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4. Project stakeholders4. Project stakeholdersThis chapter analyses project flexibility from a stakeholder perspective. Projectstakeholders are actively involved in a project, or their interests may be positively ornegatively affected by a project. An analysis of flexibility in a stakeholder perspectivecalled for a distinction between internal and external project flexibility. Projectinternal flexibility relates to flexibility within defined scope. Project externalflexibility relates to adjustments of scope. The approach to flexibility held by thedifferent stakeholders is closely related to the incentives open to the stakeholders.Flexible projects have a value for those who can align a project to their priorities, butflexibility represents a cost for those who have to adapt.4.1 StakeholdersAccording to McElroy & Mills (2000), project stakeholders are persons or groups ofpeople who have a vested interest in the success of a project and the environmentwithin which the project operates. In a study of large engineering projects, Olander &Landin (2005) found that it is important for a project management team to identifystakeholders that can affect a project, and then manage their differing demandsthroughout the project stages. Stakeholders may be organisations or individuals. Thefollowing discussion is focused on four types of project stakeholders: owners, users,project management, and contractors.It is the project owner that takes the risk related to the cost and future viability of aproject. Both these risks can to a certain extent be transferred to other actors in aproject.Users can be described using a wide or a narrow definition. The wide definition ofusers includes all that use the result of the project (the hospital, railway companies,etc.). During the project preparation and execution, users are not easily identified.This means that projects usually interact with user representatives, who act on behalfof those who intend to use the result of the project. The narrow definition of ‘users’refers to such user representatives.The ‘project management’ stakeholder refers to the project manager acting on behalfof the project owner and the organisation supporting this function. Contractors areresponsible for implementing the whole or part(s) of the project.Results presented in Paper 4 indicate that project owners and users are more likely tobe positive towards changes aimed at increasing the benefit side of the projects, orrelated to effectiveness. Stakeholders whose main responsibility lies on the cost sideof the project, such as project management and contractors, are less likely to embracechanges. According to Kreiner (1995), the project management is made the guardianof efficiency. Müller & Turner (2005) claim that owners should impose mediumlevels of structure on project managers. Too much structure will not give the projectmanager sufficient flexibility to deal with any uncertainties that arise. Too littlestructure will lead to anarchy.17