| Abstract: | The role played by Project management plays a key part in different companies and sectors. Project management is promoted as an organizational strategic component that leads innovation, and value creation and takes a major stand in turning vision into reality. Despite the importance of projects and project management, their high rate of failures and challenges is a major concern in different sectors, among others in the public sector. Among the reasons that affect project outcomes, stakeholder influential attributes and more importantly, their understanding and effective utilization and management are identified as the key to project success. This study, putting its major stand in Addis Ababa public sectors, utilizes the body of knowledge developed in the field of project management and uses stakeholder theory combined with several complementary theories to achieve its goals and objectives. The study moves on assessing stakeholders' influence in many ways and the effect they could have on the success of projects, stakeholders’ direct and mediating effects on project success. The study employs a quantitative survey with structured questionnaires to collect primary data from project leaders, emphasizing the exploration of stakeholders' diverse influence and their direct and mediating impact on project success. Additionally, an extensive review of secondary sources, including published books, journals, and research papers, enriches the study's interpretation, contributing to existing knowledge, while unpublished internet sources enhance its depth and breadth. Based on the above data collection methods and tools, the study identifies the critical role of stakeholder involvement in decision-making, communication, planning, and implementation. Furthermore, the collected data underwent thorough statistical analysis, utilizing descriptive methods and advanced techniques such as correlation and multiple linear regression with SPSS version 25. However, the study underscores the need for effective implementation of stakeholder involvement in Addis Ababa's public projects. The research generates recommendations for ongoing monitoring of success factors and addressing time, cost, and cost overrun issues. Future research is proposed to explore the correlation between success factor rankings and respondents' roles or experience, advancing our understanding of project success dynamics. |
