Construction projects attract interest from various stakeholders who express needs and expectations about the project. These are often in conflict with each other and it is unlikely that all of them can be fulfilled. The stakeholder management process involves evaluating the needs and expectations of stakeholders in relation to the main objectives of the project. An important basis for this evaluation is stakeholder analysis. The approach is based upon established theory, knowledge of stakeholder management and empirical data. The analysis consists of a stakeholder impact index to determine the nature and impact of stakeholder influence, the probability of stakeholders exercising their influence and each stakeholder's position in relation to the project—are they proponents or opponents? The analysis of the stakeholder impact index can help project managers to formalize a stakeholder management process.

There is a natural tendency for stakeholder groups to try to influence the implementation of construction projects in line with their individual concerns and needs. This presents a challenge for construction project managers in analysing and managing these various concerns and needs in a stakeholder management process falling within the limits of the project. The aim of the research presented here was to show the factors affecting the stakeholder management process positively or negatively from the perspective of project implementation. A comparative study of two railway projects in Sweden was undertaken to analyse these factors. The study showed that the outcome of the stakeholder management process depended mainly upon how well the project managers presented the benefits and negative consequences brought on by the construction project. Techniques and tools exist for this purpose, but must be appropriate, and these are discussed in the context of the two projects. The challenge for project managers is to implement the project in such a way that the effects of negative impacts are minimized and, if possible, the benefits for all stakeholders are maximized. Project managers must communicate and interact with stakeholders so that the perceived benefits and negative impacts are realistically defined.

Stakeholders can positively assist or hinder attempts at innovation. Much depends on the nature of their engagement. The stakeholder engagement process can be complex and unpredictable, more so if no strategic plan is put in place or if no systematic thinking is invested in the innovation. Stakeholder engagement in the innovation process in general and innovation diffusion in particular is examined in the context of construction. From a theoretical perspective, analysis of the effect of stakeholders could be expected to help in refining the innovation process so that it produces decisions and outcomes more likely to lead to successful innovation and diffusion. To cover diverse applications from product development to the drafting and implementation of national standards, 19 innovation projects were studied. Through a statistical analysis of stakeholder involvement, based on a Fisher’s exact test, it was concluded that a structured process of engagement has to be an integral part of the innovation ...

There is a strong need for a productive and innovative infrastructure sector because of its monetary value and importance for the development of a sustainable society. An increased level of industrialization is often proposed as a way to improve efficiency and productivity in construction projects. In prior literature on industrialized construction, there are however neither many studies addressing more long-term aspects of innovation and sustainability nor studies within the infrastructure context. Organizational theory suggests that firms need to be ambidextrous and focus on both long-term exploration of new knowledge and technologies and short-term exploitation of current knowledge and technologies, in order to achieve sustainable development. Therefore, an investigation of how both short-term exploitative performance objectives and long-term explorative development can be addressed when implementing industrialized construction in infrastructure projects was conducted. A case study consisting of four infrastructure projects shows that the main drivers for increased industrialization are of an exploitative nature, focusing on cost savings and increased productivity through more efficient processes. The main barriers to increased industrialization are however related to both explorative and exploitative activities. Hence, by managing the identified barriers and explicitly addressing both exploitation and exploration, industrialized construction can improve both short-term efficiency and long-term innovation and sustainability.