International Project Management - Assignment Example

International Project Management By: Answer Project management has evolved these days thanksto globalization of countries. As a result, there has been an increase in opportunities. Allowance for people to indulge in projects that are in foreign countries has been promoted. Such projects often have to acknowledge the difference in cultures as well as diversification. The variations have to be accorded utmost recognition by all the members involved. Over time the need for competency in the execution of international projects has also risen (Saynisch 1983, pp.115-121). This is supported by the need to create a competitive edge that is beneficial for the company in question. This is the situation in the project management arena. Identification of critical success factors thus becomes inevitable. Through the developed factors, the project managers could stimulate the viability of the wholesome project in the hope of a certain goal for the company. With that, small target goals are set and pursued through a series of analysis aimed at developing the perfect criteria for stimulating the success of the project. This is what is referred to as the critical success criteria. Further tests could be carried out on the same model developed to verify its viability given both normal conditions as well as conditions out of the ordinary. Possibility of success in international project management used to rely on three basic elements. These elements included budgetary costs, time and scope (Shore 2005, pp.3-16). The feasibility of the project significantly lies on the ability to finance the project at hand. Thus, all economic factors associated to a certain project heavily influence the success rate of the same project. Those costs usually entail the overheads associated with the specific activities of the project. In our case study for instance, the amount would include the costs of acquiring raw materials, designing, paying necessary allowances to the workers as well as any other necessary financial obligations. As such, it is important that the project manager ensure that the finances are maintained within the budgets to avoid stalling the project. The time spent in the execution of the project is also of essence to the success or failure of the project. With the entire project having its deadline in 2030, short-term deadlines will aid in achieving the long-term deadline. This phenomenon is made possible by dividing the entire project into sections. Achieving short-term deadlines in respect to those sections of the project implies that in the bigger picture the whole project is on track. The scope in this context refers to the quality that is intended to be achieved. A project is usually initiated with a certain standard of quality that ought to be upheld at all times. While inventing the new silent aircrafts, the quality and scope of the aircrafts should not be any less just because the energies are focused on some other objective. Rather, it is imperative that at all the sections in which the project is divided, the standards be managed in reference to the set conventionally accepted standards, as it will imply that the entire project is in the right track. Other critical success factors include: 1. The political factor: This is explained through the stability of a country or region (Shore 2005, pp.3-16). It is ensured through favorable political environment. Political uncertainty, war, revolution are some of the elements that constitute of an unfavorable environment for the implementation of a project. The reason is simply that the activities of the project are highly interfered. For example, in case there was an uprising in the country where our case study project is undertaken, the entire project would have to be adjourned indefinitely. The implication being that deadlines will be missed 2. The legal factor: This entails the regulations in a certain country that are related to the subject of the project. At times governments may enact policies regarding aspects that directly affect the project, such as the imposition of fees for foreign businesses in the air and travels industry (Shore 2005, pp.3-16). In our case study, for instance a new rule could be enacted barring the experimentation of aircrafts. Despite the high probability of success on the project on a normal setting, the fact that this specific project is international means that the system is not fully comprehended. This implies that there is room for mistakes being made by the staff. In every project there is need to establish, a certain criteria of assessing the success factors attributed to a given project (Turner 2006, pp.93-95). Essentially, these models are employed at the projects to link the success factors to the research being conducted. A suitable criteria that could be used for my case study is the Result areas method. It is suitable because it is easily employed at different stages of the project. Application of the model to our case study starts with division of the main objective into six categories. Given the analysis of the model, the functioning of the project organization could be improved in the case that it is not on the expected trend of growth. Through the same model that is developed, the project team could transfer the knowledge and experiences acquired to a different future set up. The management of the project asked them if the specific project of manufacturing the silent aircrafts was progressing well. Carrying out the Result areas Model with association of the entire team, including the researcher would be employed on the following categories: 1. Project results a) Time b) Costs c) Scope 2. Appreciation from the personnel 3. Appreciation by the Stakeholders 4. Appreciation by contracting partners 5. Appreciation from the Client 6. Appreciation from the users Answers to the above questions are set to indicate whether the project undertaken by the project team is progressive. Based on the findings of the research the project team is capable of acting accordingly and averse an imminent failure. For example, in the case that the designing of the silent airlift becomes difficult, the project team may decide to outsource the services from known professionals with a greater edge on the subject. It is important to note that the findings are compared to the completion of the project. Answer 2. The specific challenges that face the management of international projects usually relate to the non-technical attributes. With these challenges, the project team can either view them as possible opportunities to take advantage of or blocks hindering any possible advancement (Bredillet 2005, p.86). The categories of challenges that experienced in international project management include: 1. Project Scope: This defines the bounds of a given project. Through this limits the quality and amount of work expected out of the project are clarified to the project team with any clarifications being sought. It is imperative that a clear and concise scope of the project is cemented within the entire team, as it is only then that the project manager can be contented on the clarity of the main purpose of the project. In addition, the definition of the project scope will help the workers visualize the whole work plan in their heads. When such an image is perceived in the mind, the team is capable of achieving many successes. Furthermore, it will be easier to break down the entire project into minor projects. 2. Use of a disciplined approach on matters of engineering: By convention, projects involving engineering are divided into three procedural steps (Kelley & Sankey 2008, pp.51-62). The first one is 10%-20%; the second one is 5%- 45% with the final bunch being 40%-50%. The categories mentioned involve engineering, procurement and construction respectively. The main benefit of this division is the fact that failure in one section of the project does not automatically affect the rest of the project. Besides, the initial sections of the project helps the project team discover flaws that require adjustments. That way, the bigger picture of the entire project is maintained. Alterations as well as the privilege of being able to able to predict the outcome of the project is another factor that is beneficial to the project team. Such predictions are set to help the team get motivated to pursue the course. 3. The negotiation of suitable contracts: This part directs the flow of the project right from initiation and through execution. It is at this point that any ambiguous definitions are explained with keen interest in the type of language used. The contractor and contracted achieve a consensus at the signing of the contract. It is only until then that the document is binding in a court of law. The entire project team is associated to their organization by the contract. As such, it stipulates the date of start as well as the expected completion. 4. Establishing a realistic project schedule: they are the talks about the importance of understanding the client’s needs and expectations. Through the schedule, the customers’ aspirations are passed across to the project team for consideration. 5. Understanding the regulations: It involves the deliberate decisions by members of the project team, especially the project manager to comprehend the laws of the country where their project is linked. Ignorance of the country’s regulations is very risky as it could result in banning of the company, arrests or even worse. On the other side, knowledge of certain laws and Acts in a country is likely to enable the company exploit loopholes in the legal system. Now following the mentioning of challenges likely to be faced by managers of international projects, it is important to note how some of the challenges apply to Siemens AG, our case study. Establishing how the company is likely to be influenced will offer guidelines on how the same company can use certain resolutions to help solve the challenges. It will be easier for Siemens AG to develop strategies of transforming challenges into opportunities. Achievement of such a resolution will further boost the chances of success of the project. Management of international projects is challenging because in addition to balancing the vital success factors to international project management, one also needs to comprehend the environment to be used while pursuing the project. External forces such as the legal policies, security status, economic factors as well as infrastructural issues relating to the mother country where the project is being carried out need to be observed (Turner 2006, pp.93-95). Furthermore, the geographical distance, cultural boundaries as well as language barriers are very complicated as compared to the domestic kind of project management. Take the stated case of Siemens AG for example, with the diversity of the groups involved in the deal, the different cultural behaviors and beliefs are likely to hinder the success of the project. As such, the project team and especially the project leader have to be flexible enough. He has to possess the ability to fit into all of the sets of practices by other participants of the project. Nonetheless, in order to mitigate fully the challenge of variations of culture, it is important that the project participants be made to understand the whole sense of the project so that they can switch their mindsets in the effort of creating an enabling environment. That way people will respect the different qualities in people as regards to decision-making, working behaviors as well as tolerance levels. With this comes the responsibility of project leaders. These leaders are chosen to motivate and inspire the workers towards achieving the goals of their mother company. In our case study, the project leadership role should be designated to the project manager of the Siemens One initiative. The type of leadership that is required should be appropriate for all the parties involved. That way the project manager is able to assess the progress of the entire project and influencing the continual of the project from start to finish. A specific example is the US way of life. Naturally, the US people perform activities best when under pressure and direct authority (Kelley & Sankey 2008, pp.51-62). Therefore, when dealing with the Americans it is in the best interests of the project that the manager assumes that role. Such dominion over the Americans will motivate them to perform Their individual obligations, resulting in positive signs of the project and the organization as a whole. Answer 4 The type of leadership that would thrive in the context of the case study is an authoritative leadership. The circumstances surrounding the case study regarding ABB’s predicament is not suitable for the equality in authority. The fact that among the cultures involved is the United States, Italy, Switzerland among a couple of other countries means that the use of any other method other than the direct governing, is not likely to yield any positive results. Psychology has revealed that the citizens from the United States for example are very aggressive. Until someone commands orders out their practices and behaviors, they are bound to pursue their personal interests for instance at the obvious expense of the intended project. The implication is that unless ABB employs that leadership strategy, the projects at the company will continue to suffer. Through the use of policies and regulations, the authoritarian leader is capable of enhancing the search for viable projects and pushing for the best selection. The high status of the leaders confers them so much authority to the extent that the other colleagues are almost qualifies for their subjects. With that being said, I think that it is also important to note that the authoritarian leadership has some awful disadvantages as well. Conferring that much of authority to one individual is extremely dangerous to the individual and to the team as well as it leaves the individual vulnerable to selfish interests and overwhelming (Kelley & Sankey 2008, pp.51-62). For that reason, the entire project of the company hangs on the loose depending on the excellent decisions of a certain group of people who were mandated with the responsibility of up-holding desired practices at the company. While at the discretion of the political leaders mainly link survivability of the projects, I think that the kind of authority employed at the specific case study for the projects is somehow effective. While there is the option of replacing the entire project team with the shift in power, use of the same procedures and bureaucracy ensures that, the company continues to enjoy the benefits out of a standardized set of conditions. With this, the competitive advantage previously enjoyed by ABB is retained. In the same degree, the project suffers unfair loss in the unique traits that are possessed by the company’s capabilities. Furthermore, the standardized procedures implied that ABB was less active in the development of the project. With that, it assumed a common base of cultural interactions. Such an assumption is likely to deter chances of success on a given orientation in respect to the project at hand. Previous studies have confirmed on the greater possibility of incurring losses while on a project of similar circumstances. If anything, I do not foresee a case where respective deadlines on strategic projects will be achieved. In respect to all of the critical success factors, I predict a lagging behind that is likely to inhibit any chances of successful implementation of a project. Besides, the focus on short-term goals in the strategies that were made greatly influenced the outcome of the entire operation. It meant that the organization was simply ignorant of any careful arguments in project management. Although the decisions might have had some strong point in domestic project management, I think that with foreign attribute of the activities in play, special considerations were necessary if not mandatory. Legal matters needed to be studied with extra attention to check if any loopholes would be available for manipulation (Turner 2006, pp.93-95). In any group of organization especially the project management team, it is expected that the mentioned sect will portray a significant level of rebellion towards the noble initiatives offered for the greater good of the company. As such, it is important to fight that form of rebellion by promoting trust among team members and generally boosting the confidence of the participants. Activities for doing so would be developing ways of appraising the best as well as improving on the poor performing ones. It is crucial to ensure that the team is free of any doubt for one another especially the project manager. It is for this reason that it is important as the project manager, to foster accountability and transparency in the ways of carrying out activities. Such an initiative could be highly aided by promoting a high sense of integrity with respect to professionalism at the task. Clear records open for verification to all the members could be availed at the company’s headquarters. Furthermore, it would greatly motivate the team players if the project leader motivated and inspired the entire squad. A call for unity among the different members of the project in their various roles is another factor that is bound to promote the wholesome progress of the project. The individuals ought to visualize themselves as contributors to the growth and development of the company (Bredillet 2005, p.86). With that, utmost devotion and commitment would be expected of them. The whole system should be viewed, as a cog that needs every wheel to turn independently, by that, significant efforts of each personnel should be considered invaluable to the well-being of the project. Holding regular forums to discuss the ways forward is also perceived to make the whole project collective. In such forums, the members are supposed to have the right to offer opinions and make appropriate decisions as regards the project with democracy being promoted by way of voting. This approach makes the project feel owned by the personnel and thus demands of their cooperation. With the bigger picture in mind, this type of empowerment is bound to yield confidence among the team players. In addition, the motivation of appraisal would enough to attain targets and attain them diligently. The level of doubt and sense of self-reliance would be destroyed and replaced by advocating of the necessary teamwork with everybody playing their part. It would also be important to assert of the importance of respect for one another. That way the different backgrounds of individuals at ABB would be acknowledged with some level of tolerance and regard for personal opinion. Reference List Binder, J. 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International project management- Chances and Risks and the impact of intercultural Differences on the Projects of the HSH Nordbank AG. Nonderstdt: GRIN Verlag. Read More