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Through a set of semi-structured interviews and the application of adaptive structuration theory, this study finds that because of the unique characteristics of global software development, IM is a highly useful tool for maintaining team cohesiveness and supporting team communication. Although the study finds strong support for the value of IM, it also identifies that the time distributed nature of the work, the informality of the medium as it interacts with different cultures and the productivity loss from IM\u2019s interruptive nature are problematic. A set of recommendations is made to address these problems. The paper concludes that IM is a useful tool for global software development and its advantages outweigh its problems.<\/p>","DOI":"10.4018\/jec.2010070103","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2010,7,1]],"date-time":"2010-07-01T01:10:47Z","timestamp":1277946647000},"page":"43-63","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Instant Messaging in Global Software Teams"],"prefix":"10.4018","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Suling","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Kean University, USA"}]},{"given":"Felix","family":"K\u00f6bler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Technische Universit\u00e4t M\u00fcnchen, Germany"}]},{"given":"Marilyn","family":"Tremaine","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rutgers University, USA"}]},{"given":"Allen","family":"Milewski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Monmouth University, USA"}]}],"member":"2432","reference":[{"key":"jec.2010070103-0","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bodine, K., & Pignol, M. 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