Abstract. With a focus on different aspects of stakeholder management, various sets of critical success factors (CSFs) have been suggested in the literature. It is crucial to explore the relative importance and groupings of these factors. This paper aims to identify CSFs associated with stakeholder management in construction projects, and explore their ranking and underlying relationship. 15 CSFs were identified through a literature review, and consolidated by interviews and pilot studies with professionals in construction industry. A questionnaire instrument containing these 15 CSFs was sent out to project managers in Hong Kong, and 183 completed questionnaires were retrieved. The top three ranked factors for stakeholder management were "managing stakeholders with social responsibilities", "assessing the stakeholders' needs and constraints to the project", and "communicating with stakeholders properly and frequently". Using factor analysis and considering the high importance of the factor "managing stakeholders with social responsibilities", the 15 CSFs were grouped into five dimensions namely, precondition factor, stakeholder estimation, information inputs, decision making, and sustainable support. All these five groupings and their relationship were included in a framework for successful stakeholder management in construction projects. These findings help to clarify what the high prioritized factors are, and could also be used as an assessment tool to evaluate the performance of stakeholder management and thus help to identify areas for improvement.
Stakeholder analysis and engagement are the main tasks in stakeholder management. To identify operational approaches for stakeholder analysis and engagement, six interviews and a questionnaire survey were conducted in Hong Kong, and an additional fifteen interviews were held in Australia. The main finding is a typology of practical approaches for practitioners in construction. A total of thirty approaches are comprised in the typology, and they are classified by application. To test the usefulness of the typology, action research is applied to two real-life projects in Australia. The implication is that the selection of the approaches is an art and a contingency approach as well, requiring practitioners' judgements. Each approach has its strengths and limitations, so the most appropriate way for effective stakeholder management is to use a combination of elements from each approach as circumstances dictate. This study can serve as a reference for the systematic consideration of the project management team about the operational approaches for stakeholder management in construction projects.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of previous studies in the field of stakeholder management, and propose implications for the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThree major databases are searched: ABI, EI CompendexWeb, and ISI web of knowledge. Papers are searched on topic by using the keywords of “stakeholder management”, “management of stakeholders” and “management of stakeholder”. A brief review of the abstracts and conclusions of these papers is conducted to filter out the irrelevant and/or duplicate papers. After filtering, 159 articles with content relevant to stakeholder management are selected for analysis.FindingsAn overview of previous studies reveals that research interest in stakeholder management has turned to the descriptive approach. Through a critical review of stakeholder management process, three main problems of previous studies are identified: very few methods and tools are available to identify all stakeholders and their interests; limited studies involve the change management about the stakeholders' influence and relationship; and few studies are capable of reflecting the influence of the entire relationship network in practice.Research limitations/implicationsTwo implications for the construction industry are suggested: establish a practical framework for managing stakeholders; and apply social network theory (SNT) in developing a stakeholder relationship model.Originality/valueThe overview and implications lead to new knowledge and an improved understanding of the management of multiple stakeholders in construction projects. The perspective of SNT avoids the deficiency of Freeman's dyadic ties model, and the project managers can make decisions in response to the stakeholder behaviours according to the entire relationship.
Construction projects involve multiple stakeholders with different abilities that enable them to deal with the social problems that arise during the project lifecycle. This research aims to study the dynamic stakeholder power in implementing social responsibility issues in construction projects. Empirical research among Hong Kong construction industry practitioners was conducted to investigate the powers of seven stakeholders over thirty-five social responsibility issues. The data was analyzed using two-mode social network analysis methods and processed by Netminer 4. It was found from the results that internal and external stakeholders have control in different domains pertaining to social responsibility issues, but it does not mean either group has superior power. Ranked by the power status on social responsibility issues, the seven stakeholders are classified into five hierarchies: 1) governments, developers, and main contractors; 2) district councils, 3) consultants; 4) non-government organizations; 5) end users. The dynamic nature of stakeholders' powers has been elucidated by describing the power changes in different project stages, as well as in different social responsibility dimensions.
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