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Culture

“ MULTI-CULTURAL PROJECT TEAMS ARE BECOMING A MAJOR CHALLENGE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY PROJECT MANAGER AND THEREFORE NEEDS MORE ATTENTION IN TODAY’S GLOBAL PROJECT ENVIRONMENTS”

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 03

2. LITERATURE STUDY 03

2.1 WHAT IS CULTURE 03
2.2 CULTURES IN SOUTH-AFRICA 05
2.3 IDENTIFYING INTERNATIONAL CULTURES 07
2.4 WHY IS MULTI-CULTURALISM BECOMING SO
CHALLENGING AND OCCURRING MORE OFTEN
THAN EVER BEFORE? 08

3. NEGATIVE BARRIERS IN A MULTI-CULTURAL
ENVIRONMENT AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE
PROJECT SUCCESS 09

3.1 NEGATIVE BARRIERS 09

4. PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO OVERCOMING THE
BARRIERS IN A PROJECT MANAGEMENT ENVIRONNEMT 11

5. CASE STUDY ON HOW TO MANAGE AN INTERNATIONAL MULTICULTURAL PROJECT 16

6. CONCLUSION 20

7. REFERNCES 20

ABSTRACT

The main aim of this report is to theoretically investigate multi-cultural project teams and the challenges faced by the 21st century project manager. Formulate practical solutions to the investigated challenges that can be implemented to any multi-cultural project. A literature study is done, followed by practical solutions and the a flowchart (model) is created to depict how the
21st century project manager will be able to successfully function in a multi-cultural project team.

1. INTRODUCTION

Multicultural teams are been seen more than ever before. Foreign borders have weakened and globalisation is increasing and this is bringing together people of different nationalities and cultures into the work environment. This is now making people more aware of cultural differences and thinking styles that are creating negative preconceptions. Cultural differences are raising strong barriers and encouraging working in “silos”. This creates a huge challenge for project managers working across international boundaries, especially those who do not have a very...