Multinational / Multicultural Teams in Offshore IT Projects Suhail Iqbal, PE, PMP, MCT SysComp International (Pvt.) Ltd.

Multinational / Multicultural Teams in Offshore IT Projects INTRODUCTION Multinational / Multicultural Teams in Offshore IT Projects

PRESENTATION SEQUENCE INTRODUCTION ADVANTAGES OF OFFSHORE IT PROJECTS TEAMWORK ISSUES CAUSED BY MULTINATIONAL / MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT BEST PRACTICES CONCLUSION

WHAT IS OUTSOURCING?

OUTSOURCING Outsourcing Defined Variety of Sourcing Concepts Purchasing Outsourcing In-sourcing Onshore Offshore Virtual Project Management

ADVANTAGES OF OFFSHORE IT PROJECTS

REASONS FOR OUTSOURCING Reduce and control operating costs Improve host company focus Gain access to world-class capabilities Free internal resources for other purposes A function is time-consuming to manage or is out of control Insufficient resources are available internally Share risks with a partner company

TYPES OF INTERNATIONAL OUTSOURCING Table 1 – Types of International Outsourcing (Mette, et al., 2005)

TYPES OF OUTSOURCING COSTS Production costs are either the costs of internal production or the price of direct purchase. Bargaining costs include the following kinds of costs; costs arising from negotiating contract details per se; costs of negotiating changes to the contract in the post-contract stage, when unforeseen circumstances arise; costs of monitoring whether performance is being adhered to by the other party, and costs of disputes, which arise if neither party wishes to utilize pre-agreed-to resolution mechanisms, especially ‘contract breaking’ mechanisms. Opportunism costs are governance costs arising due to the opportunity.

BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING A technical and functional edge on the competition, without capital investment. Faster development and start up Lower cost or Cost Reduction Enhanced performance A better-managed e-business infrastructure Quality Improvement Delivery Improvement Reliability Improvement Security (can also be construed as a disadvantage or a limitation when using internet). Maximizes uptime A more effective operating environment at the backend.

TEAMWORK ISSUES CAUSED BY MULTINATIONAL / MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

TEAMWORK ISSUES Project Infrastructure Communication Language Barriers Face to Face Communication Information Redundancy Time Proper Security Motivation Cultural Differences Conflict Resolution Trust Project Team Knowledge And Cross-Team Collaboration

BEST PRACTICES

FACTOR REINFORCING MODEL Figure 1 & 2 – Factor Reinforcing Model for VPM (Iqbal, et al., 2005)

BEST PRACTICES Members in a distributed project management environments often have expertise in a specific area, so there is a great need for knowledge sharing via effective communication and knowledge management techniques. Initial face-to-face communication is an essential prerequisite in establishing higher levels of trust and motivation among mangers working from geographically dispersed locations. Managers or team leaders must play as a communication bridge between the two developers of virtual teams in order to minimize conflict. A single communication point is a must to avoid redundancy and conflict. For effective communication, the appropriate use of telephones, video-conferencing and face-to-face meetings should be considered essential. Clear ownership, roles and responsibilities are essential. Leaders should play an effective role to implement these processes.

CONCLUSION

Contact Information Suhail Iqbal, PE,PMP, MCT SysComp International (Pvt.) Ltd. House No. 374, Street 13, F-10/2, Islamabad, 44000, PAKISTAN Ph: +92-51-2294709, FAX: +92-51-2294911 Email: suhail@syscompk.com