Project

Management (MGT1021)

Impact of Multi-Cultural Working Environment

on Project Execution and Modern Perception of
Cross-Cultural Interactions (November 2017)

Authors: Komal Veauli (15BCE0102), Srivatsa Patnaik (15BEC0587), Nirali Bandaru (15BEC0876)

Under the guidance of 


Professor Boopathi M

School of Mechanical Engineering

Vellore InsJtute of Technology

Abstract accomplish most things. In projects, effecQve

teamwork is the key that can decide the
In these economic circumstances and under success or failure of the project. Although a lot
g l o b a l r i v a l r y , m a n a g e m e n t a n d depends on the team leader, the team itself is
administra7on of projects is viewed as a way a crucial part of the project. As each culture is
for overseeing associa7ons. In this paper we different, so is their way of working together. If
want to outline the significance of cultural we compare any two cultures, what may work
a n d s o c i a l d i ff e r e n c e s i n p r o j e c t for one team may be disastrous and insulQng
management, and provide an insight into the for another. Hence, while dealing with mulQ-
effect of diversity in the percep7on of cultural companies, taking these cultures into
employees execu7ng a wide variety of consideraQon is very important.
projects. We will compare the impact of
As the world is geSng closer, we cannot just
these cultural differences have in companies
work with one culture. With the present global
suppor7ng mul7cultural environments. Our
economy comes the need for healthy cross-
main objec7ve is to establish and understand
cultural interacQon. In the rest of the
the rela7onship between culture and project
document the same interacQon will be
execu7on. We shall discuss the advantages
discussed, and the current percepQon of
and disadvantages of some cultures. Through e m p l o ye e s wo r k i n g i n m u l Q - c u l t u ra l
a survey directed towards a variety of people environments will be demonstrated, and
holding different occupa7ons, we will make analyzed.
an analysis and draw conclusions from the
inferences made.
BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION
Although individual projects have their boons,
large scale projects cannot be completed
alone. Humans need to work as a team to
Project: A project is a temporary endeavor
designed to produce a unique product, service
or result with a defined beginning and end
( u s u a l l y Q m e - co n st ra i n e d , a n d o [e n
constrained by funding or deliverable)
Project Management (MGT1021)
undertaken to meet unique goals and
objecQves, typically to bring about beneficial
change or added value.
Project Management: Project management is
the discipline of iniQaQng, planning, execuQng,
controlling, and closing the work of a team to
achieve specific goals and meet specific
success criteria at the specified Qme.
Culture: Culture is the social behavior and
norms found in human socieQes. Culture is
considered a central concept in anthropology,
encompassing the range of phenomena that
are transmi\ed through social learning in
human socieQes.
Cross-cultural communicaQon: Cross-cultural
communicaQon is a field of study that looks at
h o w p e o p l e f r o m d i ffe r i n g c u l t u r a l
backgrounds communicate, in similar and
different ways among themselves, and how
they a\empt to communicate across cultures.
MulQ-cultural company: A mulQnaQonal
corporaQon or worldwide enterprise is a
corporate organizaQon that owns or controls
producQon of goods or services in two or more
countries other than their home country.
Need for Cross-culture
Cross culture can refer to a company's
iniQaQves to increase understanding of
different groups, develop effecQve
communicaQon or markeQng efforts to reach
out to customers and clients outside its
tradiQonal market. Methods of cross culture
are intended to strengthen the interacQon of
people from different backgrounds in the
business world and is a vital issue in
internaQonal business.
Culture is immeasurably important due to its
impact on how social, societal and professional
behaviors are interpreted and what is
considered taboo and what is not. Some
cultures are more hierarchical, while others
have fla\er social structures. In business, the
relaQonship between an employee and a boss
is important as one culture may encourage
open dialogue — even criQcism of a superior
by a subordinate— while in another, it would
be unacceptable. Cross cultural norms also
extend to body language and body contact;
some examples include how employees should
approach managers in a professional seSng or
how a pat on the back would be interpreted in
China compared to the United States.
During the last decades, large projects tend to
involve people from all around the world,
extending the breadth of skills that a Project
Manager should possess. MulQ-naQonal
project teams as well as virtual project team
composiQon seem to be the norm in today’s
globalized economy. Making the transiQon
from managing projects where the complete
team is local, to managing projects with teams
covering various Qme zones and naQonaliQes
becomes increasingly challenging. It should
thus be one of the areas that Project Managers
managing such projects allocate addiQonal
planning Qme, to avoid any picalls that might
create tensions and lead to overall problems.
In the end it all comes down to managing
culture.
One of the most important factors in today’s
mulQnaQonal teams seems to be cultural
management. As highlighted among others by
Sheriff (2001), Kloppenborg and Petrick (1999)
and Ely and Thomas (2001) culturally diverse
teams have an inherent extensive dynamic
that calls for the appropriate cultural
management. Managing culture is not simply a
quesQon for adding one more item to the
project risk register, but rather the conscious
effort by the Project Manager to encompass a
whole philosophy of promoQng equality and
posiQve team spirit, no ma\er the origins and
the mix of the team.
Project Management (MGT1021)

Managing culture is not an easy task. There are problem for any society. This is measured in
a lot of different factors to be taken under Masculinity index (MAS). A high MAS indicates
consideraQon and a lot of decisions can be that there is high gender disQncQon at work
directly affected by them. A successful Project whereas a low MAS indicates that equal
Manager should try to idenQfy any such issues distribuQon of work among males and females
from the very beginning of the project and be in companies.
prepared, so that no such issues could cause
Long-term versus short-term orientaQon - This
delays or serious problems.
deals with a society or company exhibiQng a
realisQc future oriented perspecQve rather
than a convenQonal historic or short-term
Cross – Cultural Challenges
point of view. Business people in long-term
oriented cultures are accustomed to working
toward building strong posiQons in their
Power Distance - Power distance is the extent
markets and do not expect immediate results.
to which the less powerful members of
Managers (o[en family members) are allowed
organizaQons and insQtuQons accept and
Qme and resources to make their own
expect that power is distributed unequally. It is
contribuQons. In short-term oriented cultures
measured in a Power Distance Index (PDI). The
the “bo\om line” (the results of the past
values and aStudes found at the naQonal level
month, quarter, or year) is a major concern;
contrast “low-PDI countries” with “high-PDI
control systems are focused on it and
countries”, with some countries placed in
managers are constantly judged by it.
between.
Impact of Different Cultural Challenges on a
Uncertainty avoidance - Uncertainty avoidance
Project
refers to the extent to which a culture
programs its members to feel either
uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured
situaQons. Unstructured situaQons are novel,
unknown, surprising, and different from usual.
It is measured in Uncertainty Avoidance Index
(UAI).

Individualism vs collecQvism - Individualism

stands for a society in which the Qes between
individuals are loose: All are expected to look
a[er themselves and the respecQve immediate
families only. CollecQvism stands for a society
in which people from birth onward are
integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups,
which throughout people’s lifeQme conQnue to
protect them in exchange for unquesQoning
loyalty. NaQonal differences in Individualism
are calculated in an Individualism Index (IDV).

Masculinity versus femininity - It refers to the

distribuQon of emoQonal roles between the
genders, which is another fundamental
Project Management (MGT1021)
Here, (+) = PosiQve impact of the values on
outcomes of the project.
(-) = NegaQve impact of the value on the
outcome of the project, also called a culture
clash.
(X) = No direct impact on the outcome of the
project.
Elements of a Culture
Language – Language management is the most
important in MNCs and companies dealing
with different cultures. Even different dialects
of the same language can cause mishap in the
project and lead to its failure. Hence, one
common language is needed as a means of
communicaQon as language is a vehicle for
transfer of ideas.
AestheQcs - Judgments of aestheQc value rely
on our ability to discriminate at a sensory level.
AestheQcs examines our affecQve domain
response to an object or phenomenon.
AestheQcs can affect an MNC in many ways. In
certain cultures, informal way of conversaQon
is allowed while conversing with your seniors,
however, in some it is severely frowned upon.
In this manner, certain aspects of your life
which may seem normal in our culture may be
extremely negated in other cultures.
EducaQon – As all cultures don’t follow the
same way of educaQon, it can affect the
working of a project involving different
cultures. The way different cultures view
different situaQons in different manner and
this can cause a riff to occur in a team as
arguments may break out as to how to deal
with the same situaQon.
Religion – The work ethics of a culture are also
affected by the religion. In certain cultures,
embracing in public is normal while in others
its severely frowned upon. In a similar manner,
religion influences the decisions and ways to
deal with the different situaQons. The MNC
must keep in mind that it cannot prefer a
certain religion and should respect the
boundaries of each religion.
PoliQcal life – Each culture has a different view
on poliQcs, different laws and different
punishments in case of bending certain laws.
In an MNC one must keep in mind all these
differences which working with mulQ-cultural
teams and projects.
Social OrganizaQon – There are different kinds
of social organizaQons in each culture. Dealing
with these organizaQons is necessary as they
help in networking and geSng most of the
work easier. Social organizaQons also help in
regulaQng the labour laws, working condiQons,
etc. These organizaQons mostly have the right
to get an MNC’s license revoked in case of
breach of laws and regulaQons.
METHODOLOGY
A sur vey was conducted, and
answered by a wide range of people in various
occupaQons, all working in mulQ-cultural work
environments. Each survey quesQon was
aimed at understanding the person’s
Project Management (MGT1021)

percepQon and level of comfort of their mulQ- 18.I am saQsfied with my mulQ-cultural work
cultural project teams. environment.
19.I would like to conQnue working in a mulQ-
The survey consists of 21 quesQons,
cultural environment.
each with five opQons: Strongly Disagree,
20.MulQ-cultural teams help the company
Disagree, Neutral, Agree, and Strongly Agree.
grow.
At the beginning of the survey, the individual 21.My company encourages cross-cultural
was asked to give their name and designaQon. understanding and makes efforts to improve
At the end of the survey, the surveyed it.
individuals were asked to provide an opQonal
descripQon of what they thought of their DATA
mulQ-cultural working environment.
We successfully obtained 80 responses
The survey quesQons are as follows:
from different cultures and differing countries.
1. Working in a mulQ-cultural team is For ease of analysis, we have put them in pie
challenging. charts in order to be able to visualize the
2. I am comfortable working in a mulQ-cultural percepQons our surveyed individuals.
team.
3. Diversity affects my project team, and The legend for the survey is given as follows:
project framework.
4. Diversity is a posiQve trait of a project team.
5. The more culturally diverse the team, the
more effecQve is the team synergy.
6. Language is a barrier that can be overcome.
7. Hierarchy affects the wok ethics.
8. Religion is a barrier that can be overcome. 1. Working in a mulQ-cultural team is
9. I have experienced discriminaQon while challenging.
working in a mulQ-cultural team.
10.I have experienced gender discriminaQon.
11.A mulQ-cultural team is more balanced than
a uni-cultural team.
12.A mulQ-cultural team is more effecQve than
a uni-cultural team.
13.It is important to understand culture
differences in order to successfully execute
and complete the project.
14.My team has trouble with deadlines due to
inconsistencies in the team's percepQon of
Qming and deadlines.
15.My team has had to adjust or redo the
project framework due to cultural
differences. As is expected, majority of the surveyed
16.Project success was negaQvely impacted believe that working with cultural differences
due to cultural differences. is challenging.
17.There have been discrepancies between my
colleagues due to cultural differences.
Project Management (MGT1021)
2. I am comfortable working in a mulQ-cultural
team.
As is apparent, majority believe that they are
able to comfortably work with different
cultures. This implies that globalizaQon has
helped corporaQons over generaQons, and
most people today are accepQng when it
comes to working with people who might have
contradicQng values and beliefs.
3. Diversity affects my project team, and
project framework.
No ma\er how accepQng people are today,
however, it does not change the fact that
differing cultures create clashes. As seen in this
pie graph, an overwhelming majority perceives
that project framework is affected by differing
cultures in a project team. This is the heart of
the “challenging” aspect of a mulQ-cultural
team.
4. Diversity is a posiQve trait of a project team.
As seen, 91.1% of the interviewed believe that,
that project teams are culturally diverse is a
posiQve trait of the team. This shows the
accepQng side of today’s world, yet again.
5. The more culturally diverse the team, the
more effecQve is the team synergy.
Again, an overwhelming majority agrees that
the more culturally diverse a team, the be\er
the team work. However, it is true that a
significant percent of the sample thinks
diversity does not contribute to team work, or
that diversity negaQvely impact project team
work.
Project Management (MGT1021)

6. Language is a barrier that can be overcome.
quesQon, it is assumed that the surveyed
individuals understood the underlying
assumpQon.
This quesQon was asked to determine the
percentage of people that were pressured by
hierarchy at work. As we can see, almost half
of the surveyed have agreed that hierarchy is
an important part of their project handling.

8. Religion is a barrier that can be overcome.

As was expected, most of the surveyed were

sure language wasn’t a problem. However, this
could also be a result of the fact that in the
modern world, English is widely spoken
language and it is difficult to obtain a job
without English skills on a global scale,
especially when working in a mulQ-naQonal
work environment. As we can see, 10.1%
believe is difficult to overcome the barrier of
language. Therefore, it is inferred that
although the English-speaking populaQon is
Only less than 25% of the sample think
very high, it does not completely obliterate the otherwise that religion is a barrier in a work
populaQon of non-english speaking corporate environment.
employees working in mulQ-cultural or mulQ-
naQonal companies. 9. I have experienced discriminaQon while
working in a mulQ-cultural team.
7. Hierarchy affects the wok ethics.

The percent of people who experienced

Note: Although the phrase in “in a mulQ-
discriminaQon in a mulQ-cultural team is very
cultural company” is excluded from the
high, and this shows that no ma\er how
Project Management (MGT1021)
accepQng people are to work with a diverse
team, they are not accepQng towards
everything that comes with diversity. There are
many things that could be improved.
10.I have experienced gender discriminaQon.
In order to compare between cultural
discriminaQon, and gender discriminaQon, this
quesQon was included.
11.A mulQ-cultural team is more balanced than
a uni-cultural team.
As illustrated, a mulQ-cultural team is believed
to be more balanced than a uni-cultural team.
As will be demonstrated later in the report, in
many of the surveyed individuals’ feedback,
t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f h a v i n g d i ffe r e n t
perspecQves give different inputs in a project
team was focused on more than other points.
12.A mulQ-cultural team is more effecQve than
a uni-cultural team.
While most agree that a diverse team would
be effecQve, a significant number of people
aren’t sure it helps their team.
13.It is important to understand culture
differences in order to successfully execute
and complete the project.
Majority agree that cross-cultural
understanding is important. However, a
significant amount of the same do not think it
necessary for the project execuQon to go
flawlessly.
Project Management (MGT1021)

14.My team has trouble with deadlines due to
inconsistencies in the team's percepQon of
Qming and deadlines.
actually agreed that changes have been made,
so although the majority disagrees that their
project framework was heavily affected by
cultural differences, it is true that in many
cases, it sQll does.

16.Project success was negaQvely impacted

due to cultural differences.

Most obviously, the noQons that Qme and

deadlines are perceived differently by different
cultures is sQll true, as stated by the
overwhelming percent of our sample.

15.My team has had to adjust or redo the

project framework due to cultural
Project success was not as impacted by
differences.
cultural differences in most cases, but it
affected a significant percent of the
populaQon, as illustrated by the graph above.

17.There have been discrepancies between my

colleagues due to cultural differences.

Although as seen in the previous survey

quesQon, many believe deadlines are highly
impacted by cultural percepQon of Qme, and
the flexibility of deadlines, the project
As shown above, more than 50% have not
framework is sQll not heavily impacted by the
experienced any discrepancies in their teams.
differences. However, it is important to note
that a significant percent of our sample has
Project Management (MGT1021)
However, this also means that nearly 50% of
the sample has.
18.I am saQsfied with my mulQ-cultural work
environment.
As seen above, the responses vary. It appears
that the majority of the sample populaQon
faces challenges that make them unhappy with
their diverse work environment.
19.I would like to conQnue working in a mulQ-
cultural environment.
Ironically, an overwhelming majority of the
sample are willing to conQnue to work in a
mulQ-cultural environment. This is
contradictory to the previous quesQon, for
which the responses indicated that the
majority were not saQsfied with the diversity in
their teams. This implies that although there
isn’t enough saQsfacQon with their respecQve
teams, they are willing to push themselves and
challenge themselves.
20.MulQ-cultural teams help the company
grow.
Most obviously, diversity only contributes
posiQvely to a company’s reputaQon and
success.
21.My company encourages cross-cultural
understanding and makes efforts to improve
it.
Most companies, as illustrated, do promote
diversity and encourage cross-cultural
interacQon. This is most likely due to the fact
that today’s large companies are globalized,
and require their employees to be skilled in
Project Management (MGT1021)
the very cross-cultural understanding and be
able to communicate with different cultures
around the world.
ANALYSIS
In this survey, certain quesQons were
asked in favor of a diverse work culture and
mulQ-cultural project teams, whereas others
opposed the idea. As demonstrated in the
response charts, most people agreed that a
diverse project team gives different
perspecQves. However, it is also true that most
were challenged by issues caused by such a
diverse environment. These challenges include
cultural segregaQon, gender discriminaQon,
failing to be in sync with different members
and their percepQons of the flexibility of Qme
and deadlines, and so on and so forth.
However, overall, it appears that the majority
are willing to work in a mulQcultural
environment, while allowing themselves to
face challenges and overcome barriers one by
one, whether it is a language barrier, a religion
barrier and whatnot.
It is important to note that 85% of the
sample faced issues in project execuQon due
to cultural diversity. Time is money. This
important factor in any project is essenQal to
project success. When different cultures have
different perspecQves on Qme and perceive
different levels of flexibility in deadlines, there
are clashes in a project team. As illustrated by
quesQon 14, an overwhelming percent of the
sample faced issues with deadlines due to the
team’s inconsistencies in the percepQon of
Qme. However, the impact of such differences
does not seem to be so great that the project
framework itself was affected, and the plan
had to be changed, for a majority of the
sample responded negaQvely when asked
about the same in quesQon 15.
In previous researches and studies
conducted on such impact of culture on
project management, project execuQon and
project success, many of the aforemenQoned
challenges faced in the project team were
encountered. However, it seems that, based on
the responses obtained from the survey, these
issues are not as prevalent anymore. Team
work is more appreciated than individual work,
for example. Today’s generaQons are much
more accepQng and adapt more easily than
the previous generaQons.
Adaptability is the popular trait among
the people in today’s working populaQon. As
people are more and more aware of their
surroundings, and other cultures, they become
more of what is called a global ciQzen. This
increases cross-cultural understanding, and
people working under pressure in mulQ-
cultural teams are encouraged even more, to
be interacQve and learn to communicate with
other cultures effecQvely.
Although a majority responded that
they were not saQsfied with the diversity in
their respecQve teams, this could be due to
other external factors as well. This is because a
majority of the sample claimed that they
would conQnue to work with a mulQ-cultural
discipline at work.
CONCLUSION
With the help of this project we were
able to understand the various differences that
occur because of the cross-cultural project
teams. The differences may vary, as do the
opinions on the compaQbility of such teams,
but from all the responses we got we can
conclude that people sQll wish to work in such
teams as they understand the importance of
different cultures working together.
Project Management (MGT1021)

In yesteryears, a lot of discrepancies occurred 10.Stahl, G.K., and Tung, R.L, 2015. Toward a more
over how to manage people from different balanced treatment of culture in internaJonal
cultures, however most of those have been business studies: the need for posiJve cross-cultural
overcome and people have learnt to adapt. scholarship. Journal of InternaQonal Business.

Although, there is sQll some or the other kind
of discriminaQon they faced, majority of
people were in favor of such teams.
11.Tung, R, 2014. Requisites to and ways of developing a
global mindset: implicaJons for research on
leadership and organizaJons. Journal of Leadership
and OrganizaQonal Studies.

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