National Culture and Planning and Control of Projects in Portugal

Previous research report abundantly that management practices are impregnated with national culture, in particular the practices of project management. This is an area with a high impact on the sustainability of countries and organizations, given the importance of efficiency and effectiveness of project management for the economic and social development. This work focuses on attitudes towards planning and control of projects and on practices of these management activities in Portugal. It is based on the application of a survey to 634 professionals involved in implementing and/or managing projects, across the country and in most economic sectors. Although several published studies refer that Portuguese culture attribute low importance to planning and control, the surveyed professionals report a high importance attributed to planning and control of projects. On the other hand, the comparison with a similar study conducted in the USA revealed similar levels of practices of planning and control of projects in these two countries. This is a surprising outcome that raises the possibility of changes happening in the national culture of Portugal.