Stakeholder Management In Agent Construction Projects Based On Risk Theory

Combined theories on stakeholder management, risk management and agent construction project management together, a research on stakeholder management in agent construction projects was conducted in this paper, profiting from the main research achievements on stakeholder theory achieved by domestic and foreign scholars. The main outcomes and innovations of this paper are showed as follows:(1) Research on stakeholder theory and stakeholder management methods was explored in this paper to set up a research process for stakeholder management in agent construction projects. Stakeholder theory is developed on theoretical bases of stakeholder management, which are the contract theory and the property right theory. After investigating on identifications, typologies, influences and management models of stakeholder theory, the principles of stakeholder management was put forward in this paper. There is little research available in this area for agent construction projects specifically, so it is necessary to conduct a new study on stakeholder management in accordance with the characteristics of agent construction projects.(2) Division of whole life cycle, contractual relationships and distribution of property rights were stated for agent construction projects. Firstly, the differences between agent construction project management and business management were identified grounded on analysis of the features of agent construction projects. Then the whole life cycle of an agent construction project was divided into five stages, which are initiating stage, feasibility study stage, planning stage, executing stage and closing stage, from the standpoint of the agent company, which play most significant role in an agent construction project. Five levels of principal-agent relations and complicated distribution of property rights associated with agent construction projects were investigated in this paper. Furthermore, the importance of stakeholder management in agent construction projects was studied based on risk theory.(3) The stakeholders involved in agent construction projects were identified. Firstly, the concept of stakeholder in agent construction projects was stated based on risk theory and the characteristics of agent construction projects. Afterwards, stakeholders in agent construction projects were classified into three categories, which are the organizational stakeholders, the explicit contractual stakeholders and the implicit contractual stakeholders, according to their contractual relationship and risk related relationship with an agent construction project. What's more, stakeholders associated with agent construction projects in five different stages were identified and categorized, according to all procedures needed in an agent construction project.(4) A stakeholder influence risk analysis model for agent construction projects was established. Based on the analysis on the conception of risk and risk measurement criteria, a method of utilizing two attributes possessed by stakeholders, impact and urgency, to analyze risks associated with stakeholder conflicts was proposed, and a approach of grouping stakeholder conflict risks into three risk categories, quality risks, schedule risks and cost risks, was suggested. In addition, the impacts of three stakeholder groups during the whole life cycle and potential risks caused by them were studied. Interactions among different stakeholders were also discussed. Then an Analytic Network Process (ANP) model was generated to analyze stakeholder conflict risks ground on their interactions and ANP theory for agent construction projects. In this model, a sequencing method to understand the effects of stakeholders was proposed, and a method of using the result of sequencing to put stakeholders in agent construction projects into three different levels, which are the core stakeholders, the dormant stakeholders and the marginal stakeholders, were suggested.(5) A stakeholder management method by relocating risks utilized cooperative game theory was brought forward in this paper. At first, the principles of risk relocation among stakeholders were explicated in this paper. To be specific, the principles includes relocating risks by using cooperative game, focusing on the core value of agent construction projects which was set in this paper, relocating risks by obeying the principles of fair balanced with efficiency and transparent information. Factors impacted risk relocation was analyzed too. Afterwards, a cooperative game model to relocate risk among stakeholders in agent construction projects was set up, and then stakeholder management mechanisms, including stakeholder cooperation forming mechanism and systematic management mechanism to guarantee the stability of the cooperation among stakeholders, were established.Finally, a demonstration about the proposed methods to manage stakeholders was given in this paper. It is proved that research done by this paper is with significance both in theory and practice.