Managing International Projects: Challenges and Strategies

1. Chapter 15International Projects

2. International Projects • Types of Projects • Domestic • Overseas • Foreign • Global • Issues in Managing International Projects • Environmental factors affecting projects • Global expansion considerations • Challenges of working in foreign cultures • Selection and training of overseas managers

3. Environmental Factors • Legal/Political • Political stability • National and local laws and regulations • Government, state and local bureaucracies • Government interference or support • Government corruption • Security • International terrorism • National and local security • Local crime and kidnapping • Risk management

4. Environmental Factors (cont’d) • Geography • Climate and seasonal differences • Natural obstacles • Economic • Gross domestic product (GDP) • Protectionist strategies and policies • Balance of payments • Currency convertibility and exchange rates • Inflation rates • Local labor force: supply, educational and skill levels

5. Environmental Factors (cont’d) • Infrastructure • Telecommunication networks • Transportation systems • Power distribution grids • Unique local technologies • Educational systems • Culture • Customs and social standards • Values and philosophies • Language • Multicultural environments

6. Project Site Selection • Use of general site selection criteria • Hierarchical 3 stage process • Global • Regional • Local • Different set of criteria in each stage • Use of multi-criteria assessment matrix

7. Cross-Cultural Considerations: A Closer Look • Culture • A system of shared norms, beliefs, values, and customs that bind people together, creating shared meaning and a unique identity. • Cultural Differences: • Geographic regions • Ethnic or religious groups • Language • Economic

8. Cross-Cultural Considerations… (cont’d) • Ethnocentric Perspective • The tendency to believe that one’s cultural values and ways of doing things are superior to all others • Wanting to conduct business only on your terms and stereotyping other countries. • Ignoring the “people factor” in other cultures by putting work ahead of building relationships. • Adjustments Required: • Relativity of time and punctuality • Culture-related ethical differences • Personal and professional relationships • Attitudes toward work and life

9. The Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Framework • Individualism versus collectivism • Identifies whether a culture holds individuals or the group responsible for each member’s welfare. • Power distance • Describes degree to which a culture accepts status and power differences among its members. • Uncertainty avoidance • Identifies a culture’s willingness to accept uncertainty and ambiguity about the future. • Masculinity-femininity • Describes the degree to which the culture emphasizes competitive and achievement-oriented behavior or displays concerns for relationships.

10. Working in Different Cultures • Relying on Local Intermediaries • Translators • Social connections • Expeditors • Cultural advisors and guides • Culture Shock • The natural psychological disorientation that people suffer when they move into a different culture. • A breakdown in a person’s selective perception and effective interpretation system induced by foreign stimuli and the inability to function effectively in a strange land.

11. Working in Different Cultures (cont’d) • Coping with Culture Shock • Create “stability zones” that closely create home • Modify expectations and behavior • Redefine priorities and develop realistic expectations • Focus on most important tasks and relish small accomplishments • Use project work as a bridge until adjusted to the new environment • Engage in regular physical exercise programs, practice meditation and relaxation exercises, and keep a journal

12. Selection and Training for International Projects • Selection Factors • Work experience with cultures other than one’s own • Previous overseas travel • Good physical and emotional health • Knowledge of a host nation’s language • Recent immigration background or heritage • Ability to adapt and function in the new culture

13. Selection and Training for International Projects (cont’d) • Areas for Training to Increase Understanding of a Foreign Culture: • Religion • Dress codes • Education system • Holidays—national and religious • Daily eating patterns • Family life • Business protocols • Social etiquette • Equal opportunity

14. Selection and Training for International Projects (cont’d) • Learning Approaches to Cultural Fluency • The “information-giving” approach—the learning of information or skills from a lecture-type orientation. • The “affective approach”—the learning of information/skills that raise the affective responses on the part of the trainee and result in cultural insights. • The “behavioral/experiential” approach—a variant of the affective approach technique that provides the trainee with realistic simulations or scenarios.

15. Chapter 16Project Oversight and Future

16. Project Oversight • Project Oversight • A set of principles and processes to guide and improve the management of projects. • Oversight’s Purposes: • To ensure projects meet the organizational needs for standards, procedures, accountability, efficient allocation of resources, and continuous improvement in the management of projects. • To support the project manager.

17. Oversight Activities • At the Organization Level • Project selection. • Portfolio management. • Improving how all projects are managed over time. • Assessing and elevating the maturity level of the organization’s project management system. • Using balanced scorecard approach to review progress on strategic priorities.

18. Oversight Activities • At the Project Level • Review projects’ objectives. • Decide on issues raised by the project manager. • Track and assist the project to resolve bottlenecks. • Review status reports from the project manager. • Audit and review lessons learned. • Authorize major deviations from the original scope. • Cancel the project.

19. Current and Future Trends in Project Management • Forces for Change • Global competition, knowledge explosion, innovation, time to market, and shortened product life cycles • Two Major Outcomes for the 21st Century: • An increase in the scope of project management and system integration. • The focus of projects has shifted from tactical to strategic. • An increasing discipline in the way projects are managed.

20. Importance of Oversight to the Project Manager • Oversight Functions: • Providing support and help to the project manager where needed. • Determining the environment in which the project manager will implement his or her project. • Influence the performance measures used to hold the project manager responsible and accountable. • Providing the oversight group to which the project manager will reporting at predetermined phases in the project.

21. Increasing Scope of Project Management and System Integration • Portfolio Project Management • The centralized management of projects to ensure that the allocation of resources to projects is directed toward projects that contribute the greatest value to organization goals. • Project Office (PO) • The unit responsible for continued support of consistent application of selection criteria, standards, and processes; training of and general assistance to project managers; and continued improvement and use of best practices.

22. Key Responsibilities of Project Portfolio Management • Senior executive oversight committee • Reviews project options available by type (new, operational, compliance) • Confirms business case and linkage to organizational strategy • Selects, prioritizes, and balances the overall risk of all organizational projects • Ensures availability of resources and competencies • Sets macro time, cost, and requirements • Reviews gating outcomes

23. Benefits of the Activities of Project Offices • Project Offices (POs) • Support integration of project portfolios for the use of best practices in strategic planning and control. • Serve as a bridge between senior management and project managers within the social/cultural environment of the organization. • Support integration of project management processes from selection through project closure and lessons learned. • Provide training that supports the movement of the organization to a higher level of project management maturity.

24. Phase Gate Methodology • Phase Gate Review Process • A structured process to review, evaluate, and document outcomes in each project phase and to provide management with information to guide resource deployment toward strategic goals. • Decision Gate Components • Required deliverables • Gate criteria and specific outputs • A clear yes/no decision on whether to go ahead.

25. Key Benefits of Using Phase Gating • Phase Gating • Provides excellent training for functional staff who serve on oversight review groups. • Encourages a larger perspective and role of projects within the organization. • Is a clear-cut process, easily understood, and applicable to all projects in a portfolio. • Provides a structured process for a project office to follow on all projects. • Eliminates poor value projects. • Supports faster decision making with predefined deliverables for each gate.

26. Organization Project Management in the Long Run • Capability Maturity Model (CMM) • Focuses on guiding and assessing organizations in implementing concrete best practices of managing software development projects. • Organizational Project Maturity Model (OPM3) • Is divided into a continuum of growth levels: initial, repeatable, defined, managed, and optimized.

27. The Balanced Scorecard Model • Balanced Scorecard Model • Assumes that people will take the necessary actions to improve the performance of the organization on the given measures and goals. • Reviews projects over a longer horizon—5 to 10 years after the project is implemented than other models. • Has a more “macro” perspective than project selection models. • Measures performance results for four major areas of activities—customer, internal, innovation and learning, and financial.