DIVERSITY AND CONVERGENCE IN MANAGING PROJECTS Tampere University of Applied Sciences

1. DIVERSITY AND CONVERGENCE IN MANAGING PROJECTS Tampere University of Applied Sciences TAMK Virrat Pirkko Varis Head of Marketing Studies International Coordinator Email: pirkko.varis@tamk.fi

2. THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES BY KNOWLEDGE AREA • Integration Management • Scope Management • Time Management • Cost Management • Quality Management • Human Resources Management (team management, leadership) • Communications Management • Risk Management • Procurement Management Source: Alan M. Stretton: Bodies of Knowledge and Competency Standards in Project Management, Based on information in Chapter 1 of A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition, (PMI, 2004) in the book The AMA Handbook of project management, edited by Dinsmore, Paul C. & Cabanis-Brewin, Jeannette, Second Edition, Amacom, New York, 2006. Page 17

3. MARKETING PROJECTS • Product/service development and product design projects • Projects to launch the product/service into the market • Projects in relation to market entry and distribution channels • Projects in the field of marketing communications mix (promotion) • Examples: Trade fairs and exhibitions & events • etc.

4. CROSS-CULTURAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT • a complexity in all fields of the project • management processes • time and space • team management • individual characteristics • team roles

5. managing diversity • managing with different cultures • managing multicultural and virtual teams • communications management

6. Diversity Management • Diversity management is to do with acceptance • Elements of diversity: age, gender, culture background,education, ethnicity, geographic location, income, life situation, marital and parental status, personality type, personal habits, physical characteristics, psychological work abilities, race, religion, world view

7. Intercultural communication and cross-cultural management – some models • Hall´s model HC-LC In his books Beyond Culture (1976), The Silent Language (1997) and Understanding Cultural Differences (1990), Edward T. Hall suggested a distinction between high- and low-context as regards the way in which information is transmitted, that is to say, communicated, thus all information transaction can be characterised as high-, low- or middle- context:

8. “High-context transactions feature pre-programmed information that is in the receiver and in the setting, with only minimal information in the transmitted message. Low-context transactions are the reverse. Most of the information must be in the transmitted message in order to make up for what is missing in the context.” (1976: 101). • “A high-context (HC) communication or message is one in which most of the information is either in the physical context or internalised in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message. A low-context (LC) communication is just the opposite, i.e. the mass of information is vested in the explicit code” (Hall 1976: 91). • In high-context cultures, meaning does not always have to be put into words. Non-verbal clues are important, as is the context in which the situation takes place. Relationship-building and emphasis on getting to know one’s business partner are important. In low-context (LC) cultures, meaning is made explicit, and put into words.

9. TIME –ORIENTATION, Hall: • monochronic cultures • polychronic cultures

10. Hofstede’s model Cultural dimensions: • Power Distance • Individualism – Collectivism • Uncertainty Avoidance • Masculinity – Femininity • Long-Term Orientation Source: Hofstede, Geert. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. London:HarperCollinsBusiness. 1994 Hofstede, G. and Hofstede, G.J. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York.McGraw-Hill.2005 www.geert-hofstede.com

11. Power Distance Index (PDI) that is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not from above. It suggests that a society's level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of any society and anybody with some international experience will be aware that 'all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others'.

12. Individualism (IDV) on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. On the individualist side we find societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. The word 'collectivism' in this sense has no political meaning: it refers to the group, not to the state. Again, the issue addressed by this dimension is an extremely fundamental one, regarding all societies in the world.

13. Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; 'there can only be one Truth and we have it'. People in uncertainty avoiding countries are also more emotional, and motivated by inner nervous energy. The opposite type, uncertainty accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level they are relativist and allow many currents to flow side by side.

14. Masculinity (MAS) versus its opposite, femininity, refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found. The IBM studies revealed that (a) women's values differ less among societies than men's values; (b) men's values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally different from women's values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to women's values on the other. The assertive pole has been called 'masculine' and the modest, caring pole 'feminine'. The women in feminine countries have the same modest, caring values as the men; in the masculine countries they are somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as the men, so that these countries show a gap between men's values and women's values.

15. Long-Term Orientation (LTO) versus short-term orientation: this fifth dimension was found in a study among students in 23 countries around the world, using a questionnaire designed by Chinese scholars It can be said to deal with Virtue regardless of Truth. Values associated with Long Term Orientation are thrift and perseverance; values associated with Short Term Orientation are respect for tradition, fulfilling social obligations, and protecting one's 'face'.  

16. The work of Hofstede is probably the most popular work in the arena of culture research. Although the work provides a relatively general framework for analysis, the framework can be applied easily to many everyday intercultural encounters. It is particularly useful, as it reduces the complexities of culture and its interactions into five relatively easily understood cultural dimensions. However, although the study is based on the empirical research of 88,000 managers in over sixty countries, the data derived from questionnaires are based only on a limited number of questions that then determined underlying values, and data are incomplete, as not all countries have been covered, although more countries have been incorporated in further studies. We have identified a series of flaws in the model: • 1. The values very much reflect the preoccupations of the sixties, for example, the anti-authoritarian and anti-establishment movements. • 2. Data are partly incomplete. • 3. National borders very often do not correspond to ethnic or religious borders, i. e. data needs to be differentiated more. • 4. It does not take into account the unpredictable dynamic process that takes place in an intercultural encounter. • 5. The dimensions reduce the complexities of intercultural interactions into five relatively simple categories, which makes the model very popular. However, it is often not enough to consider one category, as several categories need to be taken into account, which increases the complexity considerably

17. Fons Trompenaars & Charles Hampden- Turner - seven dimensions of culture • In their book Riding The Waves of Culture (1997), Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner identify three main cultural dimensions - relationships with people, attitudes to time and attitudes to the environment - and seven value orientations. Some of these value orientations are similar to Hofstede's dimensions. Contrary to Hofstede, Trompenaars didn't develop his dimensions from statistical data, but created a collection instrument for the data he considered relevant. • Source: • Trompenaars, Fons & Hampden-Turner,Charles: Riding the Waves of Culture. Understanding Diversity in Global Business. New York: Mc-Graw-Hill. 1997 • www.7d-culture.nl

18. The seven dimensions of culture Every culture distinguishes itself from others by the specific solutions it chooses to certain problems which reveal themselves as dilemmas. It is convenient to look at these problems under three headings: those which arise from our relationships with other people; those which come from the passage of time; and those which relate to the environment. From the solutions different cultures have chosen to these universal problems, we can further identify seven fundamental dimensions of culture:

19. Universalism vs. ParticularismWhat is more important - rules or relationships? Individualism vs. CommunitarianismDo we function in a group or as an individual? Specific vs. Diffuse culturesHow far do we get involved? Affective vs. Neutral culturesDo we display our emotions? Achievement vs. AscriptionDo we have to prove ourselves to receive status or is it given to us? Sequential vs synchronic culturesDo we do things one at a time or several things at once? Internal vs External controlDo we control our environment or work with it ?

20. LMR-model by Richard D. Lewis In his book When Cultures Collide. Leading Across Cultures (2006) Lewis explores how the mind is conditioned culturally and at an early age. The interrelationship between language and thought is looked at in the publication. In the LMR model, developed by Lewis the cultures are classified in three categories: linear-actives, multi-actives and reactives: Source: Lewis, Richard, D. When Cultures Collide. Leading Across Cultures.Third Edition. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. 2006 www.crossculture.com

21. Linear-actives: those who plan, schedule, organize, pursue action chains, prefer to do one thing at a time. • Multi-actives: those lively, loquacious people who do many things at once, planning their priorities not according to a time schedule, but according to the relative thrill or importance that each appointment brings with it. • Reactives: those cultures that prioritize courtesy and respect, listening quietly and calmly to their interlocutors and reacting carefully to the other side’s proposals.

22. The LMR assessment system is described and used. It is stated that most individuals, though basically linear, multi-active or reactive as a type, are to some extent hybrid. • Gathering of information, approach to the use of space and time and how we accord status respond to different types of leadership and these issues are tackled in Lewis’ publications. Language and its role are described. Communication patterns used in meetings and during negotiations as well as listening habits are important to communication in business context. International teams and team-building as well as meeting styles, negotiation and decision-making are also dealt with. • There are many advantages in the approach. However, some comments should be made concerning the country-specific chapters where the above-mentioned issues are described. There are overgeneralisations and some inaccurate information as some of it has become now outdated.

23. Strategies for managing multicultural teams • Task strategies and cultural determinants • Process strategies and cultural determinants Source: Schneider, Susan C. & Barsoux Jean-Louis. Managing Across Cultures. 2nd Edition. Pearson Education. 2003. See pages 221-222

24. Virtual teams Managing global virtual teams Source: Schneider, Susan C. & Barsoux Jean-Louis. Managing Across Cultures. 2nd Edition. Pearson Education. 2003. See page 248

25. International business context For more information: Intercultural communication and working in international teams. Interview of Pirkko Varis in the book Win Win. English for your business career. Tiina Eerola, Louise Stansfield & Jani Munne, EDITA PUBLISHING OY. Helsinki. 2009. See pages 162-165.