IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i18p7588-d413683.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identifying Risks for Better Project Management between Two Different Cultures: The Chinese and the Spanish

Author

Listed:
  • Rocío Rodríguez-Rivero

    (Department of Organization, Business Administration and Statistics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain.)

  • Isabel Ortiz-Marcos

    (Department of Organization, Business Administration and Statistics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain.)

  • Luis Ballesteros-Sánchez

    (Department of Organization, Business Administration and Statistics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain.)

  • Xabier Martínez-Beneitez

    (Taiger Spain, C/Apolonio Morales, 13, 28036 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

Business globalization causes all project managers, sooner or later, to face the challenge of understanding cultural differences. Identifying the risks associated with these differences has become an essential task today when discussing international projects. This paper shows how to improve the management of projects carried out in China by Spanish organizations, identifying risks related to differences between societies. To determine this set of risks, the cultural dimensions of Hofstede and Meyer were analyzed for the case of China and Spain, as well as the most critical values of the World Value Survey between both cultures. From there, and thanks to work done with a focus group formed of 29 Spanish project managers who are experienced in working in projects developed in China, risks were identified and classified into categories considering cultural dimensions. The results obtained show a record of risks of great interest for organizations working in international contexts, mainly in China. They reveal, in addition, the importance of considering this type of risks related to cultural differences, which have rarely been treated before.

Suggested Citation

  • Rocío Rodríguez-Rivero & Isabel Ortiz-Marcos & Luis Ballesteros-Sánchez & Xabier Martínez-Beneitez, 2020. "Identifying Risks for Better Project Management between Two Different Cultures: The Chinese and the Spanish," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-14, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:18:p:7588-:d:413683
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7588/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7588/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aven, Terje, 2011. "On the new ISO guide on risk management terminology," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 96(7), pages 719-726.
    2. Silvia Martínez-Perales & Isabel Ortiz-Marcos & Jesús Juan Ruiz & Francisco Javier Lázaro, 2018. "Using Certification as a Tool to Develop Sustainability in Project Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Anna Kosovac & Brian Davidson & Hector Malano, 2019. "Are We Objective? A Study into the Effectiveness of Risk Measurement in the Water Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-13, February.
    4. Gregg, Phillip M. & Banks, Arthur S., 1965. "Dimensions of Political Systems: Factor Analysis of A Cross-Polity Survey," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(3), pages 602-614, September.
    5. Berill Blair & Amy L. Lovecraft, 2020. "Risks Without Borders: A Cultural Consensus Model of Risks to Sustainability in Rapidly Changing Social–Ecological Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, March.
    6. Bradley L Kirkman & Kevin B Lowe & Cristina B Gibson, 2006. "A quarter century of Culture's Consequences: a review of empirical research incorporating Hofstede's cultural values framework," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(3), pages 285-320, May.
    7. Marly Monteiro de Carvalho & Roque Rabechini Junior, 2015. "Impact of risk management on project performance: the importance of soft skills," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(2), pages 321-340, January.
    8. Gunkel, Marjaana & Schlaegel, Christopher & Taras, Vas, 2016. "Cultural values, emotional intelligence, and conflict handling styles: A global study," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 568-585.
    9. Diego F. Uribe & Isabel Ortiz-Marcos & Ángel Uruburu, 2018. "What Is Going on with Stakeholder Theory in Project Management Literature? A Symbiotic Relationship for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-23, April.
    10. Gabriel R G Benito & Geir Gripsrud, 1992. "The Expansion of Foreign Direct Investments: Discrete Rational Location Choices or a Cultural Learning Process?," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 23(3), pages 461-476, September.
    11. Erkko Autio & Saurav Pathak & Karl Wennberg, 2013. "Consequences of cultural practices for entrepreneurial behaviors," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(4), pages 334-362, May.
    12. Bo-Rui Yan & Qian-Li Dong & Qian Li, 2019. "Research on Risk Measurement of Supply Chain Emergencies in International Capacity Cooperation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-18, September.
    13. Aven, Terje, 2010. "On how to define, understand and describe risk," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 95(6), pages 623-631.
    14. Merkourios Papanikolaou & Yiannis Xenidis, 2020. "Risk-Informed Performance Assessment of Construction Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-20, July.
    15. Gabriele Giorgi & Luigi Isaia Lecca & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Chiara Di Massimo & Marcello Campagna & Georgia Libera Finstad & Giulio Arcangeli & Nicola Mucci, 2020. "The Dark and the Light Side of the Expatriate’s Cross-Cultural Adjustment: A Novel Framework Including Perceived Organizational Support, Work Related Stress and Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, April.
    16. Hong, Sungjin J. & Lee, Seung-Hyun, 2015. "Reducing cultural uncertainty through experience gained in the domestic market," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 428-438.
    17. Xin Liu, 2019. "The Role of Enterprise Risk Management in Sustainable Decision-Making: A Cross-Cultural Comparison," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ali Foroutan Mirhosseini & Kelly Pitera & James Odeck & Morten Welde, 2022. "Sustainable Project Management: Reducing the Risk of Cost Inaccuracy Using a PLS-SEM Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Rocío Rodríguez-Rivero & Isabel Ortiz-Marcos & Victoria E. Patiño-Arenas, 2022. "Exploring the Influence of Culture in the Present and Future of Multicultural Organizations: Comparing the Case of Spain and Latin America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Jaroslav Vrchota & Petr Řehoř & Monika Maříková & Martin Pech, 2020. "Critical Success Factors of the Project Management in Relation to Industry 4.0 for Sustainability of Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xu, Shichun & Hao, Andy, 2021. "Understanding the impact of national culture on firms’ benefit-seeking behaviors in international B2B relationships: A conceptual model and research propositions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 27-37.
    2. Summerville, Karoline M. & Chen, Victor Zitian & Shoham, Amir & Taras, Vasyl, 2024. "Speaking of diversity: Can linguistic structural differences explain cultural values toward equity, diversity, and inclusion across the globe?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 59(1).
    3. Saurav Pathak & Etayankara Muralidharan, 2024. "Contextualizing emotional intelligence for commercial and social entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 667-686, February.
    4. Caputo, Andrea & Ayoko, Oluremi B. & Amoo, Nii, 2018. "The moderating role of cultural intelligence in the relationship between cultural orientations and conflict management styles," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 10-20.
    5. Michael Nippa & Jeffrey J Reuer, 2019. "On the future of international joint venture research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(4), pages 555-597, June.
    6. Ofer Mintz & Imran S Currim & Jan-Benedict E M Steenkamp & Martijn Jong, 2021. "Managerial metric use in marketing decisions across 16 countries: A cultural perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(8), pages 1474-1500, October.
    7. Kleinhempel, Johannes & Klasing, Mariko & Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd, 2022. "Cultural Roots of Entrepreneurship," MPRA Paper 115942, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Ari Kokko & Patrik Gustavsson Tingvall, 2014. "Distance, Transaction Costs, and Preferences in European Trade," The International Trade Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 87-120, June.
    9. Johannes Kleinhempel & Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & Mariko J. Klasing, 2022. "The Changing Role of Social Capital During the Venture Creation Process: A Multilevel Study," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(2), pages 297-330, March.
    10. Håkanson, Lars & Ambos, Björn, 2010. "The antecedents of psychic distance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 195-210, September.
    11. Ratan J. S. Dheer, 2017. "Cross-national differences in entrepreneurial activity: role of culture and institutional factors," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 813-842, April.
    12. Borut Jereb, 2013. "Risk Assessment Model Respecting Segments Of The Public," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 9(3), pages 75-94.
    13. Liu, Quanlong & Peng, Yumeng & Li, Zhiyang & Zhao, Pan & Qiu, Zunxiang, 2021. "Hazard identification methodology for underground coal mine risk management - Root-State Hazard Identification," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    14. Chengguang Li & Felix C. Brodbeck & Oded Shenkar & Leonard J. Ponzi & Jan Hendrik Fisch, 2017. "Embracing the foreign: Cultural attractiveness and international strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 950-971, April.
    15. Nebus, James & Chai, Kah Hin, 2014. "Putting the “psychic” Back in Psychic Distance: Awareness, Perceptions, and Understanding as Dimensions of Psychic Distance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 8-24.
    16. Martin Mabunda Baluku & Edward Bantu & Kathleen Otto, 2018. "Effect of Locus of Control on Entrepreneurial Attitudes and Self-Employment Intentions: The Moderating Role of Individualism," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 26(03), pages 251-283, September.
    17. Aven, Terje, 2012. "On the link between risk and exposure," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 191-199.
    18. Schmutzler, Jana & Andonova, Veneta & Díaz Serrano, Lluís, 2015. "When culture does (not) matter: role models and self-efficacy as drivers of entrepreneurial behavior," Working Papers 2072/247806, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    19. Yeganeh, Hamid, 2014. "A Weighted, Mahalanobian, and Asymmetrical Approach to Calculating National Cultural Distance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 436-463.
    20. Yuping P Zeng & Oded Shenkar & Sangcheol Song & Seung-Hyun Lee, 2013. "FDI Experience Location and Subsidiary Mortality," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 477-509, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:18:p:7588-:d:413683. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.