Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder Management and Power of Interest in the Olympics Construction Project

By
[Name of the Writer]
[Name of the Department]
[Name of the Institution]

Stakeholder Management

ABSTRACT

The uncertain and the complex nature of the mega construction projects like the London
Olympics, an effective and efficient management of stakeholders power and interest is required,
as it is essential for the successful development of such a huge project. Many previous studies
conducted on this topic revealed the construction sector of UK is generic as their attentions have
been placed on relatively small scale projects. Thus, a specific overview of the literature on
effective and efficient management of stakeholders power and interest in mega construction
project seems to be lacing. In this study the researcher will use a secondary research
methodology to analyze the effective and efficient management of stakeholders power and
interest in the London Olympics Project. This study reveals that SM approaches in MCP are
subject to national context of the project, indicating a need to identify the impact of national
culture on this discipline.

Stakeholder Management

DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to my God, parents, and my friends. I could not have completed my
journey without their love, support, and encouragement. Throughout my journey my parents
have show great support for me and they have always stood be me, and believed in me and my
abilities, even at the times when I had given up hopes. But for the support and inspiration that
these individuals have provided, I would not have been able to attain this goal. In all things that I
do, I consider the impact it will have on them, and I appreciate their support in doing the same.
Throughout the process of this dissertation, I found out that it is the desire to become successful
in life, which at the end of the day makes the journey worthwhile.

Stakeholder Management

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This journey has only been possible because of God and his promise to make the
impossible possible. There have been many times throughout this journey that I often thought of
giving up. My faith in God not only helped me during those doubtful moments but has taught me
that through God nothing is beyond reach. God, your will is manifested through me.
I wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to [ ], chairperson, for this
doctoral study. Words are inadequate to express how much I appreciate your patience, guidance,
and effort to get me where I am today on the road to achieving my dream. Your determination to
guide me through this doctoral study is my inspiration that keeps me trying to complete the
study.

Stakeholder Management

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................ii
DEDICATION................................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................iv
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................1
Introduction..............................................................................................................................1
Background of the Study...........................................................................................................2
Purpose of the Study.................................................................................................................5
Aims of the Study......................................................................................................................5
Objectives of the Study.............................................................................................................6
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................7
Introduction..............................................................................................................................7
Stakeholder Concept................................................................................................................7
Stakeholder Management Literature........................................................................................9
Mega Projects (London Olympics).........................................................................................10
Mega Construction Projects...................................................................................................10
Stakeholder Theory and Key Models......................................................................................11
Key Models For Stakeholder Management............................................................................13
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY....................................................................17
Research Design.....................................................................................................................17
Case Study Methodology........................................................................................................18
Designing and Conducting a Case Study...............................................................................19
Justification for the Selection of Secondary Research Methodology.....................................20
Data Collection......................................................................................................................21
Overview of selected publications.........................................................................................22
Analysis of the Secondary Data............................................................................................26
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS OF THE STUDY..................................................................................29
Stakeholder Interests and Influences......................................................................................29
Stakeholder Management Process.........................................................................................30
Stakeholder Analysis Methods................................................................................................32
Stakeholder Engagement........................................................................................................35
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION, AND CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY......................................38
Discussion..............................................................................................................................38
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................40

Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder Management

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Introduction

In Mega Construction Projects like London Olympics, project managers often face
challenges in the processes of identifying stakeholder and their needs, assessing stakeholder
impacts and their relationships, and formulating appropriate engagement strategies. Due to
underestimation in the influence of affected vicinity and their concerns on environmental issues,
the project commencement was delayed for one year by a legal dispute regarding ecological
impact of the bridge (Galbreath, 2010). This legal challenge and associated delay aroused
vigorous controversies from politicians, pressure groups, media and the community. The
government has ended up spending extra effort and resources in catching up project progress and
handling negative responses from the public. These challenges in managing stakeholders can be
attributed to the great uncertainty and complexity in the project environment.
Notwithstanding their professional knowledge and experience, the accuracy of
assessment and judgment of project managers often decrease as the project grows in size and
complexity. The foundation for stakeholder identification and prioritization is also not strong due
to limited cognition of project managers and incomplete stakeholder boundary. Ward and
Chapman (2008) pointed out that stakeholders are a main source of uncertainty in large
construction projects where stakeholder entities, their claims and interrelationships at every
project phases are the major stakeholder-associated uncertainties. Mega Construction Projects are
higher in complexity and comprise many more stakeholders than relatively small scale projects,
leading to a larger number of stakeholder-related uncertainties and risks (Kolk, & Pinkse, 2006).

Stakeholder Management

Project managers have encountered greater obstacles for balancing stakeholder claims and
maintaining robust relationships in mega than in ordinary size projects, necessitating an industry
need for more SM studies in Mega Construction Projects.
In this study the researcher will examine how stakeholders are managed within the
construction industry, with a brief emphasis on internal stakeholders and their power in the
London Olympics Project (Flick, 2009). Construction Projects have various stakeholders such as;
suppliers, and subcontractors these would the stakeholders to the main contractor. Every
individual and organization involved in the construction project is a stakeholder to another
participant. For instance in the London Olympics project the suppliers of material and raw
material needed for construction will be the stakeholders in the project (Fewings, 2005).
Background of the Study

Every organisation needs to focus on activities for the successful delivery of its vision,
mission and business strategy (Kolk, & Pinkse, 2006). According to Lin, L.Y. and Lai, M.S.
(2008), an organisational activity has three components:

(1) Processes and practices influenced by the organisation's culture that provides the
framework, guidelines and measures to deliver the activity;

(2) Supporters who provide funding, assistance or are beneficiaries;

(3) Those who will actually plan, manage and execute the targeted work. As these three
components indicate, failure of an organisational activity can be stakeholders'

Stakeholder Management

expectations not met, or promises not delivered, or the belief that the support could be
applied elsewhere (Bourne, 2009).

In the case of construction projects, these perceptions often relate to the quality of the
relationships between project management team and its stakeholders. A construction project
comprises a series of complex activities. Different stakeholders have different levels and types of
investments and interests in the project in which they are involved. According to Turner, Gower
Newcombe, R. (2003), managing multiple stakeholders and maintaining an acceptable balance
between their interests are crucial to successful project delivery. Mainardes, E. W. et al. (2011)
opined that a negative attitude to a construction project by stakeholders can severely obstruct its
implementation. Such obstruction will lead to overruns in time and cost, and poor quality, due to
conflicts and controversies concerning the design and implementation of the project. Their study
reveals that an evaluation of the demands and influence of the stakeholders should be considered
as a necessary and important step in the planning, implementation, and completion of any
construction project. Yu et al. (2007) found that stakeholder management is an important variable
in the briefing process, and they considered it was necessary to assess the individual stakeholder
commitment, interest and power prior to the briefing process and to consider and balance the
interests of all stakeholders.
Nguyen, N. H. et al. (2009) considered that project managers should clearly identify all
types of stakeholders and accommodate their conflicts and needs. The stakeholder commitment,
interest and power should be fully assessed so that the project managers can tackle the key
problems in the stakeholder management process. Nguyen, N. H. et al. (2009) also suggested that
the purpose of the project needs to be understood, and feedback from stakeholders be solicited in
order to achieve alignment between the stakeholders and project team. Many problems can be

Stakeholder Management

overcome if the stakeholders are actively engaged in early planning and integrated into the
project team, and if a systematic approach is used to identify and manage stakeholders in the
project delivery process. They indicated that this was the only way expectations can be managed,
hidden agendas brought to the surface, and project priorities established.
According to PMI (2004), a project is: "a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a
unique product, service, or result". Based on this definition, projects are temporary and unique.
Olander (2006) points out that a project is a unique process, consisting of "a set of coordinated
activities with a start and a finish date, undertaken to achieve an objective conforming to specific
requirements, including constraints on time, cost and resources". Zabid, & Rashid (2003) also
state "there is no such thing as a typical facility development project. No two projects are ever
the same". The uniqueness nature and limited duration of projects require additional efforts to
build effective project teams and generate trust, both within the team and between the team and
the project stakeholders. The team members must learn quickly how to work together as a
coherent unit. Project managers need to be attuned to the cultural, organisational and social
environments surrounding projects.
Ward, S. and Chapman, C. (2008) defines the notion of "project environment" according
to the Random House dictionary, which is "the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions or
influences". He states the environment includes virtually everything outside the project: "its
technology (i.e. the knowledge base, from which, it must draw upon), the nature of its products,
customers and competitors, its geographical setting, the economic, political and even
meteorological climate in which it must operate". Waddock et al. (2002) also use contingency
factors to describe the project environment as one of having high complexity, high uncertainty,
and high equivocality, such factors make stakeholder management difficult. Waddock et al.
(2002) clarifies that uncertainty becomes a problem for the project manager because of the

Stakeholder Management

dependency relationship between the project and the uncontrolled elements in its environment.
Managing stakeholders needs to balance competing claims on resources between different parts
of the project, between the project and other projects and between the project and the
organisation , but an environment of uncertainty and complexity makes "achieving this balance
more difficult" (Smyth, 2008). Since the nature of construction projects is uncertain and complex
(Cicmil and Marshall, 2005), stakeholder management in these environments is challenging for
project teams.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to critically analyze the concept of interaction between
stakeholders during the construction phase of the projects in the London Olympics. The study
will provide a brief overview of the power which is being possessed by the stakeholders during
construction projects, and how is this power impacted as the construction project progresses.
Along, with that the paper will also provide an introduction to the concept of stakeholder
management. In the results section of the study the researcher will present the findings regarding
the power of the stakeholders subsequently during the construction phase of the London
Olympics.
Aims of the Study

The aims of the study are:

To analyze power possessed by stakeholder during London Olympics

Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder Management during the construction process of London Olympics

Objectives of the Study

The objective of this study is the conduct an in-depth analysis of the power possessed by
stakeholder in construction project. In this study we will consider the case of London Olympics
and power and interest of stakeholders during the Olympics project. Along, with that in this
study the author will also analyze the process of stakeholder management during the construction
process of London Olympics.

Stakeholder Management

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

The literature relevant to stakeholder management in general and also that relevant to the
construction field is reviewed in this chapter. Starting with an explanation of stakeholder
concepts, the development of stakeholder management theory and major stakeholder
management models is examined. Following this, an overview of existing literature relevant to
stakeholder management in construction is conducted. Through the literature review, gaps in the
scope of the existing research on stakeholder management in construction are identified and
proposed for further investigation.
Stakeholder Concept

The earliest definition is often credited to an internal memo produced in 1963 by the
Stanford Research Institute. It refers to "those groups without whose support the organisation
would cease to exist" (Smith, 2003). In 1984, Freeman published his profound book, Strategic
Management: A stakeholder Approach, in which he brought stakeholder theory into the
mainstream of strategic management. The term "stakeholder" is defined as "any group or
individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the firm's objectives" (Freeman,
1984). This definition is cited by most researchers as the foundation of stakeholder management.
This definition is more balanced and broader than that of the Stanford Research Institute.

Stakeholder Management

Mitchell et al. (1997) confirms efficacy of this by stating that this definition is characterised as
being one of the broadest, in that it can include virtually anyone.
While researchers have conceived a variety of stakeholder definitions, the concept is
generally defined with two features:

1. An influencing connection between an organisation and the stakeholders. The nature of

the connection is generally indicated by a verb. For example, Freeman's (1984) definition
is based on the verb, "affect", indicating a strongly cohesive relationship

2. The identification of the stakeholders. In this case the definition may include a defining
adjective, other type of qualifier or aspect of either the organisation or the stakeholder.
This definition tends to lead to a narrowing of the scope of who may be identified as a
stakeholder.

The definitions, by previous scholars, of project stakeholders also follow these two
concept features. PMI (1996) defined project stakeholders as "individuals and organisations who
are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected
as a result of project execution or successful project completion". The definition of Newcombe
(2003) is wider. He claimed that project stakeholders are groups or individuals who have a stake
in, or expectation of, the project's performance and include clients, project managers, designers,
subcontractors, suppliers, funding bodies, users and the community at large. Bourne (2005)
defined stakeholders in construction projects as "individuals or groups who have an interest or
some aspect of rights or ownership in the project, and who can contribute in the form of
knowledge or support, or can impact or be impacted by, the project". These definitions are

Stakeholder Management

basically consistent with Freeman's (1984) "affect/affected" concept, and the implication is that a
stakeholder is any individual or group with the power to be a threat or a benefit (Oney-Yazici,
2006).
Stakeholder Management Literature

The stakeholder concept was firstly brought into the management domain by the Stanford
Research Institute in 1963, where stakeholders were described as any groups or individuals who
are crucial for organizational survival (Freeman, 1984). Following its origin, the stakeholder
notion diverged into four key directions concerning organizational studies: corporate planning,
systems theory, corporate social responsibility and organizational theory. A renowned book of
Freeman (1984), Strategic Management: a Stakeholder Approach, has been widely
acknowledged as a milestone in the evolution of SM research, where Freeman (1984) defined
stakeholders as the ones who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the firm's
objectives.
After this notable publication, different perspectives of SM research emerged; for
example, the three aspects (descriptive, instrumental and normative) of categorizing stakeholder
theory (Jones, 1995), the concepts of stakeholder dynamics ( Freeman, 1984), the stakeholder
salience and the typology (Nguyen, N. H. et al. (2009). Elias et al. (2002) summarized the overall
development of SM research through a stakeholder literature map. Inspired from stakeholder
research of strategic management field, construction management scholars have devoted
extensive research efforts on managing construction project stakeholders in recent years; while
SM in MCP has become a particular theme of growing research interest, in view of the
challenges encountered in managing stakeholders of complex project environment as explained
in the sections below.

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Mega Projects (London Olympics)

Research of mega projects like the London Olympics has become an increasingly
widespread interest in the engineering and project management domains. The fast pace of mega
project development like the London Olympics can be attributed to the advanced construction
technology and rapid globalization. Mega project is defined as a substantial capital project, of
several billion dollars, which requires concerted efforts from major participants in terms of
resources, skills and expertise. There are numerous types of mega projects, including transport
infrastructures, oil and gas extraction, defense and aerospace, water and dams, power supply and
urban development (Harris, & McCaffer, 2013). The huge size and high complexity of mega
projects bring about three major challenges in their project management: (1) the involvement of
numerous stakeholders leading to complex stakeholder interrelationships and conflicting
interests; (2) the dynamics and growing capacity leading to high project uncertainty; and (3) their
governance by a stringent multi-role administrative structure leading to high public attention and
controversies.
Mega Construction Projects

MCP are massive investments of infrastructure, often initiated by the government, which
have long schedule, huge lifespan, extreme complexity and significant social impacts (Yang et.al,
2011). Salet et al. (2013) divided MCP into two major groups according to their project function.
The first group considers one new single project or an aggregate of projects which are initiated to
serve a primary infrastructural function. They comprise project components of the same sector.
For example, the Hong KongZhuhaiMacao Bridge involves project components (bridge,

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11

highway, and tunnel) of a single sector, transportation. The second group considers a
combination of new projects, each serving different functions, but integrated under the single
umbrella of a strategic development plan. London Olympics Stadium Development in United
Kingdom is an example where it comprises project components from the residential, educational,
and leisure sectors. MCP play three major roles in the strategic development of a society: (1)
satisfying human, economic and societal needs; (2) elevating a country's social image; and (3)
delivering leading international events (Hwang, & Ng, 2013). Notwithstanding the significance
of mega project developments, many difficulties are encountered in their stakeholder
management process.
Rose and Manley (2010)indicated that late involvement of major stakeholders and
discrepancy in their relationship intentions were two major negative drivers in aligning the work
motivation of contractors and consultants. Emuze and Smallwood (2011) revealed that in
developing countries, the skills of public sector departments in collaborating stakeholders were
inadequate which consequently compromised project performance. Iyer and Jha (2006) stated
that the schedule performance of MCP could be significantly hindered due to conflict,
indecisiveness and inadequate coordination of project stakeholders. Problems have arisen from
the SM in MCP, giving rise to the need of a systematic review of existing literature in this
domain. This study can assist researchers in gaining an in-depth understanding of previous
research efforts on this topic, and in exploring directions for future research.
Stakeholder Theory and Key Models

The origin of 'stakeholder' in management literature (as indicated in Section 2.2) can be
traced back to 1963, when the word appeared in an international memorandum at the Stanford

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12

Research Institute. Thereafter, the concept diversified into four different fields (Ramaprasad et.al,
2011):

1. Corporate planning. For example, Taylor (1971) predicted that the importance of
stakeholders would diminish and that, in the 1970's, businesses would be also run for the
benefit of other stakeholders.

2. Systems theory. For example, Ackoff (1974) developed a methodology for stakeholder
analysis of organisational systems. He pointed out that stakeholder participation is
essential for system design and the support and interaction of stakeholders would help in
solving many societal problems.

3. Corporate social responsibility. Post (1981) categorised the main lines of research in this
area, covering many ideas, concepts and techniques.

4. Organization theory. For example, Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) constructed a model of
organisation-environment interaction and claimed that the effectiveness of an
organisation is derived from the management of demands, particularly the demands of
interest groups.

The next landmark in the development of stakeholder literature was the book by Freeman
(1984), Strategic Management: a Stakeholder Approach. Phua, F. T. (2013) acknowledged the
importance of stakeholder management and also developed a framework. After his study,
scholars, in general, studied stakeholder theory from three aspects, i.e. descriptive/empirical

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13

aspect (seeking to describe and explain the methods and process in stakeholder management),
instrumental aspect (exploring the impact of stakeholder management on the achievement of
corporate performance goals), and normative aspect (seeking to examine moral and philosophical
guidelines for management), which were brought together by Donaldson and Preston in 1995.
Subsequently, two models were proposed, one by Mitchell et al. (1997) and the other by Rowley
(1997) based on the concept of the "dynamics of stakeholders".
Landin, A. (2011 ) proposed that classes of stakeholders could be identified by the
possession or the attributed possession of one or more of three relationship attributes: power,
legitimacy and urgency. By analysing the possession of these three attributes, project managers
can realise the change of stakeholders' salience. Instead of analysing stakeholder attributes,
Rowley (1997) focused on the "network of stakeholder relationships". He highlighted that
stakeholder relations are not static, they are dynamic and in a constant state of flux. The attitudes
and actions of stakeholders may change at different stages. This reflects the dynamic nature of
the relationship between stakeholders. During the last decade, more stakeholder theories and
empirical studies have sprouted. Particularly, in construction, Bourne (2005) proposed the
stakeholder circle methodology; Olander (2006) applied the stakeholder impact matrix in
practice; and in 2008, a group of scholars, including such as, Chinyio, Rowlinson, Akintoye,
Skitmore, and Walker, presented their findings on stakeholder management in a special issue of
'Construction Management and Economies'. These specific studies have contributed to the
development of stakeholder theory and also formulated a theoretical foundation for this research.
Key Models For Stakeholder Management

The development of stakeholder theory has generated the development of several

stakeholder management models. Three, namely, the Stakeholder strategy formulation model

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(Freeman, 1984), Stakeholder salience model (Li et.al, 2013) and Social network model
(Rowley, 1997), are regarded as general and well-known and as having specific features worthy
of mention. These researchers presented more than a restatement or empirical testing of an
existing model. The three models are cited by numerous scholars, and are generally viewed as
being the research foundation for stakeholder management frameworks. In the following
sections, the contributions and limitations of these three models are discussed in detail.
Stakeholder Strategy Formulation Model

Freeman (1984) presented what has now become the traditional view of the organisationstakeholder relationship, in which the corporation occupies a central position and has direct
connections to all stakeholders. Based on rational stakeholder mapping, Freeman (1984)
proposed the Stakeholder strategy formulation model. The first step was to analyse stakeholder
behaviour. This should involve an investigation of past and future stakeholder actions that could
enhance or hinder corporate goals. He recommended that the manager should build a logical
explanation for the stakeholder behaviour. This involved three issues, i.e. stating the objectives of
a stakeholder group; seeking to understand that group external environment; and examining that
group's beliefs about the firm. The final analytical step in constructing strategic programs for
stakeholders was to search for possible coalitions among several stakeholders. A manager should
scan the environment for instances of similar actions, interests, beliefs, or objectives between
stakeholder groups and then examine group stakes, according to economic, technological, social,
political, and managerial effects.

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15

Stakeholder Salience Model

Mitchell et al. (1997) presented a model, which is considered as a notable work and is
referred to by many researchers. They considered stakeholder salience is the degree of priority
policy maker gives to competing stakeholder claim, which can be estimated by three relationship
attributes: power, legitimacy and urgency. Each stakeholder has a degree of power over the other.
Mitchell et al. (1997) suggested that stakeholder power could be explained by the use of resource
dependence theory. The power of stakeholders may arise from their ability to mobilize social and
political forces as well as their ability to withdraw resources from the organisation (Post et al.,
2002). Legitimacy is defined as "a generalised perception or assumption that the actions of an
entity are desirable, proper or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms,
values, beliefs and definitions" (Suchman, 1995).
Urgency is defined as "the degree to which stakeholder claims call for immediate
attention". Mitchell et al. (1997) studied urgency based on the following two attributes: (1) time
sensitivity the degree to which managerial delay in attending to a claim or relationship is
unacceptable to the stakeholder, and (2) criticality the importance of the claim or the relationship
to the stakeholder. From the definition of stakeholder attributes, Mitchell et al. (1997) defined
different stakeholder classes, dependent on the distribution of stakeholder attributes. They are
dormant stakeholders, discretionary stakeholders, demanding stakeholders, dominant
stakeholders, dangerous stakeholders, dependent stakeholders and definitive stakeholders.
Social Network Model

Rowley (1997) considers multiple and interdependent interactions that simultaneously

exist in stakeholder environments, leading to a more complex field than that mapped by

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16

Freeman. One approach for understanding stakeholder environments is by using concepts from
Social Network Analysis to examine characteristics of entire stakeholder structures and their
impact on organisations' behaviour, rather than individual stakeholder influences. He examined
how aspects of an organisation's stakeholder network, namely network density and the focal
organisation's centrality, impacted the focal organisation's degree of resistance to stakeholder
pressures. Two propositions have been proposed: (1) as network density increases, the ability of
a focal organisation's stakeholders to constrain the organisation's actions increases; (2) as the
focal organisation's centrality increases, its ability to resist stakeholder pressures increases.

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

Research Design
For this research study the researcher selected secondary research methodology,
in which the researcher reviewed several previous cases on the strategic management and power
of interest of stakeholders in construction projects. The research design of a case study has
evolved over the years into a useful tool for the investigation of trends and specific situations in
many scientific disciplines. The case study has been especially used in the social sciences,
psychology, anthropology and ecology. This study method is especially useful when trying to test
theoretical models by applying them to real world situations. For example, if an anthropologist
were to live among a distant tribe observations could not produce quantitative information, but
would still be useful to science.
This literature review was undertaken by an intensive comparison of peer-reviewed
journals of the SM domain in MCP. Three search criteria were established for paper retrieval.
Firstly, only academic journals were selected for review, in consideration of their impact
positions in the research community in terms of SCImago Journal Rank and H-index. Book
reviews, editorials and papers in conference proceedings were eliminated.
This is to ensure that all retrieved papers could be investigated using an identical
analytical construct in terms of research aims and methodologies. Three academic databases: ISI
web of knowledge, Scopus and ABI/INFORM complete, were searched for relevant publications.
Secondly, some keywords were used in the literature search; they include stakeholder, project
participant, mega construction projects, major infrastructure projects, mega infrastructure
projects, large construction projects, complex construction projects and civil engineering
projects. The search rule used was (stakeholder OR project participant) AND (mega
construction projects OR major infrastructure projects OR mega infrastructure projects OR
large construction projects OR complex construction projects OR civil engineering
projects). The authors used these keywords because they contain meanings alike but appear in
different research disciplines and countries (Fewings, 2013). Thirdly, the scope of publication
search was scaled down to a time span of 1997/1/12014/2/28. The authors selected this
timeframe because the relevant publication appeared since 1997 , while earlier studies were not
analyzed specifically from the perspective of SM in MCP. The authors suggested that, the stateof-the-art of SM research in MCP could be clearly depicted by reviewing academic journals of
this time span.

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Case Study Methodology

Basically, a case study is an in depth study of a particular situation instead of asurvey

statistic powerful. It is a method used to reduce a wide field of research to achieve an easily
searchable subject. While it will not answer a question completely, it will provide some clues and
will allow further development and the creation of a hypothesis about a topic.
The research design of a case study is also useful to test scientific theories and models
actually used in the real world. You can create a large computer model to describe how the
ecosystem of a pond works, but only after you've tried in a pond will see if it really is a realistic
simulation. For psychologists, anthropologists and social scientists has been considered a method
valid research for many years. Sometimes, scientists are guilty of being buried between the
general idea and sometimes it's important to know the specific cases and ensure a more holistic
approach to research .
Some argue that a case study is a narrow field so that their results can not be extrapolated
to fit an entire question and showing only a limited example. On the other hand, argues that a
case study provides more realistic than purely statistical survey responses. Probably the truth lies
between the two and probably be best to try to synergize the two approaches. Is it valid to case
studies, but must be linked to broader statistical processes.
For example, a statistical survey can show how much time people spend talking on cell
phone, but will be case studies of a small group that will determine why this happens. The other
point worth bearing in mind in the case studies is its flexibility. While a pure scientist is trying to
prove or disprove a hypothesis, a case study could present new and unexpected results during its
course and could lead to the investigation takes a different tack.
The discussion between the case study and the statistical method also seems to be a
matter of scale. While many "physical" scientists avoid the case studies to psychology,

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19

anthropology and ecology is an essential tool. It is important to be aware that a case study cannot
be generalized to accommodate an entire population or ecosystem. Finally, there is an external
point indicating that inform others your results, case studies generate more interesting topics that
purely statistical surveys, which has been noticed by teachers and principals magazines for years.
The general public has little interest in the pages of statistical calculations, but some case studies
of well-placed can have a big impact.
Designing and Conducting a Case Study

The advantage of a research design is a case study that can focus on specific and
interesting cases. It may be an attempt to prove a theory with a typical case or it may be a
specific topic that is of interest. The investigation should be thorough and note-taking must be
meticulous and systematic. The first foundation of the case study theme and relevance. In a case
study, you are intentionally trying to isolate a small study group, an individual case or a
particular population.
For example, statistical analysis can be shown that the birth rate in African countries is
increasing, but a case study in one or two specific countries becomes a powerful and focused tool
to determine the social and economic pressures that produce this . In designing a case study, it is
important to plan and design how will board the study and ensure that all information collected is
important. Unlike a scientific report, there is no strict set of rules, therefore, the most important
thing is to make sure that the study is focused and concise. Otherwise, you'll meet a lot of
irrelevant information. For a case study, even more than in a questionnaire or survey , it is
important to be passive in your research. You are an observer rather than an experimenter and
keep in mind that, even in a multi-subject case, each case must be treated individually and then
draw conclusions from the crossing of cases.

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Justification for the Selection of Secondary Research Methodology

Literature review is regarded as a useful methodology to gain in-depth understanding on
a research topic. A systematic examination of existing publications can help researchers in
identifying the current body of knowledge and stimulating inspirations for future research.
Notwithstanding the importance of a critical review, no such work has been conducted regarding
SM research in MCP. This can be explained by the higher attention of previous studies on
addressing SM problems in ordinary size projects than in MCP.Yang et al. (2009) conducted an
overview on SM publications in general and identified their practical implications for the
construction sector. Littau et al. (2010) carried out a meta-analysis of publications on stakeholder
theory in selected project management journals, and found that literatures focusing on project
evaluation and strategy are the major contributors to stakeholder theory development within their
research scope. Theses previous reviews seem to be generic and their research focus is not
specific on MCP.
SM problems in real life MCP have exposed research and industry needs to
systematically review existing literature of this field. Therefore, this paper undertakes a critical
analysis of SM articles in relation to MCP published from 1997 to 2014. This study begins with
the background of SM and MCP, followed by an account of the research methodology. In the
findings section, the authors reviewed the selected publications under four themes: (1)
stakeholder interests and influences; (2) stakeholder management process; (3) stakeholder
analysis methods; and (4) stakeholder engagement. Finally, directions for further studies of this
topic are suggested. For consistency, this study adopted the definition by DB on MCP as the
predominant definition.

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21

Data Collection
A total of 354 articles were retrieved. Despite the rigorous search rule, some retrieved
publications appear to be less relevant. Therefore, the authors applied the filtering process
previously adopted by Heravitorbati et.al, (2011) in their literature reviews. This process
comprised two stages. In the first stage, publications which do not contain the abovementioned
keywords in their titles and abstracts were screened out. In the second stage, the authors
excluded the less relevant and irrelevant papers after a brief review of the paper contents, leaving
a total of 85 publications for further analysis. The selected publications covered various
perspectives of managing stakeholders in MCP, for instance stakeholder interests and influences,
stakeholder participation, the theories and practical approaches of handling stakeholder claims in
MCP. Fig. 1 shows the research framework of this study.

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22

Fig. 1: Research framework of this study.

Overview of selected publications
Fig. 2 shows the annual number of publications, indicating a sharply increasing research
interest since 2005, which could be explained by the globally rising trend of MCP and the real
life problems encountered in managing diverse stakeholder claims (Li et al., 2012).

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23

Fig. 2: Number of relevant papers published yearly from 1997 to 2014.

Table 1 presents the distribution of selected publications in different journals. Regarding
their geographical jurisdiction, 67% of the articles examined a single domestic market. This
could be attributed to the variances of social, cultural and economic systems of different
countries (Hofstede, 1991). Therefore, SM practice is subject to the national or regional context
of the project, and generalizing findings across national borders could produce only limited
practical implications. Among these studies, the majority investigated the markets of Asia (24%),
Europe (21%) and America (11%). In addition, 15% of the articles were considered multicountry as multinational organizations were their subject of study, and 18% were unspecified in
terms of country. Table 2 presents the number of publications by geographical jurisdiction.

Number of selected
Journal title

papers

Construction Management and Economics

15

International Journal of Project Management

15

Stakeholder Management

Number of selected
Journal title

papers

Journal of Construction Engineering and Management ASCE

Project Management Journal

Building Research and Information

Automation in Construction

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

Facilities

Habitat International

Management Decision

Research Policy

AACE International Transactions

Architectural Science Review

Baltic Journal of Management

Cities

Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems

24

Stakeholder Management

Number of selected
Journal title

papers

Desalination

Disaster Prevention and Management

Ecological Economics

Engineering Management Journal

Environmental Impact Assessment Review

European Journal of Industrial Engineering

Journal of Architectural Engineering

Journal of Civil Engineering and Management

Journal of Environmental Management

Journal of Facilities Management

Journal of Infrastructure Systems

Journal of Management in Engineering ASCE

Journal of Transport Geography

Journal of Urban Planning and Development ASCE

25

Stakeholder Management

Number of selected
Journal title

papers

Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management ASCE

KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering

Land Use Policy

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers Municipal

Engineer
Scandinavian Journal of Management

Structural Survey

Supply Chain Management An International Journal

Sustainability

Sustainable Development

Systems Research and Behavioral Science

The TQM Magazine

Total

85
Table 1: Distribution of selected journal papers.

26

Stakeholder Management

Geographical jurisdiction

Percentage of selected papers (%)

Asia

24

Europe

21

America

11

Australia

Africa

The Middle East

Multi-country

15

Unspecified

18

Total

100

27

Table 2: Distribution of selected publications by geographical jurisdiction.

Analysis of the Secondary Data
This study adopts content analysis, a structured and systematic technique for
compressing many words of text into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding
(Stemler, 2001), to identify key research themes for literature review. Content analysis facilitates
scholars to examine huge amount of textual data in an organized manner, to identify the focus of
subject matter, and to observe emerging patterns in literatures (Elo and Kyngs, 2008,
Krippendorff, 2004 and Weber, 1990). This methodology was applied by Laplume et al. (2008)
in their review of stakeholder theory-related publications where they discovered major research

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28

themes by coding and analysis using an inductively developed but standardized codebook.
Laplume et al.'s (2008) codebook was adapted to accommodate the purpose of this review. Table
3 illustrates the structure of the codebook used for content analysis of this study.

Code

Definition of code

Quantitative variables coded

Year

Year of publication

Author

List of authors

Article title

Title of the article

Journal

Publication in which the article was published

Institution

Institution of the first author

Category

Descriptive, instrumental, normative, mixed

Concern

Primary stakeholders, secondary stakeholders, both

Project

Type of mega construction project

Perspective

Project perspective, organizational perspective

Geographical jurisdiction

Country from which the data was collected

Methodology

Qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods

Stakeholder Management

Code

Definition of code

Data source

Survey, interview, secondary data, others

Dependent variables

Dependent variable(s) used in this study

Independent variables

Independent variable(s) used in this study

Qualitative variables coded

Research questions

Research question explicitly stated in the article

Contributions

Contributions explicitly stated in the article

Major findings

Major findings explicitly stated in the article

Table 3: Codebook for content analysis of this study.

29

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30

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