Abstract
Multinational project success is achieved through team alignment. As engineering, design
projects become more global, design teams now consist of multiple nationalities. This affects
team alignment in terms of culture, skills and goals. Many cultural studies provide insight into
the dynamic of multinational teams across the globe yet the approach to management of a
multinational engineering team with a strong Mexican influence in limited. An ethnographic
case study of a mega engineering, cross-cultural project in Mexico was undertaken over a
period of 2.5years, utilising a scorecard to evaluate the influence of the Mexican culture on
team alignment. Focused interviews with key participants within the project validated the
findings. Mexican team alignment is best achieved by addressing both cultural and goal
alignment as interdependent elements. Multinational project teams in Mexico must be
culturally aware and align the objectives of the project to the local environment to achieve
project success in Mexican terms.