PRE-SESSIONAL PROGRAMME PSE _6_ 2013

The management of transnational project teams in ASEAN: How can this management be achieved most effectively?

Nagapradip

Cholchin

Tutor: Wendy Smith

Date: 13 September 2013

Abstract

ASEAN leaders have been concerned about the increase in transnational project teams which is caused by developing economic cooperation between countries. This, according to Snow, Snell, Davison and Hambric !"##$%, is the Association o& South East Asian Nations which is &ormed by countries in the Asian region. This essay &irst describes ASEAN and the AE'. Then, the preparation &or an increasing number o& transnational project teams will be argued, &ollowed by challenging &actors in managing T(Ts e&&ectively and the signi&icant role o& the project manager in e&&ective T(Ts. )inally, the bene&its o& e&&ective T(T management in ASEAN countries will be discussed. The main conclusion is that project managers with a wide range o& s ills are the most signi&icant &actor which could enable projects to achieve success.

Introd ction

The number o& transnational project teams !T(Ts% is increasing recently* there are many countries such as the +SA, ,apan and +- that are willing to invest in these teams because they appreciate the bene&its o& e&&ective T(Ts. .n addition, /the Association o& South East Asian Nations !ASEAN%0 !Soesastro, 1223, pp.45% has made an agreement to establish an 6ASEAN Economic 'ommunity !AE'%7 !ibid% that will o&&icially start in 1212 !Soesastro, 1223%. )or that reason, ASEAN countries will have opportunities to prepare &or an increasing number o& T(Ts in the &uture. However, there are many &actors that signi&icantly a&&ect e&&ective team management, as well as the manager o& the project, who is the ey to running the project e&&ectively by using a wide range o& strategies to develop and combine their members as integrated teams. This essay will &irstly de&ine the de&initions and purposes o& T(Ts, ASEAN and AE'. Secondly, it will discuss how it can lead to increases in transnational project teams in ASEAN countries and the challenges o& success&ul management o& transnational project teams. )urthermore, it will loo at what strategies will bring e&&ectiveness to teams. )inally, it will argue about the bene&its o& e&&ective T(Ts management in ASEAN countries.

!efinitions

Transnational project teams !T(Ts% can be de&ined as teams that consist o& multi8 nationalities or internationalities, which are people who have di&&erent cultures, languages, gestures, interpersonal styles, attitudes and bac ground nowledge !9artlett, :hoshal, ; 9ir inshaw, 122<%. However, to change &rom multi8national or international teams to transnational teams, the teams have to success&ully cross the boundaries o& culture, regional geography and management !Snow, Snell, Davison, ; Hambric , "##$%. There are two types o& T(Ts. The &irst group consists o& multi8nationality members whose wor in the same organi=ation. Secondly, there is the cooperation between teams that are located in di&&erent locations, which are also internationalities !Snow, Snell, Davison, ; Hambric , "##$%.

/ASEAN0 re&ers to The Association o& South East Asian Nations. .t was &ormed on 3 August "#5$ by .ndonesia, >alaysia, (hilippines, Singapore and Thailand. Subse?uently, there was an e@pansion o& members, which were 9runei, >yanmar, 'ambodia, Aaos and Bietnam. As stated by Camamoto, the aims o& this association are to increase the relationships between countries, drive economic growth, e@change cultures between countries and give opportunities to all members to discuss peace&ully !Camamoto, 12"1%. >oreover ASEAN leaders have a vision o& cooperation between their countries in /a stable, prosperous and highly competitive ASEAN economic region in which there is a &ree &low o& goods, services, investment and &reer economics disparities0 !Hew ; Soesatro, 122<, pp.1#D%. There&ore, they signed the ASEAN 'oncord .. in Ectober 122< to establish an ASEAN Economic 'ommunity !AE'% as a goal o& its economic development !ibid%. )rom these objectives o& ASEAN leaders, this essay will &ocus on the &ree &low o& services which give opportunities to their citi=ens to wor &reely in other countries in ASEAN.

Having clari&ied the de&initions o& T(Ts and ASEAN, it appears that the management o& T(Ts has become a signi&icant issue &or ASEAN and that it is important to pay attention to the development o& project teams in organi=ations. There&ore, there are &our issues to discuss with regard to the T(Ts which would a&&ect the e&&ective management o& project teams in ASEAN countries. .n the &irst section, the preparation o& organi=ations &or an increasing number o& T(Ts will be discussed. Then, the di&&iculty in managing T(Ts e&&ectively and the

signi&icant role o& the project manager in e&&ective T(Ts will be considered. )inally, this essay will loo at the bene&its o& e&&ective T(T management in ASEAN countries.

"reparation of organi#ations for an increasing n mber of T"Ts

)irst o& all, the number o& transnational project teams !T(Ts% in the Association o& South East Asian Nation !ASEAN% countries has been increasing recently. 9y the agreement o& ASEAN economic community !AE'% leaders, organi=ations in ASEAN countries are active to prepare &or an increasing number o& T(Ts. As stated by Soesastro in 1223, the objectives o& establishing an AE' are "% to combine all members o& the mar et to &orm one production base* 1% to drive an economic region with ability to compete with other regions <% e?ual economic development across the region and 4% to develop their member countries to become &ully integrated into a global economy !Soesastro, 1223%. )rom these objectives, it shows that the cooperation between countries will be accelerating. There&ore, an increasing number o& T(Ts in ASEAN member countries have brought to a new prototype o& organi=ation &orms. >oreover, to prepare &or an increase in multinational members, the organi=ations have to develop their manager and their members to wor in an integrated manner with internationalities teams by using the appropriate strategy. The government policy is an important &actor to support people to wor in other ASEAN countries or support the corporation o& international organi=ations. .n addition, wor ing with a variety o& nationalities is also an e@change o& in&ormation, nowledge, strategies and resources across the boundaries o& geographical dispersal, time di&&erences, communication barriers and cultural diversity !.les ; Hayers, "##5%.

$hallenging factors in managing T"Ts effectively

>eanwhile, the management o& transnational project teams !T(Ts% uses a wide range o& strategies to manage the teams success&ully. There are many &actors that a&&ect the teams in both positive and negative ways. There&ore, it is the responsibility o& the manager who runs the project to deal with three &actors and bring the project to their goals, which are the multinational diversity o& team members, the distance between teams or teams members and the variety o& organi=ations objectives.

)irstly, the most signi&icant &actor o& T(Ts is dealing with the multinational diversity o& team members. The multinational diversity includes di&&erences in culture, language, discipline, bac ground nowledge and attitude. There&ore, members with the di&&erences o& personal bac ground, they also have uni?ue characteristics o& their own nation that ma e teams comple@. )or that reason, problems resulting &rom these &actors cause a variety o& problems to be solved. These &actors could bring the project into e&&ective or ine&&ective project teams depending on manager strategy, which should pay attention to every detail o& the cultural diversity in T(Ts !.les ; Hayers, "##5%. )or instance, many language institutes in ASEAN countries have hired many &oreign teachers, whose came &rom many countries which used English as a mother language such as Australian, 'anada, +SA and +-. However, members who came &rom di&&erent countries also came &rom di&&erent cultures. The managers o& institutes have responsibility to understand their members7 uni?ue characteristics and &ind the balance, provide them with what responsibility they have and ac nowledge their members o& institute7s goals, which could lead the cooperation to success.

Secondly, the other &actor that should be considered is the distance between teams or team members. This re&ers to teams that are made up o& multinational members and the cooperation o& international teams as well. Fhile multinational teams have some members that wor in long distance but others are in the same location, the corporation o& international teams between di&&erent teams located. .t is signi&icant that members in di&&erent locations barely have chances &or meeting &ace8to8&ace, and then it leads to the di&&iculty o& communication between teams and teams to members. Nevertheless, members in di&&erent regions could signi&icantly e@change nowledge, strategy and innovation &rom team to team.

)or e@ample, 9ensley Design Studio, which is an architecture, interior and landscape design company, it has a holding company based in Hong -ong and also has a branch o&&ice in Thailand. There&ore, they have assigned wor s &or particular teams such as the conceptual design team, design team and developer team without a chance to communicate &ace8to8&ace. The leaders o& these teams have to con&er with each other to decide what the objectives and direction o& their project will be which is using the communication through technology such as, email, video call and landline. )urthermore, leaders could always contact each other without ma ing an appointment by using these technologies &or general discussion about wor s. En the other hand, leaders could also ma e an appointment &or &ormal meeting when they need to discuss or ma e an agreement with an important issue. Thus, their projects will e&&ectively achieve their goals !Snow, Snell, Davison, ; Hambric , "##$% by cooperation o& their project managers.

)inally, the organi=ations have di&&erent objectives o& using T(Ts to achieve their various goals, such as, to help achieve global e&&iciency, enable their companies to respond to the demands o& di&&erent regions, and &or organi=ation !Snow, Snell, Davison, ; Hambric , "##$%. There&ore, it could be challenging &or project managers to choose the most appropriate strategies &or the particular project objectives. )or that reason, all o& these strategies could reach their goals by e&&ective management who understands the organi=ation7s objectives and has a wide range o& management s ills. En the other hand, i& the managers o& project teams have not cautiously managed the project, it might lead the project to &ailure !Alder ; :underson, 1223%.

There&ore, ASEAN countries have to be prepared &or an increasing number o& T(Ts in their countries, which will dramatically increase by the establishment o& the AE'. )or that reason, leaders o& ASEAN countries should encourage their organi=ations and project managers to be prepared by developing their management s ills and gaining more understanding o& e&&ective management in T(Ts. However, project managers who are not ready to hold a T(T project could lead to the project7s &ailure.

The significant role of the project manager in effective T"Ts

A&terwards, the project managers !(>s% o& transnational project teams !T(Ts% are per&orm a signi&icant role in bringing their teams an achievement. 9e&ore &orming the team, a suitable (> would be chosen to per&orm the project. .t ta es seven &actors to choose the right (> &or project teams !Taylor ; Falting, "#52%. )irst, the si=e o& projects must be appropriate to the (>7s technical nowledge and the (>s technical nowledge must be suitable &or the project criteria* the ne@t is the personalities o& (>s, who must be capable o& managing, such as be able to organi=e, direct and control their members. Then (>s should now who will be chosen to be their members because it is necessary to now who is suitable &or their teams and can help them to achieve their goals. )urthermore, (>s have must now the priority o& projects and they also have to understand the structure o& project management that is who they have to wor with. )inally, to create tas &orce to reach the teams to their goals, (>s have prior responsibility &or choosing their team members and lead them to achieve the goals by combining all strategy which they have and use it wisely to manage the teams !ibid%.

Subse?uently, the project manager must per&orm the multiple roles to combine their multinational members into one team using three strategies which is /advocate, catalyst and integrator0 !Snow, Snell, Davison, ; Hambric , "##$, pp.DD%. To emphasi=e, the &irst strategy is to advocate, to supporting their teams by summari=ing the team7s mission and ac nowledging members a strategies they may use and also supporting members by giving use&ul resources. There&ore, (> have to be closed to their members to encouraging their members to communicate and participate with each other to combine their attitude, culture and technical nowledge to integrated team. The second strategy is to be catalyst, it is signi&icant that (>s have to choose the right person to do the right job and encourage their members individually and also give rewards to team members when they generate and implement ideas !Snow, Snell, Davison, ; Hambric , "##$%. (>s should pay attention to every member7s characteristics, which are di&&erent depending on their nationality and culture so it also ma es a project teams comple@. There&ore, the last strategy is being integrators, 6combining the actions o& individuals into an integrated whole7 !ibid%. .ntegrative behaviors are include 6maintaining a clear operation mission &or the team, coordinating activities, emphasi=ing per&ormance goals and perhaps wor ing side8by8side with teams members in per&orming tas s similar to their7!ibid%. .t is wise that (>s should pay attention to details o&

their members and regularly loo &or a member7s wea nesses or strengths to &ind appropriate solutions to adjust their wea nesses and also develop their strengths to be more e&&ective.

There are several organi=ations in ASEAN that consist o& T(Ts and remain increasing by the arrangement o& establishing AE'. To emphasi=e the above section, 9ensley Design studio and Aanguage institute success are depend on (> management with their various strategies in unpredictable situations, which they have to cope by their own. En the other hand, managing multinational project by (> who has no ability to handle the comple@ project could be the reason o& project &ailure. Thus, project managers are the most important &actor &or team to achieve e&&ectively to their goals.

The benefits of effective T"Ts management in ASEAN co ntries

The post8project bene&its o& transnational project teams are not only to provide the strategies that lead to team e&&ectiveness, but also create a learning orientation &or an organi=ation about how to e&&ectively develop their organi=ations. The development o& strategies and nowledge appeared while the T(Ts are on duty. 9ecause o& the challenge in the management o& T(Ts, the (>s have to use wide range o& management s ills and they also increase their s ills over the time. 9y wor ing with the di&&erent teams, (>s and their members have e@change their technical !Schweiger, Atamer, ; 'alori, 122<%. nowledge and pro&essional s ills with their colleagues. Thus, the organi=ations should develop together with their employees

)urthermore, the success o& organi=ations also consists o& e@changing technical nowledge, culture, attitudes and language across the boundary o& national and region while their projects are being carried out. >embers in teams have to interact with other members to understand each other7s criteria. This di&&ers &rom national teams, who may wor with members that have the same nationalities and also same attitude, culture and language* some members could have speci&ic technical nowledge but generally they are similari to other

members. To compare the T(T with a national team, T(Ts have achieved much more e&&iciency in terms o& organi=ations7 development because they have more cooperation o& international teams or members than national teams !Snow, Snell, Davison, ; Hambric , "##$%.

The e&&ective management o& transnational project teams !T(Ts% is the ey to the success&ul development o& organi=ations. >oreover, the development o& organi=ations also leads to economic development by cooperation between international organi=ations in ASEAN members. )or that reason, the e&&ective management o& T(Ts is also bring their teams an achievement o& primary objectives o& AE' blueprints that included with /being a single mar et and base production, a highly competitive economic region, a region o& e?uitable economic development and a region &ully integrated into the global economy0 !Soesastro, 1223, pp.4384#%. This is a good sign o& an establishing o& AE' in 1212. 9y an increasing number o& T(Ts teams and the AE' project. ASEAN leaders should consider about the important o& management o& T(Ts and encourage organi=ations to invest in developing project manager to global one. Thus, (>s with developed s ills would have an appropriate ability to e&&ective manage in their project and team members with understanding o& their natures and comple@ity.

$oncl sion

.n conclusion, a wide range o& management s ills is an important material to lead T(Ts to achieve their goals most e&&ectively. Due to a variety o& problems, (>s have to use a variety o& strategies to solve all these problems with their pro&essional technical nowledge and management s ills. (>s have to be part o& teams, not just the leaders* they have to understand their members and responsibility to combine their members into teams. The (>s o& e&&icient teams should have the ability to cope with the problems that occur between launching teams and managing teams. There&ore, the comple@ity o& teams will no longer be a problem o& team management but will be an opportunity &or multinational members to e@change their diversity o& wor ing ability and also combine their culture and attitude with

their cowor ers. 9y encouragement o& (>s, members will wor into integral team instead o& wor ing as individuals. )or that reason, members and team leaders would wor together with more e&&iciency and eventually, achieve their goals as an e&&ective team. >oreover, ASEAN countries will have bene&its &rom increasing T(Ts in organi=ations &rom cooperation between countries and governments, which aim to combine their countries into region with economics competitiveness and boost their economic growth. T(T is one o& &actor that could bring AE' to achieve goal, but other &actors should be considered and using together with T(T.

!1,352 words included title and sub title%

%eferences

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