The Culture Risk Management Team

Our generic model calls for the direct involvement of project team members in managing the risks inherent in the project. The culture risk management (CRM) team is headed by a culture risk manager who should be a high-potential employee with aspirations to become an international project manager. Her CRM responsibilities should be on a part-time basis. CRM team members need to reflect the major ethnic and national groups working onsite. Team members can be rotated periodically, enabling more employees to learn firsthand the cultural realities of international project management.

The culture risk manager needs to be held accountable for reducing or avoiding cross-cultural and cross-border risks. She needs both human resources (team members, clerical help) and material resources to make good on that accountability: an office, a library, communication and travel capabilities, formal reporting requirements, and an adequate budget.