Towards Understanding of Software Engineer Motivation in Globally Distributed Projects

Motivation in software engineering is reported to be a source for performance improvement, which leads to project overall success. Since it is a soft factor and difficult to quantify it is usually neglected. Research in this field is rather scarce and outdated. On the basis of a recent systematic review of software engineers' motivation we set an agenda for further investigation of the role of motivation in contemporary projects. As software organizations nowadays seek opportunities inherited in both - global software development (GSD) and agile projects, it is important to understand how different project environments influence motivation.