Managing the expectations of external stakeholders in construction projects

Purpose

The consideration of external stakeholders has proven to be more critical than internal stakeholders in construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to present the diverse expectations of external stakeholder groups, i.e. governmental authorities, general public, and affected local communities, in construction projects. The practical steps to manage the expectations are also outlined.

Design/methodology/approach

A three-stage methodology was adopted for the review. The primary terms “stakeholder,” “project participants,” or “project environment” were first searched in four popularly search engines and eight top journals that publish construction research to retrieve publications. After a second-stage filtering process, the selected data were then analyzed and reviewed in line with the objectives.

Findings

In total, 49 common expectations were identified and classified. The results indicate that each stakeholder group pursues expectations in line with the social, environmental, and economic sustainability objectives. For effective management, project managers (PMs) must know stakeholder opportunities and threats, fulfill social responsibilities, establish common goals, apply appropriate strategies, and enhance stakeholder satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The identified expectations are only based on the selected publications. Even though the expectations have been categorized in line with the triple bottom line model, the relative importance of the expectations cannot be ascertained since there is no empirical support.

Practical implications

PMs can play safe by acknowledging the stakeholder expectations and employ such strategies to curtail resulting impacts and maximize mutual benefits. The list of expectations could also be used to promote equitable value optimization in projects, enhance needs fulfillment, and facilitate the evaluation of external stakeholder satisfaction.

Originality/value

This study provides a comprehensive checklist of construction stakeholder expectations which hitherto, is lacked in the literature. Moreover, practical steps to manage the expectations of external stakeholders have been discussed.