Tchumtcha Wembe, P (2022) Managing stakeholders in epcm projects in Africa by Western project managers. International Journal of Construction Management, 22(12), pp. 2279-2289. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
Due to a number of issues - political, social, historical, personal contexts, and technical - large EPCM companies find it difficult to manage projects stakeholders properly in Africa. The Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management projects (EPCM) are complex, customised, and produce highly unique products. Project management body of knowledge (PMBOK) highlights that projects and the workforce are generally temporary in nature. Literature reviews and media reports show that EPCM projects are poorly managed in Africa by Western companies. Some of these problems are caused by a gap between companies and projects in Africa. To take up these challenges, this paper presents a research methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative (observation and survey of practising project managers) working in large EPCM projects, to understand local stakeholders' needs and the iterative improvement of communication directly upon projects. Multi-method research technique was used for this study. The paper shows the practical feasibility of the management approach using field observation. The field observation provides evidence that the qualitative approach is well suited to support the development and implementation of effective and efficient mechanisms in large projects. The research has revealed that stakeholders should be effectively integrated in the organisation management processes to improve project success. The research makes a significant contribution to stakeholder management by presenting how Western project managers should manage stakeholders in EPCM project in Africa.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | culture; decision making; influence; leadership; project management |
| Index terms: | media, research methodology, project management, implementation, project manager, Africa, project success, qualitative approach, evidence, decision-making, body of knowledge, stakeholder management, survey, literature review |
| Subjects: | research methods, project management theory and practice, sociology, decision analysis, profession, evaluation and assessment methods, data collection methods, research design and methodology, contractual arrangements, data analysis and analytics, knowledge management, participation process, regions and continents |
| Topics: | Procurement, Risk Management, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Project Management, Geographical Context, Information Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here