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Project stakeholder management by the contractor: how to achieve satisfying project stakeholder management by the contractor in a SCC context

Bal, J. (2013) Project stakeholder management by the contractor: how to achieve satisfying project stakeholder management by the contractor in a SCC context.

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Abstract:A relatively new situation in the field of infrastructure construction in the Netherlands is that Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Highway and Waterway authority, outsources more and more tasks and responsibilities towards the market. This research focuses on the outsourcing of the Project Stakeholder Management, which is: the activation, maintenance and control of relationships between the project and its environment, at the service of the project, as performed by the contractor after contract close. This shift in responsibilities creates an interesting new playfield where government and market have to get to know their roles and ways. This thesis handles about the question: What impact does the extent, amount and type of steering and control mechanisms, applied by Rijkswaterstaat, have on the perceived quality of Project Stakeholder Management performed by the private party, in a context of Rijkswaterstaat projects which are contracted in accordance with System-Oriented contract control in the 2006-2013 period? It examines three cases that represent the three different contract types that are contracted out in accordance with the System-oriented contract control: Maintenance contracts, Design & Construct contracts and Design, Build, Finance and Maintain contracts. This case study is performed using both interviews and written sources (case specific documents) from the cases. The interviews are conducted within the organizations of both the public (Rijkswaterstaat) and the private organizations (the contractors) that are participating in the project. It is concluded that differences in the extent, amount and type of steering and control mechanisms, applied by Rijkswaterstaat, have impact on the perception of quality of Project Stakeholder Management. These differences have as a result that the perception of quality decreases as the degree of integration increases. The most important reason for this is that the more extensive the project is, the more extensive and more frequent the principal deploys the mechanisms he has at his disposal. It occurred that, the more the process based System-Oriented Contract Control is used as the main method to steer and control the contractor within the contract, this leads to a more principal-agent like relationship. This might have its benefits in terms of the separation of tasks and responsibilities, but for the perception of quality of the service, this is not an advantage. Three identified aspects that play a role are: 1) the level and intensity of the participation between the two parties, which is influenced at least by the physical distance between the parties, and the number of joint actions they perform. 2) the complete and timely sharing of information about the Project Stakeholder Management, so that information is at the right place at the right time. 3) The concreteness of the assignment, and making sure that a party knows what the other party expects (and vice versa). All these factors have a positive influence on the perception of quality, but do not benefit from a more process based control arrangement.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:88 social and public administration
Programme:Public Administration MSc (60020)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/63668
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