Who or What Really Matters? : A stakeholder analysis for student housing development in campus KTH

Sammanfattning: There are diverse participants in the student housing development in campus KTH, in which everyone plays a role and has his own claim and influence.  The stakeholder theory provides a pluralistic perspective and various analyzing techniques to get a better understanding of the question “who or what really matters” in the student housing development process.    The aim of this paper is to conduct an empirical stakeholder analysis for the student accommodation projects in campus KTH. The research work is done using stakeholder definitions and analysis techniques derived from relevant literature, based on the stakeholder data gained directly and indirectly form interview informants and open sources.  In the analysis, the author firstly attempts to identify—and map out—the student housing project’s stakeholders and their “stake”, influence and claims. The prioritizing of stakeholders is then studied based on the stakeholder information aforementioned, using Mitchell etc’s (1997) salience class model. The interactions between multi-stakeholders are also revealed to interpret their joint influence on various development activities. Finally, a framework of engagement strategies towards individual stakeholders in different stages is formed by the author, aiming to provide implications for the stakeholder management of the student housing projects.  The conclusion of this study summarizes the main findings of the stakeholder analysis. Considering subjectivity is the most noticeable limitation in this study, it is suggested that future studies focus more on the relatively objective evaluation of importance of stakeholders. Questionnaire may be a feasible method to gather reliable information and stakeholder analysis techniques derived from the literature can provide guidance to decrease bias in stakeholder evaluation and analysis