Applying Cross-cultural Concepts in Project Management

Without mutual knowledge, there can be no mutual understanding; without understanding, there can be no trust and respect; without trust, there can be no peace, only the danger of conflict. This means we have to be willing and able to familiarize ourselves with the way people of other cultures think and perceive the world around them, but without losing our own standpoint in the process. Roman Herzog, President of Germany (Heistad, 2005, 1).

 

Culture provides a "filter" or "mental map" by which we perceive and understand our world. Culture is not something we have at birth, but is a result of our birth into a specific environment. For example, we are born into a family, a region and a nation. We learn our culture from the environment in which we grew up, through our life experiences, and from those people around us. In most cases, we are not even aware of our culture until we enter into another culture and notice the differences. According to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998, p. 6), "culture is the way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas." It becomes the stabilizing force that makes things meaningful and predictable (Schein, 2004). It provides a shared way for people to understand and interpret their world. Culture affects our life in many different arenas. Each region, nation, organization, and profession creates its own unique culture that allows people to work together in a common way to solve problems and reconcile dilemmas (Schein, 2004).

 

Given the move to globalization, many U.S. companies have partners, branches, or subsidiaries overseas. In turn, many foreign companies have partners, branches, or subsidiaries in the United States. Add to that, the increase of foreign personnel working in the United States and you will find that project teams and work teams are frequently cross-cultural in their membership. As Roman Herzog stated in the above quote, there must be mutual understanding and respect or many teams will be in danger of conflict.

 

So, what does this mean to the project manager who has to lead cross-cultural project teams that are either co-located or virtual, spanning across the globe. I would like to suggest that success as a project manager may depend on our ability to apply cross-cultural concepts in analyzing, understanding, and influencing both a team's culture and an organization's culture. Project managers deal in a world of people. People who act, think, and feel differently from one another, often because of their cultural values. When we work with project teams, we have at least two or more cultural levels to take into consideration. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998) identified three different cultural levels that may be in play in an organization: national or regional culture, corporate culture, and professional culture. National or regional cultures provide each team member with a set of personal values, while professional culture provides the team member with a set of behaviors that may be unique to their profession (e.g. developer, project manager, sales and marketing person). Add to these two cultures, the corporate or organizational culture and a project manager may find himself / herself juggling various opposing cultures when working with their project teams. As a result, conflict and frustration, due to mixed expectations, may sabotage the team's performance.

 

When we experience conflict in project teams, or feel they are not performing as well as we would like, we often try various team interventions or techniques to help our team be successful. Our interventions may range anywhere from talking to various team members, to team building, to in-depth team interventions with a facilitator. Sometimes these interventions work, but often they only touch the surface and the underlying issues remain. Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) suggest that one of the reasons why so many of our interventions do not work is because we have ignored the cultural differences among team members. To be credible, we need to assess the culture to ensure we select the best intervention to fit the cultural makeup of the team and the organization in order to be successful (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). This means that we may need to understand their beliefs about sickness, health, crime and punishment, religious matters, relation to authority, concept of self, interpersonal relationships, and ways of dealing with conflict and feelings. If the intervention goes against some of the cultural values of its members, the intervention is likely to fail, or at the very least frustrate most of the members.

 

It is also important to note, that as project managers, we also carry our own unique culture with us. Understanding various cross-cultural concepts and cultural models will enable us to see our own biases, values, and assumptions that we bring to the table. We need to understand ourselves in order to maximize our ability to lead our teams and be instruments of change. If we do not consider our own biases, and regard our cultural background as truth rather then perception, we could be applying the wrong intervention to the situation and provide further conflict within the team.

 

In addition to an understanding of our own national cultural bias and the impact it may have on our team interventions, we also have to understand our professional culture. As competent project managers, many of us have a background in management, team development, and various organizational theories. Unfortunately, western thought forms the basis of most of these theories. Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) suggest that a theory is "only valid in the cultural environment in which it was conceived" (p. 265). We need to remember that any theory we use was culturally constrained by the researcher or writer, reflecting the environment in which he or she grew up and conducted their work. Thus, as a project manager, we need to challenge ourselves to identify and understand both the national and organizational cultural influences on the theories and research we use with our clients.

 

Finally, I believe that understanding cross-cultural concepts will allow us to educate and promote cultural awareness within our teams and organizations. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998) pointed out that people set up organizations in a form that is familiar to them, and they use models they have used successfully in the past. As we have more organizations going "global", we may need to assist our teams and perhaps even others in the organization to get past the models that will no longer work for them. Further, Schein (2004) said, "It is only when cultural assumptions get in the way that the culture change issue arises" (p. 365). As there are more and more intercultural teams, these types of issues will continue to arise. Armed with an understanding of cross-cultural concepts and tools, we can assist organizations and team members to become aware of the various cultural dimensions affecting their communication, relationships, leadership, and teamwork.

 

Writers note: As a seasoned project manager with over 20 years of experience, and a consultant for over 10 years, I often found that most of the project issues did not have to do with the project tasks, but with the relationships and communication among the team members and within the organization. I wrote this article to provide some "food for thought" on the potential impact of culture on team relationships and communication. I am currently working on my doctorate degree in organization development at the University of St. Thomas and have recently completed a class on multicultural aspects of organization development. Although the class came from the perspective of an organization development practitioner, I found that much of the information would also be useful to project managers. If any of you are interested in more information on understanding various national cultures that may impact your team, I would suggest either reading Trompenaars book, Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business or Hofstede and Hofstede's book on Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. Both highlight the differences between the various national cultures from a global perspective and you can quickly see where your own culture and those of others may part company. Shein's book on Organizational Culture and Leadership is also a good book on understanding organizational culture, which, as most of you know, is where project managers live and breathe.

 

Best wishes to as you move forward with your project teams.

 

References

 

Deal, T. E., & Kennedy, A. A. (1982). Corporate cultures: The rites and rituals of corporate life. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

 

Heistad, K. (2005). Cultural quotes. Retrieved December 17, 2005, from http://www.culturecoach.biz/culturalquotes.html.

 

Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. (2005). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (2nd). New York: McGraw-Hill.

 

Schein, E. H. (2004). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

 

Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. (1998). Riding the waves of culture: Understanding diversity in global business (2nd). New York: McGraw-Hill.