Stakeholder management in complex projects

Abstract

Effective stakeholder management is a critical success factor for all types of projects. The increasing complexity in construction projects makes the management of project stakeholder management increasingly challenging due to their diverse characteristics, including power, interests and attitudes. It appears that much of the literature has focused on stakeholder management with very limited or no regard to either the level of project complexity or the extent of meeting project success measures. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to fill these research gaps by: (1) critically reviewing relevant literature; (2) briefly presenting key effective stakeholder management strategies; and (3) developing a conceptual framework for empirical testing. The paper provides a concise description of the framework and its constructs, and outlines the proposed methodology for testing its relevant hypotheses.