Oppong, G D; Chan, A P C; Ameyaw, E E; Frimpong, S and Dansoh, A (2021) Fuzzy evaluation of the factors contributing to the success of external stakeholder management in construction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 147(11): 04021142, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The study focuses on evaluating the factors contributing to the success of external stakeholder management (SM) at the project planning stage from the perspective of developing countries. Questionnaire survey data was collected from project management practitioners in Ghana and analyzed using mean scoring, factor analysis, and fuzzy synthetic evaluation. The analysis revealed that the involvement of external stakeholders in decision-making is of topmost rank (mean=4.717) and effective communication with external stakeholders makes the highest individual contribution (weighting=1.000). In descending order of contribution based on index values, the seven activity groups established are involving stakeholders and ensuring mutual trust (4.666), effective communication with stakeholders (4.633), sustaining relationships with stakeholders (4.373), preliminary planning (4.006), analyzing project and stakeholder information (3.719), assessing stakeholder attributes and needs (3.675), and developing and applying effective strategies (3.610). Following, an evaluative process model (EPM), which is essentially a practice framework, was developed and demonstrated using the relative weightings of activities. The expert validation results showed that the EPM is comprehensive, objective, reliable, and appropriate for the purpose. The findings contribute to advancing stakeholder theory in construction management research in the context of developing countries. Practitioners can effectively apply, evaluate, compare, and improve the contributing activities in external SM process to inform about needed managerial decisions in projects. The findings will guide practitioners to be more externally oriented, resolve external stakeholder issues proactively, manage project more ethically and sustainably, and improve project success.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction project; critical success factors; developing countries; evaluative process model; external stakeholders; Ghana; planning stage; stakeholder management |
| Index terms: | validation, questionnaire, practitioner, construction project, decision-making, project planning, external stakeholder, stakeholder management, critical success factor, fuzzy synthetic evaluation, management research, developing country, survey, strategy, factor analysis, project management, project success, Ghana |
| Subjects: | decision analysis, sociology, statistical analysis, decision-making and optimization, management, project management theory and practice, professional development, development economics, Geography, production management, participation process, research design and methodology, data collection methods, practitioner, control systems |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Risk Management, Business Strategy, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Information Management, International Construction |
| 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