Social networks: a strategy for enhancing project-stakeholder commitment
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Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Strategy and Management
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine the human dimension of project management by
establishing the extent to which social networks influence the commitment of project stakeholders. Up
to date, project managers still identify inadequate stakeholder commitment to project undertakings as
a key antecedent of project failure and so efforts aimed at addressing this challenge are highly valued.
The paper therefore explores the use of social networks as one of the possible strategies to enhance
project-stakeholder commitment.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a quantitative, cross-sectional study design.
Based on responses from 172 project stakeholders who took part in a sample of 92 citizenship projects
conducted by major commercial banks in Uganda, hierarchical regression was used to indicate what
happens to a model as different predictor variables are introduced The use of specific type of projects
minimizes bias in results due to the unique nature of specific projects hence enhances reliability of results.
Findings – The results from statistical analysis reveal that social network elements (network
transitivity and network degree) are significant predictors of project stakeholder commitment. The
results also suggest that network transitivity is a better significant predictor of project-stakeholder
commitment than network degree
Practical implications – Project-stakeholder commitment has beenwidely studied in relation to project
performance and the study makes a number of contributions to the theory and study of projects. First and
foremost, the paper studied project social networks and project-stakeholder commitment in citizenship
projects in commercial banks in Uganda which is a developing country. The study therefore contributes to
an understanding of project social networks and project-stakeholder commitment in citizenship projects of
commercial banks in a developing country. The implication of the findings is that it provides a different
view point of understanding the aspects that affect project commitment. A lot of focus has been placed on
improving project performance in Uganda, but none has specifically focussed on building projectstakeholder
commitment through the use of project social networks.
Originality/value – Earlier attempts to investigate the impact of social networks on commitment in
projects did not study commitment among individuals. Also, no previous empirical study in less
developed countries has given special attention to the effect of social networks on project-stakeholder
commitment especially in the domain of citizenship projects which have gained a lot of momentum
around the globe. The study results indicate that getting concerned with the nature of social networks
the project creates and the means it uses to maintain such networks has implications for projectstakeholder
commitment.
Description
Keywords
Social networks, Strategy, Stakeholders, Project management, Project-stakeholder commitment
Citation
Sudi Nangoli Arthur Ahimbisibwe Sheila Namagembe Hassan Bashir , (2013),"Social networks: a strategy for enhancing project-stakeholder commitment", Journal of Strategy and Management, Vol. 6 Iss 4 pp. 399 - 410. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSMA-02-2013-0012