International construction business management : a guide for architects, engineers, and contractors /
Chester L. Lucas
- New York : McGraw Hill Education, c1986
- xiii, 242 pages ; 23 cm.
Includes index.
1. The Decision to Export -- 2. Homework--The Market Study -- 3. The Fact-Finding Trip -- 4. Commitment, the Magic Element -- 5. Selecting an Associate -- 6. Marketing -- 7. Getting Along in Other Cultures -- 8. Your Man on the Scene -- 9. Qualifications -- 10. Proposals -- 11. Interviews and Presentations -- 12. Successful Negotiations and Strategies -- 13. Project Organization and the Project Manager -- 14. Foreign Office Management Logistics -- 15. The Foreign Office--Managing Multinationals -- 16. Managing Foreign Office Finances -- 17. Changes, Extras, and Claims -- 18. Politics, Bribery, etc. -- 19. Wars, Military Coups, and Terrorism -- 20. Philosophy and Goals.
One's first assignment as a project manager abroad provides unusual challenges. In my experience, the main concerns were not Quito's high altitude, the Spanish language, the metric system, or the Andes' rugged topography. Rather, the difficult tests were related to client communications, understanding a new culture, avoiding local politics, and supervising a diverse group of senior professionals. Less difficult, but still challenging, were the tasks of collecting invoices, supervising international contractors, and satisfying the client's staff.