Examining challenges of project stakeholder management on government projects in the Ashanti Region of Ghana
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Date
2021-06-29
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Abstract
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projects. Project managers must have the knowledge and skill to detect potential
challenges early and use the appropriate or tailored strategies to address these challenges
in a timely manner in order maximize the potential positive impact and in effect minimize
the potential detrimental impact that these challenges can have on the outcome of
projects. Interactions with the stakeholder community must be frequent throughout the
project to reduce or eliminate risk and build trust which in effect leads to cost reduction
and increased success for projects. The objective of the study is to identify and analyse
the challenges project managers face with stakeholder management on Government
projects or public private partnership (PPP) projects across the country using Ashanti
Region as a case study. The sample for this study was selected through the use of
purposive sampling. A sample size of 35 was selected for the study comprising 20 Project
Managers, 10 frontline project staff and 5 key resource persons. Through the use of a
structured questionnaire, secondary and primary data sources were collected from the
field. Quantitative data were collected from the primary and secondary data sources.
Stakeholders on Government projects may be within or outside the performing
organization may include but not limited to: the Project manager, Project Team,
Functional management, Sponsors, Customers/ End users, Government and its agencies
(regulators and service providers), Traditional councils, Creditors/ Financial
Organizations, Suppliers, Unions, Lobby groups, the Community and the Media. The
work looked at the challenges faced by project managers in stakeholder management, theiv
effects of the challenges on the projects, strategies for improving stakeholder
management on government projects and the findings and discussions. Challenges
identified in the study included narrow consideration of stakeholders, high cost of
stakeholder management, spontaneous and casual stakeholder management practices,
lack of appropriate stakeholder planning mechanisms, communication
difficulties/ineffective communication, unidentified stakeholders and limited/poor
understanding of issues.
The study concluded that there are several challenges faced by project managers on
government projects when managing stakeholders, which are mainly limited/poor
understanding of issues and communication difficulties/ineffective communication.
The following recommendations were made; identified stakeholders on projects should
be educated extensively about the projects through the use of clear communication
(feedback should to taken to confirm if communication was clear), adequate budget
should be made towards stakeholder management, there should be units or departments in
performing organizations purposely for the complex task of stakeholder management,
terms necessary for effective stakeholder management should be put in a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) showing clear cut relationship, responsibilities and expectations of
all relevant stakeholders should always be identified from project inception and engaged
at the appropriate project stages to obtain, confirm, or maintain their continued
commitment to the success of the project
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Building Technology, College of Art and Built Environment, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science.
Keywords
Stakeholder Management, Government projects, Challenges