Imagine the dynamics of an international engineering project such as this one: a U.S. group designs, prototypes, and qualifies disk drive heads; wafers for the drive heads are manufactured in the U.S. and sent to Malaysia for subassembly; a South Korean firm assembles these components; the final product, a fully automated disk drive, is completed in Japan. In addition to the global complexities of the project, there are a host of issues in leading the project team spread across continents. Global Engineering Project Management aligns real-world experiences in managing global projects with practical project management principles. The author demonstrates how to anticipate issues, covering everything from start-up planning and supply management to cost containment, post-project evaluation and protecting intellectual property. He explores technologies, virtual teams, traditions, economics, politics, and legal issues in the context of international projects, as well as compares the differences with domestic projects.
He also highlights the complications of international bidding, the extra time and effort needed for multi-national team formation and management, and often overlooked project closure tasks. As the world goes global, engineering projects increasingly involve multiple countries, each having unique politics, cultures, and standards that all add layers of complexity to project management. These variables multiply fast and consequently a project manager's responsibilities multiply faster. Examining these challenges from start to finish, the book provides practical advice on how to navigate the issues unique to global engineering project management.