The Collaboratory for Research on Global Projects (CRGP) is a partnership between Stanford University, and a group of private industry firms and public sector affiliates to advance the science and practice of planning and implementing global projects. CRGP defines "Global Projects" as projects that involve participants from multiple societal or cultural systems and/or geo-spatial locations. CRGP studies the kinds of global projects that are large enough to have regional and even national economic and social impacts, that involve multiple engineering disciplines; that have significant impact on our environs where eco-sustainability becomes critical; that are organizationally complex with participation from multiple cultures; and that have complex institutional issues and concerns stemming from conflicts over goals, values, cultural norms, work practices, and technology.

CRGP serves as Stanford University's primary forum for systemic studies of global projects. CRGP research activities primarily focus on studying the impacts of organizational and institutional parameters on projects that are difficult to quantify and yet have proven historically to have detrimental impact on overall project efficiency.

CRGP researchers use multiple research frameworks-ethnographic, case study, survey and computational modeling-to develop, test and deploy innovative theories, methodologies and tools. Results of CRGP research enable leaders in government and industry to analyze and design the organizations and institutions needed to deliver complex global projects more effectively, with more sustainable outcomes.

The CRGP global network enterprise of Affiliate Members and Collaboratory Partners is engaged in a portfolio of activities aimed at developing frameworks, tools and strategies to improve the outcomes of global projects, and to educate a new "global project savvy" breed of professionals:

• Establishing the CRGP organization and support infrastructure to interlink academic research centers, government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and corporate collaborators.

• Building the CRGP global network enterprise, providing a forum for the exchange of best practices and for an efficient dissemination of the new global project knowledge base.

• Conducting surveys, case studies, other kinds of field research, mini-internships, and Roundtables to understand the generalizable challenges that beset global projects;

• Developing new theoretical frameworks for understanding institutional and organizational "costs" associated with global projects based on research in management, sociology, law, psychology, anthropology, and other pertinent disciplines and using surveys, case studies, and research methods to validate and calibrate the emerging theoretical frameworks;

• Developing new models, visualizations, and predictive tools to help leaders in government and industry improve planning and management practices on global projects;

• Creating formal curricula incorporating results of CRGP research to teach principles, know-how, and tools for designing global projects, and disseminate them via the Stanford Center for Professional Development's SU-Online e-learning platform, 24/7, around the globe.