Project Management: Identifying and Ranking the Stakeholders

The range and nature of stakeholders will vary very greatly from one project to another, but the principle of stakeholders identification can be illustrated by an example. Suppose that a project has been proposed to redevelop a derelict urban area. This ambitious project will provide a shopping mall, offices, cinema, and live entertainments, other leisure facilities, new connecting roads and so on. The primary stakeholders for this project will certainly include the main project contractor and the project owner. The banks or other organizations financing the project will also have a considerable primary interest in the project's success or failure.

Not least of the stakeholders are all those who hold shares or have otherwise invested in participating companies that, by accepting an element of risk, stand to make a profit or loss as a result of the project.

Subcontractors, suppliers, staff, artisans, and laborers can all be considered stakeholders too, although perhaps these could be placed in the second rank. Intended occupiers of the shops, offices, and other premises also have a large stake in the project.

There are others who will be dependent on the secondary stakeholders. These are the wholesale suppliers of merchandise to be sold in the new shops, service staff such as car park attendants, shop and office workers, companies expecting to provide security, cleaning, and maintenance services, and so on.

Public transport organizations must consider how the development will affect passenger numbers: some of their existing services might need to be changed to suit the new travel patterns (and take advantage of the new business generated).

Then there are various regulatory authorities, such as the local building inspectors, planning office, and many other official organizations. These are all stakeholders whose devisions can affect the project.

People living near the proposed development will benefit from the new shopping and leisure facilities but might resent the inconvenience of construction works and the prospect of increased traffic and noise when the new premises start to function. Parents might be concerned that their schoolchildren will have to cross busier streets. Motorists and other road users will be interested in how the new road layouts will affect their journeys. The new entertainments facilities will provide wider opportunities for live artistes.

This discussion could be carried on at length to identify still more stakeholders. Some will have the power to influence the project, while others will be able only to voice opinions. All stakeholders might be ranked (primary, secondary, tertiary, and so on) according to the power they can wield and the impact the project will have on them. This type of ranking can be used to make informed project decisions that will benefit the top-ranked stakeholders while keeping in mind the lower-ranked stakeholders.