PM in Stakeholder’s engagement
Stakeholder’s engagement is necessary as it benefits the construction industry by increasing collaboration and eliminating contradiction between the stakeholders and organization (Henisz, Dorobantu and Nartey 2014). This shows that construction industry requires stakeholder engagement process to minimize the negative impacts and identify positive impacts in a project to be delivered. The stakeholder engagement influence construction industry in various ways where it can be positive or negative impacts. The effective stakeholder engagement guarantees success in construction projects (Tengan and Aigbavboa 2016). The study is limited to only construction industry where analysis of stakeholder engagement is done. The study briefly describes stakeholder engagement in terms of construction industry and its related conflicts and challenges along with possible solutions.
The following tips can prove to be ofhigh relevance for the engagement of the stakeholders in a project (Mok, Shen and Yang 2015). Firstly, Stakeholders play the most crucial role in a project. Hence, they should be aware of the information related to the project, and the management should be aware of the qualities and personalities of the stakeholders. Regular interaction with the stakeholders is mandatory for the success of a project (Bell, Powell and Sykes 2015). The interactions will act as a dictionary to maintain the clarity and omit any possible doubts. Understanding of the stakeholders will help the PM in making potential use of the former and will develop a quality team effort towards completion. Planning the engagement of the stakeholders before the engagement can be of high relevance (Ling and Yanti 2016). Relationships should be developed with the stakeholders to develop trust within them by understanding their needs and conveying them the needs of the organisation. It would lead to a more realistic team effort along with minimising the uncertainty and will also improve the problem solving and decision making. Risk assessment of the risk associated with and for the stakeholders can help in improving the project delivery. The protocols for the project should be in the range between the stakeholder’s expectation and the requirement for the project (Fulton et al. 2015). The role of PM in stakeholder engagement has been discussed however it develops the question “what is the most appropriate method for engaging stakeholder?” The author has suggested the potential solution to the same in the next section.
Stakeholders can be engaged based on their obligation level. Following probability can be deduced based on their obligation namely HO, MO and LO (Yang and Shen 2014). In the High Obligation (HO) scenario the stakeholders will hold high obligation toward the project. It can be achieved by bonding with them through profit-sharing after the completion of the project (Bal 2014). The number of stakeholders in the HO category can be minimised as the stakeholders will put in their full effort for the successful completion of the project. MO (Moderate Obligation) case works by offeringthem incentives based on the stakeholder’s dedication (Aaltonen and Kujala 2016). Here, their obligation is moderate as they will get a fixed amount of money even if they do not put their full effort. However, with more dedication, they can earn more. Finally, LO (Low obligation) is the case in which the profit of the stakeholders is fixed at the beginning of the project, and hence their efforts will be limited as they do not have to worry about the money.
Engaging Stakeholder
Hence, from the best method for the engagement of the stakeholders is to keep them at high obligation. The reason for the above statement is that high obligation will force them to work for their project. Though, there are some challenges associated with the engagement process which have been discussed.
Multiple challenges are associated with the stakeholder’s engagement. The first and foremost being the resources and time invested in the stakeholder’s engagement (Ekung, Okonkwo and Odesola 2014). Then providing relevant resources and training related to the project is also a challenge for the management (Yang and Shen 2014).The balancing of expectations of stakeholders with the requirements of the project.Understanding the usability of astakeholder for a specific task.Another challenge involving the stakeholder that is a major concern for the organisationsare conflicts. The following section offers an insight into managing conflicts in PM.
According to Eskerod and Huemann (2016), the efficiency of project management to manage and resolve conflicts generated through engaging stakeholders are in the following paragraph.
Confront: In this mode, the cause of conflict and the management confronts through face-to-face interaction to resolve the matter.
Compromise: Here the conflicting entities bargain on the cause and deduces a standard solution to end the conflict.
Smoothing: The conflict is resolved in this mode by obliging any one of the adverse party to forfeit a part of their demands and resume the work.
Forcing: Resolution of the conflict in this mode comes by force where one of the adverse parties is forced to give up their demands (even if the demands are valid).
Avoiding: This mode is adopted when the conflict is too complicated to resolve. So anyone part either retreats or avoid the problem for as long as they can.
According to Zidane et al. (2015), the case study on Algerian Megaproject shows the stakeholder engagement successes or failures. The case description is as follows. The megaproject of Algerian East-West Highway was higher than $11.2 billion and it was scheduled in fourth quarter of 2009 for completion. The contribution of several external and internal stakeholder’s engagement contributed in failure of the project in terms of project efficiency. The stakeholder’s engagement is discussed in this case study and their related actions at each phase of megaproject. The case study shows that there was failure of stakeholder’s engagement different levels of Algerian megaproject. The aspects that determined the failure are efficiency, effectiveness, impact, relevance and sustainability. This failure concluded that the stakeholder engagement in megaprojects such as Algerian mega project is a big issue. Hence, the outcome of this case study on failure of stakeholder engagement in Algerian megaproject shows that stakeholders should be engaged in early stage of construction projects.
Challenges
Arnstein’s Ladder of participation presents the Algerian megaproject as follows. The third tier shows non-participation that befits with stakeholders of this megaprojects who are abide to provide value to construction project. The second tier shows degree of tokenism that befits with participation and engagement of stakeholder with no guarantee of project success or failure. The first tier shows degree of citizen power that befits with failure of stakeholder’s engagement in the project in terms of five measures that are efficiency, effectiveness, impact, relevance and sustainability.
Therefore, from this case study it can be understood that stakeholder engagement is a crucial part in construction projects. It should be carefully planned to avoid any clashes in the development stage of construction projects.
Conclusion
The above paragraphs conclude that stakeholder’s engagement is very important in construction industry where initial impacts whether positive or negative is necessary for project delivery. The engagement of stakeholders is necessary for project success. However, there are challenges related to stakeholder’s engagement in construction industry. These challenges need to be taken care of to minimize the risks of any failure in project. Lastly, the case study shows valuables that can be taken for improving approaches towards stakeholder’s engagement. Therefore, stakeholder’s engagement should be maintained and managed effectively.
References
Aaltonen, K. and Kujala, J., 2016. Towards an improved understanding of project stakeholder landscapes. International Journal of Project Management, 34(8), pp.1537-1552.
Bal, M., 2014. Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability-Related Project Performance in Construction. Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Liverpool John Moores University.
Bell, N., Powell, C. and Sykes, P., 2015, September. Securing the well-being and engagement of construction workers: An initial appraisal of the evidence. In THIRTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2015 September 7-9 (p. 489).
Chilvers, J. and Kearnes, M. eds., 2015. Remaking participation: Science, environment and emergent publics. Routledge.
Ekung, S.B., Okonkwo, E. and Odesola, I., 2014. Factors influencing construction Stakeholders’ engagement outcome in Nigeria. International Letters of Natural Sciences, 15(2).
Eskerod, P. and Huemann, M., 2016, February. Rethink! Project stakeholder management. Project Management Institute.
Fulton, E.A., Boschetti, F., Sporcic, M., Jones, T., Little, L.R., Dambacher, J.M., Gray, R., Scott, R. and Gorton, R., 2015. A multi-model approach to engaging stakeholder and modellers in complex environmental problems. Environmental Science & Policy, 48, pp.44-56.
Henisz, W.J., Dorobantu, S. and Nartey, L.J., 2014. Spinning gold: The financial returns to stakeholder engagement. Strategic Management Journal, 35(12), pp.1727-1748.
Ling, F.Y.Y. and Yanti, I., 2016. Stakeholder Management Practices to Boost Outcomes of Construction Projects. Building up business operations and their logic Shaping materials and technologies, 3, p.640.
Mok, K.Y., Shen, G.Q. and Yang, J., 2015. Stakeholder management studies in mega construction projects: A review and future directions. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), pp.446-457.
Ochieng, J.A. and Chileshe, N., 2016. Engagement strategies and challenges for adoption of stakeholder management approaches (SMA) in South Australian construction industry: preliminary observations.
Tengan, C. and Aigbavboa, C., 2016. Stakeholder engagement and participation in monitoring and evaluation of construction projects in Ghana.
Yang, R.J. and Shen, G.Q., 2014. Framework for stakeholder management in construction projects. Journal of Management in Engineering, 31(4), p.04014064.
Zidane, Y.J., Johansen, A., Ekambaram, A. and Hald, L.C., 2015. When Stakeholders Shape Successes or Bring Failures–A Case Study of an Algerian Megaproject. Procedia Computer Science, 64, pp.844-851.
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