An Agile Stakeholder Interface Management Framework for University Infrastructure Projects in Nigeria
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Abstract
This paper presents an Agile Stakeholder Interface Management (SIM) framework for university infrastructure projects in the Nigerian university system. Employing a mixed-methods approach (surveys, interviews, system design, and quantitative analytics), 40 university infrastructure project stakeholders were interviewed. The opinions of 150 infrastructure project professionals and practitioners were sought from 10 federal universities and 5 governmental supervision and regulatory Agencies. The result of the analysis of collected data identified project responsibility, interest, and influence as key drivers for the SIM framework developed, underpinning the iterative processes of stakeholder identification, categorization, prioritization, engagement, monitoring, control, evaluation, and debriefing within the university infrastructure project's lifecycle and value creation. Pilot testing of the developed SIM framework on two ongoing infrastructure projects at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri revealed significant impacts on project stakeholder interface management outcomes, notably in openness (19.1%), honesty (9.3%), inclusivity (5.3%), and transparency (3.5%) of project communications. Further, reductions were observed in infrastructure projects' conflicts (17.2%), uncertainties (13.5%), cost overruns (11.2%), time overruns (10.6%), and quality compromises (7.8%). The paper concludes that adopting an Agile SIM framework can substantially enhance infrastructure project information communication effectiveness, collaboration, and inclusivity among stakeholders of a university, thereby supporting the infrastructure project management system of universities. The paper recommends institutionalization of Agile methodology for managing infrastructure projects' stakeholder interface in Nigerian universities.
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