Grupo Alarcos · Conference paper · 2025
Research Approaches and Causes of Social Debt in Agile and Distributed Teams: Results from a Systematic Literature Review
Eydy del Carmen Suárez Brieva, César Jesús Pardo Calvache, Ricardo Pérez del Castillo, Vladimir Villarreal
Software development, regardless of geographical distribution or the methodology employed, requires professionals who are committed to both individual and collaborative work, as well as to knowledge sharing. In distributed environments, the inadequate management of communication and coordination challenges, along with cultural differences, can result in the accumulation of social debt—a phenomenon that negatively impacts the dynamics and sustainability of collaborative work. This article presents a systematic literature review aimed at identifying the causes and research approaches related to social debt in distributed agile teams. A total of 526 studies were analyzed, of which 47 were selected as primary sources. The findings reveal 38 causes associated with agile teams and 62 with distributed environments. Additionally, the research types were categorized using Wieringa's framework, highlighting a predominance of the evaluation type (40.6%), which focuses on metrics, causes, effects, strategies, and management mechanisms. This analysis underscores the need for further classification of the causes according to the domains from which social debt originates. With that classification, it will be possible to develop effective strategies for the identification, quantification, and mitigation of social debt in distributed agile software development.