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

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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

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. 

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. 

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

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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A reader by day and a writer by night, Rashi is a content writer and an ex-IT professional. Science and technology have always fascinated her. And so has art. But that doesn’t stop her from writing anything beyond these subjects. For her, any topic under the sun can be inked. All that is needed is a proper research and a writer’s bent of mind.

In her free time she loves to read a book, do some DIY craft or play with her little son.

When asked about her career shift from IT to writing, she replies with a smile, “IT gave me living, writing gives me life”.

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The ultimate guide to managing international projects

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Hi! I’m Adrian, founder of Tactical Project Manager and Ex-Project Manager with over ten years of experience in project management. Led large-scale IT implementations and business projects. I started Tactical Project Manager to offer you a straightforward and pragmatic approach to project management, enabling you to lead any project with confidence.

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Global Project Management: Projects in Multiple Countries

• Jun 10, 2022
• Market Insights
• June 10, 2022

Key Takeaways

• Global project management involves the structures, systems, and considerations necessary to manage various legal entities and resources across multiple countries
• When dealing with quick projects, there may be issues when team members cannot work together due to time zone restrictions or contrary national requirements
• A proper system to manage projects across multiple countries is vital for preventing delays and losses

Knowing where your employees are on various project aspects can be challenging when spread out across the globe . The right tools and systems to aid your global project management are essential to ensure efficiency and proper budgeting. Without the right resources, the number of costs and delays can quickly spiral out of control.

What exactly constitutes a global project may rely on many things. It could be collaborating with overseas freelancers or moving entire departments abroad . Below, we have summarized the following key points to remember when expanding or moving your operations overseas.

What is Global Project Management?  

Global project management involves the structures, systems, and considerations necessary to manage various legal entities and resources across multiple countries . This need may come about due to outsourcing or as a natural part of a company providing services to new markets.

As markets become increasingly globalized, these opportunities will increase for companies across various industries. With the rise of remote work, digital workplaces also give us increased access to talent in other countries .

The Challenges and Benefits of Managing a Global Project

Communication

Communicating effectively with your team when they are based worldwide means using potentially unfamiliar tools and software. You can quickly lose time if you spend too long deciding which app to use or getting to grips with new video conferencing software.

When dealing with quick projects , there may be issues when team members cannot work together due to time zone restrictions.

Forcing employees to work outside of regular hours to compensate for management shortcomings can also be stressful and lead to low employee satisfaction . It may also be illegal in some places.

Culture and Language Differences

Hiring employees from different cultural or linguistic backgrounds requires more adapting to local needs. Only working in one common language can be a problem for some and lead to issues of confusion . Furthermore, employees can become disheartened if they feel that their cultural expectations or beliefs are seen as problematic by others in the team.

National Holidays

Regarding time zones, differences related to public holidays can be a problem for forming contracts, project deadlines, or budgeting.

Payroll Systems

Managing payroll for employees within a single tax jurisdiction can already be challenging. Combining unfamiliar payroll processes in multiple countries can quickly become confusing and lead to a high risk of costly errors.

Top Talent Worldwide

Expanding how you think about your teams means gaining access to a world of talented professionals. You can quickly improve the skill set and experience of your business while gaining access to new local knowledge in key overseas markets.

Cultural Diversity

Diversity in a team may seem challenging at first, but ultimately it is a benefit. It promotes innovative thinking and increased problem-solving abilities due to the different ways team members approach challenges.

24/7 Service

By basing your staff worldwide, you can offer your services to client companies wherever and whenever is convenient for them, giving you a competitive edge.

Tech-Forward Services

Working globally pushes you to use technological tools and improvements to boost your overall business output and keep you ahead of the field. Mastery of these tools can be a significant selling point.

What is an Example of a Global Project, and What Tools are Essential?

It’s easy to imagine a company that wants to sell their range of services in a new country. Let’s call this company “Company X” and its target market “Country Y”.

Company X wants to offer their full range of services in Country Y, so they want to hire 2 new employees to manage this project. They may also need an experienced independent contractor to provide critical skills and expertise in a vital part of the project .

Their first thought may be to set up a new company branch in Country Y. However, they’ll need to become familiar with a range of company formation and labor practices in the market to do this.

Instead, it can work with a global EOR services provider to offer employment for employees and contractors through a pre-existing structure.

Global Employer of Record services would mean hiring employees through a local third party. This third party would take care of all HR functions as the employees’ legal employer.

Once they have some kind of useable local entity in Country Y, they can hire the staff they need. In this case, they might require the experience and resources of a global talent agency. They can partner with them to provide overseas recruitment expertise and assistance.

Once new employees have been successfully onboarded overseas, Company X will have to incorporate a range of new payroll and tax requirements. Understanding multi-country payroll is critical for continued efficiency and avoiding compliance errors.

As they grow, Company X’s Human Resources will utilize new communication tools. These will allow them to keep in touch with all their staff members and projects. These can range from daily scheduling tools like Monday.com , to the total packages of Microsoft teams.

Why is International Project Management Important?

A proper system to manage projects across multiple countries is vital for preventing delays and losses that can crop up when a company begins to expand globally.

Without the same level of local knowledge and resources available in new markets, companies quickly lose efficiency when they need it most.

A company like INS Global is ideal for offering you the full range of outsourcing services you need to manage your global projects quickly and effectively . INS Global’s teams of expert HR and global mobility advisors are based worldwide. They’re available at all times to offer HR and global employment outsourcing expertise.

Our range of services includes PEO (Professional Employer Organization) and Employer of Record (EOR) employment options. These services provide multi-country payroll, invoicing, independent contractor management, global recruitment, and RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) options in over 80 countries worldwide. We have the teams and expertise to fulfill your needs whatever your time zone.

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Leading International Projects

Course summary.

The course focuses on professional and practical issues surrounding the management of international projects. It is designed for international project managers who need to settle in a foreign environment to manage or participate in a project. The course addresses macro-environmental and cross-cultural factors that impact the selection and implementation of international projects. The course aims to provide an understanding of the contemporary issues and challenges confronting international project management.

Who is the course aimed at?

• Those who work on large or mega projects
• Individuals aspiring to work on international or mega projects and aiming to understand the key issues impacting the management of such projects
• Individuals who have recently joined international development projects and want an overview of how to manage the challenges associated with overseas international development projects effectively
• Professionals already engaged in large projects with an international scope, seeking to update their knowledge of contemporary best practices in areas such as sustainability and AI
• Individuals looking to advance their careers in international project management and to build a robust professional network

Tutor information 

Dr nicholas dacre.

Nicholas is the Director of the Advanced Project Management Research Centre (APROM) and an Associate Professor of Project Management. Nicholas is a Fellow of the Chartered Association for Project Management (FAPM) and Vice-Chair of the British Academy of Management Project Management Special Interest Group. With over 20 years of experience spanning academia and industry, Nicholas has built a significant track record of developing high-impact research. He actively collaborates with international partners, industry experts, and the UK government on emergent 'ITS Complex' research topics, focusing on innovation, technology, and sustainability in complex projects.

Dr Walaa Eldeen-Bakry

Walaa Bakry has over 25 years of experience in lecturing and academic management. He has held various positions at the University of Westminster and previously at Middlesex University, the University of North London (now London Met), and City University. Additionally, he has delivered numerous guest lectures at universities in Europe and the Middle East.

Walaa is a chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS), a member of the Royal Economic Society, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). He is also a PRINCE2 accredited trainer and holds various project management professional qualifications, including MSP, MoR, and SCRUM.

Himanshu Jain

Himanshu Jain is an experienced practitioner and trainer with a career spanning over two decades in sectors like EdTech, FinTech, and AgriTech. Leading Thought Agile Ltd in the United Kingdom, he focuses on product development and agile transformation within emerging and applied technologies. His skill in creating and delivering training modules combines practical industry insights with effective teaching methods, helping professionals and teams navigate the challenges of today’s business world.

His involvement with professional associations such as PMI, CBAP, ASQ, and Pragmatic Marketing highlights his role at the intersection of industry knowledge and educational achievement. As a consultant in product management for emerging and applied technologies and a champion for process improvement using lean methodologies, Himanshu has a history of impactful projects.

Course structure

You will learn about:.

• AI and international projects: challenges and opportunities
• The sustainable development goals and how they are impacting international projects
• Definition of international projects as well as International Development Projects
• Overview of the factors affecting international project implementation (legal/political, security, infrastructure, geography, economic, sustainability and culture)
• Understanding the main principles of International Development Projects and managing risk in International Development Projects
• Cross-cultural issues in international projects: contemporary cross-cultural frameworks. Cultural shock cycle and coping with culture shock
• Planning, organisation and implementation of international projects. Case studies of international projects including international development projects and mega international projects
• Global supply chains and their effect on international projects. The concepts of legacy in international projects

What's included in the course price?

The course price includes:

• Course materials provided via Blackboard (our learning management system)
• Networking dinner at the Westminster House of Parliament on Thursday evening
• Westminster Certificate for Leading International Project

Accreditation

The Westminster Certificate in International Project Management is certified by the United Kingdom CPD Certification Service and may be applicable to individuals who are members of, or are associated with, UK-based professional bodies.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course you will be able to:.

• Critically analyse and assess host country’s macro-environment affecting international projects selection and implementation
• Apply and critically evaluate risks, selection and appraisal methods of International Projects including International Development Projects
• Develop a critical understanding of cross-cultural theories and their influence on managing international projects
• Critically evaluate sustainability principles impact on managing international projects
• Critically analyse and appraise factors that affect the implementation of international projects including leadership and conflict management

Please note that this course is only offered as part of our Executive Summer School. 

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Find out more on our  Executive Summer School page

Westminster Business School in Central London

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Classification Features of International Projects

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

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

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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.

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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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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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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.

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.

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Principles of International Development Project

Fundamentals of planning and executing international development projects

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This course has two sections: lectures and group work. In the lecture series, you can learn about the core issues of developing countries, project evaluation methods, relationships between engineering and international development, applications of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to preserve world heritage sites, natural disasters, and education in the context of international development, global urban climatology and the case of an international plant construction project.

The group work session aims to develop a proposal for an international development project. Suppose you are an expert consultant on a project, and it has been requested that you recommend development policies and projects to politicians and/or economic leaders in a developing country. Developing countries must determine policies and implement projects while balancing social and economic dimensions. Prioritisation of policies is essential since the budget is always insufficient to cover all projects. Politicians and economic leaders must select a specific policy and project as a priority issue for their limited resources. Political situations are not always stable, and thereby, economic activities have been sluggish in some developing countries. The selection of priority issues affects the developmental direction of the country.

The outline of the group work is as follows. First, each group selects one country out of the developing countries with less than $5,000 GDP per capita according to the World Bank. The country selection can be considered using the following criteria: i) The country has not been well developed in its political system and infrastructure. ii) The country faces a number of political and economic challenges. iii) The country has an enormous income gap. Second, we assume nine policies for developing countries: industry, infrastructure, foreign investment, democracy and citizenship, education, finance, governance, hygiene and health, and poverty reduction in the group work, and determine their prioritisation order using the method of diamond ranking. Finally, the students propose an effective project to achieve the more highly prioritised policies based on the results of diamond ranking and present an outline of the project that includes the project procedures, positive and negative ripple effects on other sectors/policies, a budget plan complete with financial resources, and methods to be used for procurement.

Course Outline

• Lecture 1: Basics of Project Evaluation (Prof. Hanaoka)
• Group Work 1: Guideline, Country Selection
• Lecture 2: International Plant Construction Project (Prof. Sasaki)
• Group Work 2: Prioritization of Development Policies (1)
• Lecture 3: Engineering and International Development (Prof. Takada)
• Group Work 3: Prioritization of Development Policies (2)
• Lecture 4: Application of ICT to Preserve World Heritage Site (Prof. Yamaguchi)
• Group Work 4: Interim Presentation, Selection of Case Study
• Lecture 5: Development and Natural Disasters (Prof. Takagi)
• Group Work 5: Project Procedure, Evaluation Criteria
• Lecture 6: Education and International Development (Prof. Umemiya)
• Group Work 6: Budget Plan, Fund Resource, Procurement, and Ripple Effects
• Lecture 7: Global Urban Climatology: How Can It Serve Society? (Prof. Varquez)
• Group Work 7 & 8: Final Presentation

*Please note that topics and schedule are subject to change.

• Prof. Shinya HANAOKA, Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Prof. Shinobu YAMAGUCHI, Professor and Director, UNU-IAS
• Prof. Jun-ichi TAKADA, Professor and Vice President for International Affairs, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Visiting Professor, UNU-IAS
• Prof. Hiroshi TAKAGI, Associate Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Prof. Alvin Christopher Galang VARQUEZ, Associate Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Prof. Masakazu SASAKI, Visiting Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Toyo Engineering Corporation
• Prof. Naoki UMEMIYA, Visiting Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Japan International Cooperation Agency

IPMA Standards

IPMA’s vision is “Promoting competence throughout society to enable a world in which all projects succeed.” Therefore, IPMA has defined worldwide standards for competences in the domains of Project, Programme and Portfolio Management.

For Individuals, we have defined the  Individual Competence Baseline®, IPMA ICB®, version 4.0  ( for free download click here ). Based on the ICB4, we have also defined a competence baseline for coaches, trainers and consultants in the field of projects, programs and portfolio management, the  ICB4CCT  ( for free download click here ), the IPMA Reference Guide ICB4 in an Agile World  ( for free download click here ), and the IPMA Reference Guide ICB4 for PMO ( for free download click here ).

We have defined the standard for the excellence in project management – the Project Excellence Baseline® (IPMA PEB)  ( for free download click here ).

For organisations, we have defined the Organisational Competence Baseline,   IPMA OCB ®  ( for free download click here ).

The IPMA Research Evaluation Baseline® (IPMA REB) is a new IPMA standard for research in project management ( for free download click here ).

IPMA Individual Competence Baseline® – IPMA ICB4®

IPMA Project Excellence Baseline® – IPMA PEB®

IPMA Organisational Competence Baseline® – IPMA OCB®

IPMA Individual Competence Baseline for Consultants, Coaches and Trainers – IPMA ICB4CCT®

IPMA Reference Guide ICB4® in an Agile World

IPMA Reference Guide ICB4® for PMO

IPMA Research Evaluation Baseline – REB®

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