Some strategic issue identificationhow identify issues

Business and Project

Reviewing…

 Strategic issues in Project Management

factors of the project, such as its financing, design, engineering,

construction, and operation (King and Cleland, 1986, cited in Cleland

This Lecture

This lecture is about some ways to identify strategic issues and then

 Stakeholders

 Assessment of issues

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 Rather than being left to the bottom of the pile Rather than being left to the bottom of the pile, for someone else to do,

responding on an ad hoc ad hoc basis, reacting, forgetting, ignoring…

Strategic Issue Management

Cleland and Ireland (2007:172-176) suggest a four-phase

 Implementation phase

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Identification
Assessment
Strategic relevance

Implementation Assessment
Analysis
Action required

approach, is to identify what issues there might be

 Some may emerge during the process of forming strategies and

value and the cost to change

 It is better to identify any issues as early as possible

How do we identify issues, especially when we bear in

mind the “Rumsfeld taxonomy of knowables”?

Issue Identification

technical expertise (their know-what know-what and and know-how

 But stakeholders stakeholders could be useful as well

 These entail a higher level of uncertainty

 We might only only be able to be able to identify questions identify questions to ask

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 Consultation might help us identify issues, or at least some

questions we could ask

Issue Identification

How might the How might the stake stake affect the affect the outcome outcome of the project?

What What resources and influence resources and influence do the do the stakeholders stakeholders have have to push the

What can the What can the project team do about project team do about these claims?

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 This is an instrumental perspective on stakeholders

 We could take other perspectives other perspectives but even this perspective can

Mitchell et al. et al. (1997, cited in Crane and Matten 2007:186-

187) identify three attributes three attributes of stakeholder relations that

actions as desirable, proper, or appropriate

 Urgency: the degree to which : the degree to which stakeholder claims stakeholder claims are perceived to

According to Mitchell et al et al., different combinations of these

attributes have different effects on the perceived

stakeholders

 Those possessing all three attributes three attributes are seen as most important –

From this instrumental perspective, definitive stakeholders need to be actively engaged by the organisation – these are the most strategic relationships

But we should not forget about dynamics dynamics – things can change over time

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Example: The Body Shop and L’Oreal

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 Resource intensity: it can be time- and other resource-consuming

 Culture clash: conflicting values and goals between stakeholders

 Co-optation: danger of loss of independence

 Accountability: “cosy” relations can develop – who is monitoring?

Once issues have been identified, their importance for the

organisation and its projects needs to be judged

 Actionability Actionability: can the organisation do something about it? ( : can the organisation do something about it? (organisational

capability)

Analysis of Action

 How can this be achieved?

 Who can best achieve it?

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