Intercultural project management : Melting pot dream or Tower of Babel nightmare?

• Sylvie CHEVRIER
  Lecturer at ESSEC and Consultant at FVA Management
  

Summary

Intercultural project management now forms part and parcel of any major company's daily routine. An empirical analysis of several internationa project teams suggests that intercultural projects come somewhere between the dream of the cultural melting pot and the nightmare of the Tower of Babel. The melting pot threatens to result in impoverished exchanges, notably due to language problems.As well, cultural diversity always brings some potential of violence. The charisma and skill of project leaders play a key role and could even turn Babel into a blessing.

Summary translated from French by B&A CONSEIL.

• The entire article was written by Lucien CLAES and Sylvie CHEVRIER and translated by B&A CONSEIL.

To obtain this article, you can :

• download it for free in French (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference VA050196).
• download it for free in English (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference VA050196-ENG).