Managing the expectations of external stakeholders in construction projects

Abstract

Purpose The consideration of external stakeholders has proven to be more critical than internal stakeholders in construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to present the diverse expectations of external stakeholder groups, i.e. governmental authorities, general public, and affected local communities, in construction projects. The practical steps to manage the expectations are also outlined. Design/methodology/approach A three-stage methodology was adopted for the review. The primary terms “stakeholder,” “project participants,” or “project environment” were first searched in four popularly search engines and eight top journals that publish construction research to retrieve publications. After a second-stage filtering process, the selected data were then analyzed and reviewed in line with the objectives. Findings In total, 49 common expectations were identified and classified. The results indicate that each stakeholder group pursues expectations in line with the social, environmental, and economic sustainability objectives. For effective management, project managers (PMs) must know stakeholder opportunities and threats, fulfill social responsibilities, establish common goals, apply appropriate strategies, and enhance stakeholder satisfaction. Research limitations/implications The identified expectations are only based on the selected publications. Even though the expectations have been categorized in line with the triple bottom line model, the relative importance of the expectations cannot be ascertained since there is no empirical support. Practical implications PMs can play safe by acknowledging the stakeholder expectations and employ such strategies to curtail resulting impacts and maximize mutual benefits. The list of expectations could also be used to promote equitable value optimization in projects, enhance needs fulfillment, and facilitate the evaluation of external stakeholder satisfaction. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive checklist of construction stakeholder expectations which hitherto, is lacked in the literature. Moreover, practical steps to manage the expectations of external stakeholders have been discussed.

Communication, coordination, decision-making and knowledge-sharing: a case study in construction management

“…In another review, Chan and Oppong (2017) identify 49 common stakeholder expectations and classify these into social, environmental and economic sustainability objectives. These authors conclude that for "effective management, project managers (PMs) must know stakeholder opportunities and threats, fulfil social responsibilities, establish common goals, apply appropriate strategies, and enhance stakeholder satisfaction" (p. 736).…”

Sustainability in construction and built environment: a “wicked problem”?

“…Stakeholder groups may even have conflicting demands and expectations. While project managers tend to adopt a utilitarian approach focussed on short-term project-specific benefits, the affected community seeks long-term social welfare (Chan and Oppong, 2017). Berardi (2013c) also found conflicting interests of clients, general contractors, sub-contractors, government bodies and end users regarding adoption of energy-saving technology.…”

Project Manager’s Competencies and Sustainability of Public Projects

“…For example, improving schedule performance for all projects over a period of a year can be translated into improvement in average project cycle time, which can be translated into improvement in time to market, which can add significant value to the organization. Value measures, therefore, provide information on the performance of the organization rather than the performance of a project (Chan &Oppong, 2017). Information must be collected over a longer period of time (no more than quarterly) and across a portfolio of projects.There is no single set of measures that universally applies to all projects.…”

“…Other productivity metrics might be number of projects completed per employee, number of lines of code produced per employee. The key to selecting the right productivity measures is to ask whether the output being measured (the top half of the productivity ratio) is of value to your organization's customers (Chan &Oppong, 2017).…”