SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS AS SUPPORT FOR STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT WITHIN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

misbe2011 Tracking Number 150

Engaging the right stakeholders at the right time is a key factor to successfully complete a construction project. However, the decision which stakeholders to engage within a project can often be a difficult one and little tools exist that can support project managers in doing so. This research looks into the applicability of Social Network Analysis to support project managers with their decisions of which stakeholders to engage and with the stakeholder engagement process itself. We conducted a case study on a public-private redevelopment project in the Netherlands that initially failed because project managers did not involve the right stakeholders at the right time. To understand the social network on the project we conducted interviews with various stakeholders. Based on the interview information, we then composed a social network of the stakeholders which we then discussed with the project’s project manager and the stakeholders in a second round of interviews. The findings from this second interview round show that representations of social networks give project managers a quick overview of the cliques, key players, and the general position of stakeholders in the social project network. This overview helped the project managers to identify which stakeholders to engage. At the same time, our findings show that representations of social networks give stakeholders clear insights in their own positions. These insights then, in turn, supported the stakeholders to better understand their position in relation to the other project stakeholders. In this way, the social network visualization was also a great tool to support project managers with their efforts to engage stakeholders. Overall, the study illustrate the utility of social network analysis to analyze and engage stakeholders on complex public-private construction and design projects. Keywords Social Network Analysis; stakeholder engagement; public-private construction