Anas Alam Faizli, Master of Proj MGMT: Assignment International Project Management, EMCM5203

Assignment Questions EMCA5203 International Project Management
January 2010 Sr Dr. Zulkiflee Abdul Samad
Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Center of Graduate Studies MPM Intake: January 2009

JANUARY SEMESTER 2010

INTERNATIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT – EMCA5203
ASSIGNMENT (45%)
LECTURER
SR DR ZULKIFLEE ABDUL SAMAD
STUDENT
ANAS BIN ALAM FAIZLI


OPEN UNIVERSITY OF MALAYSIA (OUM)
Programme: Master of Project Management
Coordinator: Assoc Prof Ir. Dr. Kanesan Muthusamy
Module: EMCM5203 International Project Management

Credits: 3
Facilitator: Sr Dr. Zulkiflee Abdul Samad

Mob: 016-3946254 Email: zulkiflee1969@yahoo.com
Semester: January 2010
Date: 15th February 2010
ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:
Answer both questions. The answer for each question should be about 2,500 words.
1. International projects are not too different from standard projects when it
comes to the nature of the organisation, industry, location in the value chain,
and duration. There are obvious differences, however, regarding purpose,
scope, the main stakeholders, and risk intensity.
Describe in detail the main differences between a ‘standard’ and an

international project?
(50 marks)
According to wikipedia, project management is the discipline of planning, organizing,

and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific
project goals and objectives. It is sometimes conflated with program management,
however technically a program is actually a higher level construct: a group of related
and somehow interdependent projects. Projects are a temporary endeavour, has
specific objectives and duration. While International as an adjective, means
concerning or belonging to all or at least two or more nations; i.e - international
affairs, international agreement, international waters and international project
management.


Thus, international projects typically are simultaneous multicultural projects relating
to diverse cultures. An international project involves multiple location, entities,
organizations, and business units. Examples are:
- A company doing a major construction project in two different countries and
involves many subcontractors
- Two or more companies merging their operations
- One company constructing a railroad from Spain to Germany crossing
multiple countries
International projects are normally more complex compared to standard project.
According to Kathryn & Bennet (2003), there are 8 comparative scopes of
international projects to standard projects and these factors are:
1. Number of locations
2. Extent of purpose
3. Range of projects
4. Number of organizations involved
5. Dependence of the organizations involved
6. Risk and complexity
7. Potential benefits
8. Cost of the project
Number of locations. International project tends to have more than one location
and they can be in different cities and countries. These are normally the case. As
an example an international project building a railroad across 3 countries might have
more than 5 offices to manage the local requirements. Another example is when
Talisman Malaysia developed the Bunga Orkid field where they have more than 5
offices, one in Vietnam, and another in Ramunia, Pasir Gudang, Kemaman and one
in Kuala Lumpur.
Extent of purpose. International project normally has bigger and wider scopes and
purposes compared to standard project. The purpose is also usually more complex.
This will be further elaborated below from Kathryn Koster approach.
Range of projects. International project has bigger range of projects compared to
the standard project. Typically international project pose more challenges and has
more variables which required being change.


Number of organizations involved. International project normally has more than
one organization involved. An example is of Tata Motors where it deals with local
Indian government, a French company for the technology and a Dutch company for
investment. Another example is like the construction of KLIA where it has multiple
contractors involved, architectural design from French and various design offices
throughout the world.
Dependence of the organization on the project. International project typically
poses higher risk compared to standard project. In a standard environment a project
failures will not spell death for the organization as it has other projects to support it
whereas international projects normally have more at stakes. If the project fails, it
normally brings the organization downs to as the investment involved are normally
bigger compared to standard project. Furthermore international project tends to be
more visible and is much more important and at stake with the international project.
Risk and complexity. International projects have much greater risk and complexity
compared to standard project. This is obviously through as it involves multi cultural,
multi nations and multiple locations. The risk graph easily way off the charts as risks
tend to be higher when more is involved. The requirement to interface all the
organizations involved itself invite more risks to international projects compared to
the normal standard project.
Potential benefits. International project normally has more potential benefits
compared to standard project. There are more at stake and it takes more
management attention to manage the project which clearly indicates more potential
benefits compared to the standard project.
Cost of the project. International projects will easily costs more compared to a
standard project even if it is of a smaller size. This is because there are more costs
involved such as transportation, communication and coordination. Not to mention
the complexity of international project, this invites more costs in it.
Kathryn & Bennet (2003) goes further to explain that there are attributes that clearly
define the differences between a standard project and an international project. The
attributes are as follows:
- Organisations
- Systems and technology


- Society
- Company culture
- Organization
- Self Interest
- Regulations
Organisations. International projects normally have multiple organisations and
departments each with their own self interest which requires being coordinated and
managed to ensure project success whereby standard projects normally have single
organization.
Systems and technology. International projects normally call for multiple systems
which require local knowledge and support at the location it serves. This is normally
not the case in a standard project where its system and technology are normally
homogeneous.
Society. In an international project various multiple cultures and large gap in the
way of life between the societies can occur. Standard project which is done locally is
normally only confined to one single and common culture.
Company culture. International project tends to deal with more variations in each
area. This is contributed by local factors and history of the firm in each location.
Different company have different approach. This is not the case with a standard
project where there is only one single company culture involved.
Organization. In an international project there is much other competing demand for
resources. This has to be managed. The project might expect to get full support
from the organization but fails to get it due to strict and limited resources. However
the organization can easily focus on the project for a standard project.
Self Interest. In an international project, self interest from the people can be quite
difficult to understand and is more complex. To be successful, an international
project must address the local self interest of the employees. However in a standard
project this is more easily understood.
Regulations. In an international project this can pose as a big problem as there will
be multiple rules and regulations to be managed. This will be harder to understand
and is open to interpretation. While in a standard project the regulation are normally
already understood and known.


According to Kathrin Koster (2009), international projects are not too different from
standard projects when it comes to the nature of the organization, industry, location
in the value chain and duration. However, the obvious differences are:
- Purpose
- Scope
- The Main Stakeholders
- Risk Intensity
Purpose. There are obviously bigger purpose and gains coming from an
international project compared to standard project. Among many the purposes are
as below:
- Search for new geographical presence or new international stakeholders
- Increase of global market share, market power, global political power or global
effectiveness
- Realization of efficiency gains
- Access to scarce and unique resources
- Reduction of risk
It can be seen that international project tends to open up more opportunities for
the organization and thus create new international stakeholders. As an example
McDonald is now a brand global name as a result of its international franchising.
International projects also intend to increase global market share or political power
like Toyota and General Motors where their market base is big throughout the
world. International project can also realize efficiency by having offices in multiple
nations, as an example building a factory in Vietnam offers cheaper labour and
overheads. International project also open up the opportunity for scarce and unique
resources which can’t be accessed locally. This is the case like in Africa you can
find Diamond and in the Borneo there is plenty of timber and there is copper in
Australia. International projects are also executed as a mean of reducing the risks
when the risks are shared across different organization from different countries.
Scope. International project tends to have bigger scope as explained previously
compared to standard project. The scope normally involves building of an
international airport, or building railroads crossing multiple countries, building twin
towers as high as 400 meters to the sky and such.


The Main Stakeholders. International project normally have more than one main
stakeholders and have more various players involved as compared to standard
project.
Risk Intensity. International projects have bigger bearing for risks as it involves
multiple organizations and location. This increases its complexity and thus the risks.
By having more elements involved, the project is involved in a higher risks level as
changes are always unexpected and there is plenty more variables involved.
Another two differences that can be pointed out between a standard and an
international project is the currency and legal issues that are involved. Where in a
standard project the currency are normally single while in an international project
multiple currencies are involved. On the legal aspect, an international project
normally involves more than one legal issues and regulatory bodies. An example
was the Hyundai Project. Fabrication of Bunga Raya A platform was completed in
time but has some legal confrontations with the Korean contractors Hyundai Heavy
Industries. Fabrication was in Vietnam and it was agreed to have arbitration in
England. This is to ensure that all parties involved will not proceed to court if failed
to reach for an agreement.
Let us wrap the narrative by studying and take a look at one international project in
the oil and gas industry. Talisman Malaysia Limited (TML), an oil and gas operator
based in Calgary, Canada has been awarded a block by PETRONAS Malaysia to
operate PM-3 CAA which has discovered commercial quantities of hydrocarbons in
the field named as Bunga Tulip. It is approximately 8.5km southeast of the Bunga
Raya field which has been developed in 2003. The development of the field will
commence with the installation of a Braced Monopod Light Weight (LWS) in
March 2006. The target for first oil production is by July 2006. The LWS will provide
a total of eight conductor slots, and a topside facility will be installed which will be
designed to collect the produced hydrocarbon. The hydrocarbon will be routed to the
BR-C platform which will be comingled with East Bunga Raya crude which will then
transported to BR-D for processing.



Figure 1.1 Schematic Layout of Bunga Tulip in relations to other facilities in the field
The schematic is self explanatory and it shows the development that will be taken for
Bunga Tulip LWS.
Total project cost estimated for Bunga Tulip is USD 62.8 million. The estimates
are based from a previous similar platform which was developed in Phase 1. The
project kick off using a go-by design from the previous similar platform and the detail
engineering design was awarded to RNZ Engineering which is based in Malaysia.
After completing the design, the fabrication contract was awarded to PTSC M&C
which the yard is in Vung Tau, Vietnam. The project was completed in time and
incurred slightly above 10% for variation orders. The installation contractor was from
McDermott, USA.
Look at these setups. It will be impossible to manage the project by having only
one office in one single location. An international project will have more than one
office in multiple locations. This project alone has more than 4 offices in Malaysia
and two offices in Vietnam with one major fabrication yard. A normal standard
project will not have this setup.


Let us take a look at the fabrication yard organisation. The organisation consists of 3
British expatriates, 1 Pilipino, 5 Vietnamese and 13 Malaysians.
Figure 1.2 Bunga Tulip Organisation Chart
This international project involves 4 nationalities from 4 different countries. We have

the Vietnamese which is known for their stubbornness and we have the
Malaysians who are well known for being patient and shy to shout when there is an
issue at stake compared to the British who will shout at everything despite how
small the problem is. A standard project does not have this kind of setup where multi
nationalities are involved.
After reading the project details, it strikes out easily as an international project. Why
is that? Because it involves multiple countries, multiple locations, multiple languages
and it are huge in size. Let us take a look on the purpose of the project. Why was it
awarded to a Vietnamese contractor? This is political in nature. Malaysia has a
long vested interest in Vietnam waters and since Bunga Tulip is relatively small
compared to other fields in PM3 CAA it will not do harm to award Bunga Tulip to
Vietnam yard while enjoying the political advantage and a long term economical


alliance between two countries. What are the economic gains from the project?
Since the crude is comingled for sale from other fields, the oil price for assumptions
to be used will be based on a crude oil price of USD 39.13 per barrel as per Wood
Mackenzie (Feb 2005) price forecasts. Based on these assumptions, the
development are very attractive with an incremental Net Present Value (10%)
nominal of USD 19 million and Internal Rate of Return (nominal) of 40%. The
incremental gross revenue over the project life is USD 299 million (nominal). The
purpose is clearly an efficiency gains and access to scarce and unique resources as
indicated by Katryn Koster as one of the criteria of an international project.
Let us take a look on the economic assumptions and its risk intensity. There are few
points to ponder in this case as the economic is only good if these assumptions
remains true which is as follows:
• The economic analysis is based on Bunga Kekwa crude oil price of USD
39.13 per barrel in 2005 based on the Wood Mackenzie February 2005 price
forecasts.
• The schedule is based on project approval by April 2005 and predicts first
hydrocarbon production in July 2006.
• Cost estimates are based on a combination of items, including: the values of
the major contracts awarded to date, tenders currently in progress and in-
house estimates that are based on the latest design concepts. Cost estimates
assume the use of the current drilling contract with its attractive rig rates.
If any of these assumptions deviates, the project faces high risk of becoming an
economically fail project. The risk exposure is quite rampant as it is depending on
the Oil & Gas crude oil price which is known to be quite volatile and can surge and
dive as shows by historical records. What other risks are involved? When managing
projects at many different countries expect the different level of bureaucracy each
country has to offer. Talisman Malaysia has to entertain their headquarters in
Calgary which majority of the workers are Canadian which are well known to have
the take it easy attitude. This open up communication breakdown risks and the
need for travelling is magnitude. The project involves travelling from Canada to
Malaysia, Vietnam and back forth. That is practically crossing the entire Globe.
Take a look at the project procurement history. The project has materials procured


from Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, Middle East, China. Imagine if there is one
problem in one country which can affect the project? The risk is wider in an
international project as it involves more variables and unexpected events. The more
variables involved the more open the project is to risk and deem the project to be of
high risk.
Who are the main stakeholders in this development project? Let us take a look on
the main partners in the project which are as below:
- Talisman Malaysia Limited
- PETRONAS Berhad
- PetroVietnam
- PTSC M&C
- Malaysia
- Vietnam
PETRONAS Berhad is formed in 1975 and is the caretaker of Oil and Gas natural
resources in Malaysia. It is currently one of the top 10 Oil and Gas companies in
the world in term of profitable margins. PetroVietnam is a similar setup like
PETRONAS but it is serving Vietnam interest. PTSC M&C is the biggest Oil and
Gas contractor in Vietnam. Both Malaysia and Vietnam have interest in the project.
Talisman Malaysia is a multinational company based in Calgary, Canada. The
stakeholders that are involved in the project are big Oil and Gas players. They are
not like your Ahmad Runcit at the street. All these companies are worth billions of
dollars. Just by looking at the stakeholders it strikes out indefinitely that this is an
international project. Big players like this will not participate in a small standard
project as their focus is on projects that involves big money and profits.
An international project may look easily as a standard project, however the

magnitude of the project is normally different in size. International projects are
normally bigger in size and exists in multiple locations.
Having said this, in Malaysia they are plenty of international projects but is normally
seen as a standard project due to its smaller scale of size but have failed to be
managed properly due to this. When international projects are not managed the way


an international project should be managed, the project will suffer due to bad
management practises. It can be seen in Malaysia that we have huge number of
international projects like the Petronas Twin Tower, MRR2, the Penang Bridge
and the list goes on and on. The ability to define and manage these international
projects and recognizing the requirements for managing it will be crucial and critical
to the outcome and determining the success of international project management.


2. Traditionally, successful project management is measured according to the
‘Magic Triangle’, i.e. in terms of cost, time, and quality. However, successful project
management should not be confused with the success of a project.
Explain in detail what determines the success of international project

management?
(50 marks)
In order to fully understand what determines the success of international project

management, it has to be fully understood that successful project management
should not be confused with the success of a project. De Wit (1988) and other
writers distinguish between project success (measured against the overall project
objectives) and project management success (measured according to the Magic
Triangle of cost, time and quality).
However, it is academically accepted that one of the vaguest concept of project
management is project success. Since every individual involved in the project have
different perspective, needs and expectations it is normal that each individual tends
to interpret project success differently in their own understanding (Cleveland &
Ireland, 2004). “For those involved with a project, project success is normally
thought of as the achievement of some pre-determined project goals” (Lim &
Mohamed, 1999).
Atkinson, 1999 noted that as a discipline, project management has not changed or
developed the success measurement criteria in almost 50 years. The different is
that he proposed, instead of the Magic Triangle, he proposed the Square Route
concept success criteria. The main changes in the proposal is that the addition of
qualitative objectives rather than quantitative objectives.
Cooke-Davies, 2002 then further elaborated that success factors are those inputs to
the management system that lead directly or indirectly to the success of the project
or business. Some project managers determine their own success factors.
However, according to Belassi & Tukel (1996), there are 9 critical success factors
which are also agreed by Bennet and Kathryn, 2003.


The nine success factors are as follows:-
1. The project manager selection
The 2001 CHAOS report (The Standish Group International, 2001, p6), business,
communication, responsiveness, process, results, operational, realism and
technological skills are mentioned as some of the most important skills a project
manager should have to deliver success. In an international setting, it is best to have
a local leader representing each locality and another lead that act as the interfacing
leader for all and also acts as the project manager. All of these leaders will report to
one overall leader that will manage the interfacing. It is critical that the leadership
have strong grasp of project management, the soft skills and the technical knowhow.
The benefits of using these setups are, among many, as follows:-
• Accountability
• Skills
• Perspective
• Level of abilities
• Range of knowledge
• Backup
• Elapsed time
• Black hat and white hat
• Political contacts
• Areas of knowledge
First and foremost, the accountability factor is widened up by having local leaders
that will be the single point of responsibility at any point of time. By having this,
control will be asserted a lot better. Then, by having more than one leader, it will
open up room for more skills as different people will have different skills and
experience. This will come in handy when trying to solve a problem. Different leader
will also provide different perspective and retrospective when trying to solve a
problem. The best solution will then be selected using various problem solving
techniques such as the brainstorming and the Ishikawa Diagram.
When having different leader, their level of abilities is also different. The leaders
that have more experience will tend to think that they know everything. Then the
junior leaders will come in handy where they might be able to see the things that the


senior leaders tend to overlook and vice versa. This covers the same thing on the
range of knowledge, skills and perspective. Furthermore, it will come in handy
where multiple leaders will provide the backup that is required. In the event that
one leader is absent or away for training or meetings, then other leaders will be able
to step in and ensure that the project management process remains ongoing and
true to its objectives. This will also allow with elapsed time the continuous training
of new leaders and having new project leaders to replace the previous leaders.
There is another concept that is known as the black hat and white hat where one
project leader acts as a bad person and the other person acts as the nice person.
This will get things done when there are matters which require to be reacted to
differently. Different problems always have different solution and it will work best this
way. By having multiple project leaders this can easily be achieved.
Not to forget that different leaders, locally and internationally will have different set
of political contacts and this will be very useful to the project team. Political
contacts are often seen as not important but it will definitely help the project to
manage certain problems which require political connection. This will be more of
important when managing international projects.
International project management requires strong project leaders. This is because
international project have different set of problems from the standard project. Among
many there are problems with the time zones, language barriers, and cultural
differences. What do we need to look for in a project leader? According to Kathryn
P. Rea and Bennet P. Lientz (2003), there are several attributes and characteristics
that are important which will be outlined below.
Problem solving ability. It is a mental process that includes problem finding and
shaping. It is a higher order cognitive process which requires fundamental skills of a
leader. Managing international projects call for a leader that has a strong analytical
thinking and is able to offer solution to solving problems.
Ability to cope in multiple cultures. The leader must be able to understand that
there are various cultures across the globes, and the ability to handle all this different
cultures will make the different and the result will be detrimental to project success
as proven in many international projects.


Ability to communicate. An international project leader needs to have this. He or
she needs to be able to communicate with people across the globe. Despite the fact
that most will be able to speak English sometimes even the way the person speaks it
mean differently when said in a different manner. Thus, the skill is very important so
that all project team members understand the project needs and requirement.
Technical knowhow. It is fairly important that the project leader is a technical
knowhow. This is critical in order that the project members respect the project leader
and this will equip the project leader when making the best project decision.
All this capabilities is required for a great project leader to ensure that the project
management will be successful. Upon selecting the proper project manager to lead
the international project, the project management is already fifty percent successful.
2. The project team selection
Normally, project managers do not have the luxury to select their team members, but
the ability to influence the final project team is there. It is vital to have a good project
team to work with, with core skills that can be evolved to core competences and
capabilities for the whole organisation. All members of the project team must be
committed to the success of the project and the overall mission of the company.
Apart from their skills and commitment, project team members should have clear
communication channels to access "both the functional manager and the project
manager within a matrix organization. Effective management of this dual reporting is
often a critical success factor for the project" (PMBOK Guide, 2004, p215).
The project leader will not be able to provide result without team members. The
selection of the team members is also critical and vital to the outcome of project
management success. The key attributes for international team members among
many will be as below.
Experience. The experience will be one of the foremost criterions when selecting a
team member. Selecting an experienced personnel who have done a project of
similar nature and size will be assets to the project management team as he or she
can provide input based from his or her experience working on the previous project.
Team player. It is very critical and important that the recruited team members are
team players. This will prove pivotal having to execute numerous activities which


requires multi discipline and trades and especially with international projects where
there is multi cultural and multi nationals involved.
Knowledge and capability. It is important that the team members have the
knowledge and is capable to execute the work activities assigned to each team
member. The team member should also be capable to handle sensitive issues with
regards to cultural based issues.
Multilingual and willingness to travel. When working with international project,
team members will be required to travel a lot and will always be distant from home.
If the team member has difficulties with this, then the project should consider taking
another team member as international projects will have high travelling
requirements. If the team member is multilingual, this will proves to be strong assets
that can contribute to the success of the international project management.
Having said all this good selection of team members will contribute to the success of
the project management. However, the project team with the strong leader needs to
be united and is motivated towards achieving the same project objective. This can
be done by having continuously team building efforts throughout the project phase
and make the team members feel appreciated belonging to the project group.
3. The project itself and its cultural sensitivities
International project success requires mastering numerous challenges in a complex
context. Executing the projects in different nations, with their own unique legal
and political environment, economic factors, security issues, infrastructure, increases
the complexity far beyond that of projects executed in domestic settings. In addition,
the geographic distances, language barriers and cross-cultural gaps that are typical
of an international project environment introduce further leadership challenges and
additional risk.
Cultural aspects are often overlooked. When high-risk projects are assigned to a
team whose members belong to a somewhat risk-averse culture, such as Japan,
China or even Germany, it always lead to disappointing results. Team members
tend to spend excessive time planning unpredictable tasks, and trying to reduce the
risks by changing performances aspects and coming up with reasons instead of
focusing on how to make project successful. In other cultures, such as Indonesia,
or Thailand, when executing time-critical projects will face problems as these


cultures tend to be patient and tend to accept fates. Thus, it is therefore vital and
crucial to review such cultural characteristics in the context of project priorities.
The type of a project also underlines some factors that are important to success. For
example, if a project is urgent, the critical factor in that case is time. The Wembley
stadium is expected to be fully operational due to May's 2006 FA Cup Final and that
is the primary target. However, the increase of cost "that has thrown the
management's calculations out of kilter" (Evans, 2005) was not a big issue at that
time. The size, value of a project and its uniqueness of activities can be a puzzle for
the project manager who is used to planning and co-ordinating common and simple
activities (Belassi & Tukel, 1996, p144).
4. The project organization
Top management support is the principal success factor for many independent
research groups (Tukel & Rom, 1998, p48) (CHAOS Report, 2001, p4) (Cleland &
Ireland, 2002, p210) (Tinnirello, 2002, p14), which means that no project can finish
successfully unless the project manager secures true support from the senior or
operational management. It is extremely difficult to work in a hostile environment
where nobody understands the benefits that the project will deliver to the
organisation. Thus, project organisation will be one of the indicating factors that
contribute to international project management success. If the project organization
does not support project objectives, then it is doom to fail.
5. Measurement of project
Failing to plan is planning to fail. That is the best phrase that can explain the depth
of how importance planning will contribute to the success of international project
management. Everything has to be detailed out and planned out from the initial
phase of the project right until completion. This will include manpower and resource
planning, project contracting planning, project execution methods which will support
the project objective. A good planning will ensure the success of international
project management. Even if the planning goes wrong, there is always the
opportunity to analyze, and revise the planning to suit the latest progress at site and
ensure project success.
Initially you will have a high level planning which includes the start and end of the
project. You will have more details as the project progresses. Having done this you


will need to define tasks and milestones involved with the project. Then, you will
need to do estimates for the task, built in contingencies and risk inside the plan. A
good plan has to be practical and rational. It cannot be too passive and optimistic.
A good planning will be able to continuously measure the project as the project goes
on and suggest catch-up plan or analysis for changes to ensure project success.
6. Gather lessons learned

Lesson learns are very important for a project. It captures where mistakes have
been done and the way taken to solve it. By documenting it properly and learning
from it, the same mistakes can be evaded and not repeated. It is normal in a
standard project that lessons learn are conducted after the conclusion of a project,
however it is pivotal for international project that the lessons learned are collected
progressively as the project progresses.
7. Proactive resource allocation
It has to be understood that often the same personnel assigned to the project is also
assigned to other projects. Thus, a proactive approach to allocate human resource
must be done to ensure project success.
8. Collaborative efforts
It is very important to ensure that each individual participates and desire for the
same project results. This will create a collaborative efforts and widespread
involvement in the project. This will then generate commitment and dedication from
all project stakeholders which will eventually guarantees project success.
9. Shared objectives
The project needs to create an environment where it is a shared objective by
everybody. If all the people have a stake in the project it will definitely become a
boost and the people that are involved in the project will deliver to ensure project
success.
In conclusion, all these success factors will determine the outcome of the project
success. Having secured all this success criteria’s, the international project
management will be if not guaranteed, to be heading towards the correct direction for
an international project management success.


International project always offer unique opportunities and significant risk. Best
practices that mitigate some risks include a discipline project selection practices that
weigh legal, political, security, economic, infrastructure and cultural factors. The
careful alignment of the goals and objectives of all project stakeholders also are
pivotal and critical to project success. The organization also need to select and
support project leaders at all levels which are flexible to adapt to significant cultural
differences, and deliberate enough to manage the systems and structures that
assure adequate and timely communications. It is thus pivotal that these critical
success factors be thoroughly managed to ensure that the international project
management is eventually a success.
A good case study is a successful development of the Bunga Orkid Field. The
development consists of 4 platforms. It is located north of PM-3 CAA and is called
Northern Field. The Northern Fields, the Bunga Orkid and Bunga Pakma fields of
the PM-3 CAA, is developed by a Central Production Platform (CPP) with a number
of Wellhead Riser Platforms (WHRP) to process and export oil, gas and condensate
from these fields. The gas is transported by pipeline to the Bunga Raya - E CO2
Removal Platform (BR-E) for final conditioning, in order to meet sales gas
requirements prior to being exported. The crude oil will be fully stabilised and then
transported by pipeline to the existing southern fields for export via the BR-B WHRP
and intra field pipeline to the existing floating storage and offloading (FSO) facility.
The core facilities for the Northern Fields’ Bunga Orkid development (Phase 5) will
comprise:
• Bunga Orkid A Central Processing Platform (BO-A CPP)
• Bunga Orkid B Wellhead Riser Platform (BO-B WHRP)
• Bunga Orkid C Wellhead Riser Platform (BO-C WHRP)
• Bunga Orkid D Wellhead Riser Platform (BO-D WHRP)


Figure 1.3 The schematic shows the development of the Northern Fields which have
one mother platform, a Central Processing Platform and 3 Wellhead Riser Platforms.
The development cost is budgeted to be less than USD 1.5 billion and was
completed within budget and time frame. It is a successful feat for a project this size
to be completed within time, costs and quality. How the project did make it? This
is the interesting part as the project has proven that the key to a successful project
lies in the success of it project management. Let us take a look at the organization
chart of the project.
Figure 1.4 The organization chart for the development of Northern Field


The project manager has more than 35 years experience in the Oil & Gas field and
has build more than 5 typical projects of the same or bigger than the Northern
Field. The project manager is supported by a strong team of team leaders with has
more than 20 years experience in the Oil & Gas field with a combination of young
and passionate engineers to support the team leaders. The total years of
experience by the project manager and the team leaders are more than 200 years
worth of experience. This experience that they have proven to be very fruitful in
managing cultural challenges that the project meets when developing the project at
three different locations with offices in more than 4 countries, i.e – India, Vietnam,
Malaysia and Canada. The engineer support come from Aker Kvaernaer India
where the project team has to be stationed in Mumbai for 6 months during the initial
stage of the engineering of the project. The Indian attitudes are very different
compared to the Malaysians and the British. However, the project team manages
this very delicately and has successfully being rewarded by completing the
engineering in time. Numerous team building efforts was conducted to facilitate this.
During the initial project implementation the Indians has been giving strong resistant
to the project team in term of cooperativeness and collaborative objectives. It took
good management by the project team, to bridge the cultural gap and succeed in
getting the engineering completed in time. The fabrication was done in Johor Bharu
and Vung Tau, Vietnam. The next challenge was to ensure that the Indians
engineering company works well with the Malaysian and Vietnamese fabrication
companies. That was a challenge. Whenever face with disputes both parties
normally will end up threatening the other party to stop work or goes to court which is
not beneficial to the project at all. Good management practices by the project
team manage to bring these two companies together in search of a common
objective. The figure below shows the schedule planned for the project.


Figure 1.5 The Northern Field development project Level 1 schedule

The project was completed earlier by a month from the targeted completion time.
Looking at the schedule, it is easily seen how tight the duration is for fabricating a
13,000 MT platform which was the biggest platform to be ever installed in the coast
of Malaysia by single lifting and installation. The similar size was normally built in a
longer schedule of at least a three years development project. How was this done?
The project team closely monitors the fabrication in both yard in Malaysia and
Vietnam. The team is then spitted into two where one team manages Malaysian
yard and the other on the Vietnamese yard. The project team proposed by both
yards was scrutinized by the COMPANY project team thoroughly. All senior
experience was requested to be filled by personnel with above 20 years experience.
In Vietnam there was some difficulties getting personnel with extensive experience,
as the Oil & Gas in Vietnam is still new, thus the COMPANY requested for them to
source expatriates which is borne by the COMPANY.
In instilling shared objective the approach taken was to ensure that the objective is
shared by every contractor involved. Among the steps taken was to hold team
building to allow for the team to understand each other and have some games in
order to send them messages that only by teamwork will win the day and complete


the project in time. A concept of penalty and incentives was also offered where if
the project is completed ahead of time, a bonus will be paid to the companies while if
they fail to deliver and is delayed, then they will have to pay for all offshore costs due
to incomplete platforms which will dry the pocket of the contractor to the very last
cents. The incentive and penalty concept works very well.
The project has one Planning Manager and a special team consisting of 4 planning
engineers dedicated to continuously monitor the progress of the project. Normally
for this size of the project, only two planning engineers are hired. However, this
project was carefully planned from each aspect and uses the energy of 5 planning
engineers including its Manager to ensure successful outcome of the project. Daily
reporting of progress is done and is analyzed by the planning engineers which were
then converted into a look ahead stratagem which is then further discussed by the
project team. Every delay is carefully analyzed and action plans will be drafted out
to manage the delay. Meetings are held in the morning and afternoon by the
Construction Superitendent to ensure every activity are completed within time frame
and if it is not, the action plan to remedy and catchup plan will be planned out. Mary
Parker Follet could not go wrong when she explained that management is “the art of
getting things done through people”.


REFERENCE
1. A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge, Project

Management Institute, (2004)
2. Atkinson, Project management: cost, time and quality, International
Journal of Project Management (1999)
3. Harold Kerzner (2006) Project Management: A Systems Approach to
Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, John Wiley & Sons Inc.
4. Baguley (1995), Managing Succesful Projects: A guide for every
manager, Pitman Publishing
5. Bennet P. Lientz & Kathryn P. Rea (2003), International Project
Management, Elsevier Science USA
6. Kathryn Koster (2009), International Project Management, SAGE
Publications Ltd.

Anas Alam Faizli, Master of Proj MGMT: Assignment International Project Management, EMCM5203

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Anas Alam Faizli, Master of Proj MGMT: Assignment International Project Management, EMCM5203

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Assignment Questions EMCA5203 International Project Management

January 2010 Sr Dr. Zulkiflee Abdul Samad

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

JANUARY SEMESTER 2010

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Programme: Master of Project Management

Coordinator: Assoc Prof Ir. Dr. Kanesan Muthusamy

Module: EMCM5203 International Project Management

Facilitator: Sr Dr. Zulkiflee Abdul Samad

Semester: January 2010

Date: 15th February 2010

Describe in detail the main differences between a ‘standard’ and an

According to wikipedia, project management is the discipline of planning, organizing,

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Figure 1.2 Bunga Tulip Organisation Chart

This international project involves 4 nationalities from 4 different countries. We have

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

An international project may look easily as a standard project, however the

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Explain in detail what determines the success of international project

In order to fully understand what determines the success of international project

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

6. Gather lessons learned

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Figure 1.5 The Northern Field development project Level 1 schedule

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

Student Name: Anas Alam Faizli Student ID No. CGS 00385017

1. A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge, Project

You might also like