About the Authors

Erran Carmel and J. Alberto Espinosa
Kogod Business School, American University Washington DC


For almost two decades Erran Carmel has been studying the globalization of technology work, including global teams, offshoring of information technology, new kinds of global sourcing, and the emergence of software industries around the world. He has written two successful books. His 1999 book, "Global Software Teams," was the first on this topic and is considered a landmark in the field, helping many organizations take their first steps into distributed technology work. His second book, "Offshoring Information Technology," came out in 2005 and was popular in outsourcing courses around the world.

J. Alberto Espinosa studies coordination and performance in global technical projects across global boundaries. He emphasizes his multiple method approach in his research, including theoretical, lab experiments, qualitative studies and survey methods, but his primary focus is on on-site field studies in large technical organizations. His work has been published in the leading scholarly journals and conference proceedings. He began his career as a design engineer; later he was a senior manager with an international NGO where he designed software applications to support global work.