Section 11 - International Project Management - Part 1

Question 1

The Initiating Phase

Answer 1

A typical project starts with an idea, a customer’s demand, or a successful bid on a contract.
Hopefully the project’s objective aligns with the organization’s objectives. It is extremely important that initiating inputs are acknowledged at this stage of the project.

Input, Process (Controls and Mechanisms), Output!

Question 2

Scope Management

Answer 2

The project manager has to clarify from project start as clearly as possible what the project should do, and what it should not do.

Question 3

Milestones

Answer 3

A measurable accomplishment. This takes a huge project and breaks it up into manageable sub-parts and defines the project’s significant events.

Question 4

Project Management Tools: Critical Path Method

Answer 4

Looks like the pathway problems in MSCI 2150.
Critical paths are the longest ones which determine the length of your project.
Shows you how long the project will take and shows you the project in series and parallel paths. This can be huge, with 30 000 events! Can help keep you on track!
Can use statistics to attach a probability to each of the dates for each of the events.

Question 5

Project Management Tools: Gantt charts

Answer 5

Gantt charts can be used where you lay out all the events from start to finish (SCM).
Software (like Microsoft Project) can be used as well.

Question 6

Project Management Tools: Work Breakdown Structure

Answer 6

Take the whole project; break it into major pieces; break those into smaller pieces, etc. until you can’t break them up anymore. From Phase 2 to Work Package 2.2.2.2.2

Question 7

Risk Management

Answer 7

Anticipated risk: you knew the risk was coming and you were ready for it.
Internal (time and cost) or external (material delivery schedule variances or govt. intervention).
Emerging: you didn’t know it was coming and nobody could predict it. These are often more than one event happening at once. Response plans are developed as the event evolves.

Question 8

Risk Management Process

Answer 8

Identifying Risks: list all the things that could go wrong. Use your project scope statement and WBS to list everything that could go wrong. Ask stakeholders what they think. Your output is a risk register (a spreadsheet).
Analyzing and Prioritizing Risks: Assess and estimate the impact and probability of each risk. The risk register now has low-high-severe impact rankings on each of their risks.
Performing Risk Planning: compile contingency plans (detailed). Add these contingency plans to the risk register and allow for cultural issues like preferred communication style, time zones, level of detail, etc. Your risk register is now very big and very detailed.
Monitoring and Controlling Risks: when the project is happening, watch and listen. Constantly scan the project to ensure that when something does go wrong, you know about it as soon as possible. You also update the register as the risks change in level of impact or likelihood.

Question 9

PESTEL Tool

Answer 9

The PESTEL Tool: Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Environmental, Legal.

Question 10

Strategies to Cope with Foreseeable Risk

Answer 10

Avoidance, Mitigation, Acceptance, Transfer, Absorption or Pooling

Question 11

Planning Process: Four Major Activities

Answer 11

• Planning time: Decide how long it will take based on your cultural perspective using WBS or CPM to get an enhanced network diagram.
• Scheduling under resource constraints: do the whole thing again with your constraints (cultural expectations of your country you’re in, weather, cultural hours expected, etc.) applied.
• Planning cost: Cash flow implications exist, use cost estimates, estimate cost for risk mitigation, etc. You create a cumulative and detailed budget spreadsheets here.
• Planning Quality: See if the contract meets your quality expectations. If it doesn’t, renegotiate and talk to the other party about how you will meet the quality expectations that are expected of you in the contract.

Question 12

Cultural Impact on International Projects

Answer 12

National culture, professional/functional culture, organizational culture, and individual motivation and expected leadership will all affect your international project.

Question 13

Cultural Impact on Planning

Answer 13

A culture from an area that has frequent natural disasters will assume that only long-term plans need to be changed; short term plans will be stable.
The opposite is true in an area that is prone to infrastructure problems (like poor electricity).

If Culture #1 prefers every aspect to be clearly detailed before the project begins assumes the plan won’t need to be changed, but culture #2 who uses only a general outline assumes that details will develop as the project goes on.

Question 14

Cultural Gaps Related to International Projects: Equality vs Hierarchical

Answer 14

Equality-oriented managers will invite input from team members.
Hierarchy-oriented managers will create a plan on their own.

Question 15

Cultural Gaps Related to International Projects: Individual vs Group

Answer 15

Individual: accepts risks, takes control, communicates downwards.
Group focus: avoids risk, prefers group consensus for decisions.

Question 16

Cultural Gaps Related to International Projects: Achievement vs Status

Answer 16

Achievement-focused leaders believe the project’s success will bring them recognition and promotions; their decisions focus on the project’s success.
Status-focused leaders believe their decisions need to focus on immediate recognition; the project’s success is a secondary item (similar to a political model).

Question 17

Cultural Gaps Related to International Projects: Monochronic vs Polychronic

Answer 17

Monochronic: every activity can be identified and planned in a logical order (that must never be altered).
Polychronic: multiple events can occur at the same time (subject to time and resource availability).

Question 18

Cultural Gaps Related to International Projects: Universal vs Circumstantial

Answer 18

Project managers with a universal preference will create one Master Plan to be applied at all sites and situations.
Circumstantial managers will design a specific plan for each specific situation.

Question 19

Cultural Gaps Related to International Projects: Theoretical vs Pragmatic

Answer 19

Theoretical project managers attach great importance to extensive planning (often a sign of minimal field experience).
Managers from pragmatic cultures spend less time planning and rely more on previous experience and the value of ‘learning by doing’.

Question 20

Cultural Gaps Related to International Projects: Conflict vs Consensus

Answer 20

This category is defined as the degree that a person is comfortable with conflict during i) scope definition (including assignment of responsibilities), ii) leadership, and iii) communicating bad news. Some prefer conflict, others prefer the consensus.

Question 21

Cultural Gaps Related to International Projects: Task vs Relationship

Answer 21

Task focused: doesn’t care about staff; merely tools to complete project.
Relationship focused: cares about the staff, attempts to motivate them, believes that caring leads to successful projects.

Question 22

Adding Resources to Schedules

Answer 22

Quantitative: having enough material, money, and human resources. Some cultures will insist on long-term planning to ensure the resources will be available, but other cultures will use a more casual approach and search for resources only as they become required.
Qualitative: minimal standards for raw materials or modular components, minimal standards for service reliability, the availability of qualified staff. Different cultures have different standards in regard to quality in terms of material, reliable service, and qualified staff.

Question 23

Planning Trade-Offs

Answer 23

Time vs. Resource issue: can a 40-manhour job be done most efficiently:
One person for 40 hours?
Two people for 20 hours?
Four people for 10 hours?

Resource commitments: will committing your most experience staff or limited equipment:
Shorten a critical activity (that will shorten the project’s overall time schedule) or shorten a non-critical activity (which will shorten one event’s time schedule, but won’t affect the project’s time schedule).

Question 24

Contracts as Special Forms of External Co-ordination

Answer 24

Firm Fixed Price: Contract price doesn’t change.
Cost plus Fixed Fee: A contract plus extra costs added in as things come up. Think of 7 million dollar building plus 1 million in new fees.
Incentive contracting: time sensitive and the most involvement for the customer as it could cost them the most as it needs to be done quickly.

Question 25

Unique Characteristics of International Projects

Answer 25

Fluctuations of currency rates need to be closely monitored.
Rate changes during the life of a project can create losses beyond the project manager’s control.
The accounting team needs to be aware of rate changes to make recommendations that will minimize their impact.

Travel Expenses: companies always underestimate the cost of travel for international projects. Do preliminary research for this!
Specific Site Characteristics and Local Laws need to be monitored.

Quality: there needs to be a common understanding about quality in regards to its definition as well as the perceived and expected level of quality among the major project stakeholders.
The best-run projects often have quality clearly defined within the scope statement.

Question 26

Quality Standards

Answer 26

The legal minimum (which has a singular focus on profit),
As per the Scope Statement (to meet the client’s expectation)
The maximum quality while still making a reasonable profit (the focus is to develop a relationship for consideration of future projects).

Question 27

Technical Communications

Answer 27

Never assume that all parties understand the documents unless there has been confirmation via written communication.
Are the specifications clear and comprehensive; are all details provided?
Is the applied measurement system understood by all stakeholders… metric versus imperial?
Think of the Gimli Glider story Dave told with the wrong measurement of the gas levels!
Is the accounting platform common and accessible to all parties?