Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Stakeholder Management'

This thesis argues that the stakeholder paradox (Goodpaster, 1991) has hindered the achievement of meaningful consultation processes because it perpetuates a management-centered discourse of stakeholder engagement aimed at producing stakeholder consent and legitimating organizational action. In order to advance beyond the use of stakeholder consultation as a sophisticated public relations tool, and instrument of organizational power and persuasion, it must be treated as a series of activities (discussion, deliberation and decision making) linked together through the common modality of negotiative communication.
An analysis of practice guidelines, protocols and key informant interviews using a critical organizational communication approach evaluates the extent to which contemporary instances of consultation practice account for the specificity of stakeholder context, address power and capacity gaps between consulting organizations, and enables all stakeholders to engage in a negotiative dialogue that has a direct influence upon the decision-making process of a project. This thesis argues that operationalizing tenets of a critical communication framework within consultation practice has the potential to produce the conditions for conducting a meaningful consultation with community stakeholders.

Stakeholder management relates to how business organisations manage their relationships not only with their market stakeholders, but also with their nonmarket stakeholders. It requires firms and business managers to identify and develop effective strategies to balance the interests of many diverse groups or constituents. This requirement has of course been judged to be impractical by those who uphold narrow traditional views about how a firm operates; and is unsupported by those who believe that asking managers to focus on the interests or concerns of groups of constituents that do not directly contribute to the economic achievements or strategic objectives of a firm, is a distraction and an attempt to derail corporate objectives. However, in spite of the criticisms levelled against the notion of stakeholder management, firms can no longer ignore the fact that there are constituents who can affect, and are affected by their business objectives. The aim of this research is to illustrate the practical implications of stakeholder management by exploring how multinational oil corporations operating in the Nigerian oil and gas industry manage their relationships with nonmarket stakeholders; such as the local communities who are affected by their operations. In order to achieve the aims of this research, a case study approach has been adopted; the case study companies include Shell Petroleum Development Company (Shell), Total Exploration and Production (Total), and the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (AGIP). Furthermore, to achieve a balanced perspective regarding the stakeholder management practices of the oil companies, the research incorporates the views of stakeholders from local communities, and those from non-governmental organisations (NGOs). A mixed methods research strategy is employed in the data collection and analysis process to achieve not just triangulation, but also to assist in the comprehension of the research findings. The research established that each of the companies being studied has employed different stakeholder management strategies in order to manage their relationships with the local communities. The strategies employed by the companies, however, appear not to address the issue of environmental impact; the concern which triggered the breakdown in the relationship between the oil companies and the local stakeholders in the first place. They have instead mostly focused on ameliorating the socio-economic issues resulting from oil exploration and production activities, in part as a consequence of pressure from the local communities themselves. Additionally, the findings indicate that the companies have employed hostile and controlling engagement strategies such as intimidation, appeasement, and manipulation, when dealing with local community stakeholders. These strategies are believed to have undermined the quality of their relationship with the local communities. The most notable consequence of these engagement practices is damaged trust amongst community members, as well as between the communities and the oil companies. The findings of this research have strong implications for stakeholder theory, as well as future research into stakeholder management practices, particularly in relation to non-contractual or nonmarket stakeholders; they also shed light on several important practical issues in business management.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
In project management, stakeholders are key to ensuring the success of a project. However, research has found that not enough attention is given to the needs and influence of stakeholders. In the search of a holistic approach to stakeholder management, very few recommendations could be found in literature. The purpose of this research is to search for key elements in literature that can be used in the development of a generic model that guides the user in the process of stakeholder management in projects. Through the investigation of peer reviewed journal articles, a model was developed that can be used to manage a project’s stakeholders. A six-step model was developed, encompassing the identification, analysis, prioritisation, engagement, communication and review of stakeholder. The review step in the process is not a step that is performed in isolation, but is rather a review of the five previous steps. The review of stakeholders will be conducted when the project enters a new phase, at specific intervals or when a trigger event occurs. It is the finding of this investigation that enough research has been conducted within the stakeholder milieu to compile a holistic, generic stakeholder management model.

Матеріал присвячено питанням групування потенційно зацікавлених сторін проекту.
Материал посвящен вопросам группировки потенциально заинтересованных сторон проекта.
The material is devoted to the grouping of potential stakeholders of the project.

There often exist hard-to-identify or unforeseen external parties that emerge as indirect stakeholders of a project who can significantly influence its execution and outcome. The broader stakeholder landscape in both theory and practice recognizes the local community including other interest groups of a project site as such key stakeholders. However recent cases have revealed shortcomings in managing this category of stakeholders, leading to authoritative rejection of development permit applications and strong local opposition that consequently increase costs and delay to the project. There is indication that a weak community stakeholder management process in the planning stages can cause problems to the project, or worse, in some cases lead to project failure and abandonment by the developer. Wind energy development projects are not exempted from this condition and are possibly even more prone as they involve the erection of tall wind turbines across wide-open landscapes that are deemed controversial and unacceptable to a wider population. Endorsed by the persuasive rationale for wind energy especially in view of the environment and sustainable development, a more comprehensive and effective guidance for community stakeholder management in the planning stage is required to mitigate, if not eliminate, potential issues that can hinder the successful implementation of wind energy development projects. Hence this thesis primarily seeks to answer the research question of: “How should community stakeholders of wind energy development projects be managed in the planning stage prior to permit application?”.

Using a qualitative approach to research through interviews with several industry practitioners and reviewing secondary data of industry best practices, policies, literature and case studies, 16 community stakeholder management key conclusion points could be made from research data collected. These points are individually important while in aggregate form a broad and novel framework that serves to further raise the awareness and readiness of wind energy development project managers in their community stakeholder management initiatives. A baseline list of community stakeholders and their common concerns were identified, together with suggested approaches to identify community stakeholders in each project. Community consultation is key to the process and engaging the community as widely and early as possible is recommended. Furthermore, key principles and an array of common methods for community stakeholder management in the planning stages of the project are presented, while acknowledging that not all stakeholders can be satisfied at each instance. Ultimately these findings were consolidated in a community consultation checklist that serves as a more systematic and practical tool in guiding project managers in their community stakeholder management initiatives during planning.

The research findings herewith contribute valuable insights to the existing body of knowledge in this area and also provide enhanced practical guidance to project managers in achieving successful community stakeholder management during planning, facilitating higher acceptance for the proposal, carrying out a more efficient and effective planning process and improving the likelihood for project approval from both authoritative and judiciary standpoints.

This thesis explores how governance networks prioritise and engage with their stakeholders, by studying three exemplars of “Regional Road Group” governance networks in Queensland, Australia. In the context of managing regionally significant road works programs, stakeholder prioritisation is a complex activity which is unlikely to influence interactions with stakeholders outside of the network. However, stakeholder priority is more likely to influence stakeholder interactions within the networks themselves. Both stakeholder prioritisation and engagement are strongly influenced by the way that the networks are managed, and in particular network operating rules and continuing access to resources.

The systematic, downward trend in state funding support to public higher education has resulted in many higher education institutions undertaking large-scale, coordinated fundraising projects or capital campaigns in order to increase third stream income. There is a dearth of research which explores stakeholder management – one of the key knowledge areas in project management – in the public higher education fundraising environment. This research study set out to identify the issues which need to be considered when developing a stakeholder management strategy for fundraising projects at a South African public higher education institution. A qualitative, case study approach was adopted, with semi-structured interviews used to obtain the data. Thematic analysis was used for identifying and analysing patterns or themes within data. The University of Cape Town (UCT) was selected as the case. The research identified that there are a number and variety of stakeholders in the UCT fundraising environment. This could give rise to project complexity affecting the stakeholder landscape. The research highlighted there was a main focus on internal stakeholders, as well as certain external stakeholders necessary for providing third stream income to the university. Some of the strategies used to manage stakeholders were also those identified as critical success factors for effective stakeholder management. The research highlighted the importance of relationship management and stewardship as stakeholder management strategies, which supports the normative approach of stakeholder management. The study found that internal stakeholders possibly cause uncertainty in projects, and hence stakeholder management strategies could mitigate against the possible negative effects.

Stakeholder management is a topic that has received increased attention in later years. Researchers have tried to answer the question of which stakeholders that really matters to organizations and developed ways for identifying and prioritizing among stakeholders. This thesis fills a void in academia by looking exclusively on external stakeholders in large and complex projects such as the construction of power plants. The thesis investigates the approach towards external stakeholders as well as the process of identifying and prioritizing external stakeholders in this specific setting. By using attributes identified in earlier research, a theoretical framework was created that was used to investigate two of Sweden’s largest companies through a qualitative case study. The thesis describe how stakeholder identification and prioritization occurs in the different case companies and ultimately contribute with a new model that can be used by managers to prioritize among external stakeholder in organizational projects.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 132-134).
The management of environmental programs affects a great variety of issues and involves several stakeholders with diverse, and often conflicting, concerns. Any methodology proposed for environmental decision making should, then, be capable of integrating technical and value-laden objectives in a framework which ensures process transparency. Furthermore, only a methodology simple and easy to implement can achieve public involvement at every level, and, with it, achieve a thoroughly informed decision. Classic decision making techniques have provided the tools to organize decision problems in a sound logical structure. Unfortunately, actual applications have shown that, when it comes to the practical quantification of stakeholder values, these tools may be too burdensome to apply. This is particularly so in cases where non-technical public is a fundamental part of the decision process. In this thesis, the focus is on a methodology developed to assess stakeholder preferences regarding a number of objectives of environmental restoration activities, such as the minimization of costs and the impact on human health and safety, and on its combination with the structural approach provided by classic methods. Stakeholder input is used to produce a first set of relative weights using the Analytic Hierarchy Process in combination with value trees. The set of preferences so obtained, as well as possible inconsistencies in their assessments, are discussed with the stakeholders to revise the weights and reduce inconsistency. The stakeholders always have the final word regarding the relative weights. The prioritization procedure is presented through a case study. Insights gained from this real life application are also presented.
by Roberto Accorsi.
S.M.

This research study empirically tests: 1) the relationship(s) between stakeholder characteristics and project performance; 2) the mediating effect of effective stakeholder management strategies on the aforementioned relationship(s); and 3) the moderating effect of project complexity on the relationship(s) between effective stakeholder management strategies and project performance. To achieve the study’s objectives, a research model was proposed comprising four main components, namely stakeholder characteristics, effective stakeholder management, project performance and project complexity. These components were linked by 20 proposed hypotheses that were established according to assumed theoretical relationships. To validate the research model and test the proposed hypotheses, a quantitative research method was adopted. A series of multivariate statistical approaches were employed for the data, which were collected from 136 project managers and project management team members across diverse fields in more than 20 countries. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to identify factor structures that represented each underlying construct. Legitimate behaviour, supportive behaviour and opposing behaviour were identified as underlying factors of stakeholder power. Similarly, the agile response to change construct had two (internal and external agile response to change) underlying factors that represented the ability to respond to internal and external changes, respectively. Finally, quantitative and qualitative performance were revealed as underlying factors of project performance. Confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted to validate the results obtained from the exploratory factor analysis results. Structural equation modelling was then applied to test the hypotheses for the structural models. A number of key findings have emerged from the current study. Stakeholder characteristics have been proven to affect project performance. For instance, both legitimate behaviour and stakeholder interests negatively affect the ability to achieve quantitative project performance measures (i.e., schedule and budget), while opposing behaviour negatively affects both quantitative and qualitative project performance measures. Opposing behaviour negatively affects qualitative project performance, and the negative effect of opposing behaviour on qualitative project performance is mediated by either effective stakeholder management, internal agile response to change or strategic project flexibility. In particular, strategic project flexibility and effective stakeholder management fully mediate the negative effect of opposing behaviour and qualitative project performance. These findings indicate that the negative effect of opposing behaviour on qualitative project performance can be eliminated by implementing strategic project flexibility only or all three strategies together. Among the effective stakeholder management constructs, internal agile response to change was found to be the most influential factor for project performance; it positively affects both quantitative and qualitative project performance. Unfortunately, project complexity negatively moderates the positive effect of internal agile response to change on quantitative project performance. However, the positive effects of internal agile response to change, strategic project flexibility and effective engagement on qualitative project performance remain constant under the different levels of project complexity. The findings that emerged from the current study and its recommendations contribute to expanding the knowledge of stakeholder management in the context of complex projects in diverse industries, and they provide practical contributions to enable managers to successfully manage projects. Further, the results provide strong and empirical evidence for project managers, who may benefit from the results by diagnosing and improving their management skills and enhancing their stakeholder management to improve success rates in the context of complex projects. It should be noted that the findings could be applied to projects in general as well as in the context of complex projects.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Eng & Built Env
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
Full Text

The Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) was first introduced in all commercial forest reserves in Sabah in 1997. This policy gives hope to the state government to manage the forests in a sustainable manner following the forest development phase of revenue oriented timber exploitation, which has contributed to the decline in forest resources; the increase in forest degradation and the decrease in state income earned from the forestry sector. Under the SFM concept, the forest of the state was divided into Forest Management Units (FMUs) managed by FMU holders under different institutional arrangements of state, state enterprise and private sector. This study was conducted to investigate the corporate-stakeholder interrelation under the SFM concept implemented by the FMU holder in Sabah, Malaysia. The research was based on the ‘Triple Typology Perspective of Stakeholder Theory’, which encapsulates three different perspectives of ‘conceptual’, ‘corporate’ and ‘stakeholder’ centric. The ‘conceptual’ perspective explores the overall SFM concept and its relation to the FMU holder – stakeholder interaction. The ‘corporate’ view investigates how the FMU holders as the corporate part of the SFM concept deals with their stakeholders; and the ‘stakeholder’ perspective analyses the relation between stakeholders, the FMU holders and SFM implementation. Stakeholder analysis was used to gather information with the application of methods incorporating literature reviews, expert interviews, focus groups, meetings and discussion, questionnaire surveys and Q methodology. Four FMUs were selected as study areas, which managed by the state, state enterprise and private sector. The respondents were encompassed personal of Sabah Forestry Department (SFD), FMU managers and FMU workers, various governmental and non-governmental agencies, and local communities of eight villages located within and in the fringe of FMU areas involved in the study. Under the ‘conceptual centric’, different groups of stakeholders were identified based on SFM documentation, which also provide the normative basis for the SFM concept. The contemporary implementation of SFM was assessed based on stakeholders’ perspective, which indicated that the overall SFM contribution entailed mainly on satisfaction of environment objectives, followed by economic and, to a lesser degree, social objectives. Different categories of stakeholders were identified based on their perceptions of various issues under SFM implementation. These include the level of cooperation or conflict; degree of stakeholder participation; views of specific individuals and a thorough comparison of individual subjectivity. There is, however, an agreement to the statements on the influential factors towards effective SFM implementation, which include the administration and leadership of SFD, and good collaboration between SFD and the FMU holders. Other consensuses were related to the roles of participation in promoting learning about synergy and the importance of various forest uses, and that it should be able to influence the decision-making during the consultation process. The implementation of SFM was agreed in influencing towards investment in the forestry sector and the development of the rural area in the state. The ‘corporate centric’ indicates the different approaches of stakeholder management under the different arrangements of FMU holders. The SFM operations with a high level of stakeholder involvement were identified as community forestry programme followed by forest conservation, forest protection, development and preparation of plans, administration, human resource development, and research and development. The important stakeholders, according to their degree of involvement in SFM operations were the internal stakeholders of FMU workers, followed by external stakeholders of the staff of SFD, contractors, local communities, local authorities, consultants, businessmen/traders and researchers/scientists. Other stakeholders were various state government agencies, manufacturers, shareholders, NGOs (local), international agencies, NGOs (international), donors, federal government agencies and other FMU holders. The ‘stakeholder centric’ identifies the various stakeholders interests and claims associated with SFM implementation that depend on stakeholder affiliation. The main groups in this study were multi-interest stakeholder groups (n=104) and the local community groups of the selected villages (n=332). The interests and claims of the multi-interest stakeholder group were related to SFM objectives such as good management of the forest, protection and conservation of environment and biodiversity, and protection of water catchment areas. The local community groups, on the other hand, were mainly concerned with the importance of the forest as a source for foods, land for agriculture and other livelihood purposes. There are various approaches for stakeholder relation management (SRM) that are employed by the FMU holders and stakeholders. These may consist of management quality system, CSR program, the community forest development project; inter agency meetings and dialogue; and collaboration and cooperation with other agencies and institutions. SRM can assist in balancing conflicts that arise, promoting cooperation, and advancing the knowledge and understanding on the SFM concept among the stakeholders. The SRM approaches under the SFM implementation can augment participation by the stakeholders, which in turn will promote effective and efficient implementation of SFM. The mutual relation of the SFM concept and SRM is advancing stakeholder participation in promoting effective implementation of SFM at the FMU level. The inter-relation of the ‘triple perspective typology of stakeholder theory’ was integrated as new contexts to achieve objectives for sustainability under SFM policy, with the business case of corporate sustainability, and the wider scope of the ecosystem approach and the sustainable development
Das Konzept Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) wurde erstmals in allen kommerziellen Waldreservaten in Sabah, Malaysia, im Jahr 1997 eingeführt. Mit dieser Politik verbindet die Landesregierung die Hoffnung, dass die Wälder nun in einer nachhaltigen Art und Weise bewirtschaftet werden können, nachdem die fast ausschließlich auf Einnahmen orientierte Holznutzung zum Rückgang der Waldbestände, zur Zunahme der Waldzerstörung und damit letztendlich auch zum Rückgang der Staatseinnahmen aus der Forstwirtschaft beigetragen hat. Zur Umsetzung des SFM-Konzepts wurde der Staatswald in Forest Management Units (FMU) unterteilt, die von FMU Haltern aus verschiedenen Staatsinstitutionen, Staatsunternehmen und der Privatwirtschaft verwaltet werden. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht das Verhältnis zwischen Unternehmen als FMU-Bewirtschaftern und Stakeholdern im Konzept nachhaltiger Waldbewirtschaftung, das von FMUs in Sabah, Malaysia implementiert wurde. Die Arbeit basiert auf der „Triple-Typology Perspective of Stakeholder Theory“, welche drei verschiedene Perspektiven beinhaltet, die konzeptionell, unternehmensbezogen oder Stakeholder-zentriert sind. Dabei untersucht die konzeptionelle Perspektive SFM-Konzepte und die daraus resultierenden Beziehungen zwischen FMU-Bewirtschafter und ihren jeweiligen Stakeholdern. Die unternehmenszentrierte Sicht legt den Schwerpunkt darauf, wie FMU-Bewirtschafter als Teil des SFM-Konzeptes mit Stakeholdern interagieren. Die Stakeholder-Perspektive analysiert das Verhältnis zwischen Stakeholdern, FMU-Bewirtschafter und der SFM-Implementierung. Die Daten wurden mit Hilfe der Stakeholder-Theorie unter Anwendung quantitativer und qualitativer Methoden wie Literaturrecherche, Experteninterviews, Fokusgruppen, informellen Treffen und Diskussionsrunden, schriftlichen Befragungen und der Q-Methodologie erhoben. Als Untersuchungseinheiten wurden vier FMUs ausgewählt, die durch den Staat, den staatlichen Forstbetrieb und den privatem Sektor bewirtschaftet werden. Die Befragungsteilnehmer setzten sich aus Personal der Forstverwaltung Sabah (Sabah Forestry Department, SFD), den FMU-Bewirtschaftern und –Mitarbeitern, verschiedenen Regierungs- und Nicht-Regierungsorganisationen und lokalen Gemeinschaften in acht Dörfern innerhalb sowie im Randgebiet der FMUs zusammen. In Bezug auf die konzeptionelle Perspektive wurden, basierend auf der SFM-Dokumentation, verschiedene Stakeholder-Gruppen identifiziert, die die normative Basis für das SFM-Konzept liefern. Dessen Implementation wurde aus Sicht der Stakeholder analysiert. Es zeigte sich, dass der gesamte Beitrag zum SFM vornehmlich umweltbezogene Zielsetzungen erfüllt, gefolgt von ökonomischen und, zu einem noch geringeren Grad, sozialen Zielen. Mehrere Kategorien von Stakeholdern wurden auf Grundlage ihrer Wahrnehmung verschiedener Aspekte im Zuge der SFM-Implementation identifiziert. Diese umfassen die Kooperations- oder Konfliktebene, den Grad der Stakeholder-Beteiligung sowie individuelle Betrachtungen. Es gibt eine Übereinstimmung zu Äußerungen, welche Einflussfaktoren hinsichtlich effektiver SFM-Implementierung entscheidend sind. Dabei wurden vor allem das Management und die Führung der, der SFD sowie gute Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem SFD und den FMU-Bewirtschaftern genannt. Weitere Übereinstimmung besteht darin, die Weiterbildung über die Bedeutung unterschiedlicher Waldnutzungen und deren Ausbalancierung zu stärken, um die Entscheidungsfindung im Konsultationsprozess beeinflussen zu können. Auch herrschte Einigkeit darin, durch Investition in den Forstsektor und Entwicklung ländlicher Regionen die Implementation von SFM zu stärken. Der unternehmensbezogene Fokus konzentriert sich auf die verschiedenen Ansätze des Stakeholder-Managements unter unterschiedlichen Charakteristika der FMU-Bewirtschafter. SFM-Maßnahmen mit einem hohen Grad an Stakeholder-Beteiligung sind Gemeinschaftsforstprogramme (community forestry programmes), gefolgt von Waldnaturschutz, Waldschutz, Entwicklung und Vorbereitung von Plänen, Verwaltung, die Entwicklung von Humanressourcen sowie Forschung und Entwicklung. Die wichtigsten Stakeholder, bezogen auf ihren Beteiligungsgrad in SFM-Maßnahmen, waren intern die Mitarbeiter der FMUs und extern die Mitarbeiter der SFD, Vertragsnehmer, lokale Gemeinschaftsgruppen und Verwaltungen, Berater, Geschäftsleute/Händler und Forscher/Wissenschaftler. Weitere Stakeholder waren verschiedene Regierungsorganisationen, Produzenten, Aktionäre, internationale Behörden, lokale und internationale NGOs, Behörden der föderalen Regierung und andere FMU-Bewirtschafter. Die Stakeholder Perspektive identifiziert verschiedene Interessen und Forderungen der Stakeholder, die sich auf die SFM-Implementation beziehen und von der Stakeholder-Zugehörigkeit abhängen. Die Hauptgruppen in dieser Studie waren sogenannte Mehrinteressen-Stakeholder-Gruppen (n=104) und lokale Gemeinschaftsgruppen (n=332). Die Interessen und Forderungen der Mehrinteressen-Stakeholder-Gruppen waren bezogen auf SFM-Ziele wie gute Waldbewirtschaftung, Schutz und Erhaltung der Umwelt und Biodiversität sowie Schutz von Wassereinzugsgebieten. Andererseits stand der Wald als Quelle für Nahrung, landwirtschaftliche Flächen und andere Aspekte des Lebensunterhaltes im Mittelpunkt des Interesses lokaler Gemeinschaftsgruppen. Es gibt zahlreiche Ansätze für das Management von Stakeholder-Beziehungen (Stakeholder Relation Management, SRM), welches durch FMU-Bewirtschafter und Stakeholder genutzt wird. Der SRM-Ansatz besteht aus dem Bewirtschaftungsqualitätssystem, CSR-Programm, dem Gemeinschaftswaldentwicklungsprojekt, multilateralen Treffen und Dialog zwischen den Behörden, und Zusammenarbeit und Kooperation mit anderen Behörden und Organisationen. SRM kann dazu dienen, mögliche Konflikte auszubalancieren, Kooperation zu begünstigen sowie das Wissen und Verständnis von SFM zu fördern. Die Einbindung von SRM in die Implementation von SFM erweitert die Beteiligung der Stakeholder, was wiederum zu einer effektiveren und effizienteren Implementation von SFM auf FMU-Ebene führen kann. Die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen der „Triple-Perspective Typology of Stakeholder Theory“ und dem Ökosystemansatz, der unternehmensbezogenen Nachhaltigkeit und dem Konzept des Sustainable Forest Management bilden die Grundlage, um das Ziel einer umfassenden Nachhaltigkeit zu erreichen

The role of stakeholder participation has been increasingly recognized as important in water management. The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), adopted in 2000 requires Member States to fulfill three levels of participation; information, consultation and active involvement. This thesis focuses on the third level of participation; where concernd groups, organizations or individuals are involved in co-designing or co-thinking of water management. This thesis uses case studies in Sweden to explore pathways for stakeholder participation in catchment-based water management, focusing on how the opportunity for stakeholder participation is created; social mechanisms important for responding to change; and how institutional arrangements can generate stakeholder participation. The result of the study shows that opportunities for changing track towards more participatory water management could be triggered by either social and ecological changes or surprises. However, in order to take the opportunity to change, social mechanisms such as leadership and social capital, is crucial. The legacy of institutional arrangements affects how water management adapts to new requirements and surprises. Some old patterns might clash with new approaches of participatory and adaptive water management. The results show the importance of creating links crucial to generate stakeholder participation. Municipalities are important actors in catchment-based water management, as well as bridging organizations that can be seen as independent by participating stakeholders. Based on these results, the solution to realize active involvement of stakeholders suggested by the Swedish Water Authorities is discussed. The result suggests that there are some important challenges to overcome, regarding institutional arrangements that could encourage stakeholder participation in water management.
QC 20120208

Information Technology (IT) projects have become critical to business strategy. However, one major issue is that, historically, IT projects have high failure rates, with scholars asserting that ineffective stakeholder management strategies were a major factor for project failure. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies IT executives use for managing IT project stakeholders by exploring the experiences of 2 CIOs and 4 IT directors in two multinational companies, based in Switzerland. Stakeholder theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and company documentation, and analyzed using Yin's 5-step data analysis process to identify and code themes. Five main themes emerged from the data analysis: organizational culture, organizational maturity, leadership, competencies, and post-implementation reviews. The results of this study revealed the importance for leaders to articulate business strategies enabling stakeholders to have a common perspective on project objectives, and to act as a foundation upon which IT executives can create effective stakeholder management strategies. Results indicated that the deployment of effective stakeholder management strategies was dependent on several factors, including organizational culture, leadership style, competencies, and organizational maturity. Findings may contribute to positive social change by encouraging effective stakeholder management to improve knowledge sharing, individual and team motivation, management across cultural boundaries, and stimulate a culture of social responsibility and sustainability.

It's widely acknowledged that the identification and engagement of stakeholders is a critical success factor for Business Process Management (BPM). Despite this, to date there has been a limited and inconsistent approach to stakeholder identification and scant attempts to holistically identify the factors which impact their engagement. This research addresses these gaps, presenting two models. The first model is a BPM stakeholder model designed to identify and enumerate all important stakeholders. The second model presents a holistic, systems-view of the factors influencing stakeholder engagement. Both models synthesises existing knowledge and provides empirical support from an in-depth case study.

Mestrado em Marketing
Apesar do termo “Stakeholders” e a sua tradução para português “Partes Interessadas” serem já reconhecidos por um grande número de gestores portugueses, a Teoria de Stakeholders, o que representa e o seu potencial como abordagem e ferramenta de gestão da empresa é ainda pouco conhecida. A aplicação desta teoria de forma sistemática nas empresas nacionais é discreta e pouco confirmada por investigação. Esta dissertação pretende alcançar uma maior compreensão relativamente à realidade da Gestão de Stakeholders em Portugal. Pretende perceber se e como a Teoria de Stakeholders é aplicada nas empresas em Portugal. E, em caso positivo, quer analisar com que motivações e razões as empresas aplicam esta abordagem e ferramenta de gestão, e com que objetivos e resultados os stakeholders são envolvidos. O número limitado de trabalhos de investigação preocupados em verificar de forma empírica a aplicabilidade desta teoria, em compreender se e como é parte da realidade da gestão e em perceber de que forma a sua aplicação influencia os resultados da organização deixa em aberto um melhor conhecimento da realidade de aplicação da Teoria de Stakeholders. Este trabalho procurou, assim, fazer um estudo qualitativo relativo à realidade da aplicação da Gestão de Stakeholders em Portugal, para perceber a aplicação, perspetiva de aplicação, objetivos e formas de implementação desta teoria em contexto organizacional. Pretende ainda compreender as perceções dos gestores relativamente aos efeitos da aplicação da Teoria de Stakeholders no desempenho das empresas em Portugal. Utilizou-se uma estratégia de design de estudo de caso, com recurso a múltiplos métodos de recolha e análise de dados, nomeadamente entrevistas, informação documental interna das organizações e documentação pública das mesmas. Os resultados da elaboração dos dez casos de estudo evidenciaram que existe aplicação da Teoria de Stakeholders nas empresas em Portugal e que, embora esta aplicação aconteça no âmbito da estratégia de sustentabilidade da empresa e das obrigações legais e normativas a que está sujeita neste contexto, a Gestão de Stakeholders é, em última análise, utilizada e percebida pelos gestores como uma ferramenta fundamental para potenciar a competitividade da empresa na esfera nacional e, sobretudo, internacional, tendo, portanto, importantes efeitos no seu desempenho.
Although a large number of Portuguese managers already recognize the word "Stakeholder", the Stakeholder Theory, what it represents and its potentiality as a strategic management approach and a tool in a company is still barely known. The systematic use of the Theory in Portuguese companies is discreet, and scarcely confirmed empirically. This dissertation intends to achieve a greater understanding regarding the reality of Stakeholder Management in Portugal. It intends to understand whether and how Stakeholder Management is used in companies in Portugal. And, if so, it intends to analyze with which motivations and reasons companies apply this management tool, and with which objectives and results the Stakeholders are involved. The limited number of research studies focused on empirically verifying the applicability of the theory, in understanding how it is part of the reality of management, and in realizing how its application influences business performance means there is a knowledge gap regarding real world use of the Stakeholders Theory in Portugal. In view of this situation, this research uses a qualitative approach on the reality of the use of Stakeholder Management in Portugal, focusing in how it is used, with which perspective, its objectives and how it is implemented in the organization’s context. It also intends to understand manager’s perceptions, of the effects of Stakeholder Theory management on the performance of companies in Portugal. This study uses a multiple case-study design strategy with multiple data collection and analysis methods per case, including interviews, company internal information of each organization and public information. Results of ten case studies show that there is application of the Stakeholder Theory in companies in Portugal. Although this happens in the framework of the company's sustainability strategy, and legal and regulatory obligations to which it is subject in this context, Stakeholder Management is ultimately used and perceived by managers as a fundamental tool, to potentiate the competitiveness of the company in the national and, above all, international sphere, and therefore it has an important effect on its performance.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Web forums offer open and interactive social communication platforms for numerous participants to share information and offer perspectives on a variety of business and social issues with audiences around the world. In addition to facilitating widespread communication, these web forums contain massive amounts of data and represent rich sources of information that can be utilized to advance the understanding of participants and society. In particular, web forums pertaining to firms and their customers, employees, and investors, represent valuable resources for the acquisition of business intelligence. However, web forums represent a complex analytic landscape requiring the development of automated, intelligent, and scalable analytic approaches. The dissertation follows the design science paradigm in management information systems research, and aims to develop and refine approaches to the analysis of web forums, and to apply these analytic approaches to firm-related web forums to derive information that may explain and predict firm stock behavior. The designs of the devised approaches to web forum analysis are informed by the stakeholder theory of the firm, and systemic functional linguistic theory. We introduce and advance a stakeholder approach to the analysis of firm-related web forums, and improve existing approaches to sentiment analysis in web forums. In Chapter 2 we develop and deploy a stakeholder framework to analyze a popular firm-related finance web forum and apply the extracted measures to explain firm stock return, volatility, and trading volume. In Chapter 3 we advance the stakeholder framework and perform dynamic analyses of web forums over time, and compare several feature representations of stakeholders and approaches to sentiment analysis. We deploy the stakeholder framework to analyze several firm-related web forums, and apply the derived measures to predict firm stock return and perform simulated trading of firm stock over a one year period to determine the economic value of the extracted information. Finally, in Chapter 4 we develop approaches to improve the scalability of sentiment analysis across multiple web forums in a collection. Overall the dissertation contributes to the literature on the analysis of web forums, and demonstrates the value of firm-related web forums as sources of business intelligence.

The study arose from a research issue that is both practical and theoretical. The apparent challenges of a stakeholder management nature in the execution of urban development projects in South Africa led to the conception of the study. However, the most compelling need for the study was the theoretical gap – in the urban development theory, in the projects theory, and particularly in the stakeholder management theory – on the management of stakeholders in the South African urban development projects. As a result, the value of the study is both managerial and scholarly. The urban development concept is understood to be referring to the development of urban areas for the purpose of improving the quality of life in the cities, and the development of the infrastructure to enable economic growth. Urban development projects, as vehicles for accomplishing urban development, are important for a newly industrialised economy (NIE) like South Africa. Also, as a result of the political past – in the form of a systematic preferential development based on racial segregation by the previous government, and the two decades of subjection of South Africa to economic and cultural isolation by the international community – South Africa has a huge backlog with regard to the two general purposes of urban development: social progress and economic progress. Consequently, urban development projects in South Africa are very critical and important, particularly for geopolitical and socio-economic reasons. Judging by the extensive negative media coverage, many of the South African urban development projects demonstrate poor stakeholder management. The list of urban development projects that have experienced stakeholder related challenges in South Africa is endless: the Johannesburg BRT project, the Gauteng Freeway Improvement project, the Transnet multi-product pipeline-construction project, the Chapman’s Peak toll-road project, the Kusile and Medupi power stations construction projects, are some examples. The project management profession and body of knowledge view stakeholder management in a serious light, actually a failure in adequately implementing stakeholder management in a project is tantamount to a failure of the project itself. There is also a consensus among numerous researchers that there is a general lack of knowledge for project managers on how to manage stakeholders, particularly external stakeholders. Stakeholder management is a poorly understood and, usually a very badly implemented project management discipline. Managing projects in Africa, and by inference in South Africa, can be particularly complex – given the involvement of multiple stakeholders and their historical, geopolitical, economic relationships, and cultural differences. The study set out to develop a framework to improve the management of stakeholders in urban development projects – by investigating the critical success factors that have an influence on stakeholder management success in urban development projects in South Africa. This study is important primarily because there seems to be no previous research conducted on this important project management discipline, stakeholder management of urban development projects; and there seems to be a neglect of stakeholder management duties by urban development projects agencies, and by inference, projects practitioners in South Africa. A theoretical space was created for this study in the fraternal literature of previous studies on critical success factors and/or stakeholder management in construction projects – as there seem to be none undertaken in the urban development environment, particularly in the South African context.

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, System Design and Management Program, Engineering and Management Program, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 70-71).
Stakeholder engagement is a key but often misunderstood performance indicator of project success in controversial projects. Construction projects, power production, medical research, and waste disposal are examples of such large-scale projects. Many of these are critical assets and yet are often at risk of being shut down due to key stakeholder disengagement. It is a tragedy when a successful and needed project is terminated not because of technical, economic, or safety issues but due to a lack of proper stakeholder engagement. At a broad level it is generally understood that stakeholder relationship management is important, but how important and what must be done to ensure appropriate stakeholder engagement remains unclear. My research addresses this chronic problem using a newly developed system dynamics model that better illustrates complex relationships, how they change over time, and what must be done to gather enough support to ensure project success. To firmly root the system dynamics model, interviews were done at an unnamed nuclear power plant (NPP) in the United States. The strengths and weaknesses of the NPP's public outreach efforts were enumerated along with the strengths and weaknesses of the model itself. Ultimately, the model was shown to be plausibly useful to individuals responsible for success in managing stakeholder relationship on controversial projects.
by Adrien Laws.
S.M. in Engineering and Management

Stakeholders play an important role for firm’s performance and survival. Being able to balance multiple stakeholder’s needs an interest simultaneously and at the same time achieve best value for provided services/products is often referred to "acting as an informed client". Real estate firms should be more involved with core stakeholders (their tenants) in order to improve their corporate social performance and productivity. Cluster theory distinguish how certain industries and firms can be interconnected, developing collaborations through geographical proximity. The effects are asymmetrical, dependent on the type cluster, the type of product/services and the firm’s included in the cluster. By combining stakeholder management and cluster theory, real estate firms are able to improve their knowledge regarding tenant’s interconnection and contribute to the development of already identified clusters within the Stockholm County. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the ongoing research regarding stakeholder management, with the usage of cluster theory. A quantitative- and qualitative analysis is conducted, using a self-administered questionnaire. A total amount of 64 retail tenants (around 80% response rate) and 28 office tenants (around 12% response rate) participated in the study. Results from the quantitative- and qualitative analysis is triangulated with secondary data, aimed to improve the reliability of the results. Both retail- and office tenants were invited to the study and the correlation between the two targets groups was determined, aimed to measure office tenant’s perception regarding cluster externalities. Results from the analysis shows that industries like information and communication, business services and credit and insurance are considered to be clustered. The highest level of science base diversity is achieved by those industries, implying a strong presence of activities sharing a common knowledge base. Retail tenant’s value suitable products (question 3) and proximity to their costumer (question 6), while office tenants value personal contacts (question 24) and proximity to major transportation routes (question 10). In addition, retail tenants have a positive attitude towards cluster externalities, while office tenants have dived perceptions or simply ignores cluster externalities, explained by the insignificant correlation between their answers. The conclusion of the study is that further research is needed, using a more extensive qualitative analysis. A larger share of participants active within industries that are considered to be clustered will provide real estate firms with the knowledge of how to proceed with their stakeholder management. It is therefore considered that certain office tenants are dependent on cluster externalities and that real estate firms should actively engage in their business, acting as a "business in society".
Intressenter har en stor påverkan på ett företags utveckling och överlevnad. Att hitta en balans mellan att tillgodose olika intressenters intressen och behov, samtidigt som man utvinner högsta avkastning för genomförda produkter/tjänster, kallas "acting as an informed client". Fastighetsföretag bör vara mer involverade med sina nyckelintressenter, allt för att kunna förbättra sin produktivitet och sitt samhällsansvar. Klusterteori identifierar hur olika sektorer kan vara sammankopplade i form av samarbeten, något som uppkommit genom en geografisk koncentrering av olika företag. Effekterna från klustring är åtskilda och beror oftast på karaktären av klustret, vilken typ av produkter/tjänster som klustret erbjuder, samt vilka typer av företag som är inkluderade i klustret. Genom att kombinera klusterteori med intressenthantering, ges fastighetsföretag möjlighet att utveckla sin kunskap gällande intressenters sammankopplingar, något som kan komma att stärka den pågående utvecklingen av Stockholms olika kluster. Syftet med examensarbetet är att bidra till pågående forskning inom området för intressenthantering, med hjälp av klusterteori. En kvantitativ och kvalitativ studie har genomförts, den kvalitativa studien baseras på en enkät. Totalt deltog 64 butikshyresgäster (80% svarsfrekvens) och 28 kontorshyresgäster (12% svarsfrekvens) i studien. Resultatet från den kvantitativa och kvalitativa studien har triangulerats, med avsikt att öka reliabiliteten av studien. Både butiks-och kontorshyresgäster var inbjudna till att delta i studien och korrelationen mellan de två fokusgrupperna fastställdes, allt för att kunna mäta kontorshyresgästers förhållningssätt gentemot klustringseffekter. Resultatet från studien visar att sektorer så som information- och kommunikation, företagstjänster, kredit- och försäkringar anses vara klustrade. Det högsta värdet gällande grunden för kunskapsdiversifiering uppmättes av dessa sektorer, vilket i sin tur symboliserar att företag inom klusterna delar gemensamma kunskapsområden. Butikshyresgäster värderar faktorer så som, anpassade produkter (fråga 3) och närheten till sina kunder (fråga 6), medan kontorshyresgästerna värderar personliga kontakter (fråga 24) och närheten till snabba transportmöjligheter (fråga 10). Ytterligare så uppvisar butikshyresgäster ett intresse för klustringseffekter, medan kontorshyresgäster uppvisar ringa intresse eller olika intresse gällande klustringseffekter, vilket kan förklaras med den insignifikanta korrelationen mellan de två grupperna. Slutsatsen från examensarbetet är att mer kvalitativ forsning inom området är nödvändigt, för att kunna säkerställa huruvida kontorshyresgäster värderar klustringseffekter. Vidare ska ytterligare forskning fokusera på sektorer som anses vara klustrade inom Stockholmsområdet, allt för att kunna urskilja hur fastighetsföretagen ska kunna utveckla sin intressenthantering. Studien påvisar att det finns företag på Stockholmsmarknaden som använder sig av klustringseffekter och att fastighetsföretagen bör aktivt föra en dialog med dessa företag, för att kunna agera som ett "företag i samhället".

Although stakeholder management is considered as one of the main success factors for projects, limited research work has investigated the stakeholder management in complex project management. This work discusses two complex projects of different characteristics and answers to the research questions. The first project is Äänekoski bioproduct mill situated in Central Finland, and the second project is Sydney Metro West of Australia. The first case is analyzed using authentic public resources and the second case is analyzed using an interview from the project owner. Both the cases were studied using Martinsuo and Lehtonen’s complex project characteristics tool, GAPPS guidelines, Mitchell et al.’s stakeholder salience theory, Frooman’s stakeholder influence strategy, D’Herbemont and Cesar’s stakeholder characteristics and decision-making strategy of Aaltonen and Sivonen. This research work combines the analysis of these two cases projects and develops a framework for stakeholder management in complex projects. As both the cases are successful in their field, the framework developed from this work can be used further by the project managers to understand the management of the stakeholder in complex projects better. Despite that, this research work can be helpful for the project management researchers and general practitioners who are interested in developing new insights into stakeholder management and complex projects.

In Washington, DC, historical data are used to adequately size for rainfall events, and efforts to increase stormwater management requirements are fought against by internal stakeholders. In urban planning, extreme rainfall events, that may occur more frequently than expected, are often not a consideration when designing for green infrastructure facilities. The purpose of this case study was to explore how internal and external stakeholders influence stormwater management policies related to extreme rainfall events in Washington, DC. The power and politics organization theory, which focuses on how individuals obtain influence, and the resource dependency theory, which explores how organizations benefit from sustainability, were used as the theoretical framework in this study. The case study analysis was conducted via phone interviews; through phone interviews, data were collected from 4 policymakers (i.e., external stakeholders), 5 real estate developers (i.e., internal stakeholders) and 3 internal team members (i.e., internal stakeholders) and analyzed thematically. All the stakeholders believed that it is not necessary to design the green infrastructure systems to the extreme rainfall event; however, the developers said that they would design their green infrastructure systems larger if required by policy. The results of the study showed that each group'€™s effect works in a cyclic fashion to each other. Recommendations for future studies include to expand and increase stakeholder participation. This collaboration and better communication can help in developing more efficient stormwater management policies for a better city, which is an implication for positive social change.

Different approaches to corporate responsibility can be identified throughout the business ethics and corporate responsibility literature. Stakeholder theory, one of these approaches, has emerged in recent years as the most prominent. This approach calls for a shift from the supremacy of economic interests of stockholders and attempts to derive alternatives for corporate governance that include and balance the interests of all those affected by corporate conduct. This thesis consists of a review of relevant literature to identify three major contributions stakeholder theory brings to the CR debate: (1) it implicitly introduces the organic model into the CR debate and thereby forces a fundamental change in the way corporations are conceived within ethics frameworks; (2) in recognition of the expanding ethical sphere of corporations, it extends corporate responsibility beyond economic performance, the owners of the corporation, expertise, and the law and government regulations; and (3) it provides a foundation for identifying what responsibilities corporations do have.

Travel and tourism are concepts that date back to 3000 B.C. with globalization extending possibilities of travel to people across the world. Addressing stakeholder concerns is especially important in promoting the development of sustainable tourism contributing to the protection of Earth's natural resources and long-term sustainability of tourism businesses through collaboration and participation. This qualitative case study incorporated a strategic stakeholder management framework, focusing on exploring strategies that Hawaii tourism industry leaders use for increasing stakeholder participation in sustainable tourism development. The population consisted of individuals across 6 categories of Hawaii tourism industry stakeholders identified as visitors, residents, government or public servants, representatives of academic institutions, tourism business owners, and special interest groups. Data triangulation occurred through semistructured interviews of 10 participants, comprehensive review of archival data and government statistical data, and organizational documents. Data analysis included both manual and multiple systemic coding for each sources of data. Three thematic strategies emerged: establishing relationship management, consistent and effective communication, and partnership programs with a variety of stakeholders. Within establishing relationship management, participants articulated conflict resolution as the most critical and challenging aspect to successful stakeholder collaboration strategies. This research has implications for social change by offering enhancement to relationships necessary to develop sustainable tourism options, ultimately bolstering the local economy while fostering protection of natural and cultural resources.

This exploratory study provides critical insights into how stakeholders in a change project perceive change management and the work of change managers. Focussing attention on how multiple stakeholders' perspectives mesh to form a consensus on project success and change management success, this study explored ways in which change managers might influence success personally and through their use of change management. Though there can be no single or right way to manage change, this thesis identifies three success factors for change managers and six success factors for change management that may facilitate perceptions of project success.

Botswana's population and water demand are growing at a high rate particularly in the dry south eastern part of the country. In 1999, a Water Conservation Policy and Strategy framework document was formulated to guide a transition from a supply driven water management approach to water demand management. This study investigated whether there was a disparity between the framework policy and strategy recommendations and their actual implementation.

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder management is relatively new to the Ghanaian business sector. Unilever Ghana ltd. has consistently had a prominent CSR drive in Ghana for several years. It has been found that stakeholder involvement in CSR is important for implementing relevant CSR programs which creates goodwill, good reputation and enhances business value. It is on this basis that this case study of Unilever Ghana was conducted. It investigates the CSR process of the company, the involvement and management of stakeholders in that regard and the relationship with corporate (financial) performance. Using the stakeholder approach as theoretical frame, interviews with open-ended questioning style as well as documents are used as sources of evidence. Analysis of the data is done with the help of building empirical models which will serve as guidelines for management practitioners dealing with stakeholder relations and CSR in modern Ghana.

In this paper, Swedish wolf population management was analyzed by two models. One is information index system to measure the positive and normative information held by the stakeholders. By using this system, the quantitative information indices can be measured to give people a clear understanding of the current situation of themselves and other stakeholders in order to enhance communication and engagement. By testing the current information shortage from the national survey, it was confirmed that the information shortage do exist in the society and the need for improving the information acquirement is significant. Besides, satisfaction functions of positive and negative stakeholders towards wolf population were used to test an agreeable wolf population. Stakeholder satisfaction was expressed as a function of wolf pupulation, either positively or negatively correlated, using economic and social features such as taxes, compensation, preventative payments, lupophobia, biphilia, etc. Weights were given to derive overall goal functions for pro- and anti-wolf stakeholders in order to find if there exist wolf population levels which might indicate include common preference. Whereas, current wolf pupulation is around 210 in Sweden, the results showed that all stakeholder groups could be satisfied with a population of around 500 wolves. Some major policy measures were studied for their influence on stakeholders' interests, in particular in how to increase wolf population in order to achieve this solution.

Doutoramento em Ciências e Engenharia do Ambiente
Os incêndios florestais, associados ao abandono do espaço rural, a pequena propriedade florestal e o desinteresse e o absentismo dos proprietários florestais têm sido apontados como fatores que têm afetado a sustentabilidade das florestas em Portugal. Apesar da formulação de políticas e de instrumentos de planeamento e de gestão florestal para lidar com estes constrangimentos, são ainda escassos os progressos para uma Gestão Florestal Sustentável. A nível internacional e europeu, a participação dos agentes já representa um aspeto-chave no processo de definição e de implementação de estratégias que promovam a multifuncionalidade da floresta, mas também se adeqúem às necessidades e aos interesses dos agentes locais. A temática da tese esteve focada nesta discussão, argumentando que existe uma escassa participação dos agentes nos processos de tomada de decisão relativos ao setor florestal. O principal objetivo da investigação foi o desenvolvimento de uma metodologia participativa para a discussão e negociação de estratégias locais para a Gestão Florestal Sustentável, que maximizem o potencial produtivo e o papel sócio-ambiental das florestas, diminuam o risco de incêndio e promovam o crescente interesse e participação dos agentes locais na gestão florestal. A tese está estruturada em três partes. A primeira parte apresenta uma avaliação do sector florestal nacional, com base numa revisão bibliográfica e numa comparação de indicadores, políticas e instrumentos de planeamento e gestão florestal (Capítulo 2) e com base num estudo de perceção social desenvolvido numa área de estudo localizada na região Centro de Portugal. Este estudo analisa as perceções técnicas (decisores políticos e técnicos) e sociais (proprietários florestais e outros membros da comunidade local) sobre as florestas, a gestão florestal e os incêndios florestais (Capítulo 4). As ‘Zonas de Intervenção Florestal’, enquanto ferramenta recente para a cooperação e organização dos proprietários e produtores florestais, foram também analisadas (Capítulo 3). A segunda parte da tese é dedicada à análise de processos de participação pública, com base numa revisão bibliográfica sobre os benefícios, níveis, abordagens e métodos de participação (Capítulo 5) e numa avaliação de processos de participação pública desenvolvidos em Portugal (Capítulo 6). A terceira parte da tese foca-se no desenho e no teste da metodologia participativa proposta no âmbito desta tese (Capítulo 7) e na formulação de algumas orientações para melhoria dos processos participativos na gestão florestal (Capítulo 8). Os resultados confirmaram a centralidade dos incêndios florestais e dos fatores associados ao contexto socioeconómico (e.g. despovoamento e envelhecimento populacional, absentismo, falta de gestão florestal, estrutura fundiária) como os principais problemas que afetam a floresta na região Centro de Portugal. A organização e cooperação dos proprietários florestais emergiu como solução possível para lidar com estas ameaças e promover a multifuncionalidade da floresta, sendo essencial aumentar o conhecimento e a participação dos agentes nas decisões associadas à floresta. É proposta uma ferramenta para esta participação, centrada no contexto local e facilmente utilizável por todos os agentes. A implementação da metodologia participativa revelou o seu potencial no desenvolvimento de uma participação equitativa e inclusiva dos múltiplos agentes.
Forest fires associated with rural abandonment, small-scale forest ownership and landowners’ disinterest and absenteeism are affecting the sustainability of forests in Portugal. Despite the design of policies, planning and management tools for dealing with these constraints, the progresses towards Sustainable Forest Management have been insufficient. At international and European level, stakeholder participation is a key-issue in the definition and implementation of strategies that, while promoting the multifunctionality of forests, also meet the needs and the interests of local stakeholders. The thematic of the thesis has focused on that discussion, arguing that there is a lack of effective and adequate stakeholder participation in decision-making processes concerning the forest sector. The main aim of the research was designing a stakeholder participatory methodology for discussing and negotiating local strategies for Sustainable Forest Management, able to contribute to maximize the productive potential and the socio-environmental role of forests, reduce the fire hazard and promote an increasing interest and participation of local stakeholders in forest management. The thesis is organized in three main parts. The first part presents an assessment of the national forest sector, through a literature review comparing indicators, policies and instruments relating to the sector (Chapter 2) and through a social perception survey implemented at a case study located in Central Portugal. The survey analysed the technical (decision-makers and technicians) and social (forest owners and other citizens) perceptions of forests, of forest management and of the fire hazard (Chapter 4). The 'Forest Intervention Area' approach, as the most recent tool for cooperation and organization of forest owners and producers, was also assessed using official data and the results from the social perception survey (Chapter 3). The second part is dedicated to stakeholder participation processes, through a literature review about the benefits, levels, approaches and methods of participation (Chapter 5) and an assessment of stakeholder participation processes developed in Portugal (Chapter 6). The third part presents the design and testing of the participatory methodology proposed in this thesis (Chapter 7) and proposes some recommendations for improving stakeholder participation in forest management (Chapter 8). The results confirmed fire hazard and socio-economic contextual variables (depopulation and ageing, absenteeism, absence of forestry practices; land size, etc.) as central problems of Central Portugal forests. The organization and the cooperation of forest owners emerged as the possible solution for dealing with these threats, whilst promoting the multifunctionality of forests, where it is essential to increase stakeholder knowledge and participation in forest-related decisions. A tool for stakeholder participation focused on the local context and easily used by all stakeholders is proposed. The implementation of the methodology demonstrated its potential in promoting an equitable and inclusive participation among multiple stakeholders.

Although stakeholder management has long been acknowledged as a means of increasing the propensity for successful delivery of construction projects, the full benefits of stakeholder management have yet to be tapped. Previous research efforts indicate lack of comprehensive stakeholder management process since the existing frameworks in construction either focussed on a particular construction stage or failed to incorporate important considerations such as the impact of procurement routes, internal stakeholder collaboration, responsibility for stakeholder management and project life cycle. This research aims to develop a comprehensive framework for stakeholder management in construction projects in order to enable the industry tap the full benefits of stakeholder management. In order to achieve this aim, previous work on stakeholder management is reviewed. The current practice of stakeholder management within the construction industry, the effects of procurement routes and contract forms on stakeholder management process, the relationship among the critical success factors for stakeholder management in construction projects are investigated using an industry survey among construction professionals practicing within the United Kingdom. Data collected is analysed using a combination of qualitative approach and appropriate statistical techniques including structural equation modelling (SEM) to investigate the current practice of stakeholder management in construction projects, effects of procurement routes and contract conditions on stakeholder management process, and the interrelationships among the critical success factors for stakeholder management in construction projects. Based on a combination of the findings from literature review and data analyses, a life cycle based framework for stakeholder management in construction projects is developed using Integrated Defiinition0 (IDEF0) modelling. The framework is validated by practising industry professionals and is identified as a comprehensive guide to construction industry practitioners for carrying out stakeholder management in construction projects.

This thesis focuses on quality improvement in local NHS services in response to national legislation. The preparatory literature search of healthcare, change and quality theories identified the common theme of participation for success as well as a distinct gap in quality management models suitable for healthcare. Action research was used to develop, implement and evaluate such a model, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, enabling ownership of the model by participating stakeholders, and facilitating change by reflection and action. The thesis is organised into three main parts from which key themes emerge. The first section establishes health and its care as the most basic of human needs. Healthcare delivered through public provision has a medically dominated hierarchy of stakeholders with different expectations: users pursue a social model of care, managers a business model, and providers a scientific model. The lack of evidence on which to base provision has resulted in autonomous clinical practice which, without reference to guidelines, is difficult to assure. In a culture of professional awareness, autonomy can provide an opportunity for service improvement The second section describes the development of the Quality Synthesis Model through participant involvement. Recent experiences of change in the NHS provided direction through: the need for clarity and agreement over quality issues, vision and values; a strategic approach; and capacity and empowerment to respond. In addition, these followed generic best practice of a conducive culture, communication, commitment and measures of progress. Finally, in the third section, the empirical chapters describe implementation and analyses of the model in the sample semi-profession service of chiropody with older people. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected through records, repeat surveys and sub sample telephone interview. Evaluation of the model was against: • operational criteria requirements • compatibility with commissioning • sound methodology • changes in stakeholder culture. The results suggest that the Quality Synthesis Model is a cost-effective answer to local quality management in a culture of professional awareness, respecting the influence of the ultimate power of medicine. Together with the principles of change management, and particularly the lessons learned from the implementation of previous initiatives, local NHS units could successfully move towards a sustained responsive culture through the use of the model.

The current study investigates the mechanisms employed for analyzing and engaging stakeholders through the planning and implementation phases of the mobility management project Sustainable Travel in Umeå Region (Sweden). In alignment with researchers' epistemological and ontological assumptions, an abductive approach and the case study strategy were selected. The qualitative data collected through conducting interviews with the five project team members and through examining project's documentation were analyzed using the pattern matching technique and leading to the findings presented in detail in Chapter 4 and discussed in Chapter 5. The core finding of the study is a model of the use of mechanisms through the planning and implementation phases of a MM project. The planning phase of the project coincides with the stakeholders' analysis process, thus identifying, classifying, characterizing and a very complex process of designing the engagement strategy for citizens, which includes also deciding and starting implementing the strategy for organizations. The correspondent analysis and engagement mechanisms, developed by the project stakeholders‟ scholars for each of these stages, are mostly unwittingly used by the project team. Once the engagement strategy for citizens is decided, the implementation phase is initiated. The implementation phase is characterized by a blend between MM mechanisms and classic stakeholders' engagement mechanisms, which are constantly reassessed through project's lifecycle. In addition, the main challenges emerged in the process of stakeholders' engagement in this project are discussed, concluding that the lack of alignment between some of the regulations coming from the national and supranational level and the project's aim, combined with communication issues and the unwillingness of the targeted organization to interfere in the personal lives of their employees, are the elements that most endanger the success of the stakeholders' engagement process and implicitly of the MM project.

This thesis defines an interpretive stakeholder analysis approach for studying interorganisational systems and demonstrates its value in the healthcare domain. It is argued that the complex and political nature of these systems implies that the issues affecting their development and implementation go well beyond the primarily commercial concerns on which current research in interorganisational systems focuses. This thesis is based on the assumption that this broader range of issues can be better investigated and understood through a systematic and comprehensive study of their stakeholders. It is argued that this can be achieved by adopting an interpretive research epistemology, not least because of some common assumptions that stakeholder analysis approaches and interpretive research share. The thesis unveils these common assumptions and uses them to define an interpretive approach to the identification and analysis of stakeholder perceptions on interorganisational systems and their context. Using previous research in the stakeholder literature this work examines descriptive, instrumental and normative implications of the stakeholder approach in interorganisational systems use in healthcare, a domain where interorganisational systems development is less likely to be driven by commercial concerns. The descriptive aspect is made explicit with the study of interorganisational systems used in the drug use management domain whereas instrumental and normative aspects are investigated in the context of the NHSnet, a controversial system pertaining the electronic exchange of information in the healthcare domain in the United Kingdom. The thesis contributes to interpretive information systems research with the systematic study of the stakeholder concept in an interorganisational context and its grounding within the interpretive epistemology. It emphasises the importance and interrelation between the different aspects of stakeholder theory and demonstrates the value of each aspect in the healthcare domain thus also contributing to a rich insight in the particular empirical research context.

This paper analyzes the effects of economic crises on firms' use of management control mechanisms and on their management of stakeholder relations. Moreover, the association between stakeholder management and management control system use is analyzed. In the wake of the economic crisis of 2008/2009, many firms were faced with severe threats that called for immediate short-term action to ensure firm survival. However, short-term action like massive cost-cutting and cash generation often are blamed for going at the expense of long-term health as key stakeholder relations may be irreversibly harmed. Hence, three interrelated questions are addressed theoretically and empirically: First, we analyze the impact of the recent economic crisis on firms' control strategies. More specifically, we investigate whether a high crisis impact on firms is associated with a shortening of reporting cycles, a more interactive use of control-relevant information, restriction of employee autonomy and a focus on liquidity and cost-cutting. Second, we examine from the viewpoint of stakeholder theory how firms can make use of active stakeholder management for crisis management. Third, we explore whether firms can take short-term measures for ensuring liquidity and cutting costs and at the same time pursue a stakeholder strategy aiming at the long-term survival of the firm. Using survey data from 204 major Austrian corporations, we provide evidence that firms significantly adjusted their control systems as a response to the economic crisis. Our data do not indicate an immanent contradiction between a "short-term finance focus" and the pursuit of a sustainable stakeholder strategy.

The establishment in business of concepts associated with the social bottom line (corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainability, community investment, stakeholder involvement, public participation and societal license amongst them) have focused the attention of communications academics and practitioners alike on the broad area of corporate social performance as a compelling element in the triple bottom line. Associated with this focus on corporate social performance, has been a burgeoning interest in stakeholder-related concepts of management, together with a drive to enhance the strategic value of corporate communications functions such as stakeholder engagement, community consultation and issues (social risk) management - primarily to improve corporate responsiveness.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Management)
As organizations face stiff pressure from various stakeholders, management has had to move beyond the idea of shareholder wealth maximization and incorporate the environmental and social concerns from the various stakeholders. The study identifies how Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) practices enable the firm to manage the social, environmental and economic Triple Bottom Line (TBL) for four key stakeholder groups - customers, suppliers, regulators and the community. The study adopted a case study design, focused on Safaricom, arguably Africa's most innovative cellular firm which has championed the M-pesa money transfer platform. The objectives were, first, to establish key attributes namely; power, legitimacy and urgency of selected stakeholders of Safaricom and the key determinants of their salience, second, to determine stakeholder expectations and how they hold Safaricom accountable; third, to identify the extent of Safaricom's influence and control over the selected stakeholders; and finally, to establish how and to what extent the firm manages stakeholder exposure through their SSCM practices and TBL measures. Data from semi-structured interviews with Safaricom management and the four key selected stakeholder groups, together with company and public documents, were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Stakeholder groups were selected to represent examples of low, moderate or high levels of salience and exposure. While all are considered important, the case reveals how Safaricom management prioritizes and addresses stakeholder needs according to their attributes. As each stakeholder group is heterogeneous, the case reveals how the firm manages each distinctively and adopts diverse SSCM practices, which are aligned with the firm's TBL measures. Moreover, stakeholder exposure has a moderating effect on the relationship between the firm's SSCM practices and the TBL measures.