Taken from page xxii of the Preface to International Project Management by Kathrin Köster

International projects, i.e. projects that reach beyond national boundaries in terms of project purpose or the nationality of stakeholders, are ubiquitous in all organizations around the globe. They are a means of implementing an organization's strategy in order to realize its vision. Hence, competence in the management of international projects is central to the strategic capabilities of today's organizations.
Having said this, it is surprising that most textbooks on project management still focus on standard or traditional projects. The discipline of 'project management' originated in the middle of the last century, and it is still shaped by the industrial age and Taylor's 'scientific management'. In my view, however, the discipline needs to be enriched by other academic fields in order to make it meaningful in the era of a global world economy. Over the last decades, project management has to some extent responded to environmental changes by incorporating areas like context management, communication and other 'soft fields' into its knowledge areas. This is the road I am following further: I attempt to merge project management with other disciplines and fields critical for success on a global scale, such as managing cultural diversity, managing heterogeneous stakeholders, managing intercultural communication, managing international co-operation, and managing the learning process in international projects.
I view international project management as an art. It implies a personal, creative power to deal with the uniqueness, risk, complexity, diversity, dynamics, and limited resources of international projects. It also implies an attitude of curiosity and learning. Special skills are needed to embark on this long journey leading us and the organizations we work in to the successful management of international projects. These skills consist of technical expertise and personal competencies.
Providing a systematic consideration of international requirements and factors, this book is aimed at (advanced) business or engineering students and practitioners. The reader should get an easy-to-read overview of what he or she needs to know and be able to do in order to successfully manage international projects.