The importance of understanding the national and professional culture of the project sponsor and stakeholders as a factor in the successful execution of megaprojects

Walker, PA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7267-4632 and Walsh, A 2022, The importance of understanding the national and professional culture of the project sponsor and stakeholders as a factor in the successful execution of megaprojects , in: OTMC 2022, September 21, 2022- September 24, 2022, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

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Abstract

Megaproject construction requires a successful union between the critical actors involved in the project delivery: the Stakeholders or Sponsors and the construction delivery team. This study analyses the experience of Western Consultants in the Gulf Cooperation Council (the GCC 1), a hotbed for construction megaprojects, to focus on managerial tensions within megaprojects. It examines the views of programme managers, typically senior Western construction professionals, who execute the project requirements based on the Sponsors directives. A productive interface between these key actors is crucial to the timely execution of the venture, yet cultural differences often disrupt this relationship when the principal actors are not united. Cultural dissonance between the parties contributes to an increased churn among predominantly Western project directors. Through semi-structured interviews, megaproject sponsors and the programme delivery directors provided their opinions on the source of such cultural tensions. The research indicates that GCC megaprojects are frequently disrupted by cultural dissonance, and this is a frequent source of programme delay, creating an additional cost and time burden on the megaproject. The research indicated that the programme delivery directors were aware of the implications of cultural discord and had views on how best to prepare for such cultural challenges and understand the significance of a more careful approach to managing cultural differences.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Schools:	Schools > No Research Centre Schools > School of the Built Environment
Journal or Publication Title:	15th international conference organization, technology and management in construction
Publisher:	Croatian Association for Construction Management and Croatian Association for Project Management
Depositing User:	Professor Peter Walker
Date Deposited:	06 Oct 2022 13:53
Last Modified:	06 Oct 2022 14:00
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/65056

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