Engineering management in construction of multinational projects in developing countries, with special reference to Sudan

Abstract

As a result of globalization, one of the most major factors affecting the success of the construction industry would be the formation of a winning multicultural project. As construction projects leaders continue to command globally, there is a serious demand for managing professionals and a workforce that is more diverse than ever. The multinational workforce has distinctive views on project culture, work ethics, communication, operations management and incentives; finding common grounds is very essential. Multicultural or multinational projects has become more prevalent in recent years, contemporary international management literature has identified that the engineering management of multicultural projects is an important aspect of human resource management, without its proper practice a lot of benefits of these projects will turn into losses. Recent studies have focused on the positive effects of using multicultural teams (Earley and Mosakowski, 2000) stated that multicultural engineers and workforce are been utilized because they are perceived to out-perform monoculture teams, especially when the performance requires multiple high skills and judgment. In developing countries where approximately 85% of the world`s population lives in (Human Development Report, 2011), governments develop multinational mega construction projects to achieve their social and economical development goals and objectives. In contrast, many developing countries suffer from having a short age in providing the essential knowledge, skills, capabilities and finance which ultimately creates a set of challenges towards achieving competitive success rates. This study aims to identify and validate the challenges related to multicultural /multinational projects in developing countries with a special reference Sudan, and the potential resolutions to improve their success. The study presented a model by employing AMOS software that was derive from the results of the questionnaire carried out in order to study the factors and possible answers for better development and advancement of the construction industry management systems. The data obtained, reflected that four major aspects that were found to affect the development and success of multinational construction projects, which are the risk management, building materials industry modernization, international financing and contracts and technology transfer. It was found out that technology transfer through international management practices should be practiced on many different levels under legal, technical, cultural and human resources consideration. Additionally, construction organizations and companies in Sudan should aim for better joint international conventions, international consortium and insurance policies to attract and protect investors into the construction industry.