Abstract
Stakeholder engagement in the construction industry is one of the important roles to be fulfilled
when commencing a project from the planning phase through to the commissioning phase.
Stakeholder engagement is very broad and, if implemented successfully, can make any project
a success. Failure to implement appropriate strategies to deal with stakeholders’ issues has
led to project delays, and subsequent time and cost overruns in the construction industry in
South Africa. The aim of this research study was to investigate the best practices of stakeholder
engagement to reduce or eliminate project delays and unexpected costs in the construction
industry. This resulted in the research question: What are the best practices of stakeholder
engagement to reduce or eliminate project delays and unexpected costs in the construction
industry in South Africa?
A comprehensive literature review was conducted of similar previous research. This resulted
in an extensive guideline for the formulation of the questionnaire on best practices of
stakeholder engagement. A quantitative research design was chosen for this study and an
online questionnaire survey was used to collect the data from the targeted population of
stakeholders who were involved in the construction industry in South Africa. The data was
obtained using a Likert scale and compared with the reviewed literature to confirm if the same
outcome was revealed.
The research findings reveal that project teams should have an understanding of stakeholder
engagement by assessing the stakeholders’ ability to control resources, supporting other
members by calling for urgent action and analysing stakeholder relationships and the possibility
of emerging conflicts or coalitions. It was found that the project team should know that decisions
are made by working directly with the stakeholders through the process to ensure that there is
consistent understanding and consideration of stakeholders’ concerns and aspirations. Project
teams should also apply appropriate strategies, achieve action and evaluation by implementing
the strategy chosen or formulated during decision-making, know who should be able to identify
stakeholder behaviours and determine behaviours that could help the project achieve its main
objective, apply strategies to address stakeholder issues and show continuous support by
communicating with stakeholders efficiently. Strategies used to address stakeholder issues by
fighting against addressing the issues or completely withdrawing and ignoring the stakeholder
were found not to be conclusive and could not be confirmed by the participants in comparison
to the reviewed literature. These findings differ completely from findings in other countries in
that these activities are practised in such a way that they reduce community unrest and cost
overruns. When these are not carefully addressed, stakeholders cause delays in the project
through their power or influence, and pursue their personal interests.
Theoretically, these challenges and effects are not new in the construction industry in South
Africa; they have been experienced globally as well. In practice, stakeholders in the
construction industry should equip themselves with strategies that are part of the identified
practices that involve stakeholder engagement before commencement of and during all project
stages.