Organizations are adapting to support more effective project management as projects become the focal point of businesses. The more successful organizations of the future will be the ones that support flexibility, places high importance on projects, and maintain a sustained effort by members to learn and improve processes. Leading organizations of the future will need to support continuous improvement and organizational learning and react quickly to innovation (Gray, C. & Larson, E., 2003).
Projects are not stream-lined to just one group. Cross-border, cross cultural projects will multiply with the increase of large mergers and acquisitions and will force project managers to develop global perspective. Managing global teams working together on one project from several distant sites will require the project manager to change management style to accommodate this unique project environment (Gray, C. & Larson, E., 2003).
Project management in any situation can be challenging. On a global scale, it can truly be overwhelming. Team members and people in the organization come from different nation-state cultures. Global project managers whether or not operating in only one or multiple foreign nations, must think globally. The international project manager needs the benefits of shorter decision-making paths in foreign project-related problems. Globalization is a large part of this new age, not only in terms of projects but also in range of decisions that managers have to make. Global project managers must possess unique project management skills when successfully operating with other nations. When engaging in potential alliances between competing organizations, design, implementation, and management styles are key factors that ultimately decide which strategic alliance will be most beneficial to both companies. A competitive alliance is a preferred if the partners have different technologies but contribute equally. Furthermore, if one partner has a dominant equity position over the other, than a competitive alliance is also desired. A cooperative alliance is preferred when partners have similar technologies or know-how and contribute equally. Alliances combining same value-chain activities which complement talents and share the same degree of risk also prefer a cooperative alliance over competitive.
Whether projects are domestic or global in outlook, there are competitive risks involved. This risk results from the changes in the competitive environment. When a project is global, the project manager may not be able to develop a complete understanding of the foreign markets. It is important to remember the strength of cultures and traditions that shape and differentiate the nation’s society. Failure to learn the unique features of the foreign competitive environment may result in failure to identify potential risk that could have a serious impact on the project success. Global projects have rewards to be gained but these must be weighed against the risk that might incur. Domestic products are not exposed to as much competitive risk. They do not need an additional due diligence in assessing market potential nor additional costs of reducing and managing risk; however, neither do they have access to the potentially high rewards from a successful global strategy. The biggest obstacle that project managers must endure when managing a project across multiple ethnic backgrounds is culture. Dealing with culture in project management, the manager must be cognizant of two types of culture; (a) business culture and (b) social culture. In some countries it is customary to accept bribes as a means to do business. In many countries abroad, their may not be a premium placed on efficiency. Precision and exactness may supersede the need for cost savings. Social cultures abroad also have an impact on project management. An example is having both a native of Pakistan and India working closely on the same project. Although the two countries are neighboring powers, the two countries have very little in common in terms of customs, religion, and overall approach to work. What really separates the two countries is that they despise each other politically have each threatened the other with military threats over the course of two decades. It is the duty of the project manager to be aware of such situations that may have a severe impact on the long-term project.
Choosing a strategic partner involves the evaluation of key criteria. They are the following:
- Seek strategic complementarity
- Understand objectives and seek complementarity
- Pick a partner with complementary skills
- One that enhances but does not necessarily duplicate an alliance partner’s skills
When evaluating the above criterion, a heavy emphasis on the correct level of
dependency between both organizations is paramount. A progressive company will actively seek out the perfect balance between a competitive and cooperative alliance. Compatible management styles, operating policy, and cross-cultural communication will allow for a successful migration between those two competing organizations.
Organizations and teams are made up increasingly of people in different locations cultures, and times. When managing a virtual remote team there are factors to deal with, such as customers, suppliers, competitors, and other teams or departments. Leading a remote or virtual team requires a strategic approach, good communication skills and inspirational leadership. There is no way a manager can be onsite to oversee members to make sure a task is completed on time. A virtual remote team makes for a challenging situation. Time zones, lack of face-to-face interaction, conflicting priorities, and cultural differences all impede team effectiveness. There are three challenges in managing a remote team: poor communication between team members, poor management/leadership, and lack of support and direction for member of the team. These three challenges indicate the importance of leadership role when managing a virtual remote team. When team members do not work in close proximity building trust among them is difficult. Some essential recommendations for managing a virtual remote team are to:
- Have face-to-face meeting at key times
- Have a clear agenda and document actions
- Focus on team member similarities
- Communicate regularly
- Give performance feedback
Because leaders/managers can not see team members, it is easy to forget that people are working in context that are different and that they might have different support needs, resources, and demands.
There exists a wide array of challenges involving project management with
members of a different ethnic or cultural background. Environmental, political, legal, economic, and cultural differences can act as barriers towards completing projects. Due to these factors, it becomes extremely important for the project manager to step in and make an assessment of its team member’s ability to communicate effectively across cultural boundaries. A look into past performance reviews as to how well they work within a team constraint and possible work issues with other employees, should information on potential conflicts that may arise. Project managers should never just look at skill-set as the determining factor in putting together a team, because other intangibles may outweigh an individual’s ability to handle the project.
