INFLUENCE OF STAKEHOLDERS’ BEHAVIOUR ON DECISION-MAKING IN MANAGING INNOVATIVE PROJECTS

The article is devoted to analysis of project management peculiarities in modern companies, taking the interaction with stakeholders into account. The focus is on the behaviour of stakeholders while implementating flexible project management methodologies, particularly for innovative projects. The authors made an analysis of the scientific approaches to defining the terms "project management" and "stakeholders". The authors explored the key mechanisms for stakeholder involvement in the development and implementation of projects of a modern company that implements the Agile methodology (particularly Scrum). The peculiarities of innovative projects, their main stages of development as well as involvement of stakeholders were considered in the paper. The analysis of stakeholders’ influence on the company’s innovative project activity was carried out. The mechanism of interaction between company and stakeholders in the aspect of innovative project activity was offered in the paper. This mechanism demonstrates to decision makers the importance of establishing interaction with company’s stakeholders in the context of its project activities (in particular, using the innovative Agile methodology). This created the background for further research and the formation of a more systematic understanding of the role of stakeholders in the innovative project management. The article focuses on local development projects aimed at implementing the strategic priorities of the territorial community and the relevant territory, and approved in the project part of the strategy. Recommendations were provided on ways to relieve project managers, speed up and optimize project activities, and minimize the risk of deadlines. The article also presents an expanded classification of stakeholders involved in the development and implementation of projects. In particular, the groups of internal and external stakeholders, primary and secondary stakeholder groups, regulatory, functional, diffuse groups and customer groups were studied. The normative, organizational, public and media groups, stakeholder groups in relation to the influence of power and levels of interest are singled out, and the corresponding grouping matrix is ​​given. Emphasis is also placed on the shadow stakeholder group, which functions as a regulator and is associated with political influence on the organization.