Abstract
The role of communication in the global economy cannot be overlooked. This is because communication plays a facilitative role in ensuring that parties to a project are able to understand each other despite the differences in culture and traditions. The main challenge perhaps has not been the fact that communicators have different languages. Rather, the challenge has emanated from the individual cultural biases and conceptions. Global communication management planning aims to ensure that communicators are comfortable with each other and in the long run communicate effectively. Some of the necessities for effective communication include listening genuinely and emphatically, having no misconceptions and notions about the culture of the other parties and ensuring that one appreciates the cultural effects on the understanding of a party in communication. Effective communication is all about predicated abilities of both parties to understand one another beyond the language only. It calls for incorporation of the culture, the management approach in the area, among others. This paper uses select cases of global projects success to show the essence of communication in multicultural setups.
Introduction
Communication planning for global project management entails planning for successful communication between parties from different cultural and geographical backgrounds. With the introduction of information technology and the ever increasing globalization, it has become essential for communication across different cultural backgrounds to be facilitated. This has equally been enhanced by the increased mobility of both commodities and laborers in the international market. This paper aims to argue the position that global projects need project communication management that is effective and efficient. It is the position of this paper that global projects can only be successfully pursued and implemented with a clear communication between different players who may not necessarily emanate from the same cultural background. There is a need to reconcile the differences and diversities that arise from various cultures that global project communication management endeavors to address. In addition, it should be appreciated that different people see different situations differently as per the cultures in which they have been brought up. In that context, a number of misinformation and misunderstanding may make communication ineffective. It is essential, therefore, to appreciate the fact that communication does not stop at the understanding on one’s language. Far from that, communication is deep. It calls for the understanding of diverse cultures of the people involved and the full comprehension of issues at hand. Translation and understanding of a common language, therefore, does not necessarily mean communication would be effective and successful. It boils down to other critical additives which must be comprehended right from the preparation stage. The position of this paper is that effective communication facilitates project management and overall implementation.
Importance of project communication management to project management
Project management as a discipline or as an assignment is concerned with the effective administration of a project. In that regard, people should appreciate that projects involve a number of issues and factors. A project begins at the formulation and evaluation stage right to the implementation stage. In that process, the role of communication cannot be overlooked. In the global context, this communication assumes a critical role. This is due to cultural gaps between the individuals participating in the communication process. In many cases, the individuals would not be able to either understand each other’s language or may understand the language but belong to a different culture. The complexity the differences in culture introduce can be solved and interwoven neatly through proper communication. As such, people should be able to communicate and exchange ideas and in the long run pursue the overall project objectives. However, it must be appreciated that communication would not be possible in the absence of understanding of the language and the cultural context of the persons interacting. In that vein, this topic is essential for it establishes the case to case requirements and elements that would make communication between persons of different cultures possible. In addition, globalization demands for an understanding of diverse cultural identities of people. This is because the cultural identities have an impact on the overall behavior and conduct of a person. Additionally, this has an ultimate effect on the character of the person and how he interacts with others. For globalization to effectively take root, the cultural biases and the cultural gaps between and among employees and other business persons need to be addressed and solved. It is only through communication that individual and communal sentiments can be harmonized. Moreover, it can be collectively inferred that communication is taking place between persons and that it is successful by the nature of the results of the interactions. Global project communication management, therefore, attempts to circumvent the issues in global communication with the aim of providing communication guidelines that would ensure globalization succeeds.
Key Issues
Global projects often have the characteristic of being in more than one cultural setup. For that reason, a cultural gap would need to be filled between the parties. Cultural gaps emanate from the fact that in many cases, the interacting parties do not have the idea of what exactly to inform of one cultural context to the other. A good example can be cited in the case that faced Carlos Ghosn during his service with Nissan in Japan. For Ghosn, he was sent to lead Nissan in Japan and shifted without the understanding of Japanese and or the entire Japanese culture. In addition, Ghosn arrived complete with his European management style which he had acquired in France from a French based Company, Renault. Therefore, working out in Japan would naturally pose great difficulties not only in terms of the language barrier but due to the cultural barrier as well. It was not certain whether Ghosn with his French biases acquired and perfected at Renault would succeed at Nissan with a heavy reliance in the Japanese mode of working and relating. Surprisingly, Ghosn was able to effectively maneuver through the rigors presented by diversity in cultures and other differences because of his ability to effectively communicate. Communication became integral and the manner in which Ghosn approached the cultural divide was through the use of communication. Perhaps in illustration, the paper shall go through some of the communication tips to consider when navigating a situation of the character that Ghosn had to navigate. In the illustration, the lessons from Gianarto Dorantu, an authority in cross cultural management would be important.
First, for Ghosn he did not go to Japan with a stereotype. It is argued that for communication to be successful across cultural divides, the individuals involved must not get into interaction with preconceived notions and ideas. It is significant that one approaches interaction with an open mind. Further one should not make assertions as to generalize the character of a given people for any reasons including their cultural background. Dorantu insists that it is due to stereotypes that interactions fail. People make assumptions and run into conclusions even without giving others the opportunity to interact. In addition, with stereotypes, one or two minor characteristics observed in a person that corresponds with the stereotypes often have the result of justifying an assertion.
Secondly, just as Dorantu advises, Ghosn attempted to first gain an understanding of the environment. It would often be the case that in global projects, the project managers do not have full knowledge and comprehension of the prevailing environment. It is essential that for successful communication and interaction, the manager and any other decision makers have a good understanding of the environment. This worked successfully for Ghosn. Upon arrival at Nissan in Japan, Ghosn discarded all the knowledge and technical understanding of the situation in Renault and took his time to understand the environment in Japan. Understanding the environment can be a difficult task. It involves a thorough examination of the situation, the cultural context and the prevailing traditions and practices. Ghosn had to learn the Japanese employment practices. He learnt the management culture in Japan. In Japan, unlike Europe, the manager was regarded as powerful and needed not be challenged. His words had a finality effect and the organizational structure was supposed to be observed to the letter. However, this was not the scenario Ghosn had wanted for Nissan Renault. For him, he preferred the European managerial practices over the Japanese approaches. After learning and understanding his environment, he began to interact with the employees differently. He was much more interested in listening to the employees rather than them listening to him. He took the trouble to learn his employees and understand them both at a general level and a specific individual level.
Another case worth mention perhaps is the case of Steve Jobs and the Apple success story. For Apple, communication is regarded as an essential tool due the international nature of Apple Inc. For Apple to effectively communicate with its engineers in China it had two options. The first option involved hiring engineers knowledgeable in English. This dispenses with the need to translate the information from English to Chinese. However, in the era of cost minimization, Apple soon opted for Chinese engineers thereby occasioning the need for translators. This has created the situation in which the company has to ensure the information is well translated and communicated to the engineers. However, it has become evident that even with successful translations the cultural interpretations still have an effect on the outcome. In the long run Apple has had to understand the cultural basis of understanding of its workers in China so as to effectively interact and achieve organizational objectives.
It has come out in many cases that for effective communication in global projects, the cultural differences have to be understood and taken into consideration. Some of the issues that have proven to make the difference between successful communication and unsuccessful communication include issues of genuine interaction, matters of assumption on a way of communication and the ability or inability to listen. As Dorantu argues it is essential for communication to be facilitated by both parties. One needs to listen genuinely to the other. Genuine listening brings out the cultural divide and the listener has to be interested in the conversation so as to understand the cultural context in the communication. In addition, it is advisable that a listener be active and empathetic. Empathetic listening entails understanding the feelings and getting into the shoe of the communicator with the intention of gaining a feel of what exactly he or she needs. It is equally essential that one does no assume that his mode and or way of communication are the best method of communication. It is imperative that while in communication one is prepared to adopt a different method, mode or way of communication that best satisfies the parties to the communication.
In the long run effective communication can only occur with the appreciation of the cultural differences among the communicators. One needs to appreciate the cultural background of the persons involved then engage in communication having factored in cultural differences. In addition, it must be noted that cultural differences can be used as a source of strength rather than as a limitation to success in global endeavors.
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