my work
I work at the interface of international development, institutional collaboration and cross-border programmes across Europe, Africa and other international contexts.
My focus is on helping organisations navigate complexity in multi-stakeholder environments where cultural, institutional and operational dynamics intersect and directly shape collaboration, programme effectiveness and implementation outcomes.
I support international organisations, academic institutions and development actors in strengthening collaboration across teams, systems and borders, with a particular focus on Africa–Europe contexts.
My work combines strategic insight with extensive field experience in international environments, including programme development, institutional partnerships and cross-border coordination.
A recurring question throughout my career has been why knowledge, management practices and capacity-building initiatives that are successful in one context often fail to generate the expected outcomes elsewhere.
This led me to develop a methodology that makes explicit the underlying assumptions that enable knowledge and professional practices to produce their intended outcomes.
By examining the interaction between these assumptions and those shaping the implementation context, organisations can better assess whether transferred knowledge is likely to produce the expected outcomes, requires adaptation or calls for the development of context-specific solutions.
This approach supports more accurate diagnosis, more effective implementation and better-informed capacity-building by helping organisations distinguish between challenges that stem from insufficient skills and those that result from a mismatch between the assumptions underpinning transferred knowledge and those shaping the implementation context.
AREAS OF WORK
- Knowledge transfer and implementation across international contexts
- Capacity building and organisational learning
- International development cooperation and institutional collaboration
- Programme design and implementation in complex multi-stakeholder environments
- Africa–Europe partnerships and cross-border collaboration
- Executive education and professional development
- Context-sensitive implementation of management practices and organisational change
APPROACH
My approach combines applied research, executive-level experience and more than 30 years of fieldwork across Europe, Africa and international organisations.
Rather than treating interculturality as an end in itself, I use it as a lens for understanding how knowledge, management practices and capacity-building initiatives perform across different contexts, and how organisations can strengthen implementation, collaboration and long-term effectiveness.
EXPERIENCE CONTEXT
Over 30 years of international experience working with multinational companies, international organisations, academic institutions and development programmes across Europe and Africa.
These experiences have provided the foundation for my work on knowledge transfer, implementation and organisational effectiveness across diverse institutional and cultural environments.
LET US CONNECT
I am open to collaborations, advisory work and short-term assignments in international development, programme coordination and institutional partnerships.
Services
What can you do to ensure your organization sustains high performance when operating in diverse or foreign environments?
Cases studies
Glance through challenging situations our clients have gone through when dealing with people in international or multicultural contexts...
Pascale Sztum
A management consultant, trainer, and public speaker who handles performance issues with a cross-cultural mind.
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