Assessment of Stakeholders' Management Practice in Infrastructure Projects-An Indian Case Project

Due to the virtue of infrastructure projects being socio-centric, the impact of these projects on the community is highly significant. While the stakeholders' consultation and communication at the planning phase is relatively more stringent among the developed economies, the rapid urbanization and unprecedented pace of infrastructure development in developing economies often leads to a compromise. Unlike the traditional measure of success being confined to cost, time and quality performance alone, the success of the capital intensive infrastructure projects requires a wider focus encompassing the needs, requirements and long term value creation in social context. Such a holistic assessment of the project is only possible when the representation of the respective communities is well integrated within the project development process. Focusing on a current metro rail project in an Indian city, this research develops a framework for integrating the extended community viewpoints in relation to the coordination and management practices being adopted by the concerned authorities in the construction phase of the project. Utilizing a questionnaire survey for data collection and social network theory as research method, coordination of 30 extended stakeholders have been evaluated across 23 key issues associated with the construction phase of the project. The unidirectional dataset with 45 valid responses has been analyzed using NetMiner 4.0 software for studying the communication exchanges and degree of community satisfaction within the respective social network models. Highlighting the efficiencies and inefficiencies of communication among the stakeholders, the findings contribute significantly for effective management of stakeholders in infrastructure projects and deriving success in a societal context.