Knowledge is the most important resource in software development. The success of software development relies on knowledge sharing between software developers working across the globe. Global software development has brought many benefits to the software industry; however, at the same, time knowledge sharing across diverse team members is one of the main concerns of global software development organizations. This paper provides a systematic literature review of 42 studies on knowledge sharing barriers and facilitators from 2010 to 2017 and classifies them into five main categories: Individual, Organizational, Technological, Cultural, and Geographical. In order to synthesize and represent the complexity of the knowledge sharing factors in a more manageable and visual manner, this paper proposes concept maps for each category. The identified factors can be strategically used as the guidelines in the global software development organizations to boost the culture of knowledge sharing. INDEX TERMS Knowledge sharing barriers, knowledge sharing facilitators, global software development organizations, cultural barriers, geographical barriers.

Software development is a cooperative process, which relies upon the integration of knowledge spread across various domains. The shift from the industrial economy toward a decentralized knowledge-based economy has given knowledge more value and importance for organizations, which operate globally. Management of knowledge sharing activities becomes challenging and complex, specifically when operating in a globally distributed organization. The impact of ''personal factors'' and ''environmental factors'' on software developers with regard to knowledge sharing behavior in global software development organizations is an important subject, which is still not well discussed. The social cognitive theory has been utilized in the formation of the conceptual model with a focus on knowledge sharing behavior. This paper examines the impact of key factors, including ''time zone difference,'' ''geographic distance,'' ''linguistic distance,'' ''trust,'' ''motivation,'' and ''social interaction'' on knowledge sharing behavior. Self-administrative postal and online questionnaire were used as the medium of data collection. It was found that ''social interaction'' had the strongest impact on knowledge sharing behavior. INDEX TERMS Knowledge sharing behavior, global software development organization, social cognitive theory, personal factors, environmental factors.

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