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International project management with jobs and salary: 2024 [Updated]

international projects meaning

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What is international project management?

International project management(IPM) is the management of projects that involve multi-national resources and teams working together to attain the project goals. With globalization, businesses tend to be no longer confined within their national boundaries. They expand internationally to achieve the basic goals like:

  • Increasing their market share
  • Reducing the overall cost by leveraging international talents and resources
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Examples of International Projects

  • A Singaporean company building a manufacturing unit in India, with a Spanish partner; value chain organizations in Germany and Brazil; and a government agency in Vietnam.
  • A Belgian charitable organization providing emergency medical services to people in Gulf countries; five other countries outsourcing food and pharmaceuticals; doctors from the US and donations from Asian countries. 
  • An Italian organization constructing a hospital in Australia with funding from an Asian country.
  • An Indian IT company launching its platform in a European country, getting architecture provided from Spain and code from Pakistan. 

You may, at this point wonder – international projects are after all projects with similar goals. How does the involvement of people from different demographics make it any different from the domestic projects? 

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For now, I would say that international projects require a specific set of tools and techniques that are not quite the same as domestic projects.

Read on, to get insights on international projects and their management.

“The global scale creates an environment of very rapid change. You will most likely have work completed as you are sleeping. The project manager needs to be aware of time zone differences, different holidays around the globe, vacations in different cultures and many other rapid changes on the project” Michael O’Connor, strategy and project management director at Medtronic and instructor of the Global and Cultural Competency course at CSS

Working Challenges for the Countries

Countries in the international projects can experience many differences while working together:

  • Accounting Standard
  • Local practice

While running an international project, a project manager cannot ignore these aspects of differences for the working teams across the world.

Cultural differences, among these, stand out, as they are the most complex features to deal with in a compound working environment that involves multiple countries.

For example, there is a huge visible cultural polarity between India and America. If a project manager of a project involving these countries slurs over this contrast, he/she may invite considerable risk or failure.

An example of cultural differences in international projects is – countries that value long-term projects(like the Chinese) vs ones that value gig/contract jobs(like the Americans).

If a project includes both of these countries, certain aspects need to be considered and catered to, on priority, while running the project.

“Culture is a collective programming of the mind that distinguishes one group or category of people from another” Geert Hofstede

Most people are so heavily seasoned with their own culture that they fail to empathize or even appreciate the flavors of the other cultures crossing their way.

This leads to a foul work environment and finally may lead to an overall project failure.

After performing a careful study of several cultures, researchers have come up with some great tools and mechanisms to compare different countries based on cultural similarities and differences.

Of the many frameworks, ‘ Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions’ stands as the most convenient and popular one. Let us study it more in detail.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

dimensions

According to this framework, countries can be ranked based on the below six cultural dimensions. Each of these categories is then scored on a scale of 0 to 120 :

Power Distance

Individualism vs collectivism, masculinity vs femininity, uncertainty avoidance.

  • Long vs Short term orientation

Indulgence vs Restraint

Power distance refers to the distribution of power among the various sections of the society. 

A society with a high power distance index has a visible power gap between the senior stakeholders and the rest of the members.

In such a society, people usually accept a hierarchical order in which everyone has a place that needs no further justification. 

A low index of power distance, on the other hand, means a flat curve for power distribution, and everybody has a say in the project.

A project with a high score on individualism means you need to focus on each individual’s aspirations and needs. Whereas, blurring the individual demands, a high collectivism index signifies an emphasis on group goals and achievements. 

In a culture of high individualism, it is important to engage each head in substantial work. In a culture focusing on the latter, you engage only with the key personnel who delegate the work to the rest of the team.

A country with high masculinity has most of the decision-making members that are male. Their decision is welcomed more, compared to the female heads. 

In a business context, ‘masculinity vs femininity’ is often considered synonymous to ‘tough vs tender’ cultures.

An example of a masculine country is Japan. On the other hand, Scandinavian countries like Norway and Sweden are considered highly feminine.

Uncertainty avoidance refers to making a background such that any kind of uncertainty in business can be avoided. 

Rules are set up to avoid uncertainty. A culture with a high degree of uncertainty avoidance parameter refers to the lesser acceptance of unorthodox norms. They mostly believe in following the set rules and are less tolerant of changes. 

A culture with a lesser uncertainty avoidance score is more flexible to changes and adapts to them if the business demands so. 

Long vs Short-Term Orientation

Some countries prefer long-term projects with long deadlines and partnerships. Asian countries mostly fall under this category.

Short-term projects are favored by countries like America and Morocco and they do value gig jobs and contract work contrary to their long-term counterparts.

This is a comparatively new one added to the existing Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. The extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses is related to this dimension.

A greater control means restraint and such culture follows strict social norms, whereas a lesser grip on people’s emotions and gratification of needs is indulgence . 

You may at this point ask, all this is fine, but how are the cultural parameters related to international project management? Read on.

How can Cultural Dimensions Help in International Project Management

In the initial phase when you decide on the countries for an international project, cultural analysis of each country helps to choose the most cohesive combination.

Also, choosing any country becomes easier if you base your choice on the cultural score in a particular dimension. 

For example, for a short-term project, if you approach China (which values long-term projects more), you may not succeed in getting a conversion of your proposal. 

Also, if you are heading to start an international change project, choosing countries with low uncertainty avoidance scores would be wiser as they would be ready for changes. 

A Comparison of Few Countries

Let us check out some countries and their cultural dimensions. This will give a clearer picture of how comparisons are done while analysing the cultural front of the participating countries of a project. 

graph IPM

As is evident from the images, both China and France score high on power distance. While Denmark scores low.

So if you are dealing with the high scorers, you will find a strong sense of leadership and power among the top position holders in the hierarchy. 

The US has a high level of individualism. If you are working with them, you need to be careful about treating each member with equal importance.

Denmark has a low degree of masculinity. This means females take the lead in the decision-making processes. Men have more responsibility at home and quality of life is great here. 

Uncertainty avoidance level is high in France, which shows that the French people like to adhere to the rules and norms and are not very flexible to changes. 

As stated before, China values long-term bonds and America is more into short-term engagements.

So choose your countries wisely, based on their score on long-term orientation and the project duration.

Making a Career in IPM

International Project Management involves the below – 

  • Supervising

Executing these items needs a basic IPM skill that can be learned through various courses. We will discuss this in a bit.  

Also, there are multiple career options in the IPM field. A career in IPM depends on the candidate’s –

  • Educational background
  • Professional Experience

Some facts about International Project Management

What do international project managers do.

An international project manager plans, organizes, and leads international projects. An example can be with a new franchised shop outlet in a new country.

An international project manager is responsible for handling the in and out of the business while following the monetary and time constraints agreed upon in the agreement. 

Additionally, risk analysis and cost estimation are the add-on responsibilities. Also, great communication is the basic skill needed to do written and verbal communication with the teams and stakeholders. 

The following figure shows the ideal brain of an international project manager. Notice the balance needed between the left and right brain.

The right hemisphere is mostly engaged in holistic thinking, creativity, and soft skills. The left hemisphere, on the other hand, deals with logic, analytics, and hard skills. 

An international project manager exhibiting the correct balance between the usage of the two hemispheres of their brain, tends to be more successful. 

IPM value

Implementation of IPM

After identifying the cultural differences, you do the project implementation.

Since it is an international project, you need to put special efforts into handling the cultural differences, country law, finances, politics, language timezone, etc.

IPM has certain steps involved:

  • Define the project
  • Determine the project leaders
  • Set up a hierarchy
  • Define the project plan
  • Execute the project

Since the project scope is wide and there are several stakeholders involved, a correct view of the project – objectives, roadmap, scope, cost, dependencies, challenges – is a prerequisite before diving into the real project.

As a next step, you determine the leadership positions needed to run the project smoothly at each point.

For each position, you pick the best personnel that fit the responsibility. You set up a hierarchy within the management, where everyone does his specific set of jobs.

A well-documented project plan in place is a must to proceed with an effective execution of the project.

Studying IPM 

There are several certificate and degree programs available for IPM, but these are not very common. The most followed ones are the undergraduate and graduate level programs. 

Students/professionals in the below fields can opt for IPM courses:

  • Product development

The courses include the below topics on management:

  • Global entrepreneurship
  • Multinational marketing
  • International supply chain management
  • International negotiations

Students learn to pursue international business and management while utilizing the latest technology.

Click here to learn about project management as a career move.

IPM Certification

ASAPM – The American Society for the Advancement of Project Management – promotes the development of project management courses in organizations all over the world.

It provides a background to develop industry publications, recognition, and certification. 

There are several certifications available, based on the experience level of candidates. You can earn IPM certification as a project management associate.

Later with experience, you graduate to the rank of project manager, senior project manager, and gradually to a project director. 

Click here to learn about some of the best project management certifications.

International Project Management Day

Calendar

Celebrated on the first Thursday in November, IPM day has been celebrated since 2004, to encourage international-project-based organizations with recognition events within their projects.

This is done to demonstrate appreciation for the achievements of project managers and their teams. 

In this rapidly changing world, marketing yourself as a global citizen is a wise option to step ahead in your management career.

Increasing your market share to leverage global talents is possible by pursuing international project management courses.

These courses are available as under-graduate and graduate programs, and as online programs. 

Handling an international project needs a special skill set that can be learned over time through experience and more, through project management courses.

The people in international projects come from different cultural backgrounds and you need to gauge each culture on the basis of parameters like power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance etc.

Based on these calculations, you get an idea of the coherent countries that go well together.

Implementation of IPM or international project management involves certain steps like defining the project objectives, setting up a leadership hierarchy in the project, planning and finally executing the project. 

It is not mandatory to have a prior experience in domestic project management, but having one would add to your management skills. The best way is to take a course to learn about the nuances of international project management . 

Remember, the key success factors in the field of management are – communication skills, proper use of software, and general management techniques.

Learn these through the management courses and you are ready to fly into the future of management.

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CEO Worldwide

12 Golden Rules for Managing International Projects

Larry traynor shares his experience of the complexities of managing international projects and recommends 12 golden rules for success.

My first international assignment was in Cologne, Germany, working for Ford, managing international projects. I had to learn German, and went through the “cultural shock” of moving to a foreign country: feeling isolated, misunderstood, and just sad and depressed, even though I had friends around me. Getting through the language barrier is the beginning of breaking through the cultural barrier, and is, I believe, critical to success in working in and especially in managing international projects.

It is not always possible to speak every language and know every culture involved in multi-centre international projects, but the key point is to understand that each language group/culture has potentially fundamentally different ways of looking at the world and dealing with issues.

Unless one has experienced this insight into “ cultural relativity ” at first hand, and understood that each perspective is equally valid, one runs the risk of turning into the “ugly American”, believing and acting as if the world were an annexe of the USA. I am not talking just about Americans, of course – any dominant culture can be guilty of this.

The desire to become part of the culture is important both at work and socially. One should create and maintain a good work/social balance with colleagues on a project. The project manager can facilitate this by structuring group project events at outside venues, for instance, where teams from different countries can come together to focus on project issues, but also to share time outside work at meals and appropriate social events.

It is also crucial in my experience, regardless of how good the telecommunications facilities are, to regularly schedule face to face meetings with key project personnel. There is simply no substitute for personal contact, both professionally and socially in building project teams, getting them to work and communicate with one another, maintaining and improving their individual and group performance, and ensuring project success. The project manager must take the lead in this, and show willing to spend the extra time and money on this key ingredient to international project success.

‘Hard’ problems

Another source of complexity in international projects is differences between legal and regulatory regimes across different countries. One example from my recent experience occurred on a so-called “X-Border” project within a Swiss firm, where an existing system from its German arm was being integrated into the Swiss Head Office environment.

The company had outsourced all of its development work to a third party, but hadn’t given much thought to the practical consequences of this regarding development in such a X-Border environment by a third party. They were in the financial services industry and their customer data was subject to special conditions in each country’s Data Protection legislation. This presented the third party developers, and their company led project management with significant operational issues when the third party needed to access customer data in order to develop and test their applications.

In Germany, it turned out that it was totally illegal for the third party to deal with customer data directly in any form that made it even partially recognisable. They had to “scramble” large amounts of customer data in order to make it unrecognisable from the data protection point of view but still usable for development and testing. This cost an additional 2 million Euros, which was outside the budget of the project in question.

No-one knew if it was legal for the German third party developers to access Swiss customer data as part of the same project and if not, whether yet another 2 million Euros would have to be spent to scramble the data.

The matter was pressing, as there was only about 5 months to go for the first implementation and the third party developers were in full swing and required an answer immediately. The lawyers “swung into action” as only lawyers can do, and came back with an answer 3½ months later.

In the meantime, the firm had arranged for access to the Swiss data as if there were no data protection issues, hoping that the right answer would come back from the lawyers. This time the right answer came back, but in such situations there is never any guarantee that such risk taking will prove positive. If it hadn’t, the firm would have been liable for serious financial penalties, but if they had simply waited, they would have entirely missed the deadline for the first production implementation, which was a major corporate event and high on the list of the Board’s strategic priorities.

OODA: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act

An interesting framework for almost any complex activity requiring good decisions and the ability to learn quickly from the environment is John Boyd’s OODA “Loop”.

John Boyd was an aircraft designer and very successful jet fighter pilot. He flew the American F-86, which won 9 out of 10 dog-fight encounters with its rival Mig-15 despite being by all accounts an inferior aircraft.

Boyd pondered over this conundrum, and reviewed in his mind what he did in the cockpit during a dog-fight. He first observed, then oriented himself, planned for action and then acted. Boyd called this process OODA (observe, orient, decide and act). Critically, he performed this sequence over and over again, and presumably his counterpart in the Mig was doing the same thing.

He decided that the primary determinant to winning dogfights was not merely going through the loop better than the other fellow – it was doing so faster. In other words, speed of iteration beats quality of iteration.

So how could the F-86, an inferior aircraft, iterate faster than the Mig? It turns out that the F-86 had a hydraulic flight stick whereas the Mig-15 had a manual flight stick, which became increasingly difficult for the Mig pilot to operate as he became tired from having to push it constantly without hydraulic assistance.

Roger Sessions, a well known specialist in the pragmatic implementation of Enterprise Architectures, has called this “Boyd’s Law of Iteration”: “In analyzing complexity, fast iteration almost always produces better results than in-depth analysis.”

International project management environments tend to be extremely complex and are an ideal place to implement Boyd’s insights. In addition to speed of iteration, in his orientation phase, one of the key components to be taken into account in Boyd’s model is the “cultural conditions” of the observer. It is clear that our own cultural views colour our observation and hence directly affect our decision making process and resulting actions.

My own experience in international project management environments has confirmed this: going through the OODA Loop faster (with due consideration given to the cultural dimensions) in complex situations is preferable to a slower, more thoughtful and perhaps higher quality approach. For example, quickly producing an outline solution, even when you know it is incomplete and not totally accurate, and distributing it to all those whom you believe may be affected, is probably better than not producing anything and working until you know have an absolutely correct solution over a longer period of time. You will need several iterations in any case, and, in the meantime, you will most likely have identified other parties who may need to give input.

managing international projects - the OODA Loop

This type of behaviour is entirely pragmatic in projects (you must win the dog-fight!), but at the same time, it runs counter to our learned behaviour not to make mistakes. In some countries and companies, it is crucial not to be seen to be making mistakes of any kind, which is a great inhibitor to positive action. It has also been my experience that IT staff in particular are extremely loathe to act in such a fashion, preferring to never issue anything that isn’t perfectly complete. One must have the courage to press on through Boyd’s Loop, take the flak from those who miss the forest for the trees and correct things in successive passes through the Loop.

The Golden Rules for Managing International Projects

In conclusion, my 12 Golden Rules sum up the practical lessons I have learned over my 30 years on managing international projects successfully:

  • Don’t be an “Ugly American”: make an effort to walk in the shoes of those affected by your project.
  • Encourage face to face meetings for key project leaders and staff in alternating venues in the different countries involved in the international project.
  • Work out a language strategy that suits the majority of project members.
  • Make an effort to participate in social events of the countries you are working in, and try to schedule a few such events for the key project team members over the course of the project.
  • Always be polite. Remember that you are a guest in the country you are working in, and your behaviour will be taken as representative of your own nationality as well as of your person.
  • Adjust your professional standards to the culture of the company you are working for, without damaging your integrity. Standards are fine, but don’t attempt to enforce them too rigidly or in a manner you are accustomed to that simply will not work for a particular client.
  • When confronted with new dimensions of complexity, consider using John Boyd’s OODA Loop approach: press on quickly, even though you know your first attempt is not complete and not totally accurate. Make corrections in the successive passes through the Loop.
  • Remember that project management is all about information and communication. Information becomes harder to get in international projects and communication is made more difficult by the linguistic and cultural differences. No IT package will solve this – there is simply no substitute for keen soft human skills in this area. Don’t get me wrong: I am not an IT Luddite, but the emphasis has to be on sound human communication skills with technology as a support.
  • Virtual Project Teams can become a reality if you have something like Microsoft Project EPM installed, which allows sharing of plans over a shared server and over the internet. The technology alone is not enough, however, unless you have the soft skills described earlier and the company involved has provided proper training for their staff and is at a fairly advanced stage of sophistication (as judged by the PMI stages of maturity, for example).
  • Find out who has the best intra-company network among your project staff and bind them to yourself with hoops of gold! This person will hold the key to solving all the end-to-end problems which are bound to arise during the course of the project.
  • Remember that you are there to do a particular job, but that there will usually be an implicit agenda and terms of reference that will never be written down: you are there to make your boss look good!
  • The best tools are common sense, flexibility, a positive attitude, and a commitment to the best motto for every Project Manager: Execution, Delivery, Results!

About the author: Larry Traynor is a Board level senior executive interim manager and management consultant with 38 years’ project experience, including some 30 years of managing international projects. Larry’s career began with the APOLLO Moon Project in 1968 where, as a programmer and analyst, he designed and tested real-time software for the project’s front end telecommunications. After applying his skills in the emerging real-time technology to the finance and retail sectors, he took on his first international assignment working for Ford in Germany as an IBM Database and Network Specialist with European-wide remit.

international projects meaning

International Projects

  • This is some text inside of a div block.

International projects are projects that are realized across national borders and are often supported jointly by multiple organizations or companies. They are of special significance as they enable the exchange of know-how, technologies, and resources, thus contributing to economic and social development. The successful implementation of international projects requires special competencies and knowledge in project management and intercultural communication.

Introduction

International projects are projects that are conducted in several countries simultaneously and are often supported by various actors such as companies, non-profit organizations, or government institutions. They can take place in different sectors and areas, such as science, culture, environment, technology, health, and social issues.

Objectives and Significance of International Projects

International projects generally pursue one or more of the following objectives:

  • Promotion of economic cooperation and integration
  • Development and transfer of technologies and know-how
  • Building networks and partnerships between the involved actors
  • Contribution to solving global challenges, such as climate change, migration, or health

Collaboration of actors from different countries brings numerous advantages, such as access to new markets, utilization of synergies, expansion of one's own expertise, and the opportunity to learn from each other and inspire one another.

Challenges in International Projects

The successful implementation of international projects is associated with various challenges. These include:

  • Complex project structures and processes
  • Intercultural communication and collaboration
  • Legal and regulatory frameworks
  • Resource management and budget planning
  • Time and quality management

Project Management in International Projects

To successfully carry out international projects, professional project management is indispensable. This includes, among other aspects:

  • Project planning: Definition of project objectives, establishment of project structure, creation of a project plan, resource planning, and budgeting
  • Project control: Coordination of project activities, monitoring of project progress, compliance with time and budget specifications
  • Communication management: Ensuring effective communication among project participants, especially in intercultural teams
  • Risk management: Identification, assessment, and control of project risks
  • Quality management: Ensuring compliance with quality standards and requirements

Intercultural Competencies

As international projects are often carried out by teams with diverse cultural backgrounds, the promotion of intercultural competencies is of central importance. This particularly includes awareness of cultural differences in communication, working methods, and values. Intercultural competencies can be fostered through training, workshops, or exchange of experiences in the context of international projects.

Support and Financing of International Projects

International projects can be supported by national or international funding programs. These programs provide financial and technical support and enable access to expert knowledge and networks. Examples of such programs include:

  • The European Union (e.g., Horizon 2020, Erasmus+)
  • The World Bank
  • The United Nations (e.g., UNDP, UNICEF)
  • The German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ)

International projects are of great importance for economic and social development as they enable the exchange of knowledge, technologies, and resources. However, they require special competencies in project management and intercultural collaboration. The successful implementation of international projects can be supported by professional project management, development of intercultural competencies, and the use of funding and financing opportunities.

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Tactical Project Manager

The ultimate guide to managing international projects

  • by Adrian Neumeyer

Have you ever experienced handling an international project? Well, if you think that your only problem you will ever encounter here will be the different time zones and occasional out-of-town travels, you’re wrong about that, buddy.

In this article, you will learn about the different factors you should know about how to manage international projects. This article will also help you understand how important these factors are to ensure a job well done.

Hi, I’m Adrian

Adrian during one of his international rollout projects

I’m the founder and CEO of Tactical Project Manager, the only place on the web where you can find practical tips on managing projects. Tips that pay off!

I’ve been managing large IT projects for 10 years, and most of my projects were global projects. So I got to work with all sorts of countries and cultures. As an IT project manager, I also got to travel a lot. I did projects in fascinating places like India, Mexico and Turkey ( read what I learned in my career ).

As you can guess, I have been through all the good and bad of leading international projects.

And what you find here is all based on personal experience.

Are you ready? Let’s start.

  • Working across timezones
  • International traveling
  • Legal issues
  • Cross-border shipping

5 factors you must consider when you get to lead an international project

Managing a local and international project are generally the same. You need to plan for it and deal with a group of people involved in the said project.

The main difference is that in the latter, you deal with multicultural teams. It is be a global partnership, depending on your contacts’ locations or whether your partners are spread in multiple continents.

Other than being involved with diverse nationalities, here are other important factors involved in managing international projects.

Lost in translation: the language issue

Every project requires constant communication. This includes having effective oral and verbal communication skills. But sometimes, you cannot have the best of both worlds. Some people are great in written communication (ex. E-mails, written reports) but are shy when talking in person, or vice versa.

In an international setting, however, speaking different languages can be a barrier to effective communication. The only way to ensure team members can understand each other is by speaking a common language. Not only the language itself but also the important terminologies related to your industry.

We all know that English is a universal language. So it helps if everyone from your team knows how to communicate in written and spoken English. You might have to hire a translator if necessary.

I once had a Chinese team member who had trouble communicating in English. But we needed her because she was the subject matter expert for a particular area. So we hired a translator who was with from early morning till late at night.

It was challenging because it would take time to translate her thoughts both in verbal discussions and email. But we decided to hire a translator because the person was the absolute subject matter expert and we had no alternative. So, hiring a translation worked out very well!

In some cases, some international team members put the effort into learning your native language. But at the end of the day, as long as all of you understand each other and are able to convey your ideas, then you are good to go.

Pro tip: In case you want to learn the language of the country you’re dealing with: The program that gave me the fasted results and the most confidence speaking a language were the Rosetta Stone online courses. They are expensive but absolutely worth the money!

Culture: Things are quite different over here

Culture is a broad term it can be one of many things. There is no formula for it … it’s like a part of every person’s life. Something that he or she has grown accustomed to and we experience every day whether at work or in your personal life.

Culture can be a lot of things – their language, beliefs, the country’s history, and even how they deal with work . Do they want to be addressed with their first name or their surnames, or even by initials?

In some Asian-run businesses the higher bosses are often referred to by their initials. So, if I was Adrian S. Neumeyer, then I will be known within the company as ASN. Do they also have some kind of hand gestures when they greet a person? How do they communicate with their co-workers? Those kinds of things (by the way, did you know that certain  hand gestures are considered rude in some countries? )

Some people are straightforward, while others tend to hold back. In some cultures, being assertive might be interpreted as aggressive or even rude. Such misinterpretations can lead to misunderstandings and even ill feelings toward the other person.

Here’s what happened to me: I once managed an IT project with our Turkish subsidiary. At that time, we were implementing a new IT system for them. As a project manager, I dealt with the top honchos and directly communicate with them in person and through email. And it has always been that way since it is the norm in Germany today.

Scene from my turkey project

But when I went directly to the local plant manager there, let’s just say he wasn’t pleased. The incident even reached my manager, saying that what I did was unacceptable… at least in their work culture.

I n my perspective, I believe I didn’t do anything wrong. But I guess I did not do my research back then in terms of dealing with people I work within other countries. I had thought people interacted more or less in the same way as in my home country, Germany.

Like in most European countries, we treat each other at work as equals. We get to talk directly to the executives regardless of where you are on the corporate ladder. On the contrary, some countries — like Turkey and most countries in the Middle East and Asia — are more hierarchical.

That means you have get approvals from your direct supervisor. Rarely do you get to talk to the company executives unless there is a “blessing” from your boss.

Nonetheless, it is a must to have an understanding of the culture that you will be dealing with and adjust to it accordingly. Learning about someone’s culture is crucial in building trust and a good working relationship. And that is exactly what you should do as a good project manager .

If you are a remote worker and dealing with a foreign client, take time to adjust to the latter’s work culture and learn to be assertive. Being assertive can get the results that you want later on.

You might also want to learn about the Hofstede model of national culture to better understand a country’s culture.

Crash course about the Hofstede Model of national culture — a must-know for global project managers

The Hofstede model has six factors that describe the culture of a country:

  • Cultural factor 1: Power Distance Index:  This factor refers to a society’s acceptance of unequal power distribution, and how it deals with such inequality. Societies with low PDI want a fair distribution of power and seek justification for any inequalities.
  • Cultural factor 2: Individualism versus Collectivism:  This factor talks about a social framework wherein people are expected to take care of themselves and their loved ones. Collectivism, on the other hand, expects others to look after them in exchange for loyalty.
  • Cultural factor 3: Masculinity versus Femininity:  This one focuses more on the masculine side’s dominance in society in terms of assertiveness and achievement. Femininity, on the other hand, represents modesty, cooperation, and care.
  • Cultural factor 4: Uncertainty Avoidance Index:  This factor refers to the society that feels uncertain about the future unknown. So, the question lies: should we let the future happen or control its outcome? 
  • Cultural factor 5: Long-term versus short-term orientation:  This factor depicts societies that are not keen on societal changes and prefer to keep and practice norms and traditions. Meanwhile, some cultures accept these changes as a way to prepare for the inevitable future.
  • Cultural factor 6: Indulgence versus restraint:  With this model, it is about enjoying life’s pleasures versus suppressing those pleasures through strict social norms.

Knowing one’s culture determines how we interact with people. By knowing a country’s culture, it will be a lot easier to work with people and ensure a successful project.

managing work across multiple time zones will test your coordination IQ

When you work with other people on the other side of the world, you can expect challenges in finishing a project due to time differences. The only means to communicate with your international teammates are via email, phone or your project management of choice.

It is a good idea to have a local project manager in the other country you are working with. That way communication will be streamlined and less confusing. Also, to ensure that the project progress continues despite the time difference.

Also, make sure to set a schedule for project updates. It can be at the end of the day, once a week, once every two weeks, once a month … it’s up to the team’s agreement (see my tips on creating a meeting structure for your project).

What is important is that everyone involved is constantly updated with the project’s progress. At the same time, know whether any issues should be addressed as soon as possible.

Project management apps like Trello, Slack, and Asana can also make communication a lot easier. You can also use these apps as well as Google Drive or Sharepoint to share files within your team.

But sometimes, there might be issues that cannot be simply solved virtually. In this case you may have to meet your international contacts in person. Which leads to this another roadblock…

International traveling: it’s not just about flying business class

International travel is a common activity in international projects

Traveling is a great way to explore the world and immerse itself in its diverse cultures.  But we won’t talk about traveling on the beach or the like here.

Work-related travels might be less exciting, but might also be necessary to ensure that the project is done. However, preparing for work-related international travel can be challenging.

Everything should be approved by the management, especially the budget . The ticket booking, fixing the entire travel itinerary, and even fixing your errands back home. You would also have to determine who’s traveling with you.

And then there are also other factors you need to consider such as the visa processing , complying with health and safety and legal protocols , and even the fear of flying of people in your team.

So, how are you going to deal with all of these?

To lessen your stress on organizing your work-related travel, get help from a project assistant or intern. He or she will be the one to do the booking for you, arrange hotel accommodation, and all that jazz.

On your part, you should keep track of all expenses. Keep all of your receipts and monitor your costs in a budgeting file ( here’s the budgeting sheet I use ).

More importantly, do your basic research on the place you are going to and make sure to keep your guard up especially in unfamiliar territory.

I had been to Mexico for work purposes. If you are a sucker for drug-crime stories, then you would know that the country is known for such. For one, Mexico is home to one of the world’s notorious drug lords in the world (look up “Joaquin Él Chapo Guzman”) who is currently serving jail time in the US. Some drug cartels are still operating especially near the Mexican border.

Be careful with taxis when doing international projects

Thankfully, it was generally safe the time I went to the country and able to go home in one piece. But for those who only heard about the country, misconceptions about the country’s overall safety is inevitable.

Nonetheless, it is best to exercise extreme caution no matter which country you travel to.

Legal topics: expect to be surprised

You cannot bypass the law, no matter the country you are now. If you are working with people from other countries, you also need to deal with the legalities of the project you are working on.

This includes complying with the following laws:

  • accounting rules
  • tax regulations
  • import/export regulations
  • health and safety protocols
  • data privacy

To prevent project delays, you should check first if certain legal aspects should be followed. For example, some countries have a mandatory COVID-19 swab test plus completing quarantine protocols. You should include those factors when you are to travel to a country.

You might also only allowed to work certain hours per day as per the local law requirement. Better yet, you can hire help from a local legal advisor or a CPA lawyer.

Cross-border shipping: not as easy as ordering on amazon

If you have a project where you have to ship goods from one country to another, you should be aware of the import and export processes.

These usually involve a lot of paperwork, so you should be prepared for those. You would want to make sure you get everything right the first time to avoid shipment delays. The last thing you want to happen is your shipment getting lost and never to be seen again.

To prevent these hassles, you should partner with trustworthy cargo companies. Better yet, have help from a customs expert familiar with the country you are dealing with.

You should also prepare a timeline, as shipments usually take some time to arrive. You should be aware of the usual lead time if a shipment is delivered through air, sea, or by land.

International project management is no walk in the park. Several factors can challenge how you handle an international project.

For one, communicating with someone who doesn’t speak your language can be a struggle. That is why you should make sure that your international contacts can speak English or your native language. Hiring a translator can also help with those communication gaps.

Learning their culture is also important to avoid miscommunications. Your work culture might be different from the other country’s culture, so make necessary adjustments as needed so you don’t run into the same issues as I did.

Dealing with time differences is another challenge. Some ways to deal with such is creating an organized system to track the project’s progress and send important files in real-time.You might also have to travel overseas for work, and that you should plan for it. Pro tip: hire an assistant who will help you book tickets, hotel accommodations, and all the legwork. Meanwhile, do your part by tracking your expenses and don’t get kidnapped or something!

You also need to know the legal aspects of the projects and avoid possible delays later on. Lastly, make sure to work with trusted cargo companies and a customs expert to ensure the on-time delivery of your shipments to other countries.

Adrian Neumeyer

Hi! I'm Adrian, former Senior IT Project Manager and founder of Tactical Project Manager. I created the site to help you become an excellent project leader and manage intense projects with success!

View all posts

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Integrated Computer Technologies in Mechanical Engineering pp 437–443 Cite as

Classification Features of International Projects

  • Bondarieva Tetiana 17 &
  • Sariieva Anastasiia 17  
  • Conference paper
  • First Online: 03 January 2020

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Part of the Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing book series (AISC,volume 1113)

At the current level of development of various forms of foreign economic activity, an organization of any level of management may be faced with the need for cooperation with foreign entities. In most cases, such cooperation occurs in the form of project activities, has its own characteristics and significant differences, which, in turn, depend on the scope of activities and goals. Therefore, for the successful implementation of a specific project, it is necessary to identify the distinctive features of this type and form of international project, which will allow choosing the right project management approach. In order to identify classifiers that will optimize the methods and tools of specific project management and improve the efficiency of their implementation, the theoretical issues of approaches to the definition of “international project” have been studied in the article. The project classifications had been also analysed, and the main classification features and categories that are most commonly used in the scientific literature and practical activities had been considered. In the course of the study it was found that the presented approaches to the classification of projects do not take into account the specifics of the implementation of international projects. As a result, the authors proposed classification features specific to international projects.

  • International project
  • Classification
  • International cooperation

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A Guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK). Project management Institute, USA (2004)

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Funtov, V.N.: Fundamentals of project management in the company. 2nd edn., Peter, St. Petersburg, Russia (2008)

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Mazur, I.I., Shapiro, V.D., Olderogge, N.G.: Project management. 2nd edn. Omega-L, Moscow, Russia (2004)

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Tetiana, B., Anastasiia, S. (2020). Classification Features of International Projects. In: Nechyporuk, M., Pavlikov, V., Kritskiy, D. (eds) Integrated Computer Technologies in Mechanical Engineering. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1113. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37618-5_37

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international projects meaning

Why International Project Management

International project management can be defined as the management of projects internationally or across borders and cultures, thus the management of international project require a specific set of skills in order to ensure success when managing international projects. The importance of cultural awareness plays in international projects. Global project management emphasizes the need for company leaders to identify the cultural implications of mixing skilled workers from many nations, along with the tactical steps required for teams to collaborate efficiently.

In today’s business world, international project management is becoming increasingly essential as businesses are continuing to expand into new countries and markets, either to increase their market share or to reduce costs by utilising more efficient resources found in other countries. International project management requires unique tools and techniques to give international projects greater chances of success.

The concept of globalization suggests that information, knowledge and opportunity are decentralized and shared. The concept of growth of economic integration with globalization means that more enterprises are taking on international projects. Therefore managing these projects successfully often indicates understanding and working with critical cultural differences. Remote management and managing projects on global scale have been enabled due to economic globalization and availability of technological tools. In which case the companies tend to save money by building global teams, without fully understanding the consequences of shifting work across multiple cultures and countries.

In the last 20 years, the world of work has been reduced significantly and it is now very common to be working with overseas partners on projects. It could be as part of an outsourcing arrangement, or through the offshoring model, which is common in organizations that require ‘follow the sun’ financial transaction processing or telephone support. Now for the project managers, this indicates that there are different types of stakeholders involved in projects. A project to deploy new financial software may touch in-house staff in a number of countries plus several third party suppliers who provide niche services. The process of managing international projects can be interesting as well as rewarding, together with some challenge.

Glitches in International Projects

  • Language : In case you are working across borders, it is unlikely that your project team will all speak the same language. The problem of a common language is far greater if you are working with colleagues who do not routinely work in your language. Therefore, at the beginning of a project it is worth specifying what will be the main working language of your project. The projects led from an English speaking country does not necessarily have to be in English for everything. The enterprise project management tool may have interfaces in several languages. The team abroad can enter their timesheet data and interact with menus in their own language while keeping the ‘official’ language of project documents as English. It is therefore suggested to minimize jargon, and make your spoken and written language clear.
  • Time : Since different cultures have different interpretations of time, like for some, milestones are just a guide, where you may value punctuality, but other team members may not have the same view of when a meeting is supposed to start. So the only way to manage this is to have an open conversations with everyone involved, spelling out what the potential challenges might be and asking for collaborative solutions to dealing with them. It is better to have these discussions at early stages rather than spending a lot of time waiting for the others to turn up.
  • Roles and Responsibilities : The role of the project manager might be very well respected in your home country, but your role may not be understood elsewhere. Colleagues in countries where companies have very hierarchical structures may not take direction from you because they may not see your role as very important. Equally, they may not have received much guidance about how their project responsibilities fit with their day job. It is therefore suggested to talk to your own manager, and colleagues who have experience in working with the overseas team. You could also engage the local managers who can help set expectations with their teams about the project, their role and your role in it.
  • Tools : It is always suggested to optimize the use of software available to you. Some tools have instant messaging capabilities, this type of technology means that you can be connected to your team members even if you aren’t working in the same room as them. However, they work best when the time difference is not more than a couple of hours. Working with someone who is 10 or 12 hours behind you can be far more of a challenge. Tools like blogs and wikis that enable asynchronous working are valuable in these situations. You can also record presentations or conference calls and make these available later.

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Learn what makes global projects uniquely challenging and how to successfully manage projects based in different industries and countries.

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International project management, about this course.

Managing global projects presents unique challenges. This course addresses the knowledge, skills and behaviors required to successfully manage projects that span organizations, national boundaries and cultural differences.

In this course we will explore the impact on project management of culture, language variations, religious, regulatory and legal practices, technology penetration, temporal orientation, gender issues, corruption, ethics, personal liberty and political contexts. We learn how to meet global projects challenges through efficient use of practices and technology. The course will utilize available case studies and examples from companies to help students sharpen the skills needed to recognize and foster a successful international project environment.

First, you will learn how culture affects how teams perceive each other, lead, solve problems and execute tasks. Although the world is increasingly connected, the people behind the projects have biases, expectations and a perception of life that impacts all decisions.

Second, you will learn how to effectively manage global teams including how to build trust and collaboration across various cultures, time zones and technological settings. You will learn how to design communication channels and project structures effectively in a global project environment.

Third, you will become familiar with the issues underlying the problem of corruption, which is the abuse of trusted power for private gain. Reducing the risk of corruption strengthens a company's reputation, builds the respect of employees and raises credibility with key stakeholders.

Finally, you will learn how the adoption of collaboration tools can enhance the global project experience.

This course is part of the RIT Project Management MicroMasters Program that is designed to teach how to successfully deliver projects in an international environment. In order to qualify for the MicroMasters Credential, you will need to earn a verified certificate in each of the three courses.

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  • Video Transcripts: اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ, Deutsch, English, Español, Français, हिन्दी, Bahasa Indonesia, Português, Kiswahili, తెలుగు, Türkçe, 中文
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  • Managing global teams and building trust
  • Setting up an efficient global collaboration framework

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Issue Cover

Article Contents

1. introduction: rising research collaboration in global science, 2. characterizing international research collaborations: benefits, motivations, and challenges, 3. autoethnographic case study: objects, methods, and data sources, 4. case study of an irc project in the sociology of science, 5. reflections on the benefits, motivations, and challenges of irc, 6. discussion and conclusion, acknowledgements.

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Benefits, Motivations, and Challenges of International Collaborative Research: A Sociology of Science Case Study

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Jennifer Dusdal, Justin J W Powell, Benefits, Motivations, and Challenges of International Collaborative Research: A Sociology of Science Case Study, Science and Public Policy , Volume 48, Issue 2, April 2021, Pages 235–245, https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scab010

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Contemporary science is marked by expanding and diverse forms of teamwork. Collaboration across organizational and cultural boundaries extends the possibilities of discovery. International collaborative research projects often provide findings beyond what one team could achieve alone. Motivated to maintain existing relationships and grow their scientific network, researchers increasingly collaborate, despite often unrecognized or underappreciated costs, since such projects are challenging to manage and carry out. Rarely studied in-depth and longitudinally, the perspectives of scientific team members are crucial to better understand the dynamics of durable collaboration networks. Thus, this retrospective case study of a sociology of science project applies the novel method of autoethnography to examine teamwork benefits, motivations, and challenges. Key challenges found include spatial distance and differences of culture, language, and career stage. This study, spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia, focused on collaborators’ characteristics and evolving perceptions of team dynamics over a decade.

Contemporary science is marked by expanding and diverse forms of teamwork. Collaborations across organizational, disciplinary, and cultural boundaries extend the possibilities of discovery, despite often unrecognized or underappreciated costs (see Hicks and Katz 1996 ; Leahey 2016 ). Currently, competition on multiple levels transforms universities ( Musselin 2018 ) as individual and collective actors are simultaneously embedded in diverse nested and interdependent competitions ( Krücken 2019 ). This is mediated through formal evaluations, performance measures, and continuously generated comparative indicators that increasingly target collaboration ( Powell 2020 ). To succeed in this learning race to achieve new knowledge, participation in networks and interorganizational linkages, with continuous communication and collaborations of different sorts, will be crucial to success ( Powell 1998 ). Yet both collaborative and internationally comparative research projects are more complex; with the principles of ideal research designs more difficult to achieve—and such teamwork demanding ( Kosmützky 2018 ; Wöhlert 2020 ). Data from different national contexts must be gathered and compared, taking into account that team members in research projects may have contrasting cultural and disciplinary backgrounds; furthermore, they work within specific organizational conditions for conducting research ( Dusdal et al. 2019 ). While most research projects are not explicitly comparative, considering collaborative research’s exponential growth since the mid-1990s ( Powell et al. 2017a ), more attention is now devoted to (international) research collaborations (e.g. Hicks and Katz 1996 ; Shrum et al. 2007 ; Anderson and Steneck 2011 ; Jeong et al. 2014 ; Jeong and Choi 2015 ; Ulnicane 2015 ; Edelenbos et al. 2017;  , Wagner 2018 ). The meanings of international collaboration ( Bozeman et al. 2013 : 2ff) extend beyond the foundational definition: ‘working together of individuals to achieve a common goal of producing new scientific knowledge’ ( Katz and Martin 1997 : 7). As just one of myriad collaboration outcomes, coauthored publications, visible and measurable, have become the standard, though conservative, indicator of increasing research collaboration.

Several waves of studies on international research collaborations (IRC) have focused on drivers, patterns, effects, networks, and measurement. In case studies of ‘big science’ collaborations, Shrum et al. (2007) emphasize technology, data, organization, and trust. Kwiek (2020) shows that IRCs are a powerful stratifying force that distinguishes locally-oriented from internationally-oriented researchers in terms of their coauthorships and scientific productivity. Chen et al. (2019) identify key topics for future IRC research: to compare IRC properties and variance; to investigate networks; and to develop measures to assess costs and benefits. Despite the continued exponential rise of collaboration across the sciences, IRCs that extend beyond the usual timeframe of a project have rarely been studied in-depth to understand evolving researcher interactions and relationships ( Ulnicane 2015 ). Indeed, long-term relationships between collaborators and internal, team-level factors remain the ‘black-box of collaboration study’ ( Jeong and Choi 2015 : 460). Examining such factors, Bozeman et al. (2016 : 226) interviewed dozens of researchers to develop a ‘subjectivist conception of collaboration effectiveness’ to uncover collaboration dynamics relating to field/discipline, collaborator characteristics, and team management. Similarly, we also follow Kollasch’s (2012 : 173) call to examine hierarchical and horizontal relations to understand the ties that bind together international teams. Empirical studies on communication within intercultural research teams and impact on research processes themselves are also rare ( Kaden 2009 ; Wöhlert 2020 ). Notable exceptions include the laboratory studies by Latour and Woolgar (1979) and Knorr-Cetina (1981) , yet these classics illuminated laboratories in STEM fields, closed environments in which collaboration challenges across great distances or in different organizational contexts were not central.

Because researchers face multiple challenges when they work together, explicit reflection of such processes is necessary—especially as the majority of research in many disciplines is now collaboratively conducted and publications coauthored. The emerging field of ‘science of team science’ focuses on micro-level studies of research teams and their interactions (see, e.g. Tartas and Muller Mirza 2007 ; Fiore 2008 ; Slipersæter and Aksnes 2008 ; Thomas et al. 2009 ; Brewster et al. 2011 ; Falk-Krzesinski et al. 2011 ; Esser and Hanitzsch 2012 ; Brew et al. 2013 ; Hoffman et al. 2014 ; Sugden and Punch 2014 ). Studies mainly focus on natural sciences, life sciences, and engineering (see Wagner 2005 ; Gardner et al. 2012 ; Gray et al. 2012 ; Wang et al. 2014 ; Zhai et al. 2014 ; Zdravkovic et al. 2016 ), far less on social sciences and humanities. Specificities of IRC in these other fields remain underexplored ( Reichmann 2013 ; for reviews, see Kosmützky 2018 ; Wöhlert 2020 ). Such research must also reflect specific methodological complications and the social complexity of diverse research teams conducting international and intercultural work, studied thoroughly neither in higher education research nor in sociology of science ( Kosmützky 2017 : 77ff.). This reflects the limited internationalization of social sciences ( Kurzman 2017 ; Stevens et al. 2018 ). Case studies of team processes are relatively rare (but see Kumar 1985 ; Moody 2004 ; Hanges et al. 2005 ; Albert et al. 2015 ; Levitt 2015 ; Okamoto 2015 ). Longitudinal studies are even more unusual (but see Ulnicane 2015 on cases in nanoscience and technology).

To understand varying benefits, motivations, and challenges of IRC, it is essential to analyze evolving relationships of involved scientists and organizations ( Wöhlert 2020 ). Thus, we carried out a case study of teamwork within a highly international, multicultural research team in the sociology of science. This autoethnographic case study emphasizes cultural differences, including intercultural communication. Documentary analysis, several rounds of interviews, and a retrospective survey provide reflections and insights on the aspects of teamwork and divisions of labor among team members at different career stages working in universities in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. The study longitudinally explored benefits, motivations, and challenges that researchers from diverse cultures and at different career stages experienced within an international collaborative research team.

Next, we outline known benefits, motivations, and challenges of IRC. Then, we present our retrospective autoethnographic analysis of team dynamics in this case study and its implications. Finally, we discuss how science policymakers could better support IRCs as the increasingly crucial mode of producing new scientific knowledge.

International research collaborations have increased in volume and importance, responding to higher education expansion and the advancement of knowledge as well as the increasing professionalization and specialization of science. Further factors include rising investments, easier access to (financial) resources, an association with the scientific elite, mutual intellectual or social influences, increased scientific productivity, easier and less expensive communication, and exchange programs ( Luukkonen et al. 1992 ; Dusdal et al. 2019 ). Although it is far from simple and takes innumerable forms, collaboration has become taken-for-granted. Collaborative networks and relationships between organizations and researchers are difficult to study, especially given their complexity and the primacy accorded individual scientists. Conventionally, collaboration has been measured through coauthored publications because such outputs are readily accessible, whereas the dynamics and subjective experiences of collaboration remain largely hidden (but see Shrum et al. 2007 ).

Scientific collaborations—with the goal to achieve new scientific knowledge that cannot be generated by one researcher alone ( Katz and Martin 1997 ; Bozeman et al. 2013 )—often begin informally, establishing trust between researchers meeting in face-to-face situations ( Jeong et al. 2014 ). Long-standing collaborations reflect helpful ‘collaboration management strategies’ and good ‘work-style fit’ ( Bozeman et al. 2016 : 232) along with shared understandings of disciplinary norms. Depending on the field and team constellations, collaborations may be driven by ideas, questions, and theories; equipment and resources; or data ( Wagner 2005 ).

As scientists increasingly work in teams, they need to meet, understand, cooperate, and collaborate—doing so for myriad reasons ( Beaver 2001 ). In some fields, research has become so complex that individual scientists cannot achieve meaningful results without collaborating—the so-called collaboration imperative ( Bozeman and Boardman 2014 : 1). Shared infrastructure also facilitates collaboration. Today’s modal paper in the natural and social sciences represents the work of multiple researchers, often working in different organizational and cultural contexts. This collective shift toward teamwork ( Adams 2013 ; Fortunato et al. 2018 ), and the implied division of labor and specialization, extends from fundamental research to the applied world of patents ( Wuchty et al. 2007 ; Mosbah-Natanson and Gingras 2013 ).#

Collaboration occurs on multiple levels that need to be distinguished ( Kosmützky 2017 : 54ff.). As intrinsically social processes that are difficult to define and operationalize, collaboration takes on many forms; few are explicit: providing infrastructure and services, managing the division of labor or transmitting know-how ( Jeong et al. 2014 : 521f.). In combination with scientific motives, social purposes, even friendship, are often mentioned. Agreeing on research aims, distributing tasks fairly, and maintaining communication are key components of successful long-term collaborations ( Melin 2000 ; Ulnicane 2015 ). Further, to maintain and renew long-term (international) collaborations, it is important to include younger researchers and others with new ideas and relevant skills.

2.1 Determinants of successful international research collaboration

Individuals’ knowledge, experience, and reputation are crucial in producing and publishing scientific knowledge, with the career stage crucial for successfully carrying out diverse roles within IRCs ( Bozeman et al. 2016 : 233). Senior scientists tend to have larger networks and access to resources. They have established their reputations and mentored younger scholars ( Jeong and Choi 2015 ). Long-term collaborations may remain creative and productive long-term due to understanding different work commitments, crediting contributions correctly, and negotiating conflicts ( Bozeman et al. 2016 : 237). Existing relationships, repeated interactions, and intellectual synergies provide the basis for durable collaboration networks ( Ulnicane 2015 : 433f). Our case study demonstrates this.

2.2 Benefits of international research collaboration

As most collaborations begin informally and grow gradually, analyses must attend to social and cultural aspects as well as constraining and enabling factors within different science systems and research organizations—and on the team level ( Leahey 2016 ). Collaboration has many consequences; the results are mixed ( Beaver 2013 ). Some conclude that the proportion of high-quality papers increases with more authors per paper ( Lawani 1986 ). Fanelli and Larivière (2016) argue that while total published papers have increased, individual publication rates, based on the number of first-author papers, or by measuring publications fractionally, have not. IRCs are associated with higher-quality research than national collaborations; internationally coauthored papers tend to have greater research impact ( Rigby and Edler 2005 ; Levitt and Thewall 2010 ; Adams 2013 ). Thus, the numerous benefits of collaborative work justify IRC ( Rigby 2009 ). Many of these benefits were, ultimately, confirmed in our case study.

2.3 Motivations of international research collaboration

Researchers obviously collaborate for innumerable reasons (see Beaver 2001 , 2013 : 50f.; Sonnenwald 2007 ). Motivations include research organization and researcher reputation, higher visibility, opportunities for multidisciplinary research, access to research funds, and mentoring of younger researchers. Development of new methods and sharing knowledge, equipment, laboratories, or (big science) infrastructures, including data, encourage researchers to collaborate, in the process extending their networks. More personal reasons include friendships with chosen colleagues, intrinsic motivation, or the ambition to maximize personal scientific output (see Conchi and Michels 2014 ). In this case study, we analyze which of these motivations were central.

2.4 Challenges of international research collaboration

International and culturally diverse research projects provide valuable opportunities to advance scientific knowledge production, yet also imply challenges, risks, and drawbacks ( Kosmützky 2018 ). The advantage of joining forces and finding synergies of expertise incorporates the risk of invisibility of single researchers within the larger team. Particularly, younger researchers’ contributions may be subsumed. Principal investigators may not be involved in the day-to-day research because their main responsibility is to compete for funding and manage teams. Likewise, IRCs are time-consuming, requiring administration, coordination, and continuous exchange among teams ( Beaver 2013 : 53) as well as intercultural and interpersonal agreements on goals. Tasks must be distributed and responsibilities fulfilled, individually or in constellations ( Easterby-Smith and Malina 1999 ). Handling communication challenges, especially when scientists work in different locations over long time periods, demands clear communication styles to create understanding, trust, and sensitivity; advanced social planning; and functioning technological supports ( Livingston 2003 ). In particular, ‘spatially dispersed scientific collaborations’ demand substantial coordination to effectively bring ideas and expertise together ( Cummings and Kiesler 2005 : 704). Melkers and Kiopa (2010) identify the research gaps of social interactions and researcher engagement in IRCs. Thus, our retrospective case study gathers autoethnographic insights from team members.

IRCs, especially on team level, can be analyzed, categorized, and explored in different ways ( Beaver 2013 : 45ff). Less often studied, spatially distributed teams must deal with multiple methodological and sociocultural complexities that differentiate them from local teams ( Kosmützky 2017 ). To address this research gap, we explore the potential of autoethnography, as this newer approach has been applied to facilitate explicit reflection of research processes. We chose this method to retrospectively guide research and provide insights into the evolving experiences and perspectives of IRC team members. This enables the reconstruction of the discontinuous, sometimes disorganized , work within a multicultural team across four continents. Over a decade, the team constituted itself, carried out research together, and published findings that any one regional team could not have accomplished alone. This approach encourages reflexivity about experiences and valorizes personal narratives—to make sense of the meanings that we researchers retrospectively ascribe to extensive collaboration processes across different stages of career development. While not generalizable, this retrospective, self-reflexive autoethnography synthesizes lessons learned and risks in carrying out IRCs, focusing on team dynamics.

Autoethnography, as a research method, uses researchers’ own experiences in describing and evaluating beliefs, practices, and experiences in particular contexts; it recognizes and values researchers’ social embeddedness. More than a method, it not only describes research processes but simultaneously serves as the product of research ( Ellis et al. 2010 ; Adams et al. 2015 : 21ff). In contrast to claims that research should be neutral, impersonal, and objective ( Delamont 2009 ), autoethnography acknowledges and uncovers often hidden but important drivers of social research, namely subjectivity and personal connections. Such relationships are difficult to observe with standard methods in science of science, such as scientometrics, which measure only the most visible results of collaboration. Methodologically, autoethnography combines content analysis of documents with interviews to support retrospection ( Ellis et al. 2010 ). Personal experiences are connected with the current state of research ( Ronai 1992 ). These generative benefits are balanced by challenges, including lack of theorizing, self-centeredness or insufficient self-criticism, and too few observations ( Ellis et al. 2010 ).

To avoid these pitfalls, alongside our reflections and evaluation of the project collaborations, the study was conceptualized as an analysis using multiple methods to gather data longitudinally. Conducted by two members of the Europe-based subteam over a four-year period, the study includes (1) document analysis, (2) guided autoethnographic interviews, and (3) a retrospective survey of project researchers and managers eight years after project start. Exploring the use of this newer approach in this research field helps us to uncover aspects of IRCs often unobserved when conducting standard expert interviews or participant observations of a ‘foreign’ research team.

The decision to study our own research collaboration was taken after the project officially ended; follow-up projects were in the planning stages. In-depth interviews were carried out with a small number of team members (four) from different status groups (principal investigator, project manager, doctoral student) and cultural backgrounds (North America, Europe, East Asia) in person or virtually. In 2016, document-based sources, including official project documentation, research and administrative notes, official communications with the funding agency and partner universities spanning the Northern hemisphere, and innumerable project and personal e-mails were collected, sorted, and selected. Most materials were collected from project folders stored for joint use. Furthermore, we retrieved dozens of communications from our own e-mail archives.

The study gathered interview extracts and voices from project members from all regional subteams. Guiding themes and topics included the following:

Motivation and experience: Why did you decide to join the research project? Please share your experiences.

Research and learning: What were your research goals and questions within the project? What did you learn?

International collaboration: How do you define ‘international collaboration’. What dis/advantages or costs and benefits did working in a highly international, diverse team have for you? Would you like to work in such a project again? Why (not)?

After transcription, results were synthesized, with key points illustrated below. To enable renewed reflections from team members’ evolving retrospective standpoints eight years after project begin, a follow-up survey on selected findings and focused on benefits, motivations, and challenges of IRC was conducted in August 2020. This included an extensive table of statements ranked by the participants (see Table 1 ). We sent the questionnaire to the whole team; five members responded. Thus, a majority of (former) team members participated in at least one phase of our autoethnographic study. Their responses manifest different perspectives and team-connectedness after the project’s official end. Half of the original team members, from different world regions and in different career stages, continue to actively collaborate and co-author papers.

Benefits, motivations, and challenges of international research collaborations.

Source : Authors’ representation.

We now turn to an overview of the project’s genesis, team size, duration, and budget; its members’ cultural diversity and career stages; patterns of mobility, distribution of labor, and leadership; and the team’s sociodemographic and academic characteristics. Then, we delve into the subjective meanings associated with this IRC, derived from team members’ perspectives.

First ideas about possible transatlantic research collaboration were explored in Summer 2010 by a small group of researchers—later project principal investigators (PIs)—after an international workshop on higher education (HE) in Germany. From two countries and of three generations, they had known each other for ten to twenty years and developed friendships. After another year informally discussing common research interests, more concrete project ideas emerged: to analyze (1) worldwide HE expansion, (2) its consequences for scientific research over the twentieth century, and (3) universities’ contributions to scientific discovery. These interests were then aligned to the explicit economy-centered interests of the funding agency’s call for proposals. A focus on scientific productivity emerged, with the explicit use of this language exemplifying ‘programmification’—the impact of funding agencies’ priorities on proposed research (see Zapp et al. 2018 ). A more detailed project proposal, written with a colleague who had direct contact with the funding agency, was submitted in December 2011. Half a year later, this ‘local’ PI received the five anonymous peer reviews and the first approval notification. On 15 May 2012, he informed his collaborators via e-mail across the time zones:

Hi Team: I just heard a few minutes ago that QNRF approved our application for funding. That’s about all I know at the moment. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks. In the meantime, congratulations on a job well done. Let the games begin…(PI 2).

In fact, the to-be-assembled project team would be built upon decades-old relationships, coupled with global recruitment of country experts and young researchers—through existing networks that reflect internationalization powered by doctoral education in research universities; in this case, an American public university with substantially international graduate student population ( Fernandez et al. 2020 ). Among the main purposes of collaboration is the division of labor ( Katz and Martin 1997 ). But as science has evolved and spread around the world, researchers are even more broadly scattered geographically than in earlier eras. Here, IRC networks served as a ‘vehicle for knowledge diffusion’ ( Jeong and Choi 2015 : 462), for access to funding, and for recruitment. Due to this projects’s spatial distribution of researchers across four continents, information exchange, discussion of research goals among subteams, division of labor, and task coordination were crucial (see Lewis et al. 2012 ). All team members were employed in universities of the Northern hemisphere, distributed across seven countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia.

4.1 Team size, budget, and project duration

The team size, budget, and project duration are interrelated, because substantial financial resources are necessary to enable project investigators to form and maintain IRC teams ( Jeong and Choi 2015 : 462). Larger teams may develop contemporary and popular ideas, but have short-lived impact, on average, yet this persists longer when younger researchers are well-integrated ( Wu et al. 2019 ). By contrast, smaller teams may positively irritate science and technology studies with more radical ideas and survive longer when they build a stable core of researchers that remain active ( Palla et al. 2007 ; Fortunato et al. 2018 ). Larger international teams support visibility and information exchange in various contexts, facilitating network growth ( Horta and Austin Lacy 2011 : 459f.). The team studied consisted of ten researchers (full professors, associate professors, doctoral students), one research director, one project manager, and numerous research assistants (in several countries).

Most members participated without their positions being (fully) project-funded; thus, co-financing by research universities was essential. The budget of about US$600,000 was used mainly to fund a project manager and research stays, travel, and data acquisition. Years later, residual overhead costs supported publishing results open access. Particularly, given the brief two-year official project duration, university co-sponsorship was substantial. Financially and in terms of team size, this project was relatively small for such a globe-spanning project compared with, for example, international projects funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. While a no-cost six-month extension was granted, no publications based on the project’s big data and bibliometric analyses appeared during the grant period. In years since, research by various team members has appeared in book and article forms, in English and German, and won numerous awards. The project context also provided an important platform to present previously conducted research to gain visibility in other scientific communities.

4.2 Cultural and linguistic diversity and gender

The group’s national, cultural, and linguistic diversity was considerable: starting with the project’s lead PI in North America, four team members were US citizens. Three team members, representing Europe, came from Germany and Romania, and one each came from China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Day-to-day project management was organized in Qatar by a woman from Iran. With the on-going and increasingly rapid globalization of science, researchers seek opportunities outside their country of origin; unsurprisingly, country of origin and current location were often different ( Anderson and Steneck 2011 ). Indeed, most team members were officially employed and/or enrolled outside their country of origin. The most common languages spoken were English, the main project language, German, and Chinese (Mandarin).

Noteworthy, the ratio of female/male researchers was 1:10, whereas project support and research assistance were provided mainly by female team members. If research shows that female scientists have different communication and leadership styles ( Jeong and Choi 2015 ), in this team gender issues were never discussed explicitly.

4.3 Division of labor and career stage

Beyond gender, differences in career stage and power relations among researchers of various status and cultural backgrounds existed. Hierarchies affected communication—from knowledge exchange to critique—as well as expectations ( Roelcke 2010 ; Kosmützky 2018 ). While project leaders often lack professional training in managing international projects, learning their skills ‘on the job’ ( Hantrais 2009 ), this was not so here: the project and ‘Subteam North America’ were led by a renowned senior scientist from that region with long-standing contact to all network members. He selected most team members, many of whom he had trained, collaborated with, or hosted at his university. The core group of PIs, well-connected for over a decade, included a former doctoral student who acted as crucial local contact securing project funding; he led ‘Subteam Middle East’. This confirms that ‘established social capital’ is necessary to successfully recruit diverse researchers from abroad to collaborate ( Melkers and Kiopa 2010 : 391). The involved subteams and their relationships reflect the extensive social interactions necessary for successful collaboration. IRC teams are increasingly the norm, but building international, intergenerational networks that provide collaboration opportunities demand tenacity.

North America is a significant partner for IRCs because of its scientific outputs and central position in global science ( Luukkonen et al. 1992 ; Powell et al. 2017a ). Culturally diverse, ‘Subteam North America’ consisted of Americans and both professors and doctoral candidates from China, Korea, and Taiwan working together at a large US research university. This subteam prepared and maintained the huge volume of raw data—Web of Science Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)—purchased from Thomson Reuters (now: Clarivate Analytics).

This database was painstakingly recoded by ‘Subteam Europe’, evolving to ensure overall data quality and meet project goals. Contributing four European case studies, this subteam integrated several senior researchers and organized a concluding international conference panel, an important step toward an edited volume collecting all country case studies ( Powell et al. 2017a ). Cultural and linguistic diversity as well as recruitment of additional experts later on ensured that the country case studies of the key science-producing regions were contributed by authors able to review domestic literature and with extensive knowledge of HE and science systems.

‘Subteam Middle East’ provided project management infrastructure and hosted all team members during three workshops. These meetings were organized from and took place in Qatar, where the funding agency required two-thirds of the project budget to be spent. Coordination by the project managers was essential to realize project goals between these rare gatherings in person.

Team members from four East Asian countries delved into national case analysis, less so explicit comparative work. These members had genuine interests and expertise in big data, taking responsibility for substantial encoding, cleaning, and preparation of the dataset for common use, and the development of methods and tools for subsequent analyses. One Asian PI, trained in and a professor in North America, coauthored the analysis of his country of origin with external collaborators. An assistant professor based in another Asian country worked on his case study alone but compared journal coverage of Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science and Elsevier’s Scopus to capture differences in selectivity of the two leading bibliometric databases. Analysis of the third and fourth Asian countries was completed in dissertations by doctoral candidates in ‘Subteam North America’, who had intermittently joined ‘Subteam Middle East’ to work on the dataset. Post-project, they returned to their East Asian countries but completed their dissertations under supervision of the project’s lead PI in the US.

4.4 Mobility

Highly mobile, the project team consisted of members of different national origins, with half of the senior PIs and all doctoral candidates working in research universities in countries other than their country of origin. Various sub-teams collaborated on different aspects and in different phases, meeting in their university or region. Particularly, the doctoral candidates—whether Asian or European—were mobile regarding both their doctoral degree granting universities and in conducting data preparation and analysis in third countries. Only three face-to-face meetings of all members occurred during the project, due to physical distance and costs (coordination, travel).The kickoff meeting was held in February 2013 in Doha, Qatar, whose national research foundation (QNRF) funded the research. This was followed by a second meeting and international conference visit and presentation of first results in November 2013. Finally, a third meeting was conceived as a ‘data workshop’ in March 2014, designed for discussion of discovered historical trends and global findings—such as the exponential rise of (international) coauthorship. Most members attended and presented findings during an international conference in Washington, DC, in March 2015, to engage in cross-disciplinary dialogue, an important but rare opportunity to meet in person ( Melkers and Kiopa 2010 : 397f.). To tackle this challenge in practice, the team organized monthly virtual meetings and communicated continuously via e-mail. Reflecting on the project, members missed personal and on-site communication between subteams. Clarifying problems took much more time than if all researchers had been locally-based, for example writing innumerable e-mails to discuss an issue related to a STATA do-file, instead of walking down the hallway to immediately clarify face-to-face. Thus, research stays by all three doctoral candidates in other subteams were crucial.

4.5 Communication and language

Doing research and producing knowledge in the lingua franca are everyday activities globally, but working in multilingual teams results in communication challenges, especially when team members aspire to publish in (leading) peer-reviewed journals ( Wöhlert 2020 ). Although English was the common project language ( Pelikan 2015 ), only three team members were native speakers. This cultural diversity became particularly obvious when analyzing project documents. Most researchers used their first language for their own research notes, but shared documents and official communications, conference presentations, and publications were mainly written in global English. The team division of labor led to diverse languages being used. Wells (2013) argues that using English as the project language gives native speakers a great advantage to express themselves linguistically, culturally, and socially. Non-native speakers felt inhibited in team interactions (see Bagshaw et al. 2007 ), but even more so in drafting publications later, overcome only through considerable investments by the native speakers in writing and proofreading. Senior scholars’ openness and patience and inclusivity were crucial for project development and facilitating the publication of results in leading English-language journals.

Nevertheless, the team’s diverse cultural, disciplinary, and academic backgrounds resulted in communication problems, both in theoretical debates and in data analysis and interpretation. Analysis of team correspondence emphasized the importance of discussing and agreeing on definitions of key terms, debating theoretical approaches, and selecting methodologies—also to develop mutual understanding and trust, which is vital for successful IRCs ( Bracken and Oughton 2006 ). Because the project strove to combine quantitative and in-depth institutional analyses, increased attention to intercultural communication would have been crucial; these challenges were underestimated.

Although the project officially ended in June 2015, after a no-cost extension, and the final report was submitted in August 2015, the research team continued to collaborate. Since then, numerous publications by diverse team member constellations have appeared, including an edited volume of contributions from regional subteams ( Powell et al. 2017a ) that won several awards. That book’s introduction was jointly written by team members from different locations and career stages to frame the country case studies and synthesize global trends ( Powell et al. 2017b ). By the end of 2020, six peer-reviewed research articles in high-quality journals had appeared. A monograph (awarded a prestigious dissertation prize) appeared in German ( Dusdal 2018 ); another book (in English) is forthcoming ( Baker and Powell, forthcoming ). Three book chapters have been published (in English; two translated into Arabic), two encyclopedia entries, one commissioned report (available in English and French), one contribution to published conference proceedings, and six transfer publications (newspaper articles, interviews, radio, and electronic media such as podcasts). Currently, three additional journal articles using the project database are under review. The project’s three doctoral candidates successfully defended their dissertations (two in 2017, 2019). These outputs and a follow-up project build upon the team members’ joint efforts to construct one of the largest longitudinal bibliometric databases, covering about 90 million entries across a 111-year period. Having specified the project’s characteristics and dynamics, we next present reflections from the autoethnographic study on the team members’ perceived benefits, motivations, and challenges of IRC.

Turning to our autoethnography, we present empirical results based on reflections and insights on conducting research, the division of labor, and social relationships in a globe-spanning project. We discuss what autoethnography may contribute to our better understanding of diverse benefits, motivations, and challenges of IRC.

The study emphasized relationships between members of different cultural, disciplinary, and status backgrounds, uncovering how crucial were the established relationships—spanning three continents and multiple generations—among the project’s PIs.

International cooperation for me is when scholars from different national backgrounds focus on one big research topic and the collaboration, which means they really could help each other to figure it out (PhD 1). On the one hand, people would just say it’s people in different countries… But you’re [interviewer] sitting here, we’re both sitting here, are we internationally collaborating? Yes, but you could do your PhD here, you could be a professor here… what’s behind it is the universalization of education, in particular of universities (PI 1).

Particularly among scholars in different countries, collaboration leads to more influential, often-cited research ( Katz and Hicks 1997 ; Fortunato et al. 2018 ). This is a key argument for further globalizing the scientific enterprise and recognizing the brain circulation and intercultural teamwork that facilitates recognition and impact across scientific communities ( Sugimoto et al. 2017 ; Wagner and Jonkers 2017 ). For these team members, the benefits of IRC were clear: in-depth global trend analysis and comparison of different national case studies would not have been possible without the knowledge and methodological expertise of collaborators from different countries, at various career stages, and with diverse know-how. The team members learned from each other about historical contexts and the scope of longitudinal trends, broadening their knowledge about higher education and science systems worldwide.

Important meanings associated with IRC were (1) support to cross disciplinary boundaries, and (2) discussions of theoretical and methodological innovation. Reflection of different scientific cultures, strongly related to researcher socialization—in their disciplines, in particular methodologies, and in contrasting cultural contexts—is necessary to engage in dialogue.

‘Learning from each other’s experiences and competencies; it’s impossible to understand a foreign system just by reading articles about it’ (PhD 1).

This example shows the significance of and mutual dependence of researchers to broaden their (comparative) knowledge and expertise. Researchers from several countries collaborating impacts team communication. Diverse understandings of hierarchies and dealing with colleagues from different status groups and cultures had important consequences. For example, ‘…different norms how team members talk to each other’ and ‘no classic boss and student relationship, but in ‘our culture’ in [Asian country] they listen to the senior scholar. No equal conversations’ (PhD 2). Furthermore, different conceptions of theoretical approaches and expertise in data coding and interpretation were among the challenges the team faced.

In addition to general reasons motivating collaboration ( Beaver 2001 , 2013 ; Sonnenwald 2007 ), team members identified numerous specific motivations: learning new methods; research topic relevance; pressure to acquire third-party funding; time to do multidisciplinary work; understanding other higher education and science systems; friendship; and the potential to advance theoretical thinking and methodological expertise. As one PhD student reported:

‘I really enjoy the time with my team because some scholars share their skills’ ; ‘I decided to participate based on these two incentives: I mean, the first is that the topic is relevant to my research… and the second is it may be interesting to work in another country’ ; ‘the topic could fit into my future career, I decided to join’ (PhD 2).

Another stated that ‘after the seminar, [PI 1] asked me to write a proposal with him’ (PhD 1).

Two additional motivations evident in the interviews were the pressure to acquire research grants and third-party funding: money (laughter)’ (PI 1). Available time to participate was essential:‘ I had heard about [the project] and the international collaboration stuff and on his team of grad students I was the only one who was doing higher education research who had time’ (PhD 1).

Further motivations included learning about other higher education and science systems. A shared history among team members promoted their wish to join forces in the project. This confirms Melkers and Kiopa’s (2010 : 391, 408) finding that growing interest in IRC also reflects the personal desire to work together and to access new and diverse resources and knowledge not available at home.

The team’s multidisciplinarity and expertise in multiple methods advanced thinking and facilitated development of new approaches, including the unique database construction. Thus, this case corroborates diverse benefits and motivations of IRC mentioned in the research literature.

Next, we address challenges faced by the team members. International and multidisciplinary projects require considerable organization and structured management of tasks (work packages). This was experienced as a major challenge.

‘Asian people always like to work overtime. But I know [PI 1] would never do that’ (PhD 2).

Working styles represent aspects of the scientific culture, cultural background, career stage, and individual personality. Cultural, organizational, and team expectations may not always be in harmony. Indeed, for some team members, it was challenging to adapt to different social situations and ways of discussing research problems across status groups. Yet experiences in different subteams helped them to overcome fears and to open up, reflecting the influence of global scientific norms.

Not only do different communication styles hinder or enhance collaboration, the geographical location of researchers across time zones and on other continents demanded flexible organization to ensure steady work progress. The distribution of labor needed to be continuously (re)negotiated to achieve the milestones and complete work packages that often relied on other sub-teams. Team members did not explicitly discuss these topics in advance, implicitly assuming that the others would understand their responsibilities to deliver on time–– ‘We never discussed it’ (PhD 1). This manifests the implicitness of norms as well as non-rational qualities of much collaborative work. More regular communication among team members about tasks and specific goals and needs of individual team members, but also about culturally variant workstyles, could have been optimized. Open communications and support by team leaders even after funding ended were essential for this IRC’s long-term success. Culturally diverse subteams with members working outside their countries of origin were responsible for a range of interlocking tasks, requiring individual members to manage different expectations—organizational and interpersonal—to meet the goals set forth in a field new to many. For those writing national case studies on their home country, collaboration proceeded more easily than for those analyzing contexts foreign to them or comparatively.

Over time, more frequent, often bilateral, exchanges within and across the subteams led to better solutions than larger, general discussions with the entire team. Furthermore, while multidisciplinary teams may facilitate innovative ideas and develop new methodological approaches, the lack of shared disciplinary grounding posed challenges. As one doctoral student noted, ‘I have never taken a real sociology course’ (PhD 1), which resulted in delays due to the necessary (and gradual) embedding of findings within the project’s theoretical approach. This comment emphasizes that recruitment processes must take into account the constellation of researchers assembled and project tasks.

As key challenges to successful collaboration, multiple members mentioned time constraints, insurmountable disciplinary differences, and diverse theoretical and methodological strengths and weaknesses. For example, ‘I need to teach them how to do STATA’’ or ‘… scholars from different backgrounds […] have their own interests. I think that is very unique’ (PhD 2). Contrasting norms and discussion cultures, communication styles, and handling of hierarchies and status differences were identified as additional challenges. Furthermore, taken-for-grantedness and the reflection of changing task distribution and subteam membership were mentioned as difficult to negotiate. By contrast, facilitators included ‘ Not making the project too tight; being generous with people; flexibility; I tried to be mellow about it; principle: everybody can use the data, you just have to communicate about it; everybody can publish their own things’ (PI 1). This last example from our interviews shows that flexibility and resilience are important skills team leaders should bring. It is important to keep the overall project goals in mind, but IRCs must also provide room to evolve and to develop new ideas, especially given varying tasks and learning processes within the team and across subteams.

Surveying team members at different career stages and in diverse higher education systems worldwide eight years after project begin, we found a range of benefits, motivations, and challenges ( Table 1 ). Among the many benefits, team members mentioned learning about other higher education and science systems and conducting global research. Learning from and helping each other was closely related to the distribution of labor across subteams that enabled results beyond what any individual or regional team could have accomplished alone. Beyond broadening knowledge, the considerable benefits deriving from the project, a perhaps surprising result is the social significance of team members’ friendships, the reinforcement of existing relationships, and networking. Thus, this social dimension should not be marginalized in future analyses of research collaboration. Further motivations to participate included the relevance of the research topic, career advancement opportunities, and––associated with the clear benefits of such international, multidisciplinary teams—the learning of new theoretical approaches and methods. Individual work does not provide similarly diverse opportunities to learn.

Simultaneously with numerous benefits and strong motivations to collaborate, the team members also reflected on more and less foundational challenges to the project as it evolved from a short-term funded project to a less formal, long-term global collaboration supported solely by intrinsic motivation to learn, to advance the common research agenda, and to maintain friendly social relations. Unsurprisingly for a truly global project with considerable empirical ambition, the organization and structured management of work packages and tasks was challenging, despite the dedicated project management and continuous usage of information technology. In fact, more challenging than actual work organization were contrasting expectations and norms relating to culture and specific organizational contexts. Obviously, individual, disciplinary, and career stage differences affected what researchers needed—and this changed over time as the younger scholars matured, completed their dissertations, and embarked on new projects, some directly building upon the project’s medium-term achievements.

Critically noted, along with different modes of working, were contrasting styles of communication and differing language skills that inhibited free exchange of information. Beyond these more individual challenges, the distribution of labor and the time constraints due to the limited duration of project funding delayed or limited the IRC’s output. Finally, while diverse theoretical and methodological backgrounds reflected team strengths and weaknesses, these also posed challenges for optimal collaboration, especially due to lack of sufficient opportunities for dialogue across considerable spatial distance.

These findings confirm the diversity and complexity of benefits, motivations, and challenges of IRC; of cultural, organizational, and individual characteristics; and of informal and formal collaboration processes leading to scientific contributions, such as coauthored publications. In team science and beyond, these topics require further attention in science, policymaking, and project-based practice. Cultural and social dynamics of collaborative research in multidisciplinary and international teams remain insufficiently investigated. We next reflect on the autoethnographic approach taken and reflect on implications for future research.

The benefits, motivations, and challenges of international collaborative research were analyzed to understand diverse subjective perspectives on the dynamics relating to such collaboration in a specific globe-spanning team. We reviewed research on IRCs on the team level, embedding therein our empirical material, based on autoethnographic interviews and a retrospective survey with the project’s researchers and managers. The case study provides diverse perspectives of members in an international, multidisciplinary team in the sociology of science. Our findings confirmed previous findings on IRCs, but also provided novel insights relating to IRC team dynamics.

For example, the significance of and mutual dependence of researchers to broaden their knowledge and expertise is an essential element of successful research collaborations. Using autoethnography, we uncovered implicit norms and non-rational qualities of collaborative work. This result emphasizes the need for more regular personal communications among team members about the contents of their work, but also about their individual goals, unique contributions, and (career development) needs. The creation of an open communication environment by team leaders is crucial, especially in projects with multilingual members (see Wöhlert 2020 ). Careful recruitment of team members reflecting project goals and approaches is necessary, questioning assumptions that recruitment should be objective or ignore existing personal relationships, as a crucial source of trust. Cultural and career stage issues should be explicitly addressed by team leaders, who attend to evolving task distribution and provide room to develop new ideas and learn to practice critique within hierarchies. Such findings suggest further research focus on IRC team dynamics.

While the presented findings derive from one case study and thus cannot be generalized, the results of this autoethnography highlight specific dimensions of IRCs in the social sciences—and confirm previous findings. Using autoethnographic methods to analyze developments over a decade, we presented insights into cultural differences and intercultural communication challenges, but also into myriad benefits and motivations of collaborating across boundaries, both spatial and social. Open questions for future research include the assessment of relevant dimensions of culture in IRCs—such as national, organizational, or epistemic—as well as discussion of the diversity of cultures within multidisciplinary and intercultural teams and its influence on IRC. The above outlined methodological critiques of autoethnography, such as lack of self-criticism and subjectivity notwithstanding, this approach acknowledges and uncovers often hidden but equally important drivers of research, namely interpersonal connections and curiosity, which are difficult to observe applying other methods, such as bibliometrics that emphasizes collaboration’s most visible outputs.

Further implications for future research include the investigation of team-level dynamics of IRCs and the specific needs of researchers at different career stages. The utilization of individual team members’ strengths and how these can be applied in team building and achieving project goals is another important strand of research. Most studies concentrate on the benefits of IRCs, discounting the challenges. Yet holistic perspectives are needed for realistic planning and durable success in (larger) collaborations that pay off (much) later than official project duration, for the individual researchers, for their organizations, and for global science. The social and networking dimensions should not be underestimated in motivating such research, which may be considered risky, as trust is a key to the sharing of ideas that lead to discoveries. The chosen mixed-methods approach combined analysis of coauthored publications and interpretative analysis of autoethnographic interviews and surveys with various team members (at PI, doctoral, postdoctoral, and project manager levels).

In contrast to the presented retrospectively-designed case study and based on the above findings, for future IRCs, we recommend implementation of accompanying team-oriented autoethnographic research throughout the project—and following researchers’ scientific careers longitudinally—to monitor and reflect on researchers’ dynamic roles within such complex project arrangements and less formal collaboration networks as their careers develop. This approach would have been beneficial for an in-depth analysis and interpretation of the presented results as well as to capture important nuances and informal processes that contribute to the development of social and intellectual capital on the team level in IRCs (see Melkers and Kiopa 2010 : 404).

While there is some variability in the duration of funded projects, the typical 2- or 3-year timeframe is often insufficient to complete empirical data-gathering or the in-depth (comparative) analysis needed for either in-depth understanding or policy recommendations. For complex international projects, teamwork is challenging; thus, necessary trust—including support and friendship—is crucial, especially beyond the official project duration, to complete publications and design follow-up projects; particularly within new settings and constellations of researchers. More explicit reflection of cultural backgrounds and language competencies as well as theoretical and methodological knowledge would facilitate teams’ overcoming key challenges, yet this is often not explicitly made a key criterion during peer review, even though such preparation and processes are essential for long-term project success.

Complex projects, and those in particular disciplines utilizing rare infrastructure, often exhibit collaboration imperatives. Comparative and global higher education and science research are hardly possible without the in-depth contextual knowledge provided by researchers from different places. Team leadership and planning—related to the division of labor and communication, work styles, and cultural and disciplinary backgrounds—demand more attention from scholars and policymakers alike. For the project members, spatial mobility was essential to achieve project goals, yet the burden was unequally distributed. The COVID-19 global pandemic has led to the broad questioning of the effects of spatial distance on IRCs as communication technologies develop even further. More than ever in highly competitive academic labor markets, explicit project planning is crucial. The key motivations and benefits of IRCs are the advancement of scientific careers via opportunities to learn new theories, develop methodological skills, and expand contextual knowledge. Building international, intergenerational networks provides the explicit collaboration opportunities necessary to ensure that the benefits outweigh the challenges of international collaborative research that, in many fields, is increasingly the norm.

We thank David P. Baker and our other SPHERE team members who contributed to our international research collaboration and to this case study. For encouragement, advice, and comments on earlier drafts, we thank Sarah-Rebecca Kienast, Anna Kosmützky, Diego Kozlowski, Marcelo Marques, Romy Wöhlert, Mike Zapp, and the anonymous reviewers. We dedicate this article to the memory of Robert D. Reisz (1964–2020), a convivial and dedicated team member and Dean of the Faculty of Political Science, Philosophy and Communication Sciences, West University of Timisoara, Romania, who passed away unexpectedly and far too young.

We acknowledge the Qatar National Research Fund, a member of Qatar Foundation, for co-funding this research (NPRP Grant No. 5-1021-5-159). The findings herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Conflict of interest statement . The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERNATIONAL PROJECT MANAGERS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Profile image of Vo Minh Hung Nguyen

International project management is an attractive topic of various scholars in the field. However, in most of the project management standards, selecting a manager for international project is not included as they start with initiating stage of project. This paper reviews relevant literatures in order to provide a framework of selecting international project manager following the listed environments in ISO 21500: 2012 Guidance on project management. Four primary characteristics of international project managers are revealed in association with contextual, organizational, and project environments, as well as personality. This paper also complements to the article “Managing the HR dimension of international project operations” of Welch et al. (2008) in the step of selecting project and bidding teams.

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The paper focuses on the issue of project management education as the tool of positive influence on the success of project implementation in corporate practice. The aim of the authors is to identify the ways of training project managers, project team members and top management members in project management on the basis of interviews with human resources managers of metallurgical companies in the Czech Republic. Based on the findings, recommendations of appropriate measures are formulated at the end of the paper to improve the situation in the area of project management education in metallurgical companies.

Emils Pulmanis

Global Journal of Health Science

Thandiwe Letsie

Georgiana Alexandra Badoiu

The purpose of this paper is to provide a deeper insight into the organizational factors and personal motivations of intrapreneurs that may foster intrapreneurial behaviors of employees in a new technology-based firm (NTBF).,The paper takes a qualitative approach to explore organizational and individual antecedents of employees’ intrapreneurial behavior. A single case study was conducted on the basis of semi-structured interviews with the founders and top managers of the firm and with intrapreneurial employees.,Results show that intrapreneurial projects may arise in firms whose top managers support corporate entrepreneurship (CE) in a non-active manner. Intrapreneurial behaviors of employees can emerge despite the lack of time and limited resources available for undertaking projects. Moreover, work discretion and mutual confidence and the quality of the relationship between employees and top managers are the most valued factors for intrapreneurs.,Based on the intrapreneurial project...

2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC)

Edward Borodzicz

Technovation

Iiris Aaltio

Melody McLaren , Heiko Spitzeck

This Occasional Paper is a continuation of research by The Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility on the work of social intrapreneurs - individuals within large corporations who take direct initiative for innovations which address social or environmental challenges profitably. In this phase of research – which included a literature search as well as further interviews with social intrapreneurs, their colleagues and other experts in the academic NGO and business sectors working in the social intrapreneurism field – the “enabling environment” for social intrapreneurs was explored, identifying key factors that enable (and disable) innovation.

International Research Network on Organizing by Projects (IRNOP) 2017

Neil Alderman

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During the conference we will listen to our Keynote Speakers to analyse the current developments and impacts of AI at an international level and understand the benefits and future trends evolution.

This three-day training is organised for anyone interested in understanding and who would like to be able to apply the IPMA Project Excellence Model in their projects, programmes and/or organisations.

IPMA latest blog posts

international projects meaning

IPMA Working Groups Convene in Paris to Chart the Course for the Future

Last weekend, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) saw a gathering of its strategic working groups in the enchanting city of Paris, France. The occasion marked a significant milestone as the IPMA Executive Board (ExBo) came together for the first time in its new composition, under the leadership of Mladen Vukomanovic, the newly elected IPMA […]

international projects meaning

IPMA Executive Board Meets with SMaP, IPMA’s Member Association in France: Exploring New Avenues in Project Management

In a recent meeting of the IPMA’s Executive Board (ExBo) and the Board of SMaP – “Société de Management de Projet”, an association promoting project management knowledge, and the IPMA Member Association in France, exciting developments and initiatives were discussed. The gathering brought together key stakeholders to review progress, explore new avenues, and strengthen the […]

international projects meaning

IPMA Introduces ICB Reference Guide for PMO: A Proven Framework for Project Management Office Success

The project management profession has evolved over many years alongside changing global trends. IPMA, an international organization with over 70 national associations, develops globally recognized competence standards. IPMA extends its focus beyond project managers to encompass all individuals involved in project-related activities. Throughout the years, we have established standards for individuals, teams, and organizations. IPMA […]

international projects meaning

IPMA Celebrates Milestones and Honors Pioneer Member Associations

IPMA expresses gratitude to its pioneering members – Member Associations, including PMA Projekt Management Austria, GPM Deutsche Gesellschaft für Projektmanagement e.V. in Germany, ANIMP – IPMA Italy, Norwegian Project Management Association, Svenskt Projektforum in Sweden, SPM Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Projektmanagement in Switzerland, and Association for Project Management APM in the UK for their continuous support and contributions to the advancement of the project profession and establishing IPMA as the truly global and unique body of project profession today.

international projects meaning

Protected: New Era in Project Management Education: Collaboration of the Reykjavik University’s MPM Program and the Icelandic Project Management Association. 

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

international projects meaning

Polish Students Project Excellence Award 2023

Pilot project by IPMA Polska Young Crew At the end of 2023, IPMA Young Crew Poland successfully completed its pilot project, the Polish Student Project Excellence Award 2023. This project aimed to evaluate student projects according to the guidelines of the IPMA Project Excellence Model. The Polish Student Project Excellence Award is the first competition […]

international projects meaning

Privacy and Security challenges when using AI in project management

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a mainstream technology. Its applications are growing across a wide range of disciplines, including (but not limited to) healthcare, environmental management, food security, agriculture, and business management. The launch of large language models such as ChatGPT has further accentuated the urge to integrate AI into solution development to solve problems […]

international projects meaning

Public Sector Project Management – The Way to Excellence

One of the most visited events among Global Project Profession Forum (PPF), held in Sevilla, from 21-22nd September 2023, was a Panel Project management in Public sector.  This topic provoked a great interest of project, program and portfolio managers, decision makers, politicians, government, and companies since public projects are complex, including many stakeholders, enormous budget, […]

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IPMA is a Federation of the leading Project Management associations in each nation, our Member Associations are the primary point of contact and IPMA services delivery solution for most practitioners. IPMA is available in most European countries, because that is where we started. And, we celebrate our presence in Asia and the Americas, where we are seeing tremendous growth and demand. See our MA down below.

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international projects meaning

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Gerente Executivo, PETROBRAS/TRANSPETRO, Brazil

“Porque a certificação IPMA 4L é a que melhor endereça o equilíbrio entre experiência e conhecimento profissional.”

Program Manager Airports, COPA Airlines, Panama

“Considero el Sistema 4LC de IPMA como la vía que puede un profesional utilizar para establecer un plan de desarrollo que homologe sus competencias con las mejores prácticas.”

Antonio Ramón Albert

Project Manager, Diez Torrijos Desarrollo y Gestión de Proyectos 10t, Spain

“Para obtener la certificación como Project Manager, de modo que se refleje, por un organismo internacional, la cualificación para el trabajo que habitualmente desarrollamos.”

Oscar Arturo Cruz Torres

Director PMO, INNOVAGRO, Mexico

“En lo personal el uso de competencias blandas es algo basico con lo que debe de contar un buen PM, IPMA da un claro ejemplo de lo que debe de hacer un PM en determinadas situaciones reales.”

Mats Soderlund

Managing Director / Vice President, Finland

“IPMA certifiering erbjuder en bred och konkret helhet för projektledning.”

Adrian Benito Rios

Gerente de Oficina de Proyectos e Instalaciones, Thales, Spain

“Thales, Empresa en la que trabajo, decidió comenzar un proceso en el que se certificara el nivel de competencias en cuanto a Gestión de Proyectos de todas las personas involucradas en dicho área.”

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Consultant, Konsultointi Lehtimäki, Finland

“Hain arvioijaksi oppiakseni Project Excellence mallin perinpohjin sekä päästäkseni jakamaan aiheesta ajatuksia kollegoiden kanssa eri toimialoilta ja eri maista.”

Alberto Fuentes

Consultant, IPMA Mexico, Mexico

“I applied for certification based on the international reputation of the certification on the project management field.”

IPMA Standards

IPMA has defined worldwide standards for competences in the domains of Project, Programme and Portfolio Management: IPMA ICB® – for individuals IPMA PEB® – for projects IPMA OCB ® – for organisations ICB4CCT ®   – for coaches, consultants and trainers ICB4 in an Agile World ® – for agile leaders

IPMA Global Awards

Managing projects often means dealing with ever-increasing complexity and volatility. Project managers and their teams are required to give their best to achieve the desired outcomes for stakeholders, organisations or society. Are these achievements recognised enough? In IPMA Awards they are! On a yearly basis, IPMA celebrates outstanding project management achievements by nominating and recognising individuals and projects.

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international projects meaning

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international projects meaning

International Project exists to

Initiate church-planting movements, through unreached people groups living outside their homelands..

diaspora: the dispersion of any people from their original homeland.

We are living in unprecedented times. Through migration, people who previously had no access to the gospel are living among us. This gives us a unique opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus with them and share the hope of salvation with the nations. We do this through short, mid, and long-term missions opportunities, church planting, and missionary training programs.

with International Project

International Project is a missions organization that  trains and sustains  missionary teams that disciple diaspora communities in global cities. By offering short, mid, and long-term opportunities to Jesus’ followers today, we hope to see a church-planting movement begin and spread throughout the world.

Missionary Training

By international project.

God has orchestrated the migration that’s giving more people access to the gospel than ever before, and we must be ready to answer the call. Our missionary training programs allow you to learn from and work alongside experienced church planters and cross-cultural missionaries.

Missions Opportunities

To international project.

We cannot do this without you. Your partnership allows us to spread the Good News of Jesus all over the world through church planting and missionaries.

Tax-Exempt Nonprofit, # 22-3393396

international projects meaning

IMAGES

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  2. International Project Management

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  4. 6 Helpful Tips for Managing International Projects

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  6. International Projects for Students

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VIDEO

  1. Global Technology development

  2. Seminar International "Sustainable Technology Toward the Industrial Development"

  3. State Budget Lecture (14) Part (3): International View (Global Efficiency)

  4. meaning of International business

  5. TLE 6 (INDUSTRIAL ARTS)

COMMENTS

  1. What is International project management- Henry Harvin

    International project management (IPM) is the management of projects that involve multi-national resources and teams working together to attain the project goals. With globalization, businesses tend to be no longer confined within their national boundaries. They expand internationally to achieve the basic goals like: Increasing their market share

  2. International development

    International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale.

  3. Managing international and cross-cultural projects

    Furthermore, in international projects it is critical to point out possible cultural differences and to prepare the employees for different behaviors and customs. ... "Knowledge," by definition, means the knowledge in the business about the processes, customers, products, etc., which can be retained in people's minds or filed on paper or in ...

  4. The nature of international development projects

    Definition, What are International Development (ID) Projects? ID Projects are medium to large size public projects and/or programs in all sectors of developing countries financed by the following types of institutions: Multilateral Development Banks such as the World Bank and regional development banks (ADB, AfDB, IADB, CDB etc.)

  5. The Global Project Management Framework

    Many companies unaccustomed to working globally struggle when they implement a project that involves stakeholders located around the world. This paper examines a framework for managing the difficult relationship dynamics involved in realizing global projects. In doing so, it defines the concept of a global project and the dimensions involved in managing a global project; it identifies the ...

  6. International Project Management

    International project management is the management of projects internationally or across borders and cultures, therefore international project management requires a specific set of skills to...

  7. 12 Golden Rules for Managing International Projects

    International project management environments tend to be extremely complex and are an ideal place to implement Boyd's insights. In addition to speed of iteration, in his orientation phase, one of the key components to be taken into account in Boyd's model is the "cultural conditions" of the observer. It is clear that our own cultural ...

  8. Global Project Management & Intercultural Skills

    International projects are projects that are conducted in several countries simultaneously and are often supported by various actors such as companies, non-profit organizations, or government institutions. ... Project planning: Definition of project objectives, establishment of project structure, creation of a project plan, resource planning ...

  9. The ultimate guide to managing international projects

    Managing a local and international project are generally the same. You need to plan for it and deal with a group of people involved in the said project. The main difference is that in the latter, you deal with multicultural teams. It is be a global partnership, depending on your contacts' locations or whether your partners are spread in ...

  10. PDF The Nature of International Development Projects

    3. By definition, all ID projects are in developing countries and, at least partially, externally financed. 4. The management of ID projects requires dealing with the entire Project Life Cycle from Identification to Operations and Ex-post Evaluation. 5. All projects can have a variety of interested parties both positive and negative (stakeholders),

  11. When project management meets international development, what can we

    Cross-learning between project management and international development: analysis and research agenda. Scholarship of integration and cross-fertilization. Research-oriented and reflective piece, wrapping-up the special issue and looking forward. The first is an invited paper.

  12. Classification Features of International Projects

    In [ 4 ], a project is a time-limited, purposeful change of a separate system with goals, which from the very beginning are clearly defined, and the achievement of these goals determines the completion of the project, with established requirements for the timing, results, risk, framework for spending funds and resources and the organizational st...

  13. Characteristics of international projects (Koster, 2010)

    ... Tactics: Design the project organisation to adapt to complexity through project modularity, learning and adaptation, training of project managers, building capacity for growth, and...

  14. Why International Project Management

    International project management can be defined as the management of projects internationally or across borders and cultures, thus the management of international project require a specific set of skills in order to ensure success when managing international projects. The importance of cultural awareness plays in international projects.

  15. RITx: International Project Management

    Home Learn International Project Management RITx: International Project Management RITx: International Project Management 4.2 stars 17 ratings Learn what makes global projects uniquely challenging and how to successfully manage projects based in different industries and countries. Play Video 9 weeks 8-12 hours per week Self-paced

  16. What is International Projects

    What is International Projects? Definition of International Projects: Projects developed outside the country of origin of the organization providing the service. Projects with various specificities such as language, legal and fiscal framework. They require specific skills.

  17. International Development Projects

    International development (ID) projects aim to improve living conditions in emerging countries by enhancing agricultural, health, or educational systems, among others. ID projects are becoming increasingly important in the field of international aid to developing countries.

  18. Benefits, Motivations, and Challenges of International Collaborative

    International collaborative research projects often provide findings beyond what one team could achieve alone. Motivated to maintain existing relationships and grow their scientific network, researchers increasingly collaborate, despite often unrecognized or underappreciated costs, since such projects are challenging to manage and carry out.

  19. (Pdf) Key Characteristics of International Project Managers: a

    Köster, K. (2009) describes in the book "International project management" about the competencies that international project managers may need. Freedman and Katz (2007) argues that international project managers need to have the abilities to select the right projects, right partners, and provide effective project leadership.

  20. IPMA Standards

    The IPMA ICB4® is the international standard on competence for project, programme and portfolio managers.

  21. Controlling Scope in International Projects

    International projects and programs are far more complex to manage than a completely local effort. They require the ability to clearly define and document the scope of the product across multiple languages, multiple cultures and time zones, and often multiple contractors. Achieving the desired end result as effectively as possible requires far ...

  22. Home

    IPMA is a Federation of the leading Project Management associations in each nation, our Member Associations are the primary point of contact and IPMA services delivery solution for most practitioners. IPMA is available in most European countries, because that is where we started. And, we celebrate our presence in Asia and the Americas, where we ...

  23. International Project

    International Project is a missions organization that trains and sustains missionary teams that disciple diaspora communities in global cities. By offering short, mid, and long-term opportunities to Jesus' followers today, we hope to see a church-planting movement begin and spread throughout the world. Learn More Missionary Training