The Role of Social Media in Intrastakeholder Strategies to Influence Decision Making in a UK Infrastructure Megaproject: Crossrail 2

Abstract

This article examines the role of social media in public stakeholder and intrastakeholder group strategies to influence decision making in the consultation stage of UK infrastructure megaprojects. The context is the consultation process on the construction of a new Crossrail 2 station in Chelsea, London, where there is resistance. Analysis of social media communication by the affected public groups and interviews with the opposing group shows different intragroup concerns, with stakeholders developing a strong identity enabled by social media. To reduce perceived lack of responsiveness, we recommend that project managers harness social media marketing principles for ongoing relationship building.

Keywords

consultation identity influence strategies infrastructure megaprojects intrastakeholder groups legitimacy public stakeholders social media

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aaltonen

Jaakko

Tuomas

(2008). Stakeholder salience in global projects. International Journal of Project Management, 26(5), 509–516.

Aaltonen

Kujala

(2010). A project lifecycle perspective on stakeholder influence strategies in global projects. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 26(4), 381–397.

Aaltonen

Kujala

(2016). Towards an improved understanding of project stakeholder landscapes. International Journal of Project Management, 34(8), 1537–1552.

Aaltonen

Kujala

Havela

Savage

(2015). Stakeholder dynamics during the project front end: The case of nuclear waste repository projects. Project Management Journal, 46(6), 15–41.

Aaltonen

Sivonen

(2009). Response strategies to stakeholder pressures in global projects. International Journal of Project Management, 27(2), 131–141.

Aizlewood

Wellings

(2011). High Speed 2: The next government project disaster?, IEA Discussion paper No. 36, Institute for Economic Affairs, London. Retrieved from http://www.iea.org.uk.

Altshuler

A. A.

Luberoff

D. E.

(2004). Mega-projects: The changing politics of urban public investment. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

Aragonés-Beltrán

García-Melón

Montesinos-Valera

(2017). How to assess stakeholders’ influence in project management? A proposal based on the Analytic Network Process. International Journal of Project Management, 35(3), 451–462.

Batheram

Hardin

Whitfield

(2005). Successful participation methods for local transport planning. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Municipal Engineer, 158(1), 9–16.

10.

Berman

S. L.

Johnson-Cramer

M. E.

(2017). Stakeholder theory: Seeing the field through the forest. Business & Society, 1–18. doi:10.1177/0007650316680039.

11.

Bonke

Winch

(2002). Project stakeholder mapping: Analyzing the interests of project stakeholders. In Slevin

D. P.

Cleland

D. I.

Pinto

J. K.

(Eds.), The frontiers of project management research (pp. 385–403). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

12.

Bourne

Walker

D. H.

(2005). Visualising and mapping stakeholder influence. Management Decision, 43(5), 649–660.

13.

Boyd

D. M.

Ellison

N. B.

(2010). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 38(3), 16–31.

14.

Bruijn

Whiteman

(2010). That which doesn’t break us: Identity work by local indigenous “stakeholders.” Journal of Business Ethics, 96(3), 479–495.

15.

Butterfield

K. D.

Reed

Lemak

D. J.

(2004). An inductive model of collaboration from the stakeholder’s perspective. Business and Society, 43(2), 162–195.

16.

Casselman

Heinrich

(2011). Novel use patterns of Salvia Divinorum: Unobtrusive observation using YouTube™. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 138(3), 662–667.

17.

Chinowsky

Taylor

J. E.

(2012). Networks in engineering: An emerging approach to project organization studies. Engineering Project Organization Journal, 2(1–2), 15–26.

18.

Chinyio

E. A.

Akintoye

(2008). Practical approaches for engaging stakeholders: Findings from the UK. Construction Management and Economics, 26(6), 591–599.

19.

Clarkson

M. B. E.

(1995). A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance. The Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 92–117.

20.

Crane

(2018). Revisiting who, when, and why stakeholders matter: Trust and stakeholder connectedness. Business & Society. doi:10.1177/0007650318756983

21.

Crossrail. (2005). Aggregated consultation report. London, England: Crossrail.

22.

Crossrail 2 Consultation. Retrieved from http://www.consultations.tfl.gov.uk.

23.

Crossrail 2. Retrieved from https://crossrail2.co.uk/route/.

24.

Crossrail 2. Retrieved from http://crossrail2.co.uk/stations/wimbledon.

25.

Crossrail 2. Retrieved from http://crossrail2.co.uk/news/crossrail-2-roundtable-underscores-economic-impact-enterprise-m3-lep-area.

26.

Crossrail 2. Retrieved from https://crossrail2.co.uk/route/.

27.

Crossrail 2 Consultation. (2016). Our response to issues raised. Autumn 2015. 7 July 2016. Retrieved from http://www.crossrail.co.uk.

28.

Davis

(2014). Different stakeholder groups and their perceptions of project success. International Journal of Project Management, 32(2), 189–201.

29.

den Hond

de Bakker

F. G. A.

Doh

(2015). What prompts companies to collaboration with NGOs? Recent evidence from the Netherlands. Business & Society, 54(2), 187–228.

30.

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. (2008, July). Code of practice on consultation. Retrieved from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/100807/file47158.pdf.

31.

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. (2008). Code of practice on consultation. Retrieved from http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file47158.pdf

32.

Department for Transport. (2012). High speed rail: Investing in Britain’s future—The government’s decisions. Retrieved from http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-speed-rail-investing-in-britains-future-the-governments-decisions

33.

Derry

(2012). Reclaiming marginalized stakeholders. Journal of Business Ethics, 111(2), 253–264.

34.

Desjardins

(2017, January 11). 9 of the world’s largest megaprojects that are under construction. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-largest-megaprojects-2017-1?r=US&IR=T.

35.

Dewey

O. F.

Davis

D. E.

(2013). Planning, politics, and urban mega-projects in developmental context: Lessons from Mexico City’s airport controversy. Journal of Urban Affairs, 35(5), 531–551.

36.

Di Maddaloni

Davis

(2018). Project manager’s perception of the local communities’ stakeholder in megaprojects. An empirical investigation in the UK. International Journal of Project Management, 36, 542–565.

37.

Dhotre

Bhola

(2010). Analytical study of association between celebrity advertising and brand recall. The IUP Journal of Brand Management, 7(1/2), 25–50.

38.

DiStaso

M. W.

Bortree

D. S.

(2012). Multi-method analysis of transparency in social media practices: Survey, interviews and content analysis. Public Relations Review, 38, 511–514. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2012.01.003

39.

Donaldson

Preston

L. E.

(1995). Stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence and implications. Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 65–91.

40.

Duggan

Ellison

N. B.

Lampe

Lenhart

Madden

(2015). Social media update 2014. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014.

41.

El-Gohary

N. M.

Osman

El-Diraby

T. E.

(2006). Stakeholder management for public private partnerships. International Journal of Project Management, 24(7), 595–604.

42.

Elmahroug

M. H.

Tutesigensi

Brookes

N. J.

(2014). Integrating external stakeholder identification and project initiation in civil engineering infrastructure projects. In Raidén

Aboagye-Nimo

(Eds.), Proceedings of the 30th annual ARCOM conference (pp. 937–946). Reading, England: Association of Researchers in Construction Management.

43.

Eskerod

Huemann

Savage

(2015). Project stakeholder management—Past and present. Project Management Journal, 46(6), 6–14.

44.

Eskerod

Vaagaasar

A. L.

(2014). Stakeholder management strategies and practices during a project course. Project Management Journal, 45(5), 71–85.

45.

European Commission. (2013). The Aarhus convention. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/aarhus

46.

Fassin

De Colle

Freeman

(2017). Intra-stakeholder alliances in plant-closing decisions: A stakeholder theory approach. Business Ethics: A European Review, 26, 97–111.

47.

Fewings

(2013). Construction project management: An integrated approach. London, England and New York, NY: Routledge.

48.

Flyvbjerg

(2014). What you should know about megaprojects and why: An overview. Project Management Journal, 45(2), 6–19.

49.

Freeman

(1984). Stakeholder management: A strategic approach. New York, NY: Pitman.

50.

Freeman

R. E.

Harrison

Wicks

Parmar

de Colle

(2010). Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

51.

Frooman

(1999). Stakeholder influence strategies. The Academy of Management Review, 24(2), 191–205.

52.

Frooman

Murrell

(2005). Stakeholder influence strategies: The roles of structural and demographic determinants. Business and Society, 44(1), 3–31.

53.

Giezen

(2013). Adaptive and strategic capacity: Navigating megaprojects through uncertainty and complexity. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 40(4), 723–741.

54.

Gil

Pinto

(2017). Planning under pluralism: Implications to project organization design and performance, under review at Research Policy.

55.

Gil

Tether

B. S.

(2011). Project risk management and design flexibility: Analysing a case and conditions of complementarity. Research Policy, 40(3), 415–428.

56.

Greene

J. A.

Choudhry

N. K.

Kilabuk

Shrank

W. H.

(2011). Online social networking by patients with diabetes: A qualitative evaluation of communication with Facebook. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 26, 287–292.

57.

Hammond

(2016, Jan 6). My response to the Crossrail 2 consultation. Retrieved from https://www.stephenhammond.net/news/crossrail-2-consultation-postponed.

58.

Hayibor

Collins

(2016). Motivators of mobilization: Influences of inequity, expectancy, and resource dependence on stakeholder propensity to take action against the firm. Journal of Business Ethics, 139(2), 351–374.

59.

Jepsen

A. L.

Eskerod

(2009). Stakeholder analysis in projects: Challenges in using current guidelines in the real world. International Journal of Project Management, 27(4), 335–343.

60.

Kaplan

A. M.

Haenlein

(2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.

61.

King

(2008). A social movement perspective of stakeholder collective action and influence. Business and Society, 47(1), 21–49.

62.

Koehn

E. E.

Kothari

R. K.

Pan

C.-S.

(1995). Safety in developing countries: Professional and bureaucratic problems. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 121(3), 261–265.

63.

Kozinets

R. V.

(2002). The field behind the screen: Using netnography for marketing research in online communities. Journal of Marketing Research, 39(1), 61–72.

64.

Kozinets

R. V.

(2010). Netnography: Doing ethnographic research online. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

65.

Kudadirgwa

C. R.

(2013). Designing megaprojects: A case study of community participation in the design of High Speed 2. Masters dissertation submitted to the University of Manchester’s Faculty of Humanities for the degree of M.Sc. Management and Implementation of Development Projects.

66.

Laplume

A. O.

Sonpar

Litz

R. A.

(2008). Stakeholder theory: Reviewing a theory that moves us. Journal of Management, 34(6), 1152–1189.

67.

Leeflang

P. S. H.

Verhoef

P. C.

Dahlström

Freundt

(2014). Challenges and solutions for marketing in a digital era. European Management Journal, 32(1), 1–12.

68.

Lemley

(1996). Image versus reality: Channel tunnel figure management. In Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Civil engineering, 114(1), 12–17. London, England: Thomas Telford, Ltd.

69.

Mangold

W. G.

Faulds

D. J.

(2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52, 357–365.

70.

Marbach

Lages

C. R.

Nunan

(2016). Who are you and what do you value? Investigating the role of personality traits and customer-perceived value in online customer engagement. Journal of Marketing Management, 32(5–6), 502–525.

71.

McElroy

Mills

(2000). Managing stakeholders. In Turner

J. R.

Simister

S. J.

(Eds.), Gower handbook of project management (pp. 757–775). Farnham, UK: Gower Publishing Ltd.

72.

Miller

Olleros

(2000). Project shaping as a competitive advantage. In Miller

Lessard

D. R.

(Eds.), The strategic management of large engineering projects: Shaping institutions, risks, and governance (pp. 93–112). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

73.

Missonier

Loufrani-Fedida

(2014). Stakeholder analysis and engagement in projects: From stakeholder relational perspective to stakeholder relational ontology. International Journal of Project Management, 32(7), 1108–1122.

74.

Mitchell

R. K.

Agle

B. R.

Wood

D. J.

(1997). Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review, 22(4), 853–886.

75.

Mok

K. Y.

Shen

G. Q.

Yang

(2015). Stakeholder management studies in mega construction projects: A review and future directions. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), 446–457.

76.

Mok

K. Y.

Shen

G. Q.

Yang

C. Z.

(2017). Investigating key challenges in major public engineering projects by a network-theory based analysis of stakeholder concerns: A case study. International Journal of Project Management, 35(1), 78–94.

77.

Morris

P. W. G.

Hough

G. H.

(1987). The anatomy of major projects: A study of the reality of project management. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

78.

Murphy

(2017, March 6). Budget 2017: Northern cities could derail plans for Crossrail 2 link. Retrieved from https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/northern-cities-could-derail-plans-for-crossrail-2-link-a3482536.html).

79.

Neville

B. A.

Bell

S. J.

Whitwell

G. J.

(2011). Stakeholder salience revisited: Refining, redefining, and refueling an underdeveloped conceptual tool. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(3), 357–378.

80.

Neville

B. A.

Menguc

(2006). Stakeholder multiplicity: Toward an understanding of the interactions between stakeholders. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(4), 377–391.

81.

Olander

Landin

(2005). Evaluation of stakeholder influence in the implementation of construction projects. International Journal of Project Management, 23(4), 321–328.

82.

Olander

Landin

(2008). A comparative study of factors affecting the external stakeholder management process. Construction Management and Economics, 26(6), 553–561.

83.

Palmieri

(2013). Celebrity endorsements in print and Twitter: Comparing brand name memorability and credibility. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY. Retrieved from https://kipdf.com/celebrity-endorsements-in-print-and-twitter-comparing-brand-name-memorability-an_5ac682f81723dd105085ac57.html.

84.

Pirson

Martin

Parmar

(2017). Formation of stakeholder trust in business and the role of personal values. Journal of Business Ethics, 145(1), 1–20.

85.

Pitsis

T. S.

Clegg

S. R.

Marosszeky

Rura-Polley

(2003). Constructing the Olympic dream: A future perfect strategy of project management. Organization Science, 14(5), 574–590.

86.

Pryke

(2004). Analysing construction project coalitions: Exploring the application of social network analysis. Construction Management and Economics, 22(8), 787–797.

87.

Remington

Pollack

(2007). Tools for complex projects. Farnham, UK: Gower Publishing, Ltd.

88.

Schneider

Sachs

(2017). The impact of stakeholder identities on value creation in issue-based stakeholder networks. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(1), 41–57.

89.

Schreier

(2012). Qualitative content analysis in practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

90.

Shirky

(2011). The political power of social media: Technology, the public sphere, and political change. Foreign Affairs, 90(1), 28–41.

91.

Skoric

M. M.

Zhu

Goh

Pang

(2016). Social media and citizen engagement: A meta-analytic review. New Media and Society, 18(9), 1817–1839.

92.

Smyth

(2008). The credibility gap in stakeholder management: Ethics and evidence of relationship management. Construction Management and Economics, 26(6), 633–643.

93.

Thijssens

Bollen

Hassink

(2015). Secondary stakeholder influence on CSR disclosure: An application of stakeholder salience theory. Journal of Business Ethics, 132(4), 873–891.

94.

Teo

Loosemore

(2014). The role of core protest group members in sustaining protest against controversial construction and engineering projects. Habitat International, 44, 41–49.

95.

TfL Consultations. Retrieved from http://www.consultations.tfl.gov.uk.

96.

TfL Consultations. Retrieved from https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/central-london/.

97.

Tiago

M. T. P. M. B.

Veríssimo

J. M. C.

(2014). Digital marketing and social media: Why bother? Business Horizons, 57(6), 703–708.

98.

van den Ende

A. L.

van Marrewijk

A. H.

(2018). Teargas, taboo and transformation: A neo-institutional study of community resistance and the struggle to legitimise subway projects in Amsterdam 1960–2018. International Journal of Project Management, 37(2), 331–346.

99.

Walker

D. H.

Bourne

L. M.

Shelley

(2008). Influence, stakeholder mapping and visualisation. Construction Management and Economics, 26(6), 645–658.

100.

Wei

P. S.

H. P.

(2012). An examination of the celebrity endorsements and online customer reviews influence female consumers’ shopping behavior. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(1), 193–201.

101.

Wilkinson

(2009). Social media in the construction industry [Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.pwcom.co.uk.

102.

Williams

N. L.

Ferdinand

Pasian

(2015). Online stakeholder interactions in the early stage of a megaproject. Project Management Journal, 46(6), 92–110.

103.

Wilmore

(18 May 2017). Is Crossrail 2 in danger of hitting the buffers? [Article] Construction News. Retrieved from https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/home/is-crossrail-2-in-danger-of-hitting-the-buffers/10020016.article.

104.

www.crossrail2.co.uk. Retrieved from crossrail2.co.uk/consultation.

105.

www.nocrossrailchelsea.com. Retrieved from http://www.nocrossrailchelsea.com/why-no-crossrail-chelsea/.

106.

www.rbkc.gov.uk. Retrieved from http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning-policy/consultations/crossrail/crossrail-2.

107.

Yang

Shen

G. Q.

Drew

D. S.

Xue

(2011). Stakeholder management in construction: An empirical study to address research gaps in previous studies. International Journal of Project Management, 29(7), 900–910.

108.

Zhao

Zhu

J. S.

(2010). Internet marketing budget allocation: From practitioner’s perspective. International Journal of Information Technology and Decision Making, 9(5), 779–797.