International Project Management

Project Management Office? Does your organization have a project management office? Does it need one? Does the one it has need changing? Now, as a senior project manager, you will have the opportunity to be heard on the subject. You ... [full story]

Policies, Processes, Plans, and Procedures Now it is your turn to change and update the policies, processes, plans, and procedures you’ve been griping about for the last number of years. Two things will come to the fore here. First, you ... [full story]

Mentoring and Training To be called upon, either by management or by another project manager, to be a mentor means that you are considered expert enough to train others. It means that your abilities are well-respected and valuable. Mentoring, believe ... [full story]

Gathering Leading-Edge Ideas As you progressed through the skill sets, I’m sure you saw that the subjects were not only getting deeper, they were getting broader as well. At this point, breadth and depth are infinite. There are many experts ... [full story]

Applying Your Skills to Other Activities As your project management career progresses, you will become more and more valuable to yourself and to your company. It is to your advantage and to the advantage of your company to share your ... [full story]

Taking Over a Project The first question to be answered is: Why are you here?Were you hired to take over and lead this project? Were you moved into a position to take over this project? No matter which question you ... [full story]

Making Friends and Alliances If you are hired for or assigned to an ongoing project, the best advice I can offer is to first conduct an audit of the project. The audit should at least cover scope, budget, schedule, and ... [full story]

The Power Structure There are frequently two elements of the power structure in any organization. These elements are the organizational structure, reflected by the organization chart hanging on the wall and the infrastructure that is never written down. Ostensibly, the ... [full story]

The Organization What is the company organization, and what is its character? What is the source of project personnel? Will your people be provided through a matrix organization, or is your project ‘‘projectized?’’ To whom do you report functionally? Is ... [full story]

Getting Settled Assume you made the decision to change, meaning you were hired into a new company or were transferred from one group to another within the company you are in. For whatever reason, your situation today is not what ... [full story]

Addressing the Market Where to go from here is a question you must ask yourself. In previous chapters, I provided some information that hopefully has stimulated your imagination, and you now have a better idea of where you want to ... [full story]

How Will You Get There? Let’s say you have entered the world of project management and have collected the skills necessary to lead a small project. In order to move up to an intermediate or large project, you must collect ... [full story]

There Are Many Different Cultures And Languages In A Country In most countries of the world now there are many different religions, cultures, and languages. If the company pays too much attention to the characteristics of the dominant group, then ... [full story]

The Culture In A Country Is Not Compatible With The Results Of The Project A project produces results that should benefit the business in each location. However, the culture of the country may be such that the results are counterculture. ... [full story]

It Is Difficult To Line Up Qualified Suppliers In Some Countries When you undertake a new project, you often have to rely on contractors and suppliers to provide labor, material, and expertise. In a multinational firm there are likely to ... [full story]

New Technologies Appear In Some Locations That Offer New Opportunities Technology advances relentlessly. The pace of technology tends to be uneven due to the unpredictability of breakthroughs. While there have been many successes, it can be argued that there have ... [full story]

The Operations In One Country Have More Urgent Work Than The Project An organization may have many far-flung operations. Each location has its own individual needs and problems. When headquarters initiates a project that does not really benefit many of ... [full story]

Economic Conditions In One Country Worsen Many economies of the world behave in harmony and sympathy due to globalization. However, it can still happen that one or more locations may be in recession or worse. The question is whether to ... [full story]

Savings From A Project Are Not Attainable Because Of Local Laws There are many local regulations that inhibit the attainment of savings. One example is a restriction on currency conversion and transfer out of the country. The savings may have ... [full story]

Competition Is Much More Intense In A Specific Country Competition impacts a company’s operations in terms of what products and services they offer. It also affects such areas as advertising. People get the impression that just because a project is ... [full story]

Management Appears To Lose Interest In The Project Due To Other Commitments Many projects are started, but few finish. This is true of project management in general. It is even more true with international projects. Management at headquarters is subject ... [full story]

The Manager Who Was Behind The Project Moves To A New Position It is often the case that projects are started by one manager who may have been stationed overseas. The project idea was a good one. Work is proceeding ... [full story]

The Method For Managing The Project Overall Is Too Bureaucratic In some companies projects are run tightly from headquarters. After all, this worked in the past before the firm expanded internationally. When you are dealing with one location, getting decisions ... [full story]

Management Approval Was Only Obtained At Headquarters Without Involvement Of Local Management A project was formulated either at headquarters or in one of the locations of the firm. Staff at headquarters then take the project idea and develop a plan. ... [full story]

The Company In One Country Is Jointly Owned With A Local Firm A variation of the previous issue is the situation where an overseas firm must take on a local partner in order to operate in the country. This is ... [full story]

There Is A Lack Of Control Since The Project Is A Joint Venture There are many instances where the operations in specific locations are jointly owned and controlled by several firms. These firms typically have very different cultures and methods ... [full story]

The Project Is Approved Without Recognizing Other Projects And Efforts In some companies, a high-level manager goes to a seminar, reads a book, or hears about some wonderful concept for a project. The manager returns to the organization and presses ... [full story]

Management Expectations Are Centered Upon Headquarters With A Lack Of Attention To Local Needs High management expectations are a leading cause of project failures. A project is more than the sum of its parts. Projects represent the culmination of a ... [full story]

Work Is Performed In One Country And Then Sent To Another Country For Finishing This is a natural way of doing business in many industries. Examples are the clothing and garment industry, the software industry, and manufacturing. When you look ... [full story]

Management Issues Introduction Management issues tend to be of larger scale than business issues. Many management issues are often accepted as constraints. That is, they are treated as a fact of life and there is nothing that can be done. ... [full story]

There Is Substantial Turnover Of Staff In One Location In one project we were involved with there were 4 countries involved. There was virtually no turnover in 2 countries. There was some turnover (about 25%) in another. However, in the ... [full story]

Problems In One Country Are Not Seen As Sufficiently Important In Headquarters Each location has individual problems and situations. Management at headquarters may not want to hear about these things. They rely on the managers put in place in the ... [full story]