Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability-Related Project Performance in Construction Menoka Bal A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Liverpool John Moores University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2014 Acknowledgement My most grateful sincere thanks goes to my supervisor Dr. David Bryde for his support, friendship and wise guidance throughout this research. I am very thankful to Edward Ochieng and Damian Fearon from the School of the Built Environment, Liverpool John Moores University for their comments, valuable advice and direction in my thesis writing and their utmost contribution to researches on construction sustainability in the UK. The efforts of teaching and administrative staff in School of Built Environment are also highly appreciated and respected. My thanks likewise go to the respondents who were interviewed and surveyed during the research. I am really grateful to all those participants for finding time to respond to my questions despite of their busy schedules and also for helping in the data collection. I would like to thank my parents and brother for their encouragement, support and sacrifice. All of my achievements are dedicated to them. My special warm acknowledgement goes to my husband Sabuj Mallik for his kindness, patience, full support and sacrifice during all the period of my study, without which I would not have been able to complete my study. ii Abstract Stakeholders are considered to be one of the key drivers for any construction project. On the other hand, the performance of construction projects is primarily driven by sustainability- related targets. Hence, there is a need for a systematic approach to engage the stakeholders, as part of the Project Management process, to achieve the construction sustainability. This research focused on stakeholder engagement with the aim to improve the construction project performance through achieving construction sustainability. A framework is developed which integrates stakeholders with sustainability driven project performance. This research performs an empirical investigation through mixed-method research as the appropriate research technique. Data collection of this research is carried out in two stages. A series of semi structured interviews were carried out with 16 experienced UK construction professionals. Prior literature were used to design the interview questions about different issues related to the stakeholder engagement, construction sustainability and construction project performance. The aim of the interview is to investigate the current issues and practices of the construction projects are facing relating to engaging stakeholder to make the construction sustainable to improve the construction project performance. Some of the hypotheses are generated relating to the findings from the interviews and literature reviews. After analysing the interviews, a questionnaire is designed based on the findings from the interviews. Questionnaires were mailed to 500 UK construction companies and 233 (46 per cent) responses were received. The aim of this survey is to find out a structured and appropriate methodology to accomplish the requirements of making the construction sector more sustainable by improving its performance. Typically, questionnaires will be used to get the participants opinion in order to produce data to follow. These data will be used to test the hypothesis. These two approaches were adopted to align the participant’s opinions and beliefs and to develop jointly acceptable strategies with agreed long-term, sustainable solutions. Statistical Package for Social Science [SPSS] is selected and used to analyse the questionnaire responses. Correlation analysis revealed that the extent of the impact of stakeholder engagement to achieve the construction sustainability and improving the construction project performance. ANOVA revealed the variation of the perception of participant’s roles and companies’ strategic focuses towards the stakeholder’s engagement, construction sustainability and construction project performance. In essence, adhering to the various levels of implementation presented will ensure that construction sector can derive the maximum benefit from stakeholder engagement and that the decision-making process and the actions regarded as critical are taken into consideration. Based on the findings from the interview and questionnaire survey a conceptual framework is set out that underline the preparation and presentation of stakeholder engagement to improve the construction project performance through achieving construction sustainability. This derived framework demonstrates that such engagement can be valuable in anticipating the expectations of the different stakeholders from the projects, which may impact on behaviour. Finally, this research provides recommendations from both a theoretical and practical point of view to improve the stakeholder’s impact on construction sustainability and construction project performance. iii Content Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………….ii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………..iii Table of Content…………………………………………………………………………....iv Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….......1 1.2 Background of Study……………………………………………………….………...1 1.3 Research Aim…………………………………………………………………………2 1.4 Research Impetus…………………………………………………………………......2 1.5 Main Research Questions…………………………………………………………......3 1.6 Research Objectives………………………………………………………………......4 1.7 Significance of Study…………………………………………………………………4 1.8 Developing Conceptual Framework………………………………………………......5 1.9 Organisation of Thesis………………………………………………………………...6 Summary………………………………………………………………………………………8 Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….......9 2.2 Concept of Sustainable Development…………………………………………………9 2.3 Concept of Sustainability in Construction Sector…………………………………….11 2.3.1 Social Sustainability…………………………………………………………..13 2.3.2 Economic Sustainability……………………………………………………...13 2.3.3 Environmental sustainability………………………………………………….13 2.3.4 Drivers for Construction Sustainability………………………………………14 2.4 Construction Sustainability Awareness………………………………………………15 2.5 Barriers of Construction Sustainability……………………………………………….16 2.6 Construction Project Performance……………………………………………………18 2.6.1 Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to measure the Construction Project Performance…………………………………………………………………………………..19 2.7 Different Construction Project Stakeholders…………………………………………20 2.8 Engaging Construction Stakeholders………………………………………………....22 2.8.1 Communication with Stakeholders…………………………………………...26 2.8.2 Stakeholder Management……………………………………………………..27 2.8.3 Stakeholder Mapping..................................................................................…...29 2.8.4 Stakeholder Analysis………………………………………………………….30 2.8.5 Stakeholder Risk Management……………………………………………….32 2.8.6 Stakeholder Relationship Management……………………………………....33 2.8.7 Stakeholder Performance Measurement……………………………………...34 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………...35 Chapter Three: An Integrative Approach to Improve Construction Project Performance 3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..36 3.2 Sustainability Related Project Performance…………………………………………..36 3.3 Relativity of companies strategic goal with its stakeholder, sustainability target and project performance………………………………………………………………………......37 3.4 Achieving sustainability through stakeholder Engagement…………………...……...38 3.5 Developing the Conceptual Framework……………………………………..……….40 Summary……………………………………………………………………………..……….43 Chapter Four: Methodology 4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………..………....44 iv 4.2 Research Philosophy and Approach………………………………………..………...44 4.2.1 Research Scope……………………………………………………..………...44 4.2.2 Understanding the research philosophy……………………………..………..45 4.2.3 Inductive and Deductive……………………………………………………..46 4.2.4 Ontological Consideration……………………………………………………47 4.2.5 Epistemological Consideration…………………………………………….....47 4.2.6 Methodological Consideration………………………………………………..48 4.2.7 Linking Ontology, Epistemology and Methodology…………………………49 4.3 Research Method……………………………………………………………………..53 4.3.1 Data Collection and Management…………………………………………....54 4.3.1.1 Interview……………………………………………………………...55 4.3.2.2 Survey………………………………………………………………...59 4.3.2 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………....60 4.3.2.1 Qualitative Data Analysis………………………………………….....60 4.3.2.2 Quantitative Data Analysis…………………………………………...63 4.3.2.2.1Parametric Data……………………………………………..63 4.3.2.2.2Non-Parametric Data………………………………………..63 4.4 Type of Tests………………………………………………………………………....63 4.4.1 Descriptive Statistics…………………………………………………………63 4.4.2 Inferential Statistics…………………………………………………………..64 4.4.2 Pearson’s Correlation Procedures………………………………………...…..64 4.4.3 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)…………………………………………......65 4.4.4 Alpha Level or Probability Test (p)………………………………………......65 4.5 Research Credibility…………………………………………………………….…….64 4.5.1 Reliability……………………………………………………………………..66 4.5.2 Validity……………………………………………………………………….66 4.5.3 Bias…………………………………………………………………………...67 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………...67 Chapter Five: Interview Exploring the Interviews with the Industrial Participants 5.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..69 5.2 Objectives of Interviews……………………………………………………………...69 5.3 Summary of the Semi-Structured Interview Employed……………………………...69 5.4 Thematic Analysis………………………………………………………………….....71 5.5 High Level Theme – Improving Project