Visualizations of social networks as support for stakeholder management within construction projects

Engaging the right stakeholders at the right time is a key factor to successfully complete a construction project. However, the decision which stakeholders to engage within a project can often be difficult. This research looks into the applicability of visualizations of Social Networks as a tool to support project managers to decide which stakeholders to engage and with consecutively engaging these chosen stakeholders. To provide empirical evidence for the utility of Social Network Analysis, we conducted a case study on a public-private redevelopment project in the Netherlands. The findings from this case study show that representations of social networks give project managers a quick overview of the cliques, key players, and the general position of stakeholders in the social project network. This overview helped the project managers to identify which stakeholders to engage. At the same time, our findings show that visual representations of social networks help to engage stakeholders by giving them clear insights into their respective position in the social project network. Overall, the study illustrates the utility of social network visualizations to understand and engage stakeholders on public-private construction and design projects.