International Project Management: Leadership in Complex Environments

Globalization, international projects, mergers and acquisitions, implementing international and regional systems and technology are all becoming more common. There are natural reasons for this, including:

• Economies of scale in operations;

• Need to reach global markets;

• Facilitation of integration through the Internet, networking, and common systems;

• Desire by firms to spread risks across different countries.

Yet, with all of these trends, there is an almost unbroken chain of disasters and only partial successes. Surveys indicate that there is less than a 40% success rate of international efforts. International, regional, and global efforts are projects and one would think that standard project management methods would be useful and contribute to success. While this is true in some cases, there are still many failures and problems with existing project management methods. It is not that there must be radical change in project management; there is a need for modern techniques in project management geared and suited to international projects.

International projects are different because of the following factors:

• Culture and social differences within firms;

• Culture and social differences among countries and within countries;

• Languages and dialect variations;

• Religious practices;

• Legal, regulatory, and reporting requirements;

• Technology level differences in different areas;

• Infrastructure variations;

• Time zone differences.

While the attention is on international projects the approach and guidelines also apply to complex national or regional projects as well.

Looking at this list it is no wonder that you can see why managing projects and work in a standard centralized manner while ignoring the above factors leads to failure.

The purpose of this book is to provide specific guidelines for you to achieve greater project success. There are also lessons learned from failures and problems in international projects. The book is the product of work on international projects by the authors over a fifteen-year period in various project areas and industries. Projects and work have included manufacturing, distribution, communications, media, transportation, government, IT, marketing, energy, medical care, tourism, and other industries in forty countries across five continents.

The technical approach of the book is based on the following:

• Collaboration and collaborative approach rather than a strictly hierarchical approach to project management works best.

• Extensive and intensive communications using both traditional and modern technology is a critical success factor.

• In order to achieve project success, you must work to address issues and opportunities.

• There is a need to manage everyday work and other projects in addition to your main project. If you fail to do this, resources may not be available.

• In order to launch a project you must have management support, funding, and an agreement for resource allocation to the project and other work.

• Application to not only projects, but also small projects and on-going programs, must be carried out.

The book is organized into the following parts.

• Setup and launch your international projects;

• Manage the international projects;

• Examples of projects including systems deployment, mergers and acquisitions, and new product introduction; these chapters are organized around three of the themes of the book: issues, templates, and lessons learned;

• How to deal with specific issues involving projects, business, management, government, and external factors.

There is a common chapter structure in each part that emphasizes real world suggestions and tips. Our goal is that you can start using the materials in this book as you read it. This is not a concept book, it is a HOW TO DO IT book. The methods of the book have been tested in many different projects and work.

Here is a list of key features of the book:

• Critical success factors for international projects;

• How to avoid failure and problems;

• Over 150 specific lessons learned and guidelines;

• How to manage vendors and outsource across national boundaries;

• Major examples in different regions and areas;

• How to address cultural, social, and political situations;

• How to set up and coordinate international communications;

• How to address issues, problems, and opportunities;

• Complete coverage of all parts of managing international projects and work from start to finish;

• Written in a down-to-earth style;

• Web sites and references for follow-up;

• Specific suggestions on what to do after reading each chapter;

• A Magic Cross Reference for easy access to the materials in the book.