Cultural Challenges of Managing Global Project Teams - Coursework Example

Analysis By Ivete Rodrigues and Roberto Sbragia The Cultural Challenges of Managing Global Project Teams: a Study of Brazilian Multinationals. Journal of technology management & innovation. Volume 8, Published 2013 Introduction Internationalization of companies has over the years been considered as a significant development due to its benefits in the growth of an economy and in promoting Foreign Direct Investment but it has its fair share of challenges which according to Shore and Cross (2005) are commonly present in the management sector in terms of sharing authority and responsibility and making decisions, since the organizations are required to work with individuals from different cultural backgrounds who poses different values. This paper aims at providing a critical analysis of “The Cultural Challenges of Managing Global Project Teams: a Study of Brazilian Multinationals” by Ivete Rodrigues and Roberto Sbragia (2013). Over the years, the internationalization of companies has brought forth the need to implement global projects which consequently requires for new ways of managing multicultural teams. This paper will discuss the analysis and finding of by Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) in relation to cross-cultural management with Brazil chosen as the case study. Their study aimed at developing an understanding the relationship that exists between cultural characteristics and the management teams that is the cross-cultural management relationship in the internationalization of Brazilian companies. Their study involved the analysis of six Brazilian multinational companies with an aim of uncovering and increasing understanding the aspects involved in the management of global teams such as deployment, planning, development and the general management of human resources. According to their studies, the development of team members had little interference from inter-cultural incentives and issues of multiculturalism which in turn hinders the construction of a global mind-set. This in turn showed the vast need for managing cross-cultural teams since project managers were faced with challenges of managing the project, the firm and the global environment thus leading to possible conflicts between the people or leading to an overall failure in the project due to their variable belief and values (culture). Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013), base their research on primary data but use secondary material in the form of previous studies conducted in this field to provide a strong conceptual background of the problem and the possible remedies that could work. They base their research on theoretical assumptions extracted from previous studies as the core to their research model. The theoretical assumptions they extracted include, the cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 2003) which provide a clear explanation of national cultures and intercultural competence. The concept of cultural distance / psychic distance (Johanson and Vahlne, 2003), managing global teams and human resources (PMI, 2008) (The Project Management Body of Knowledge), process of developing global teams in a projects lifecycle (Nuricj and Thamhain, 2006) and international competence management (Puck, Rygl and Mohr, 2008; Tariquea and Schulerb, 2008; Johnson, Lenartowicz and Apud, 2006). Based on these assumptions, Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013), developed a model which assumes that the processes of global team management are majorly influenced by the organizational processes of human resource management although some specific features ought to be considered. (Figure 1 on page 43 depicts this model and shows all the processes involved in the management of global teams including cultural factors, human resource management and global project management) The model takes into account various aspects such as training, cultural influence etc. so as to increase the efficiency of the model in delivering more successful global projects. Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) used the case study method due to the nature of the research where they used Brazilian multinational’s global projects. They selected six cases which suited the research. The main informant in their case study were project managers based on their involvement with the project, professional experience and organizational knowledge. The method used to collect information was mainly through personal interviews since the answers where more reliable according to Gil (2002). The interviews conducted were recorded and later transcribed where the transcribed material were used to provide a qualitative-analysis where relevant data that demonstrated, confirmed, refuted or challenged existing theories was selected according to Eisenhardt’s (1989) argument. Logic of literal replication was selected as the preferred method of data analysis to provide reliable information as it calls for comparing and contrasting data collected with theoretical recommendations. Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) study concluded that the question of how cultural challenges of managing Global project teams can be answered by first identifying the cultural influences that hinder performance of the project teams and by handling cross-cultural issues in a strategic manner as explained. The initial process is planning and organizing the deployment team. They argue that jurisdiction is critical as it defines the capabilities and skills required by the project team to handle the activities therefore identification of possible incompatibilities can save the organization time and resources. Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) suggest that the identification of such incompatibilities can be conducted during training and while hiring new employees. According to their finding five of the six projects recognized potential cross-cultural impacts that could lead to cultural clashes but none of them took it into consideration since most organizations overlook intercultural competence over technical skills. As Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) explain the companies opted to hire experienced managers to compensate for any deficiencies that may arise due to cultural differences. Team development also presented itself as a challenge since the organizations does not invest in the development of its employees mostly in cultural aspects. In cases where the organization detects possible cultural rivalry or overlooks intercultural competence over technical skills, it should offer team development activities as team development is part and parcel of the manager’s responsibility. According to Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013), the project manager and the organization should work together to ensure that they identify, build, maintain, lead and inspire the project teams to perform better and encourage team work through identification of potential rivalry and resolution of conflicts before they get out of hand. Generally, Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) encourage the implementation of team development to increase the project teams’ confidence, inter-relational skills, and team work and conflict resolution especially due to cultural conflicts. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMI, 2008) supports Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) argument by stating that an organization should identify the possible training needs of its project team and work to meet their necessities to maintain teamwork. Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) research indicates that project manager are mostly under the management of the human resource department and the functional manager hence have little or no influence on such matters since most organizations lack clear policies for expatriation. Team management according to Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) is also a vital aspect in achieving cross-cultural management as it calls for the project manager to possess global cultural sensitivity to enhance team management and trust among the project team. According to their research, high hierarchical cultural insensitivity resulted to a horizontal relationship with the project team members while in some cases total distrust resulted as some project managers where biased in that they favoured certain people based on their cultural aspects. Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013), encourage considerate demobilization of project team members after the completion of a project. Their argument is consistent with other literature that encourage the considerate demobilization of project teams. They agree that when teams are being demobilized, the organization should consider the transfer and sharing of knowledge in that team members who were initially expatriated be repatriated and the outsourced professionals be laid off so as to avoid incurring extra cost. It should also consider team members who received training and obtained new skills for either further training to increase their employability skills or for a promotion as new ideas will help the organization flourish. Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) argue that for successful cross-cultural management in an organization, managerial implications should be taken into consideration whereby project management require consistent methods and techniques that will in no way hinder the performance of the team. Their research concurs with written literature in that they both show the need for project managers to be responsible for the planning and development of the team so as to ensure cultural sensitivity and that each global or domestic project should take into consideration its environment, its organization and its projects. In conclusion, Rodrigues and Sbragia’s (2013) paper sought to get and understanding of how management of global projects can be conducted with considerable attention to the cross-cultural differences in Brazilian multinationals as a case study. Through the data collected and analysed, it was evident that most organizations do not take cultural diversity into consideration while planning and deploying global projects while their project managers although qualified and understand the need for cultural sensitivity are disadvantages by the fact that they are governed by people who do not understand the need of multiculturalism. The challenges faced by Rodrigues and Sbragia (2013) should be considered as guidelines to give new opportunities for further studies that will increase the understanding of how cross-cultural differences affect the performance of global project and how they can be handled. These challenges should also be considered by organizations wishing to venture into global projects or those that want to benefit more from their already established global projects as they are guideline on what to implement in order to achieve maximum efficiency. Finally, it is important to note that no culture is better or less worthy than another, culture should be embraced as it defines who a people are and what they believe in thus one should not compare cultures but try to understand and appreciate other cultures. Organizations should ensure that the importance of culture and its diversity, while including other important aspects such as labour legislation and professionalism are understood by each team member of global project to encourage team work and promote unity and harmony. Bibliography Fang, T. (2003). A Critique of Hofstede’s Fifth National Culture Dimension. int j cross cult manage, 3(3), pp.347-368. Ochieng, E. and Price, A. (2010). Managing cross-cultural communication in multicultural construction project teams: The case of Kenya and UK. International Journal of Project Management, 28(5), pp.449-460. Oertig, M. and Buergi, T. (2006). The challenges of managing cross‐cultural virtual project teams. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 12(1/2), pp.23-30. PMI - Project Management Institute (2008). Um guia do Conjunto de Conhecimentos em Administração de Projetos. US, PMI. Popescu, A., Borca, C., Fistis, G. and Draghici, A. (2014). Cultural Diversity and Differences in Cross-cultural Project Teams. Procedia Technology, 16, pp.525-531. Rodrigues, I. and Sbragia, R. (2013). The Cultural Challenges of Managing Global Project Teams: A Study of Brazilian Multinationals. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, 8, pp.7-8. Shore, B. and Cross, B. (2005). Exploring the role of national culture in the management of large-scale international science projects. International Journal of Project Management, 23(1), pp.55-64. Read More