How the PM Practices are impacted by the country culture?..

Hi Dora
Currently I am managing a number of telecommunications and broadcast projects across the Pacific basin, North and South America, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Borneo and many other countries. The cultural issues with the greatest impacts in my line of work are - variable labour laws, differing religious observances (being sufficiently aware of the different customs and cultural norms of each country so as not to cause offence or plan events that conflict with critical celebrations), differing import and customs clearance processes in each country, protection of work staff in some places (with armed guards), communication is always a challenge especially at a technical and project management levels. Stakeholder management is always a bit of fun, different cultures have a wide variety of ways of expressing anger, concern and asking questions, seldom straightforward or direct. One of the greatest impacts is the lack of effective or even lip service Occupational Health and Safety in many emerging countries, safety always comes at a cost. Each and every one of these have time, costs and safety implications.

I concur with Anton's statement about the chain of command. I was quite surprised during my first experience at a major project review with a Japanese customer, that it quickly became apparent who was in charge from their team, and when they found I was the Project Engineer on our own team, they wanted all information to come from me. When a SME on my team would provide a comment, their leader would respond to me, not the SME. I had to tailor communication once I understood this.

Another situation is when different cultures go on vacation/holiday. We've planned projects around late summer in Europe, and deer hunting season in parts of the US because we know most employees are out during that time regardless of what is occurring on the project.

Thanks Sergio. I understand in your points that is a key effort in the BA at the project starting, but do you understand this responsability in the BA and not in the PM? why the BA?
I analyze the cultural impact in the whole project management view and not only for the requirements pespective. could you elaborate the point abot the cultural impact in requirements analysis or give me some link or access to your article? thanks a lot

Hi Dora
Currently I am managing a number of telecommunications and broadcast projects across the Pacific basin, North and South America, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Borneo and many other countries. The cultural issues with the greatest impacts in my line of work are - variable labour laws, differing religious observances (being sufficiently aware of the different customs and cultural norms of each country so as not to cause offence or plan events that conflict with critical celebrations), differing import and customs clearance processes in each country, protection of work staff in some places (with armed guards), communication is always a challenge especially at a technical and project management levels. Stakeholder management is always a bit of fun, different cultures have a wide variety of ways of expressing anger, concern and asking questions, seldom straightforward or direct. One of the greatest impacts is the lack of effective or even lip service Occupational Health and Safety in many emerging countries, safety always comes at a cost. Each and every one of these have time, costs and safety implications.

Thanks Sergio. I look forward to met you in any congress. you have a great stories and good points about BA. In my country BA is n ot acommon role at least with the scope you are describing. By the way we in Antioquia, (my region) said "Paisano" and "Parcero" to create a more close relationship, the "Usted" is more common in Bogota and south regions.

Yes. The observation about Indian team is very precise. Indian teams require lot of approvals to go forward with an unconventional work.
Country culture, mentality and attitude affects project management practices carried out during a project. The way of working including the confidence which is exhumed by subordinates depends on the freedom and backing provided by superiors. The risk taking attitude impacts the seamless PM practices and fast resolution of issues

Dora, probably the most dominant cultural impact that I have experienced is the communication/escalation process. In most eastern and middle eastern countries there is a very strict line of reporting and if you want to communicate up you only ever dare to do it in a direct line. It is also frowned upon to question authority, or anything for that matter. You do what you are told to do and that is it. The weird thing though is that it seems to work within those cultures and I would attribute it to integrity. In many western countries, we find that integrity at management level is not a given.