Project Success, Internal Stakeholder Engagement and Satisfaction: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between internal stakeholder engagement and project success with mediating effect of Stakeholder satisfaction. The study also examines the moderating role of empowerment in the relationship of stakeholders’ engagement and satisfaction. The data were collected from internal stakeholders i.e., project team and functional team members of three megaprojects of the oil and gas sector operating in District Attock. The data was analyzed using Smart PLS. Based on the analysis of this cross-sectional data collected from 318 respondents from project teams and functional teams, the study indicates that the success of a project significantly depends on project team engagement. The study also highlights that stakeholder satisfaction is an important mediating factor in the relationship between internal stakeholder engagement and project success. Further, the results indicate that empowerment significantly and positively moderates the effect of internal stakeholders’ engagement on stakeholder satisfaction and ultimately project success. The results of this study are important to explain the moderated mediation model identifying the relationship among variables affecting a project’s success. This is a unique study offering new insights into existing management literature, as there is hardly any available research identifying and analyzing the relationships among variables covered in this study.