ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a definition of culture applied to project environments and reviews the cultural dimensions and their implications for international projects. It discusses the danger of generalisations and the benefits of multicultural teams, and explores a simple framework for effective cross-cultural project management. The chapter shows how individuals from different cultures handle the fact that people are unequal, and how the project stakeholders are likely to be involved in the decision-making process. Female project managers from feminine countries may need to be patient and assertive to overcome perceptions of the stakeholders from masculine countries. Using Hofstedes terminology, in the more masculine countries the degree of gender differentiation is high. The chapter provides the resistance to change and the attitude to taking risks of individuals from different countries. According to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, people from neutral cultures admire cool and self-possessed conducts and control their feelings.
