Project management is one of the possible ways to improve the organizational reputation and create value. The control achievable on each project' constrains (time, cost and quality) and the actions consequent by assessment process can represent in theory a guarantee for the success of a project. In practical, there are many risks capable of upsetting the project dynamics leading to failures. Risk management, or the specific area of knowledge of Project Risk Management, are useful to prevent this possible occurrence. The global dimension of organizations' networks that use PM, moves this quality to the project that this organizations do. A definition of global project is provided as well as also the consequent considerations about the cross-cultural aspect within the peoples involved in this type of project. It is framed and proposed a new category of risk related to management of global project: cultural risk analysis.
TopProject Management In Global Context
The Project Management (PM) is defined as “systemic management of a complex, unique and a fixed time lasting enterprise, aiming at reaching a clear and pre-set goal, by a continuous process of planning and control of different resources having interdependent constraints of costs-time-quality” (Archibald, 2004, page 29). In more details, quality, time, costs and resources are the management variables (or constrains) around which the methodology of the PM operates. In addition, it is possible to identify elements: structural such as project, programs, processes, tasks, and main actors (or project stakeholders) such as Project Manager (PMr), Sponsor and Project Team (PT).
The terms program/project/process/performance (task) are often used as synonyms, even if they have a different semantic meaning.
In this sense, we assume that program is a long-term action, normally involving more than one project.
The process, instead, is a whole of activities carried out with continuity or made by a sequence of known operations, which are repeated whenever circumstances require it.
The performance or task is a short-term effort (ranging between a week and some months) made by an organization, which together with other tasks, can be a process or even a project.