Dynamic network analysis of stakeholder-associated social risks of megaprojects: a case study in China

Abstract

PurposeManagers of megaprojects face social risk management challenges throughout the various design, construction, and operation stages, owing to the various conflicts of interest among stakeholders, public skepticism, and opposition. However, most existing studies have not focused on the dynamic analysis of integrating social risks in these stages. This study developed a dynamic analysis approach to explore the dynamics of critical social risk factors and related stakeholders of megaprojects and built the managerial maps for various stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachBased on the social analysis network (SNA), a dynamic network analysis approach for understanding the dynamics of social risk and related stakeholders has been developed by literature and case analysis. The approach comprises the following steps: (1) generating social risk–stakeholder networks in different stages; (2) analysis of the critical stakeholders and social risk factors; (3) dynamic analysis of social risk factors; and (4) developing social risk management maps for various stakeholders. To verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the approach, 40 megaprojects from China were analyzed.FindingsAccording to the results, the local government is a critical stakeholder during all stages, inadequate information promotion (IIP) and imperfect communication and coordination mechanism (ICCM) are key social risk sources throughout the megaproject life cycle. Furthermore, the management maps for government organizations, project implementation groups, and external stakeholders were constructed.Originality/valueThis research has three contributions. First, a dynamic analysis approach of stakeholder-associated social risks in megaprojects is developed, which enriches the social risk management theory of megaprojects and provides inspiration for future research focus. Second, the social risk–stakeholder networks and critical social risks in different stages are confirmed to provide a more valid and accurate picture of social risk management in megaprojects. Third, the social risk managerial maps for different stakeholders built in this research will be beneficial for governments, project implementation groups, and external stakeholders to optimize management strategies.

Research on the risk transmission mechanism of international construction projects based on complex network

“…Since the two risk elements are not necessarily causally related to each other, the adjacency matrix A is not necessarily symmetric, as is shown in Table 2 . In addition, this paper refers to (Boutilier et al, 2017 [ 42 ]; Xia et al ., 2022 [ 43 ]) and other research methods, and adopts the questionnaire survey method to determine the relationship between international construction project risks by selecting 25 relevant experts from the field of international construction projects and applying expert evaluation method. For example, if x experts believe that R i is closely related to R j , then Rij = x ij .…”

An integrated risk assessment method for cross-regional mega construction projects

“…There are many sophisticated risk analysis methods, such as analytic hierarchy process (Garbuzova-Schlifter and Madlener, 2016), artificial neural networks (Patel and Jha, 2014), genetic algorithms (Pfeifer et al, 2015), fuzzy logic (Islam et al, 2017), network theory (Chen et al, 2020;Fang and Marle, 2012;Xia and Xiang, 2022), system dynamics (De Marco et al, 2016), applying network analysis to genetic algorithms and Monte Carlo simulation (Chen et al, 2022b), which have the potential to improve risk analysis work and project performance. Due to the complex interaction between risk factors, more and more studies have taken this feature into account (Chen et al, 2022b;Zhang et al, 2021).…”

Performance Improvement in Megaprojects Through Project Network Characteristics and Transactive Memory Systems

“…Megaprojects, with their huge investments and lengthy construction cycles, inevitably have significant effects on the economy, environment, and society (Ben Abdallah et al, 2022). Megaprojects are often complex, uncertain, and dynamic, involving multiple relationships among a variety of stakeholders, resulting in significant social risks due to conflicting interests among the various stakeholders (Xia & Xiang, 2022). These projects involve unique technological innovations, complex processes, and multiple teams, including the owner teams, main contractor teams, subcontractor teams, design teams, consulting teams, supervisory teams, and so on (Ma & Fu, 2022).…”