CRGP held an Executive Committee Roundtable to get industry feedback, refine CRGP's vision, obtain additional insight into research direction and operational plans, and develop plans for specific research projects.

At the Roundtable, CRGP researchers presented findings from ongoing work, and Roundtable participants discussed critical global project issues and challenges across a number of categories:

• Technological
• Environmental
• Cultural
• Organizational
• Political
• Legal
• Financial

Some of the more interesting quotes that arose from the discussions are as follows:

"Domestic projects just as interesting to study as global projects - they also have cultural conflicts."

"The emotional barrier is equally important to the cultural and language barriers."

"There are two ways to secure work in foreign markets - one way is routine and talked about, and the other way is non-routine and mysterious."

"There are four necessities on project: political lineup, knowledge of the sponsoring institution, champion, clean procurement."

"The cost of proposals for many of the large projects that we do are in the $500k to the $1M range."

"Then there was a suicide, then there was a bomb, then there was an unexpected tax. My point is, you have to consider the equivocal nature of risk."

"A major benefit comes from education. In Russia, I trained a great number of people. Today, one of my trainees now runs the largest law firm in Moscow. If you train the locals, you create tremendous future opportunities for your own business."

"Often the best foreign partners are small."

"In Vietnam, the law is published in the newspaper - how's that for an example of an implicit institution."

"If you going to China (or any country) - plan to stay for the long term, because they have "home court advantage" and you need to dump money in quite awhile until you see benefit; the learning curve of mastering local institutions can be very steep."

"China has a complex salary system, but is moving towards a single salary system with outside pressure."

"Soon we will see rise of large Chinese construction management firms throughout the world."

"The days of the US building for the World are numbered, we cannot compete - not with the Chinese."

"In different countries, there is a great variation in the degree to which contractors are expected to complete drawings - in some countries contractors are very sophisticated, in others they are very primitive."

"Small investors have an advantage - often they are fleet and nimble."

"One benefit in developing countries - particularly Georgia where I have worked recently in the "wild west" - is that there is a very rapid approvals process and you can push projects through quite quickly."

"Across the industry, it is common for firms to rely on large international consultants like Price Water House Coopers for the provision of local knowledge."

"In France and China, business does not start until after business hours."

"Start slowly - learn the country first, then do business - i.e. do the adaptation and learning before you put any money on the line."

"Some former communist countries do not understand profits, especially not corporate profits - something so simple as profit is a foreign concept in Russia."

Posted by rjorr at April 21, 2003 5:50 PM