Case Study Effective use of cross-cultural project teams can provide a source of experience and innovative thinking to improve the likelihood of project success and enhance the competitive position of the organization. However, cultural differences and related conflicts and emotions can interfere with the successful completion of projects in today's multicultural global business community. To achieve project goals and avoid cultural misunderstandings, project managers should be culturally sensitive and promote creativity and motivation through flexible leadership. This paper describes the most wellknown and accepted theories of cultural differences and illustrates them with examples from international project management. These theories consider relations between people, motivational orientation, orientation toward risk, definition of self and others, attitudes toward time, and attitudes toward the environment. We discuss motivation and training of multicultural project teams and relevant implications for project management. We provide specific examples of success and failure in international, multicultural projects and relate project performance to cultural differences. The paper concludes that international project management can succeed through culturally-aware leadership, effective cross-cultural communication, mutual respect and reconciliation. Without them, it is destined to fail. 1. INTRODUCTION A project can be defined as "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service." (Project Management Institute, 2000, p. 4). Some informal estimates indicate that a significant proportion of the World's Gross National Product is spent on projects, including design and construction of infrastructure, production and telecommunications facilities, software development, pharmaceutical research and development, defense systems, and many other types of projects. Interest in project management and related success factors have been increasing steadily in recent years. Projects are often conducted in a multi-disciplinary, cross-functional, cross-cultural environment. This becomes more evident in managing international projects. Anbari eta/. (2004) point out that project managers in today's multicultural global business community frequently encounter cultural differences, which can enhance or interfere with the successful completion of their projects. Leading studies of cross-cultural management have been conducted by Hofstede (2000), Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1998), and others. These studies propose a set of cultural dimensions along which value systems can be ordered. Value systems affect human thinking, feeling, and acting, and the behavior of organizations and institutions in predictable ways. 2. CROSS CULTURAL DIFFERENCES Cultural dimensions reflect basic problems that any society has to cope with but for which solutions differ. These dimensions can be grouped into the following categories: 2.1 Relations Between People Hofstede distinguishes between individualism and collectivism. Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner break down this distinction into two dimensions: universalism versus particularism and individualism versus communitarianism. 2.2 Motivational Orientation Societies choose ways to cope with the inherent uncertainty of living. In this category Hofstede identifies three dimensions: masculinity versus femininity, amount of uncertainty avoidance, and power distance. Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner distinguish between achievement and ascription. , 2.3 Time Orientation