subject: Project Stakeholders Classification from POME by Gautam Koppala [print this page] Project stakeholders can be categorized into four main groups, as shown in Table. These include:
(1) project champions,
(2) project participants,
(3) community participants, and
(4) parasitic participants. The potential role and influence of each group is discussed in the sections that follow.
Project Champions
Project champions are those who have some reason to bring a project into being. These stakeholders include the developers, investors, and entrepreneurs motivated by profit. The group also includes the visionaries who are trying to create something for the future or for the benefit of others. Also included is the client or customer with a specific need, politicians, community leaders, and others who want to satisfy the needs of their constituents. The role of the project champion is significant; in most cases the project cannot exist without them. Furthermore, the judgments, evaluations, and perceptions of these stakeholders probably have the greatest effect in confirming project success. The project champions must be fully satisfied, or the project is not a success. Obviously, the composition of the project champions as well as their needs and perceptions can vary widely. In some cases, the individual goals and objectives of those within this group are in conflict with each other.
Project Participants
This group of stakeholders includes organizations and individuals who are responsible for planning and executing the project. Typically, this includes the project manager and project team, engineers, constructors, vendors, suppliers, craftspeople, and regulatory agencies at the local, state, and national levels. The involvement of the project participants is again fairly obvious. Success from their viewpoint means accomplishing the project goals and receiving appropriate recognition.
Community Participants
These stakeholders include groups or individuals who are directly affected by the project. Community participants create the environment that surrounds the project. The group can materialize because of environmental, social, political, economic, health, or safety concerns. These stakeholders can be a few households concerned about increased traffic from a new facility or a religious group opposed to a new technology. They can have a profound impact on a project. For example, antinuclear groups have stopped the construction of nuclear power plants, environmentalists have halted highway construction programs, and religious groups have challenged genetic research projects.
Parasitic Participants
This group of stakeholders presents an interesting and important challenge to project managers. Parasitic participants consist of organizations and individuals who do not have a directstake in the project. In this group we find the opportunists, the activists, and others who are looking for a focal point for their energies, internal drives, and desires to promote their personal philosophies and views. By definition, this group is distinct and different from those whose members have legitimate concerns about the impact of a project on their communityor way of life. The distinction is that the primary motivation of the parasitic participant is one of self-aggrandizement. The project provides the parasitic participants with an opportunity for activity, visibility, and self-fulfillment, and a platform to promote their philosophy or ideas.
Gautam Koppala,
POME Author
Project Stakeholders Classification from POME by Gautam Koppala
