Focusing megaproject strategies on sustainable best value of stakeholders
18 Sep 2017-Vol. 7, Iss: 4, pp 441-455
TL;DR: In this article, a case is made for aligning the immediate expectations from a megaproject with a parallel focus on the best overall value for all, including long-term stakeholders, thereby also targeting more meaningful and sustainable contributions to the built environment.
Abstract: Purpose
Most megaprojects focus on overcoming current infrastructure capacity problems or opening up new business opportunities, while a few may be inspired by iconic-symbolic or socio-political drivers. Also, many megaprojects may be seen to focus on benefitting proximate stakeholders in the short-medium term. A case is made here, for aligning the immediate expectations from a megaproject with a parallel focus on the best overall value for all, including long-term stakeholders, thereby also targeting more meaningful and sustainable contributions to the built environment. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws together and synergises relevant findings from two completed PhD projects and another research project in Hong Kong. Additionally, a focused literature survey and a case study, also contribute to the development of the proposed concepts and strategies. This is therefore a hybrid between a “review” paper and a “conceptual” paper where a suite of significant improvements to current practice are conceptualised and proposed, based on logical integration of relevant findings from the above three research projects, literature review and case study.
Findings
Inadequate stakeholder engagement has led to many process disruptions and adverse outcomes in recent megaprojects. A structured approach focusing throughout on common overall value from the outset is proposed to achieve better and more sustainable megaproject outcomes. Specific recommendations include: aligning megaproject stakeholder objectives with regional or even national needs and targeting co-creation of common value through early stakeholder involvement in planning and design of built infrastructure megaprojects.
Originality/value
The increasing number, scale and complexity of megaprojects has amplified their impact on the built environment and its sustainability, hence the imperative to incorporate sustainability considerations, so as to formulate and manage megaprojects better. The proposed approaches in this paper can help revamp megaproject strategies towards such sustainable outcomes.
Citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address a key knowledge gap on the impacts of urban megaprojects on water security and water-related human rights in Southeast Asia through a literature review, field observations and digital earth observation.
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References
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01 Mar 2010
18,472 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1984TL;DR: The Stakeholder Approach: 1. Managing in turbulent times 2. The stakeholder concept and strategic management 3. Strategic Management Processes: 4. Setting strategic direction 5. Formulating strategies for stakeholders 6. Implementing and monitoring stakeholder strategies 7. Conflict at the board level 8. The functional disciplines of management 9. The role of the executive as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Part I. The Stakeholder Approach: 1. Managing in turbulent times 2. The stakeholder concept and strategic management 3. Stakeholder management: framework and philosophy Part II. Strategic Management Processes: 4. Setting strategic direction 5. Formulating strategies for stakeholders 6. Implementing and monitoring stakeholder strategies Part III. Implications for Theory and Practice: 7. Conflict at the board level 8. The functional disciplines of management 9. The role of the executive.
17,404 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a model that incorporates this overall argument in the form of a series of hypothesized relationships between different dimensions of social capital and the main mechanisms and proces.
Abstract: Scholars of the theory of the firm have begun to emphasize the sources and conditions of what has been described as “the organizational advantage,” rather than focus on the causes and consequences of market failure. Typically, researchers see such organizational advantage as accruing from the particular capabilities organizations have for creating and sharing knowledge. In this article we seek to contribute to this body of work by developing the following arguments: (1) social capital facilitates the creation of new intellectual capital; (2) organizations, as institutional settings, are conducive to the development of high levels of social capital; and (3) it is because of their more dense social capital that firms, within certain limits, have an advantage over markets in creating and sharing intellectual capital. We present a model that incorporates this overall argument in the form of a series of hypothesized relationships between different dimensions of social capital and the main mechanisms and proces...
15,365 citations
13 Feb 2003
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the role of politicians and the public in the process of land-use development megaprojects and suggest practical solutions drawing on theory and scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations and five continents.
Abstract: Promoters of multi-billion dollar land-use development megaprojects systematically misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get them approved and built This book not only explores these issues, but suggests practical solutions drawing on theory and scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations and five continents It is of interest to students, scholars, planners, economists, auditors, politicians and concerned citizens
2,044 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors take stock of megaproject management, an emerging and hugely costly field of study, and conclude that we are presently entering a new "tera era" of trillion-dollar projects.
Abstract: This paper takes stock of megaproject management, an emerging and hugely costly field of study. First, it answers the question of how large megaprojects are by measuring them in the units mega, giga, and tera, concluding we are presently entering a new "tera era" of trillion-dollar projects. Second, total global megaproject spending is assessed, at USD 6-9 trillion annually, or 8 percent of total global GDP, which denotes the biggest investment boom in human history. Third, four "sublimes" - political, technological, economic, and aesthetic - are identified to explain the increased size and frequency of megaprojects. Fourth, the "iron law of megaprojects" is laid out and documented: Over budget, over time, over and over again. Moreover, the "break-fix model" of megaproject management is introduced as an explanation of the iron law. Fifth, Albert O. Hirschman's theory of the Hiding Hand is revisited and critiqued as unfounded and corrupting for megaproject thinking in both the academy and policy. Sixth, it is shown how megaprojects are systematically subject to "survival of the unfittest," explaining why the worst projects get built instead of the best. Finally, it is argued that the conventional way of managing megaprojects has reached a "tension point," where tradition is challenged and reform is emerging.
925 citations