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1. Introduction
Software development, which refers to the analysis, design and implementation of information systems applications to support business activities, is critical for firms to survive, prosper and increase their profitability in a rapidly changing environment (Stewart, 2012; Yang et al., 2016). However, a software development project is often complex and beyond the ability of an individual due to time restrictions, technological issues and organizational factors (Wang et al., 2012; Xiang et al., 2013). In this sense, firms employ project teams to solve software and project-related problems and improve the success of their software development projects’ efforts (Xu et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2012). In particular, software development teams in technology-intensive service firms, such as banks, are critical to improve their customer services, capture critical customer and process-related data and provide information technology (IT)-based solutions for performance requirements (Regaliza, 2014). Indeed, IT systems in general and software programs in particular are vital for banks’ operational processes and systems (e.g. a bank performs approximately 1.5 billion credit card transactions in a day), and any mistake, problem or pause in those systems can cause serious financial losses.
With the increasing popularity of using teams in software development projects, researchers have become interested in the critical success factors of project teams to leverage project success. For instance, researchers have shown that within team communication (Aubert et al., 2013), interpersonal trust (Porter and Lilly, 1996), team learning (Chan et al., 2003) and teamwork and leadership (Nixon et al., 2012; Hasani and Sheikhesmaeili, 2016) influence project success. Also, researchers have found that knowledge management practices in general and knowledge sharing, which refers to the actual mutual exchange of task-relevant ideas, information, suggestions and know-how regarding software products and processes (Srivastava et al., 2006), in particular are critical for project success (Yang et al., 2012; Ghobadi and D’Ambra, 2013). In fact, software, as a product, continuously arises from intensive and iterative development of knowledge across team members who have different specializations, are often distributed and may have opposing professional priorities (Ghobadi, 2015). In this respect, knowledge sharing among software development team members in technology-intensive service firms leads to effective and creative solutions for software-related problems, encourages team members to learn...