Global Project Management April 23, 2008 Challenges and Opportunities By Wafa Bunney

2 Global Project Management Agenda Definition and Drivers What is a Global Project? Drivers for Global Projects Attributes of Global Projects (challenges and opportunities) Governmental/Economical – legal, Regulatory, political, financial, Infrastructure/Environmental – technology, physical conditions, weather, availability People/Society – culture, communication, language, competency Considerations in Managing a Global Project Governance Principles Charter Organizational Change Management Recap

3 Global Project Management Definition What is a global project? A ‘global project’ can be defined as a project whose activities (e.g. requirements, usage, delivery…etc) are performed in more than one region/brand. Examples: –A project requiring expertise/activities from NA and Europe –A project consolidating work in India from NA, Europe, & APA –A project affecting Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, & Volvo brands Regions = NA, SA, Europe & APA Brands = Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Mazda

4 Global Project Management Drivers for Global Projects: Company growth and business expansion Acquisitions, mergers, and joint ventures Supply chain, dealers, and customers Technology trends and changes Cost pressures Regulations, legal requirements, trade barriers…etc

5 Global Project Management Global Project Attributes (Attribute diversity represent both challenges and opportunities) AttributeDescriptionChallengeOpportunity Governmental/ Economical Regulatory and legal requirements, limitations, economical restrictions or growth Impact of governmental regulations and legal requirements on projects Leveraging knowledge of governmental or economical situation to advance the project or gain a lever to help overall team Infrastructure/ Environmental Technology or physical infrastructure status of the country Both technology limitations and lack of physical infrastructure can affect project cost, scope and time. Strong advancement in technology and transportation capability will accelerate project delivery. People/Society Culture, language, dress, business, communication, organization, value systems, equality or inequality…etc Lack of knowledge for cultural diversity can delay project delivery. Understanding of cultural diversity and leveraging differences can accelerate project delivery.

6 Global Project Management Governmental/Economical AttributeDescriptionChallengeOpportunity Political Country political stability or instability Traveling to politically unstable country present a risk to you and project team Leverage team in country by engaging communication channels and collaboration tools. Financial Cost of travel and project expense High cost of business travel, too many countries in scope add cost to project expenses Leverage talent from low cost countries (or build competency over time). Requires long lead project planning and setting stakeholder expectations Legal and Regulatory Governmental requirements for what you can/can’t bring to country, use in country, and take out of country. Restrictions on what a project needs lead to delays and added costs. Research in advance and leverage in country knowledge and available resources

7 Global Project Management Infrastructure/Environmental AttributeDescriptionChallengeOpportunity Technology Emerging technologies and investment trends Tracking and researching technology trends and fast changes in this area require investment in research and monitoring. Need to know limitations of technology in countries doing business. Availability.. Early adoption of technology enables business growth and rapid change. Leveraging mobile technology as needed and planning in advance for better time utilization. Physical Conditions Road conditions, available flights, weather, food….etc Being surprised with unexpected conditions can affect project delivery as well as the team Research country conditions, leverage in-country employees and plan ahead of the trip. Add expected delays to project plans. Availability Time differences, business office hours, and holidays Countries business hours have no overlap with others (e.g. US and AP) Find best possible days/hours in a week and alternate week to week or month to month

8 Global Project Management People/Society AttributeDescriptionChallengeOpportunity Culture Cognitive styles: processing and organizing information, negotiation strategies, value systems, decision making, equality/inequality, gifts, dress, being early or late to meetings..etc Not being knowledgeable of these differences present delays and challenges to global projects: East and west differences Subjective vs. objective use of information Use of gifts and dress code Gender differences Organizational ranking Knowing in advance these differences is an opportunity to: Select the right project team members Build relationships Help accelerate projects Language Primary and secondary language as well as company language Language barriers cause misunderstanding delaying project deliverables Use written communication in the common company language, frequent communication, many levels and teams.

9 Global Project Management People/Society (Continue) AttributeDescriptionChallengeOpportunity Communication Written, verbal, and non- verbal (i.e. gestures) Not knowing what specific gestures mean cause misunderstanding Use written language, slow down verbal, be aware of non-verbal gestures, leverage in-country company employees to support project plans. Competency Technical capability, education, history and future educational plans in the country Doing business in a country with limited competency in certain technical area will delay project progress Select team members based on your research of technical knowledge and availability. Be aware of support activities after project launch and available in-country resources

10 Global Project Management Other Considerations in Managing a Global Project Governance –Decision making authority –Subject matter expertise –Project managers –Cadence for status, escalation of issues/risks Principles –Common way of operating –Provide direction and consistency across the board and country boundaries Chartering –Roles and Responsibilities –Objectives and Scope –Temporal Scope –Cost Organizational Change Management –Organizational readiness for the change –Communicate, communicate, communicate…..

11 Global Project Management Recap (how to turn challenges to opportunities) Research country and region specifics when managing global projects (e.g. culture, language, infrastructure…etc) Leverage country specific knowledge to support the project (e.g. time difference can mean 24X7 work activities for a global project) Build relationship first and execute projects second by knowing more about your colleagues in other countries Know your team members strengths (e.g. language, experience…etc) Use common PM processes and leverage best practices Communicate, communicate, communicate