Globalization has stretched many companies
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Introduction:
Globalization has stretched many companies outside of the zones of their countries. With the technological interventions, the emerging challenge that many of the national and transnational corporations face is the integration of their companies in the new scape of business. Innovation, research and development are the hallmarks of the leading enterprises and companies in the world, such as, Tesla, Microsoft and Google. The ability of these companies to adapt with the emerging demands of market, technological innovation, diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender has contributed toward their success. Still, with these alterations in the business world, new paradigms are required to organize, regulate an supervise the new procedures.
Project Management and Communication in Multicultural Environment:
The business entities in different countries in the world are also cooperating to build projects that are sustainable and productive. With these projects, one of the concerns is also effective communication and partnership between different stakeholders that can effectively contribute toward the success of the project. Communication with different stakeholders in a multicultural environment also poses a different set of challenges. Communication is also a decisive factor in the success of multicultural projects. Communication in multicultural environment is also impacted by culture, thus, this factor also inevitably impacts the success of the project. To study the impact of culture in communication for project management in a multicultural environment, a study was conducted in UK and Kenya (Ochieng and Price). The study proved that communication in a multicultural environment for project management is more effective when the project managers are aware of the difference in culture. The research also proved that the trust, empathy and cultural collectivism are some of the decisive components that make the process of multicultural project management more effective. Thus, the research is a steppingstone toward formation of guidelines, procedures and strategies for effective project management in a multicultural environment.
Scope of Research:
The research on the strategies for project management that were used by the project managers in Kenya and UK was done for the construction engineering project industry. The focus of the study was to analyze the efficiency and redundancy in the procedures of cross-cultural communication in heavy engineering industrial projects. There are a number of internal and external stakeholders in a construction engineering project, that include refinery plants, power plants, pharmaceutical plants. The heavy engineering projects can range from small to large size and are entrusted by the client to contractors and subcontractors. Clients of this industry belong to pharmaceutical, oil, food manufacturing, chemical and water industries across the globe. Thus, the contractors and subcontractors also work and liaise with a multitude of sectors. The communication between the team members in a multicultural team as well as their communication with external stakeholders is of critical importance. Not just the project managers are required to develop those skills and abilities to regulate a multicultural workforce and external stakeholders, but training also has to be imparted to the members of the workforce in order to ensure efficiency in team work. The analysis of effective practices for communication in a multicultural environment for project management is also a rigorous study that requires extensive research as the outcomes of the suggested measures is also not always predictable.
Analysis-Multicultural Workforce:
One of the important concerns of such a research is also to compare and contrast the performance of multicultural teams against the monocultural teams. The recent researches have also pointed toward the benefit of use of multicultural and diverse teams in a business (Hartenian and Gudmundson). The multicultural and diverse teams are more productive toward a business as they bring unique ideas and concepts that can be useful for the business. The diverse team is also important as the businesses of organizations also stretch across the borders of countries, to other regions and cultures. The effect of culture on business is also inevitable. For instance, there are three Disneyland parks in other countries of the world too, in addition to the USA. The other parks of Disneyland are in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris. The different themes, as well as the items for eating and other displays are influenced by the indigenous cultures of these cities. The thinking, mindsets, the historical culture and value systems of the people in those cities was also analyzed and the themes and functional parts of the park were designed accordingly (Tang). Cultural constraints and beliefs of the natives of the region, are also one of the major factors that determine the success of any business in that region. With a diverse team, the company is in a better position to analyze the other culture and understands the perspectives from the standpoint of individuals from other ethnicities. In this way, it leads to better decision making in business that can also integrate in other cultures. A multicultural team also helps the organization to determine the concerns and voice of other cultures on any given matter. Thus, unique perspectives and opinions are more likely to develop in a multicultural environment of workforce and the business also understands the target audience in a better way. The multicultural teams in different types of businesses also studied in order to evaluate and determine their role in a more productive way. Nevertheless, all organizations agree on the point that a multicultural environment poses different set of challenges and concerns that are different from a monocultural environment. Therefore, effective strategies for regulation of workforce in a multicultural environment can bring favorable outcomes that contribute toward success of the organization. One of the main objectives for management of project in such an environment is to integrate and align the whole team toward the goals of the project. In this phase, communication is also one of the major concerns so that the message of the manager is understood across the team in a uniform way. Use of correct strategies and procedures also resulted in execution of multiple projects of project engineering across the borders, even at a distance of several thousand miles apart from the actual site of construction. The other factor is also increase in cooperation between different companies across the world for joint ventures, resulting in more teams of transnational nature. According to several authors, including Weatherley (Framework for Managing Multicultural Project Teams | Emerald Insight), management of projects across different regions of the world is an arduous task. Even project management is also more difficult in the event when the project team is also close to the environment of construction project.
Analysis-Organizational Culture:
One of the major impediments is also the different organizational cultures in different regions across the globe. Organizational cultures also differ among businesses in the same region; however, they can be more dissimilar across different cultures in the world. Establishment of mutual trust and confidence between the allying entities as well as within the individuals of the workforce is also crucial for the initiation as well as success of any business. Further problems also arise due to lack of face to face communication. Though the availability of technology and social media has provided alternative ways for communication, still it does not substitute for the loss of other non-verbal signals, such as the body language and eye-contact, that are also one of the important indicators of communication and they also impart meaning to conversation. Thus, it is also important to know the difference in experiences of project managers in different regions across the globe. Also, the individual experiences of project managers on multicultural projects is also pertinent to the analysis.
Analysis-Culture and Communication in Multicultural Work Environment:
The project manager is also expected to understand the everyday cultural issues in a different culture as this also impacts communication. Culture impacts the productivity of business in a plethora of ways, according to which the business owners also shape their business. For instance, the branding and advertisements for a business are also heavily influenced by culture and demographics. For instance, in those countries of the world, where elderly population is more, the commitments made by the politicians in the election campaigns are also while also keeping in mind the particular demands of this dominant fragment of population. If the population of millennials is dominant in a region, then this is also a point of concern for branding and advertisement by businesses. The target audience of business, the demographics and the mindsets and culture of that population is also one of the important factors that influence a business. Therefore, effective coordination between multicultural teams is important to communicate and elucidate these cultural aspects of business across the project managers so that the business maneuvers itself accordingly. Different organizational cultures also emerge due to multicultural teams. The multicultural teams are also more effective at creative problem solving, if communication is effective among the team members. The team members in a multicultural team also have different perspectives in motives, environments and behavioral intentions. However, a lack of understanding and cohesion between the team members can result in decrease in efficiency of the workforce. Research has also found that the teams who have more cohesion among the team members are also more efficient at responding to challenges and changes. Hence, the project manager should understand the emerging people issues due to culture in such an environment as any misunderstandings or conflicts due to them also results in poor performance of the business. The workers from different environments also respond in a different way to the new policies and regulations of the business that is also impacted by their cultures. The effect of other factors, such as, economic and political background also impact the mindsets of the employees and the external stakeholders. Also, in particular less research has been conducted to address these issues for construction project management in particular. Research has also proven that the sense of belonging to a group in a team also positively impacts the response of that team to challenges.
Analysis-Response of Project Managers:
The interviews with the project managers showed their preferences and recurrent issues in a multicultural workforce environment. The interviewed project managers showed their affirmation for the improvement of technology across the industries for the sustenance of business in a competitive environment. It is also important for the project manager to bring correct solutions for any conflict or dissent in such an environment. Th project manager should be articulate, clear, and have empathy toward the problems of the employees. The strategy of collective problem solving can also be a useful approach in certain circumstances. Certain conflicts also result in improvement in policies of the organization, for other conflicts, the project manager can elaborate the reason for such a decision. The decision of work roles in a team can also be influenced by cultural factors, therefore, it is important for the team to develop understanding. Activities and projects can be initiated by the project manager to improve the understanding and cooperation between the team members. The purpose of the business should also be clearly stated across the team so that the employees know the purpose of their work and align themselves with the objectives of the business, this also helps them to make individual decisions. The interviews of participants in this research from the UK, showed a more favorable response toward face to face communication rather than emails and newsletters, the respondents agreed that the face-to-face communication is a more effective strategy. Thus, it is also pertinent for the company to arrange trainings that can teach the employees non-verbal parts of communication, such as, the facial and vocal aspects, that also comprise 93% of communication in some cases (Ochieng and Price). It is also pertinent to reiterate to the team the learnings from the previous experiences of projects. The participants in this research from both Kenya and UK emphasized on the elements of honesty and empathy among the team members and project managers for effective communication and understanding among them. The issues of trust deficit also inhibit effective communication and results in misunderstandings. It was also found that participants in the study from Kenya also emphasized more on the element of empathy in comparison with those from UK, whereas both agreed to the importance of empathy in teamwork, management and communication. The team members should also trust the honesty of the project manager, this also makes them understand the directives more clearly. It was noticed both among the participants of UK and Kenya that there was lack of trust in team members to different types of cultural issues, such as tribalism in Kenya. The project manager also has to be mindful of the concerns of the individual employees as they also impact the work dynamics. Other concerns showed by the participants was also the harm due to individualism in work culture. The project manager thus has to promote a collectivism based organizational culture to improve collaboration and harmony between the members of workforce.
Conclusion:
Thus, the research paper elucidated the emerging requirements that arise due to multicultural environments in the heavy engineering industrial projects. It is imperative to being cultural awareness among the employees as well as the project manager to improve cohesion, understanding and trust that can motivate an effective communication. The research, however, did not highlight the different types of cultural constraints, the politics and economic influences that impact different stakeholders. Thus, all stakeholders should be researched to explore different aspects of cultural influences on them to improve communication in multicultural work environment.
Reference:
Framework for Managing Multicultural Project Teams | Emerald Insight. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09699980911002557/full/html. Accessed 3 May 2020.
Hartenian, Linda S., and Donald E. Gudmundson. “Cultural Diversity in Small Business: Implications for Firm Performance.” Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, vol. 5, no. 3, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte., Ltd., 2000, p. 209.
Ochieng, Edward Godfrey, and A. D. F. Price. “Managing Cross-Cultural Communication in Multicultural Construction Project Teams: The Case of Kenya and UK.” International Journal of Project Management, vol. 28, no. 5, Elsevier, 2010, pp. 449–60.
Tang, Phillip. Different Disneylands around the World. www.bbc.com, http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20121213-different-disneylands-around-the-world. Accessed 28 Mar. 2020.
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