cultural-differences

One of the reasons I got into Project Management in the first place is that I’ve always been interested in people – their personalities, where they are from, what makes them tick.
Growing up overseas in Japan, I attended an international school for foreigners, and there were kids from all over the world – kids whose [...]

Hi, It’s my time to blog again – and this is my birthday week – so I am going to take advantage of it and have some fun.
Just to let you know:  I am currently teaching at Keller School of Management.  Teaching several MBA courses which include Leadership & Organizational Development, Business Planning, and International [...]

The challenge of managing virtual projects is amplified by a complexity factor equal to the number of cultures represented on your team. When you start doing the computations based on the different cultures related to nationality, company, functional discipline, age and caste you can quickly realize why you and your peers heads are spinning when [...]

The accelerated pace of globalization has made the need for virtual teams essential. The list of benefits that corporate executives tout to stockholders and channel partners is accelerated time to market, customer intimacy, resource utilization, employee retention and cost efficiency, to name a few. The challenge lies at the feet of project managers around the [...]

My last blog talked about applying Five Whys to elements within project management and specifically to human and team dynamics. The more challenging aspect is in attempting to apply the Five Whys on global projects where activities are performed in multiple countries and the team is typically comprised of members from more than one country. [...]

Yes, we’re living in a world economy and it’s the era of globalization. Yet it seems so difficult for many organizations to develop a global view. Innovation, speed to market, and customer intimacy are increasingly becoming drivers for achieving competitive advantage in today’s networked world. Yet few companies are paying full attention to the needs [...]

The international adventures and pitfalls of a global project manager can make great storytelling for your team campfire. Then why is it that most team members would prefer that you put out the flame? Why not keep the fire burning? When the team has celebrated the successful conclusion of the project, they’re ready to head [...]

You’ve developed the global project plan, polished the strategy, won approval from the sponsoring executive, and presented it with great fanfare to your worldwide team. As you wait for the accolades, the plan surprisingly draws mixed reviews from your stakeholders and team members around the world. Team Europe directly voices its discontent with the lack [...]

When we think about prejudice, we think about age, sex, race, religion, etc.  But what about yoru reaction and pre-judgments of people whose style is different from your own?  (This is from my February newsletter – ArLyne)

Technorati Tags: cruss-cultural, cultural-differences, Emotions, pre-judging, prejudice

Thanksgiving at our house is a family affair.  Everyone from the youngsters to the elders all come together under a single roof to enjoy the holiday feast.
Now that’s not to say we all come to this occasion with the same perspective.  There are many differences in how we approach the event.
For the elders, it’s a [...]

A German colleague once commented (during a lager-filled post-project celebration) about how different German and US project management looked to her. She said, “We often wonder in Germany how you Americans successfully got to the moon.” As the Germans nodded, the Americans (being so articulate in our own language) retorted, “Whaaaat?”
Basically, she saw American managers [...]

Jim Sloane raised very interesting points in his “Why Can’t We Grow Up” blog about project management maturity. One in particular is keeping me awake at night:

Organizations in Silicon Valley can integrate virtually any technology into a myriad of applications, and still we struggle with integrating talented individuals into teams of people spanning countries, generations etc.
Here’s something more consider — did you [...]

I am shocked, shocked! at silicon valley business immaturity in project management . Home of some of the greatest, innovative companies on the planet, and we cannot execute projects any better than anyone else.

Technorati Tags: change-management, cultural-differences, dysfuncitonal-corporate-culture, generational-differences, organizational-maturity, project-management, Teams