Asian Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1, 55–74, 2013 © Asian Academy of Management and Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2013 CLIMATE IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAMS: ROLE OF TASK INTERDEPENDENCE AND PROCEDURAL JUSTICE M. P. Ganesh Department of Management Studies Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai-600036 India E-mail: mpganesh@iitm.ac.in ABSTRACT The objective of the study is to understand the role of task interdependence and procedural justice in influencing climate in software development teams. Data was collected from 192 software professionals from 33 software development teams. Team climate was measured using Team Climate Inventory by Anderson and West. Procedural justice was measured using a scale developed by Colquitt. Pearce and Gregersen's scale was used to measure task interdependence within the team. Teams were taken as the unit of analysis. Regression was used to study the moderating and main effects.Results showed a postive impact of task interdependence on all the sub dimensions of team climate. Procedural justice had a positive effect on two sub-dimensions of team climate (participatory safety and support for innovation). Perception of procedural justice also helped to improve the positive effect of task interdependence on the members' perception of support for innovation within their team. Keywords: Software development teams, team climate, procedural justice, task interdependence INTRODUCTION Flexible team structures are considered an effective alternative to more rigid, centralised structures. Team-based organisational structures are highly recommended to better manage environmental components, particularly in the current turbulent business environment (Mohrman, Cohen, & Mohrman, 1995), as work teams provide flexibility and specificity in handling different stakeholders and can, accordingly, improve organisational effectiveness. However, it is unwise to treat team-based structures as the sole answer to all of an organisation's structural and strategic issues. The success of team-based structures as effective alternatives to other structures largely depends on the way the teams are designed and managed. Accordingly, understanding the role of various technological, procedural and interpersonal factors with respect to the efficiency of the team is the first step in the effective design and management of work teams. Identifying the factors and mechanisms that influence the efficiency