Modelling Stakeholder Integration Using Social Networks: An Australian Integrated Health Care Project
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USyd Access
Type
ThesisThesis type
Doctor of PhilosophyAuthor/s
Fares, JulianAbstract
Stakeholders form relationships in projects to achieve both personal and project objectives. Proper stakeholder identification, categorisation and engagement methods that capture the social processes of the stakeholder network environment are lacking in many project management ...
See moreStakeholders form relationships in projects to achieve both personal and project objectives. Proper stakeholder identification, categorisation and engagement methods that capture the social processes of the stakeholder network environment are lacking in many project management standards. In this study, social network theories and analytics are introduced as a new lens for stakeholder analysis to examine an integrated network of health care stakeholders (health care services and providers) that provides care for patients. The aim is to identify influential key stakeholders and determine the optimal network structure and composition for stakeholder integration (integrated care). A quantitative, whole network study was conducted where 56 health care providers were asked to report on their network relationships and the extent to which services are integrated in a geographic region in NSW, Australia. The results show that social network structure, position and relation constructs have a vital role in integrating health care stakeholders. More precisely, it was shown that ego-density, degree and betweenness centrality, tie strength and functional diversity have a positive association with service integration. In contrast, network efficiency, constraint and reciprocated relationships were found to be negatively associated with service integration. The research implications for the project management community are that stakeholders can be analysed and managed according to their relational attributes. With respect to integrated care, all stakeholders involved in integrated care projects should consider relationships configurations in their integration endeavour. Social network analysis is shown to be a vital tool for evaluating service integration where it identifies which services are currently working together; which ones are not working with others; where are the gaps in the relationships that can be strengthened and addressed.
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See moreStakeholders form relationships in projects to achieve both personal and project objectives. Proper stakeholder identification, categorisation and engagement methods that capture the social processes of the stakeholder network environment are lacking in many project management standards. In this study, social network theories and analytics are introduced as a new lens for stakeholder analysis to examine an integrated network of health care stakeholders (health care services and providers) that provides care for patients. The aim is to identify influential key stakeholders and determine the optimal network structure and composition for stakeholder integration (integrated care). A quantitative, whole network study was conducted where 56 health care providers were asked to report on their network relationships and the extent to which services are integrated in a geographic region in NSW, Australia. The results show that social network structure, position and relation constructs have a vital role in integrating health care stakeholders. More precisely, it was shown that ego-density, degree and betweenness centrality, tie strength and functional diversity have a positive association with service integration. In contrast, network efficiency, constraint and reciprocated relationships were found to be negatively associated with service integration. The research implications for the project management community are that stakeholders can be analysed and managed according to their relational attributes. With respect to integrated care, all stakeholders involved in integrated care projects should consider relationships configurations in their integration endeavour. Social network analysis is shown to be a vital tool for evaluating service integration where it identifies which services are currently working together; which ones are not working with others; where are the gaps in the relationships that can be strengthened and addressed.
See less
Date
2019-05-27Licence
The author retains copyright of this thesis. It may only be used for the purposes of research and study. It must not be used for any other purposes and may not be transmitted or shared with others without prior permission.Faculty/School
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies, School of Project ManagementAwarding institution
The University of SydneyShare