Migrators Group  - Effective Consultancy for Today's Organisations

 

 

RESEARCH FOCUS  -  INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT

Assessing Issues

When considering working with other nations, there is a need for participants and stakeholders to identify and understand any differences between the organisations and the way they work, at an early stage. Once identified, any differences can be taken into account when developing the working arrangements. 

Before undertaking any international work, there is a need to perform a detailed assessment of the potential differences between participants. This will help participants understand and minimise any difficulties relating to the management and working approaches of the participating nations. Additional time and budget should be allowed in order to ensure that any differences are identified categorised and mitigated. Commencing the analysis as early as possible will provide a number of benefits, including:

Help justify the needs and benefits of the work
Identify the main similarities and differences in working perspectives
Provide a basis for calculating additional costs, relating to international work
Provide an indication of processes standards and methods that can be used
Provide an understanding of any differences between participants

The Spectra Analysis framework has been developed, by Migrators, to help identify the issues relating to the understanding of national differences in management styles that may actually be encountered when working with other nations. The principal steps of the framework are illustrated below, other pages in this Research Focus topic provide more detail. An introduction to the Spectra Analysis framework was published in the April 2000 edition of the UK Journal, Project Manager Today. A copy of the article can be downloaded, in Adobe Acrobat format, by clicking the  Spectra Analysis  link  This topic is also covered in Migrators Presentations and Papers  web pages.
Steps  Objective
Data Gathering  Obtain data on the participants management styles and ways of working.
Identify acceptable ways of working for each participant.
Spectra Analysis Identify extent of similarities and differences in working methods of participants.
characterisation of the similarities and differences in organisation cultures.
Resolve Issues Obtain early agreement on the most appropriate procedures that can be used.
Agree approaches to mitigating remaining areas of differences.
Communicate  Ensure that all participants are aware of any potential differences.
Publicise agreed procedures and mitigation methods.
Monitoring & Report  Provide checks to ensure that procedures and mitigation methods are working.
Provide exception reports relating to areas with continuing difficulties.


The initial Spectra Analysis, undertaken in the early stages of the international work, may not be able to cover all of the differences between nations. New ones will be identified during the course of the work, which cannot be resolved by using the established methods alone. In these cases a mechanism should be available to include them in the Spectra Analysis process. This will allow any new differences to be identified and mitigated, when they occur.

Spectra Analysis should also be undertaken at major milestones, such as when new partners are involved. Spectra Analysis should also be included as part of the stage review processes. This additional analysis will ensure that all participants remain aware of any changes to the perspectives and organisation cultures of participants.

 

Related areas within this Research Focus topic,  include:

Communications    Culture    Resources    Training

Additional information is also available on this Research Focus topic, these areas include:

Coordination    Language    Skills   Meetings                

Return to the  Introduction  page of this Research Focus topic.