the Bangladeshi context, thereby filling a critical gap in culture-sensitive RE research in South Asia. The study contributes empirically validated insights and an actionable framework to enhance communication efficiency and project success in multicultural software teams.

Technology Category

• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Knowledge Engineering
• Application Domains: Software Engineering
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Adaptive Behavior

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements

Abstract

Requirements Engineering (RE) is one of the most interaction-intensive phases of software development. This means that RE activities might be especially impacted by stakeholders' national culture. Software development projects increasingly have a very diverse range of stakeholders. To future-proof RE activities, we need to help RE practitioners avoid misunderstandings and conflicts that might arise from not understanding potential Cultural Influences (CIs). Moreover, an awareness of CIs supports diversity and inclusion in the IT profession. Bangladesh has a growing IT sector with some unique socio-cultural characteristics, and has been largely overlooked in this research field. In this study, we aim to investigate how the RE process is adopted in the context of Bangladeshi culture and what cultural influences impact overall RE activities.

Problem

• Examines cultural impacts on Requirements Engineering in Bangladesh
• Identifies cultural influences causing RE misunderstandings and conflicts
• Investigates RE process adoption within Bangladeshi socio-cultural context

Innovation

• Investigates RE process in Bangladeshi cultural context
• Identifies cultural influences on Requirements Engineering
• Focuses on diverse stakeholders to prevent misunderstandings