International Projects: Managing Cross-Cultural Complexity and Creative Problem-Solving

International projects operate within a complex environment involving multiple levels: the individual project and program managers, the firm, the industry, and the macro-environment, all characterised by vast heterogeneity. Successfully executing these projects requires high cultural intelligence, robust cross-functional collaboration, and exceptional resilience in mitigating global risks.

Navigating Cultural and Cross-Functional Diversity

Working on international contracts introduces profound socio-cultural challenges, such as dealing with differing decision-making structures. For example, studies in international business show the complexity of working with Asian cultures, where the focus often shifts from the individual and short-term outcomes (typical in the West) to the society and long-term objectives.

Stakeholder Mediation is Key

International and cross-functional projects require managing relationships with diverse stakeholders from different parts of the organisation and beyond.

Effective management depends on Stakeholder Mediation: identifying, engaging, and facilitating collaboration between key stakeholders. In complex environments like healthcare, this means mediating between highly specialised technical staff, clinical/medical staff (NHS, hospitals), administrative staff, and external partners (MedTech organisations).

If you can utilise tools to support your communication strategy, do it. Monday or Trello are great options to ensure transparency, allow quick insights to review the progress and understand potential bottlenecks. If these tools are new to your organisation, you might face some resistance to change - rolling out these PM solutions people might not adopt them. It’s crucial to communicate that we are not trying to monitor how colleagues are working, but strictly how tasks are shared and how we could be more efficient when collaborating.

Cultural Competence

Proficiency in cross-cultural communication and strategies for conflict resolution is paramount. Successful collaboration with international partners requires dedicated time to review contracts, prepare paperwork, and communicate openly to align expectations. But it also demands incredible flexibility and respect towards other cultures. It’s not enough to recognise our differences - it’s important to study why we have them in the first place and how we could address them if the project or long-term partnership came to fruition.

I worked with many different cultures. I was born in Lithuania, studied in the UK, am currently living and working in the USA. Throughout my career, I was exposed not only to various industries but also to an abundance of cultures. And I loved each and every one of them! I now make it my personal mission to do thorough research on a client or a potential strategic partner when there’s a promise of future collaboration. I can not stress it enough: if we understand where people come from, how things are there, we can address the needs we might not even know they had. In the worst-case scenario, it will prove to be useless for our international collaboration (but we will have expanded our horizons!). In the worst-case scenario, we can anticipate and manage risks we were never prepared for.

I’ll give you an example. Several years ago, I was working with projects and operations at the University of Cambridge, UK. I was thrilled when a new project landed on my desk, offering a perfect chance to professionally pursue my personal passion for Asian culture. I suddenly found myself going through all the materials required to collaborate with Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. My team was excited, but not exactly prepared - they were planning to work on this project in the exact same way we operated in Europe. Needless to say, they were in for a ride when I started pushing for immediate changes: I needed to efficiently manage financial, legal and reputational risks. After going through the materials, I pushed forward some of our initial work to ensure our partners in Asia had enough time to review and make iterations. It’s important to recognise cultural differences as well as differing work practices: in most Asian countries, the decision-making process will be much longer than in Europe or the USA. It is simply because more subject matter experts are involved, and an official document, financial decision or a contract will require several decision-makers to sign it off.

If you are in control of the environment you work in and are familiar with the processes of your customers, partners and other crucial stakeholders, you can anticipate their needs, schedule work and processes and prepare accordingly. Operating in the global arena requires being open, flexible and - most importantly - willing to learn. If we do so, we can collaborate efficiently and respectfully.

Thriving in Chaos

International projects inherently carry higher risks due to global logistics, varying legal systems, and a lack of routine. The ability to handle significant deviations from the plan is crucial. When tight deadlines and resources are present, the project manager must work well under pressure. This requires resilience and creative problem-solving skills, especially when facing global logistical crises or unexpected breakdowns.

A successful project manager thrives in chaos by viewing unexpected challenges not as setbacks, but as opportunities for creative problem-solving. This involves quickly devising resourceful strategies, like salvaging spoiled goods or rerouting urgent shipments, to ensure core objectives are met while minimising financial and logistical damage. Crucially, a focus on transparency and collaborative negotiation with key stakeholders ensures relationships are preserved, turning a crisis into a foundation for increased trust and future business.

Strategic Planning for International Success

The strategic management of international projects involves defining the project organisation, ensuring appropriate governance, and conducting thorough market analysis, such as that performed when evaluating the internationalisation strategy for an EMNE like XPeng.

It’s important to understand the product or service and the overall market situation - a good SWOT and STEEPLE/PESTLE or STEEPLED analysis can go a long way. If we understand the social, technological, ecological, environmental, ethical, political and legal aspects associated with the core business and the project we are delivering, we can anticipate potential issues. It can also help to see the bigger picture and be more creative: streamline processes and operations in unexpected ways by leveraging the unique strengths of each party involved.

Multidisciplinary Approach

Successful international strategy is informed by frameworks like Porter’s Diamond Model (analysing factor endowments, demand conditions, supporting industries, and rivalry) and Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (analysing power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation). This demonstrates that project location selection and execution require synthesising diverse data: economic, logistical, and cultural.

When I get a new multicultural project, I always use Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions framework to better understand the people I will be working with: how different or similar we are in the sense of decision-making, communication, openness, flexibility, etc?

My next step is usually to better understand the team: who is involved, where do they come from, and what is their personal and professional background. Doing this kind of research helps me to better understand how I can be more efficient in communicating and working with these people - do we have a similar professional background and can speak in a specific way, or are we different when it comes to our age, culture, profession and perhaps even language? The more information we have about someone, the easier it becomes to understand how we could meet in the middle and be as efficient as possible when delivering our projects and operations.

Lessons Learned

The crazy rhythm and technology-enhanced work pace dictate that we move fast and we do many things simultaneously. However, I can’t stress enough how important it is to close the project - and then take time to review it.

Ensuring that any lessons learned from the project are shared with those who might benefit from them is a critical part of the closing process. This continuous learning approach is fundamental for improving future international ventures.