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Can Cultural Differences Derail Project Success?

January 28, 2008  |  from From the Top

Today’s complex mega infrastructure projects require the formation of joint ventures and other type of associations in order to have either the talent, skills and/or monetary funds required to complete the project.  Because of the nature of mega projects, owners, financial agencies, contractors, sub-contractors, vendors and suppliers, often come from different cultural backgrounds-much as the direct result of globalization. Differences in approaches, values, and experiences have led to many mega-project failures.  Therefore it is imperative to understand the impact of cross-cultural differences among the team players in order for a mega project to be successful. 

Project Management staff members often have engineering degrees. The project engineers do too, and are trained to focus on technical data, scientific evidence and hard facts.  Because the laws of physics are universal, staff often tend to expect that nationality and cultural differences will not play a significant role in the practice of project management and engineering.  After all, a bridge is a bridge and performs the same function regardless of the location of the bridge.  However, a mega-project involves more players than simply engineers and project managers. Mega-projects are being built all over the world and not just in the U.S. Each country, public/private companies, and governmental/financial agencies are regulated by different laws, procedures, standards, rules and regulations.  Some of the key components to understanding cultural differences reside in: miscommunication, problem-solving and organizational issues.

Miscommunication across multi-nationals is usually the most important cause of cross-cultural problems.  Miscommunication can have several sources, including differences in body language or gestures, different meanings for the same word and different assumptions made in the same situation.  Different languages also contribute to the problem, and frequently, the language barriers seem to be ignored, creating confusion and sense of mistrust among the parties. 

Another source of cross-cultural problems is related to the approaches in solving problems.  The approaches used by engineers and project managers of different cultural backgrounds to tackle the same technical problem are likely to differ widely.  The type of approach used to solve engineering problems is often a reflection of what is emphasized in educational curricula leading to engineering degrees in various countries.  Although there is no absolute right way to approach technical problems, issues are likely to arise when engineers with different inclinations work together to solve them. Project Managers from Latin America tend to micro-manage projects where American project managers delegate most of the issues and assemble teams to execute the projects.

Cross cultural problems also arise from differences in organizational cultures. Large companies operate quite different from small companies, and the same occurs with government entities as compared to private ones.  Some of the most notable differences include the way information is shared and distributed, the hierarchy of departments, approval and decision making process.  As a general rule, joint ventures and other types of associations must involve an executive team capable of understanding that different approaches and cultural differences indeed occur, and if not addressed promptly and properly, problems will surface.  Selection of the right people with the right attitude towards multi-cultural companies and personnel should be a top priority of the executive team. 

Globalization brings many challenges to companies and engineers in all fields.  Globalization also brings potential for engineering to be shared across borders and cultures. A successful project management team will recognize that a project’s engineering leader must broaden his or her horizon not only the design aspect of engineering or construction but also to how, where and under what context, engineering projects are successfully constructed in today’s global environment. 

Filed: Design-Engineering Project-Management