Organizational culture can influence project success. Factors such as “interpersonal trust, communication between staff, information systems, rewards and organization structure,” are very important in outlining the relations between staff and in turn, providing possibilities to break obstacles for project success. Organizational culture very much depends on honest communication, respect for people, trust, and cohesive relationships. Organization culture that supports and reinforces best practices in management can influence project success and depending on estimated influence, there are three levels of organizational culture that can be examined (individual level, organization or project level and national level).
Many studies suggested different scales or measurements for the individual level. These measures are lack of trust, increased confidence and trust, importance of trust and confidence, lack of confidence, effects on dispute resolution and delays, mutual confidence among partners, long-term working relationships and likelihood of disputes erupting. On the other hand, for the organizational level, there are six types of measures: tribalistic, egocentric, conformist, manipulative, sociocentric and existential.
However, national culture is described as a concept which is elusive, difficult to define and fuzzy. Scholars described it as the programming of mind collection that differentiates members of one category. This programming of mind has a tendency to be securely established in the mind of individual but may evolve from generation to generation. Therefore, culture can be described as the widely shared values and beliefs at a particular time within a specific society. These values and beliefs are driven from factors such as history, religion, proximity, and education which also define the culture. A project manager can be influenced by cultural dimensions because they do not work in isolation. Power distance is as a crucial determinant of leadership styles. Power distance has been defined by as: “The extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally”. This represents some kind of inequality which is defined from below, not from above; it suggests that a society's level of inequality is endorsed by its leaders the maximum amount by its followers. Power and inequality are in fact very fundamental aspects of any society, and a person with some international experience is aware that societies are basically unequal, but some are more unequal than others. Countries with a high-power distance culture, prefer an autocratic leadership style and a strong directive approach by supervisors.
A comparison of the power distance indices (PDI) of the UAE, Singapore, the United States, and the UK as determined by Hofstede is shown in the figure below. It is interesting to stress that the UAE’s PDI is the highest when compared against Singapore and the UK. The reason it was compared with the UK is to understand the difference in leadership styles of project managers working in a high-power distance culture versus low-power distance culture. The leadership style of project managers working in low-power distance cultures is different from those working in high power distance cultures. Because of that, project managers who are used to working in a low-power distance culture may not be successful in a high-power distance culture, or vice versa.
Figure: Power distance index comparison
Source: http://geert-hofstede.com
Some countries have developed guides for public sector projects. These guides were made in order to assist project managers in the field with their work. These developed guides are specific to the particular environment of the country. As an outcome, projects may experience delays and thereby exceed initial time. When it comes to that, extensive delays may provide a possibility for timely and costly disputes and claims. Most important causes of delays in projects were deeply researched by scholars. Inadequate contractor experience of the environments they are operating in was identified among the top ten most important factors besides other causes such as owner interference, slow decision making, labor productivity, financing and payments, improper planning, and subcontractors. The significant challenge project managers’ face is that each environment is not the same and there is the possibility that what works at home may not work in a foreign environment.
Earlier studies have indicated a relationship between national culture and leadership competencies or have stressed that the relationship between national culture and leadership is an important and debatable subject. Other researchers have argued for direct impact of culture on leadership styles, arguing that specific cultural traditions and norms are connected to differentiate leadership styles. This shows that both national culture and leadership style of a project manager can have an influence on project success. Others have stated that there is empirical evidence showing leader attributes, status, behavior, and influence vary largely because of culturally unique forces in the country or regions in which the leaders function. This indicates that project managers’ leadership attributes status, behavior and influence can also differ because of the national culture of the country that they are working in.
Therefore, the project managers and leaders must have certain leadership competencies that are in relation with the national culture in order to execute and deliver a project successfully in the public as well as the private sector.
The national level can be measured in five different aspects: power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation. The national culture of the country which project managers are working in can influence their leadership attributes, status; behavior and influences. Thus, attributes, status, behavior, and influence differ mainly because of culturally exclusive forces in the country or regions in which the leaders operate. Therefore, there is a relationship between national culture and leadership.
In conclusion, organizations should develop guides for contracting projects. This is practically important for projects with companies that are considered to be bureaucratic, have rigid departmentalization, a high degree of formalization and are considered to be organizations with centralized authority. This bureaucracy can cause ineffective communication, inflexibility and a lack of cooperation; therefore, project leadership may be influenced. These guides to be made in order to assist project managers in the field with their work. These developed guides should be specific to the particular environment of the country. This is because the significant challenge project managers’ face is that each environment is not the same and there is the possibility that what works at home may not work in a foreign environment. Project managers should operate within the Project managers should operate within the regulations and laws of the host country laws and regulations of the host country. Therefore, project managers must understand the national culture of the country where they are operating in. This will also lead to better synchronization with their team members. Senior management of these organizations must understand that selecting a culturally savvy project manager with certain leadership traits can be an important factor for the success of projects. Project managers must also have some of the leadership traits to build and manage a high-performance team in a high-power distance culture. Not fully understanding the national culture, values, beliefs, and norms can lead to project failure. Furthermore, bringing a foreign workforce and best practices may not be enough to plan, execute, and successfully deliver projects in a high-power distance culture. It requires a good knowledge and understanding of the national culture, values, beliefs, and norms.
