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The effective management of stakeholders on a project is an important key to project success. However, this is often an aspect of a project that is not done effectively, and the probability that the project will be completed successfully is reduced due to conflict between the project team and one or more stakeholders. This article provides a brief overview of how stakeholders are managed on construction projects in the oil and gas industry.
The authors begin by briefly outlining the content of current project management literature in terms of stakeholder management, specifically the definition of a stakeholder and the effect that ineffective stakeholder management has on projects. This is followed by an examination of the data collected during interviews with five project managers who currently work in the construction side of the oil and gas industry for owner organizations. Admittedly this article is limited in scope, and is not a comprehensive examination of this topic. However, it does provide some worthwhile insights into an important element of managing construction projects that deserves further discussion and investigation.
BACKGROUND
PMBOK [10] defines project stakeholders as,
Individuals and organizations 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.
This seems like a straightforward and reasonable definition. However, there is growing debate in the project management literature over the appropriate definition. This debate is important because the definition of stakeholder determines whose expectations are managed in order to ensure the success of the project.
A stakeholder has been defined as:
* an individual, individuals, team or teams affected by a project [6];
* someone who is "positively or negatively affected by the activities or final results of the project" [3]; and
* 11 people or groups that have, or believe they have, legitimate claims against the substantive aspects of a project [2]."
The variations in definitions of stakeholder, as evidenced above, are quite significant. Stakeholders are variously described as those actively involved in the project to those who have or believe they have an interest in its activities or outcomes. This degree of variation is going to cause difficulties in ensuring that all appropriate groups are involved in project planning and operation.