The Intercultural Perspective on Project Information Management: An Empirical Study

Abstract

In recent years, cross-cultural differences and inter-cultural aspects of cooperation have become increasingly prevalent. Undoubtedly, this diversity can generate different patterns of behavior in the project teams. In this study, we present project knowledge management from a cross-cultural perspective, which expands the role of knowledge management and examines the related concepts through an empirical study. To examine the propositions in the context of theoretical implications, we studied the knowledge processes in IT offshoring projects in a company, which has subsidiaries worldwide, including in Japan and China. The case study was conducted for a global IT company with subsidiaries worldwide. To understand the knowledge flow in these situations, survey questionnaire data were collected from the members of the Japan and China departments of the company. Findings from the case study were presented that describe the situation and knowledge flows in an international project setting. Finally, from the findings of the empirical study, the theoretical implications for project information management from cross-cultural perspectives are proposed. The research accommodated inconsistencies in previous studies and provided empirical evidence on the complex-performance relationship.