Multicultural project settings : Perceived challenges

Abstract: The number of culturally diverse project teams has increased significantly over the years, as internationalization within organizations become more common. Individuals are more interconnected than ever, due to increased cultural exchange. The increased globalization also has created many challenges, such as streamlining multinational organizations, management and communication in multicultural settings. Furthermore, there has been studies showing that culturally diverse project teams have both a positive and negative impact on projects. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a deeper understanding of perceived challenges in multicultural project settings. In order to get a deeper understanding of the challenges, the study will address the perceived impacts of cultural differences in regard to the project member, as well as the challenges project members encounters and how these are managed. The author found that the cultural differences were noticeable when adapting to a new culture but faded as the respondents adjusted and became more like the individuals in the new culture. The challenges most of the respondents faced not speaking the language, not being used to the language and surrounded by different accents, which originated from language barriers. There was no universal solution to these challenges, instead, respondents dealt with it their own way or with the help of guidance from organizations. The study was done by conducting semi-structured interviews with a qualitive method to ensure extensive data. There were ten interviews in total, with individuals from different backgrounds and cultures around the world.