Project Stakeholder Management

Editing in process - Sasha Mantel

Abstract

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), project stakeholder management is defined as "the processes required to identify the people, groups or organizations that could impact or be impacted by a decision, action or outcome of the project, and to analyze stakeholder interests, relationships and potential impact on project success." This article goes trough the different aspects of this definition, and then identifies why effective project stakeholder management is critical to the success of a project as it helps to build support, ensure alignment with stakeholders, and manage potential risks and challenges.

Moreover project stakeholder management can be more challenging in the context of a public project, as public procurements for instance. In fact they often involve a wider range of stakeholders with diverse and conflicting interests. These stakeholders may include government agencies, local residents, businesses, environmental organizations, and community groups, among others. Stakeholders may have different opinions about the project goals and outcomes, and also concerns about the impact of the project on their community or environment. Additionally, the public nature of the project may attract greater scrutiny and media attention, increasing the pressure on the project team to manage stakeholder expectations and mitigate any negative impacts. It is given here proposals of lines of conduct in the management of actors on a public project.

Definition

History on project stakeholder management

The fatherhood of stakeholder management theory has largely been attributed to R. Edward Freeman with his book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Point of View published in 1984. This new theory is born as an opposition to The Managerial View of the Firm or a The Production View of the Firm. On one hand, the early advocates of a Stakeholder theory underlined the importance of the different people or group of people that affect or are affected by a company, after an industrial revolution that led to bigger and more complex company than the usual family business. Also, publications like King and Cleland in 1978 emphasized the responsibilities and moral obligations of a company towards their stockholders, managers, employees but also suppliers, distributors, supporting service organizations, and finally the public and their clients. The world stakeholder was applied to several less traditional groups ("the community", "the public"). A stakeholder point of view appeared in strategic management literature:

For a long time, we have assumed that the views and initiative of stakeholders could be dealt with as externalities to the strategic planning and management process; as data to help management shape decisions, or as legal and social constraints to limit them. We have been reluctant, though, to admit the idea that some of these out-side stakeholders might seek and earn active participation with management to make decisions. The move today is from stakeholder influence towards stakeholder participation

Dill, 1975, cited in Freeman's book (1984)

Understanding Stakeholders

The different types of stakeholders

(specifically in the context of a public project)

- How to identify key stakeholders

- Assessing stakeholder interests and expectations

Project Stakeholder management in the context of a public project

Complex stakeholder landscape

implication of a wide range of stakeholders, each with their own interests, needs, and concerns

Political sensitivity

Large sums of public money, impact on local communities

Public scrutiny

intense public scrutiny that can lead to increases stakeholder expectations and heightened concerns

Time and resources constraints

Public procurement projects often operate under tight time constraints, which can make it difficult to allocate sufficient time and resources to stakeholder management + impact the ability of the project team to effectively manage stakeholders

Regulation and bureaucratic processes

increases the difficulty to respond to stakeholder concerns and feedback on time

Resources

Vogwell, D. (2003). Stakeholder management. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2003—EMEA, The Hague, South Holland, The Netherlands. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

Project Management – 2nd Edition Chapter 5 : Stakeholder Management. Adrienne Watt; Merrie Barron; Andrew Barron; Erin Palmer; and Jose Solera

Eskerod, P., Huemann, M., & Savage, G. (2015). Project Stakeholder Management—Past and Present. Project Management Journal, 46(6), 6–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmj.21555