A Case Study of Project and Stakeholder Management Failures: Lessons Learned

Stakeholder theory is a useful framework for analyzing the behavioral aspects of the project management process, particularly the complicated process of project management within the Department of Defense (DOD). Projects can be beset by the agenda of various stakeholders within the organizational structure. When this occurs, the implementation of a strong project stakeholder management strategy is necessary to increase the likelihood of success. This is a case study of a failed DOD project, even though it was fully justified and badly needed. Stakeholder theory serves as the theoretical underpinning of this case analysis, which identifies the potential causes of the project failure. Project management lessons learned from the failure and a project stakeholder management strategy framework are presented to facilitate better decision making on the part of project managers to increase the likelihood of successful project management outcomes.