Stakeholder preference mapping : the case for built heritage of
Georgetown, Malaysia

Lou, ECW; Lee, A; Lim, YM

Abstract

Purpose
While there is an established body of literature that discusses the importance of
stakeholder management, and also the need for involvement of all stakeholders so
that all values of a heritage site can be captured in a heritage management plan, the
concepts are not generally developed in ways that make them useful in practice. This
research seeks to bring greater clarity to the practice of stakeholder engagement in
built heritage, so that organisations can manage their stakeholders in ways that meet
their strategic goals. This study proposes a novel method to identify stakeholders, a
stakeholder preference mapping approach, which will depict their influence on
decisions based on a of power-interest scale.

Design/methodology/approach
This research posits a stakeholder preference mapping approach. Virtual Stakeholder
Groups (VSG) were identified and stakeholder’s significance impacts were measured
using the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 to determine in-depth consideration of each
stakeholder’s power and interest against differing stages of a heritage project.
Participants were convened through a 5-day workshop, consisting of twenty Malaysian
and nineteen international participants (80% academics and 20% Malaysian civil
servants). The Multi-Attribute Decision Analysis (MADA) technique was then used to
demonstrate how stakeholder identification and analysis can be used to help heritage
teams meet their mandates.

Findings
The research identified 8 virtual VSG (Extremist, Expert, Economic, Social,
Governance and Tourists) and their scale of power-interest influence at different
stages of the heritage management process. The findings reveal varying levels of
engagement from each of the different groups of stakeholders at each work stage –
with Stage 5 (Construction) being the least engaged.

Originality/value
It is anticipated that through stakeholder preference mapping, heritage teams can
increase the robustness of their strategies by identifying and effectively managing the
important concepts; heritage teams can effectively manage the interface between the
many (often competing) demands of differing stakeholders. Using Georgetown as a
case study, the research team were able to delineate the interaction and interplay
between the various stakeholders in the complex decision-making processes for a
UNESCO heritage site. Applying the RIBA 2013 Plan of Work as a framework to the
heritage management process enables a formalised mapping approach to the
process.

Citation

Georgetown, Malaysia. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, 11(2), https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-08-2020-0114

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 7, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Mar 26, 2021
• Publication Date: Mar 26, 2021
• Deposit Date: Mar 8, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 1, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development
• Print ISSN: 2044-1266
• Publisher: Emerald
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-08-2020-0114
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-08-2020-0114
• Related Public URLs: https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/2044-1266#all
• Additional Information: Projects : ES/K002163/2