Investigating Motivation Factors of Software Engineers in 6 Countries

Much of the literature on motivation has noted the importance of motivation factors affecting project outcomes, particularly of software engineering teams working in the software development field. Although factors that motivate software engineering teams have been researched, little research has examined the motivation factors of software engineers within the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries. In order to examine the motivation factors that influence GCC software engineering teams, a survey questionnaire was distributed to software engineering practitioners in each of the six GCC countries. This study investigates motivation levels, the relationship between motivation levels and project outcomes, and the relationship between motivation factors and motivation levels. Results show that motivation levels vary across the region and that the relationship between motivation factors and motivation level vary from country to country. Not enough failed or partially successful projects were reported to make a claim about motivation level and project outcome, highlighting the difficulty of studying project outcomes. All 14 studied factors were significantly related to motivation level in the six countries combined, but there are individual countries where no factor is correlated with motivation level. This study's findings can assist software project managers working in the GCC countries or those dealing with global software development in the same region.