Logistics optimization of project team management resource allocation in stakeholder engagement

Abstract

Abstract. Contemporary project management faces increasing complexity in stakeholder engagement, requiring efficient allocation of limited team resources among multiple stakeholders with diverse interests and influence levels. Traditional stakeholder management approaches rely predominantly on qualitative analysis, employing classification matrices and expert assessments, which do not enable quantitatively justified decisions regarding interaction prioritization. The absence of formalized approaches is particularly evident during initiation and planning phases, when determining the optimal balance between team resource expenditure and expected value from engaging different stakeholder groups becomes essential. The research objective is to develop an optimization model for stakeholder management by transferring principles of the classical transportation problem into the domain of project relationships. The methodological foundation combines the logistical concept of flow processes, linear programming apparatus, and multi-criteria analysis. The core idea involves interpreting stakeholders as suppliers of influence and expertise resources, while project requirements serve as consumption points for these resources. The developed optimization model aims to maximize the total effect from all interactions while considering constraints on stakeholder resource availability and mandatory fulfillment of all project needs. For practical model application, a comprehensive toolkit has been developed for determining input parameters: methods for monetary evaluation of benefits from stakeholder engagement, a composite indicator of interaction complexity, decomposition techniques for breaking down project requirements into elementary components, and an integrated assessment methodology for stakeholder capabilities considering their time resources, authority levels, and competencies. The proposed approach establishes a foundation for rational selection of engagement strategies and effective utilization of project team managerial capacity under conditions of competition for limited resources. The mathematical apparatus enables comparison of alternative interaction strategies and selection of economically efficient options for involving stakeholders in project implementation.