Appraisal of Stakeholder Management Practice in Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Construction Projects
Chapter One
Aim and objectives
Aim
The aim of this research is to appraise the practice of Stakeholder management in Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) construction projects.
Objectives
The objectives through which the above aim was achieved were as follows:
- To establish a theoretical framework for stakeholder management.
- To explore stakeholder management practices in consulting project management firms.
- To evaluate the practice of Stakeholder management in TETFUND projects.
- To identify the major barriers encountered in stakeholder management.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
The Nigerian Construction Industry
In most developing countries, the construction industry plays a dominant role in the economic activities of the country. The Nigerian Construction Industry serves as a major influence to other sectors of the economy. Furthermore, the construction industry also generates employment opportunities which place it second to the Government in the employment of labour (Hussein, 1991).
Idrus and Sodangi (2007) asserted that the Nigerian construction industry produces nearly 70% of the nation‟s fixed capital formation yet its performance within the economy has been, and continues to be, very poor. Furthermore, Oyewobi et al. (2011) attributed the drop in the Nigerian construction industry‟s contribution to GDP between 1980 and 2007 to poor performance and low productivity. Some of the challenges that affect the industry include inadequate planning and budgetary provisions, contract sums inflation, inefficient and poor service delivery (Kolo and Ibrahim, 2010). These factors usually result to time and cost overrun. Negative attitudes of stakeholders towards a project can cause cost overruns and time schedule delays due to conflicts over project design and implementation (Olander and Landin, 2005). The uncertain and complex nature of construction has also made the industry dispute prone due to temporary organisations working accommodating several participants (stakes) with diverse range of interests. Hence, Aibinu and Jagboro (2002) and Oyewobi et al. (2011) emphasised the need for improved performance and efficiency if the industry is to deliver value for money and effectively satisfy the needs of the clients.
Thus, the Nigerian construction industry needs to embrace modern construction management tools to overcome some of the challenges it faces. An era of development with the introduction and development of concepts such as lean construction, supply chain management, value and risk management, stakeholder management, and application of other processes have to be integrated into management skills at local level (Onarinde, 2011).
The construction industry involves a wide range of stakeholders, each bringing with them a great variety of interests, concerns, requirements and potential opportunities. It is the responsibility of the project manager to accommodate these wide ranges of interests to deliver a successful project. Stakeholder management is the right tool for managing these interests.
Project success
According to Gray and Larson (2008) a project is a complex, non-routine, one-time effort limited by time, budget, resources and performance specifications designed to meet customer needs. The customers, as identified by Newcombe (2003) constitute part of the stakeholders. Completing projects within the scheduled time, budget and quality must at the same time satisfy the stakeholders to be termed successful. Project success depends on the co-operation of a wide range of individuals, many of whom do not directly report to them (Gray and Larson, 2008).
The subject of project success criteria and its determination has enjoyed considerable discussion in project management practice. Success criteria are unique and cannot be generalized for all projects due to the nature and variability of all projects (Adinyira et al., 2012). Many researchers view project success beyond completing projects within estimated cost and time as well as to the required quality, but rather meeting up the needs and expectations of the various stakeholders involved in the project. This gave a paradigm shift from the traditional perception of project success to the modern approach which uses tools that includes stakeholder management.
Different researchers have recognise the importance of considering key stakeholders‟ perceptions of project success. According to Bourne (2008) the central role of stakeholders in the delivery of projects is becoming increasingly recognised.
Project performance is influence by many environmental factors due to the interactions and interrelationships of the stakeholders and with the development of the construction industry, large and mega-large construction projects continue to come to the fore (Ishaya and Adogbo, 2013). But Legris and Collerette (2006) attributed the high failure rate of major projects to a lack of attention to stakeholders.
Berk and Kartal (2012) pointed out that the key elements for success in construction projects are life cycle management and stakeholders. Thus, stakeholders must be managed in each undertaking to avoid any of their negative influences, especially those that could be contrary to a firm‟s objectives (Chinyio and Akintoye, 2008). Conversely, business endeavours and indeed construction projects affect stakeholders.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHOD
Research design
Every research work has to take into account of the existing literature related to the research subject area, in order to bridge/link the research work and the general body of knowledge. Therefore, literature review was conducted from the onset and throughout the research. This has help in forming the basis of the research process, identifying key issues within the research domain and the approach to be adopted in data collection. The first objective was addressed by this part of the research method; while the other two (2) objectives were achieved through the interview. The last objective was achieved through analysis of the interview.
Research method
Mitchell et al. (1997), Chinyio and Akintoye (2003), Newcombe (2003), Olander and Landin (2005), Boatright (2006), Olander (2006), Sutterfieldet al. (2006) and Kerzner (2010) all asserted the responsibility of managing project stakeholders to project managers. Thus, the target population is consulting Project management firms.
According to Newcombe (2003) modern construction clients tend to manifest as dynamic configurations of stakeholders who engage with a multifaceted market. In projects involving multifaceted clients, large project teams and many other stakeholders, there is the dire need for effective coordination and general management of the different stakes, and this warrants effective client leadership (Chinyio and Olomolaiye, 2010). This laid to the selection of TETFUND projects; being projects involving multifaceted clients. Thus, there is the TETFUND itself and the beneficiary institutions in the target projects selected. Olander (2006) described project as 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 requirement, including constrains on time, cost and resources. As such, no two (2) projects can ever be the same. Each of the projects under the TETFUND scheme will definitely be unique in its undertaking, but to some extent may likely have the same project set-up because of the structure of the scheme.
The fragmented nature of the construction industry due to the its large size and diversification also laid to assessed projects with the same set up within the same environment to be able to analyse the data easily and compare the results.
The project management consulting firms were identified as the respondents and main sources of primary data for this research. Multi-disciplinary firms emerged because some firms, irrespective of their major operations, engage in, or coordinate more than one aspect of building design.
The nature of the study is exploratory and comparative; therefore, each firm will be assessed separately/independently. Hence, this provided the basis for comparison among the firms.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSIONS
Data analysis and presentation
Characteristics of the interviewees
The research conducted ten (10) interviews to representatives of the firms that form the sample size used for this research. Table 4.1 shows the general questions‟ section of the interview guide used which represents the details of the project management firms with regards to: years of existence and the range of services offered, number of employees and those with project management qualification.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary of findings
Below are the major findings obtained from the study:
- Some of the project management consulting firms offer the services of project management without any trained and qualified personnel in project management in their organisations.
- The firms have good awareness of the concept of stakeholder management, mostly acquired from their years of working experience.
- Stakeholder analysis is seen as a pre-determined exercise that does not extend beyond the inception phase of the project.
- Prioritisation and mapping of stakeholders which are both methodologies for stakeholder engagement are not properly employed by the firms in managing the stakeholders.
- Communication in its many forms was identified as the major tool for managing project stakeholders.
- The barriers encountered in managing stakeholders include: poor management training; lack planning and implementation of communication strategies; and wrong implementation and lack of adherence to contract conditions.
- Adequate communication and involvement of stakeholders; good management training and skills; and proper implantation and adherence to contract conditions were identified as the solutions to the barriers identified above by the respondents.
- The guidelines for stakeholder management provided in the existing literature seem too formal to be adopted by people who are not academically trained and oriented.
- Strategic approach is the major approach used by the firms in managing project stakeholders.
Conclusion
This study was carried out to appraise and evaluate the application of stakeholder management concept under the TETFUND project scheme. The study may not represent the same scenario in other projects within the construction industry in Nigeria. However, the research findings gave an insight on how the project management consulting firms adopt the concept of stakeholder management and some of the problems they encountered in managing the stakeholders. This study concentrated on projects with almost the same set up and project stakeholders‟ community so that the results could be comparable. Thus, the conclusion is that despite the awareness and acknowledgements of the importance of managing stakeholders, the survey discovered that there is no proper adoption of the guidelines for stakeholder management as stated in literature.
Recommendations
Based on the major findings the following recommendations were made:
- Every project management consultancy firm should have well-trained and qualified project managers. This should be used as one of the basis for assessing firms that bid for project management services for construction projects in Nigeria.
- The need for Stakeholder analysis and engagement should be emphasised by construction clients in Nigeria and it should be a continuous process that spans throughout the phases of the project.
- Proper adoption of stakeholder analysis and engagement steps should be embraced by consulting project management firms in managing project stakeholders.
- All the engagement and communication avenues for managing stakeholders should be well adopted by project management firms.
- Communication should be well kept between the different levels of stakeholders and any decision or suggestion by a stakeholder or group of stakeholders should be well informed to other project stakeholders.
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