ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author addresses the questions: how are the managers prepared for their complex boundary-spanning work and how do they perceive and cope with the cultural challenges met? She focuses on the boundary spanning tasks and roles of the Indian senior managers in one of the vendor’s so-called ‘on-site’ teams in London, who are responsible for global project coordination and management of client relationships. According to Yagi and Kleinberg, boundary spanning refers to ‘a process shaped through the interplay of the contextual issues that make a boundary problematic; an individual’s multiple repertoires of cultural knowledge; and the individual boundary spanner’s “negotiation” through interaction with others, of his/her cultural identities’. The chapter also draws attention to the fact that communication and collaboration across cultures and time zones is not only a matter of recruiting and retaining skilful people and providing the necessary information technological resources.
