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Proposing a Sustainability-Centered Approach to Overcome Critical Issues in Megaprojects
... This push for accountability is not only essential for managing the inherent risks but also for ensuring that these mega-projects fulfill their intended goals and benefits (Dyer, 2017). Furthermore, in a world increasingly focused on environmental and social sustainability, the discipline of mega-projects must address the imperative of ensuring these initiatives are not only economically viable but also ecologically responsible and socially equitable (Caccialanza et al., 2022;Corazza et al., 2022). ...
... Therefore, stakeholder management approaches and strategies could differ in these projects in addressing these challenges. Sustainability centred approach has been suggested for approaching to deal with critical issues in megaprojects (Caccialanza et al., 2022). However, the extant literature lacks in providing a thorough understanding of stakeholder management strategies that are appropriate for sustainability related challenges in megaprojects. ...
Purpose
Megaprojects are financially large and complex in scope, which require engagement of stakeholders from various institution and communities. With increased concerns from stakeholders on sustainability related issues, from environmental to socio-economic perspective, managing megaprojects has become quite challenging. Hence, there should be proactive approaches in active engagement of stakeholders from the start of the projects to overcome such issues. Currently, there is a knowledge gap on stakeholder management strategies specific to megaprojects on managing sustainability issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This research has adopted review of secondary data from case studies to identify stakeholder management challenges and strategies in megaprojects around Sydney area. The documents related to three different projects were reviewed and data were collected through qualitative content analysis and coding with use of NVivo software for within case analysis and was followed by thematic approach for cross case analysis.
Findings
Every case study project's sustainability-related stakeholder issues are more similar than different to others. Differences are mostly in terms of intensity of impact of any issue in a particular project, and/or intensity of impact at certain phase of any project. Moreover, significant sectors and strategies have been identified for key focus to manage environment and socioeconomic issues. Whatever be the strategies, in case of megaprojects, they need to be mostly proactive.
Originality/value
This research has extended the knowledge on stakeholder management, in relation to managing sustainability-related issues of megaprojects during their design, construction and operation phases. This research offers useful strategies for project teams of megaprojects to develop a proactive stakeholder management plan, addressing unavoidable sustainability challenges.
... The effective implementation of a multi-dimensional perspective has been positively correlated with project success and failures avoidance [5,6,32], in particular referring to the social one [40]. Moreover, great effort has been played in the understanding of possible causes of megaprojects failures. ...
The understanding of the interactions between megaproject and social impact assessment disciplines is crucial and an effective implementation of a multi-dimensional perspective has been positively correlated with project success and failures avoidance. Current literature aims to encompass this role, extending the analysis of the impacts to the broader concept of stakeholders and local communities impacted by the project. The aim of the Authors is that these preliminary findings can inspire further and deeper research on these topics, looking for and integrated approach to include all of them into a cohesive framework for managing the social pillar in megaprojects management. The literature review leads to the identification of three different research areas related to the issue of the evaluation of the megaprojects from a social perspective: a first one related to the issue of power and equality that looks coherent with the critical management agenda both from a methodological and theoretical point of view; a second one related to the concept of social space as a construct to adopt in order to enlarge the alternatives in the evaluation process; the third one that depicts the role of technology and social media to manage stakeholders.KeywordsMegaprojectsSocial impactSustainabilityLiterature review
Construction projects’ complexity increases with their size, stakeholders’ environment and engineering specialties. This condition is accentuated in the context of megaprojects.On the one hand, BIM has helped to manage the complexity of construction projects, transforming all project components into a digital system. On the other hand, enterprise architecture (EA) allows managing the organization as a system and decomposing interrelated components into a model. BIM and EA aspire to interoperability and collaboration as their application maturity increases beyond project boundaries. The joint work between BIM and EA could manage the project’s complexity and accelerate BIM maturity in project-business management.This paper seeks to identify the connections between BIM and EA through a literature review showing the advantages and synergies of their combined application. Advances and challenges are discussed for future studies to achieve stronger exploitation of BIM and EA working together.KeywordsBuilding information modeling (BIM)enterprise architecture (EA)business process management (BPM)interoperabilitymaturity
The inability to effectively manage structural, social and emergent complexity is one of the main causes of megaprojects failure. The leader’s technical skills are beyond necessary but not sufficient to deal with situations of increasing complexity. High levels of complexity can only be addressed with radical new approaches. Specifically, this paper aims to shift the focus from a traditional concept of leadership acknowledged to a specifical individual within a project to an organization-wide, aware and sustainable (WAS) leadership exerted by key people. All key people involved in the implementation of the megaproject (designers, analysts, project managers, …) are invited to exercise a new leadership style that, in the model we propose, has three main characteristics. To give a practical imprinting to the research, a case study has been selected to describe the traits and skills of the WAS leader in megaprojects.Keywordscomplexityshared leadershipboundary spannersproject manager’ reconciliating roleManagement for stakeholderproject success factorsnew iron trianglenew competenciesvalue creationleader-megaproject fit
This systematic literature review explores the megaproject management literature and contributes by improving our understanding of the causes and cures of poor megaproject performance. The review analyzes 6,007 titles and abstracts and 86 full papers, identifying a total of 18 causes and 54 cures to address poor megaproject performance. We suggest five avenues for future research that should consider examining megaprojects as large-scale, inter-organizational production systems: (1) designing the system architecture; (2) bridging the gap with manufacturing; (3) building and leading collaborations; (4) engaging institutions and communities; and (5) decomposing and integrating the supply chain.
Sustainability in a 3P framework is becoming a key driver in megaproject feasibility assessment according to International Financial Institutions. Currently, in several cases, sustainability is still used as a fair topic to talk about by CEOs and presidents of Companies and Institutions without a concrete plan to implement it. This paper aims to explore the strategies for a real implementation of 3P sustainability in projects and megaprojects, integrating the three pillars of sustainability into a cohesive whole to make it works not only at year-end speeches to shareholders, but also to fruitfully include sustainability into the strategy of organizations.
Megaprojects involve organizations called “Special Purpose Entities” (SPEs) also known as “special purpose vehicles.” Despite their relevance, particularly for governance, SPEs are under-investigated. In the project management literature, there is neither a widely accepted definition of SPEs nor a clear understanding of what it does. This article presents an extensive literature review, which considers three domains: legal, financial, and project management. Four outcomes are presented: the definition of SPE, the typology of existing SPEs, comparisons of existing SPEs, and descriptions of SPE uses in megaprojects.
The paper is focused on the analysis of the key aspects of sustainability projects, namely advanced risk management and project knowledge. These aspects are recommended to the attention of institutions and project managers when designing and executing new projects simultaneously with quality and project status management. The aim of the paper is to point out the critical factors that have recently affected the success of sustainability projects, which is also its contribution. Empirical research focused on the identification of the application level of the post-project phases in project management in the Czech Republic in 2016 and 2017 was performed. The research was performed as qualitative research employing observation and inquiry methods in the form of a controlled semistructured interview. The research identified 21 most common reasons for not executing post-project phases. Ensuring good and efficient progress of post-project phases, in particular by the means of post-implementation system analysis and compilation of a set of improvement suggestions for subsequent project management, forms the practical background for application of knowledge management and project management principles. A case study focused on the application of fuzzy logic in project risk assessment has been elaborated. In practice, current project management requires the application of advanced risk analysis methods that will replace the simple risk values estimated by calculations of separate risk components.
Sustainability is a field of growing interest in Project Management (PM). Literature on Sustainability in PM is abundant at a theoretical level; however, it is necessary to explore hands-on approaches for designing models and practices. The purpose of this study is to introduce management systems as a practical tool for Sustainability in PM. Management system certifications are used as an indicator of the implementation of Sustainability practices, and thus, the impact of Sustainability on the success of projects is analyzed. The methodology for this study includes the analysis of the correspondence between Sustainability and five recognized management system standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, UNE 166002 and OHSAS 18001) and experimental research based on data delivered by CDTI (Center for Industrial Technological Development) including relevant and objective information about R&D&I Projects in the energy sector. This study analyzes the impact of four variables (duration, budget, year of funding and certifications to management systems) on the success of the project. The conclusion is the significant positive impact of having management system certifications on the success of company projects analyzed in the Spanish energy sector, which may be of interest to PM practitioners in order to consider Sustainability as a factor for success.
Nowadays the advance towards sustainability poses a global challenge for modern society as well as for companies. Professionals and academics continually redefine business processes and design management mechanisms in a more appropriate way in order to allow companies to balance economic activity with the environmental and social impact that they generate. Under this complex and dynamic scenario, creating a product, providing a service, or achieving a given result requires a different interpretation of the efficiency paradigm and an adequate socio-environmental intelligence. In the context of project management, sustainability-related knowledge, skills, and suitable tools are necessary to face this challenge. Moreover, its close relationship with stakeholder theory presents an alternative to approach that purpose. This article attempts a systematic review of the literature on stakeholder theory in project management during the past nine years, with the aim of providing a comprehensive view of this relationship, revealing its impact and influence on sustainability, and finding new research paths. We highlight the potential benefits derived from this relationship, either as an instrument for the promotion of corporate social responsibility and inclusive policies, as a means for the generation of shared value and technological innovation, or as a key factor in the strategy and business management of a given project.
Back cover text: Megaprojects and Risk provides the first detailed examination of the phenomenon of megaprojects. It is a fascinating account of how the promoters of multibillion-dollar megaprojects systematically and self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. It shows, in unusual depth, how the formula for approval is an unhealthy cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects. This results in projects that are extremely risky, but where the risk is concealed from MPs, taxpayers and investors. The authors not only explore the problems but also suggest practical solutions drawing on theory and hard, scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations that illustrate the book. Accessibly written, it will be essential reading in its field for students, scholars, planners, economists, auditors, politicians, journalists and interested citizens.
Megaprojects are large, they are constantly growing ever larger, and more and more are being built in what has been called the biggest investment boom in history. This chapter serves as an introduction to megaprojects, and to The Oxford Handbook of Megaproject Management. First, megaprojects are defined and the size of the global megaprojects business is estimated. Second, drivers of the megaproject boom are identified, including monumentalism and the technological sublime. Third, ten things you must know about megaprojects are detailed, from their tendency to suffer from uniqueness bias to their overexposure to black-swan events. Fourth, the "iron law of megaprojects" is identified as a main challenge to megaproject management: "Over budget, over time, under benefits, over and over again." Finally, the main structure of the Handbook is set out as covering the what, the why, and the how of megaproject management, in terms of the challenges, causes, and cures that students of megaprojects must decipher to better understand and better manage megaprojects.
When the project sponsor is responsible for the definition of the content of the project and the project manager for delivering this content, who then is responsible for incorporating sustainability in the process? Which project governance role has which responsibility to incorporate sustainability aspects in the project management process? This chapter shows how a project manager can influence the way sustainability is implemented in the project and the project management process. This perception is based on the notion that the project manager is intrinsically motivated to work on a sustainable project, and to achieve sustainable results.
This paper investigates sustainability in building projects from a whole life project management perspective. The objective of the research is to identify unique features of whole life project management and their relationship to building sustainability by using a case study of a social housing project. The procurement method adopted in the case study is private finance initiative (PFI), which requires private contractors to manage the whole life of a project. The project reached a financial close in 2007, with a contract period of 30years. Data were collected from multiple sources, including interviews, document reviews, and on-site visits during a three-year period. Based on seven microlevel attributes for building sustainability, data were content-analyzed to discover effective strategies used in whole life project management to achieve the sustainability objectives of the client. The PFI procurement process increased the accountability of the private contractor in sustainability, while the whole life project management approaches smoothed the progress in practicing sustainable construction. The analysis results show that the whole life project management of the different project stages contributes to seven sustainable attributes in a variety of forms.
This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of cost escalation in transportation infrastructure projects. Based on a sample of 258 transportation infrastructure projects worth $90 billion (U.S.), it is found with overwhelming statistical significance that the cost estimates used to decide whether important infrastructure should be built are highly and systematically misleading. The result is continuous cost escalation of billions of dollars. The sample used in the study is the largest of its kind, allowing for the first time statistically valid conclusions regarding questions of cost underestimation and escalation for different project types, different geographical regions, and different historical periods. Four kinds of explanation of cost underestimation are examined: technical, economic, psychological, and political. Underestimation cannot be explained by error and is best explained by strategic misrepresentation, i.e., lying. The policy implications are clear: In debates and decision making on whether important transportation infrastructure should be built, those legislators, administrators, investors, media representatives, and members of the public who value honest numbers should not trust the cost estimates and cost-benefit analyses produced by project promoters and their analysts.
This paper discusses sustainability of an already published implementation framework, which would help in achieving stakeholders' objectives. The framework has been found to be feasible for small organisations where employee strength is less than 2,000. However, in large organisations, spanning across geographies, it becomes difficult to implement HRIS applications and many times such implementations have not been successful because of lack of stakeholders' involvement, end users acceptance of features of the application, non‐alignment of business goals with functionalities of human resource information systems and non‐commitment from senior management. The paper discusses how step by step these parameters be addressed by using the published framework. The methodology adapted is case study for HRIS implementation for FAO has been illustrated. The benefits of such an approach are enormous in terms of on time implementation and meeting business needs.
Purpose - Drawing on mainstream arguments in the literature, the paper presents a coherent and holistic view on the causes of cost overruns, and the dynamics between cognitive dispositions, learning and estimation. A cost prediction model has also been developed using data mining for estimating final cost of projects.
Design/methodology/approach - A mixed-method approach was adopted: a qualitative exploration of the causes of cost overrun followed by an empirical development of a final cost model using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN).
Findings - A conceptual model to distinguish between the often conflated causes of underestimation and cost overruns on large publicly funded projects. The empirical model developed in this paper achieved an average absolute percentage error of 3.67% with 87% of the model predictions within a range of ±5% of the actual final cost.
Practical implications - The model developed can be converted to a desktop package for quick cost predictions and the generation of various alternative solutions for a construction project in a sort of what-if analysis for the purposes of comparison. The use of the model could also greatly reduce the time and resources spent on estimation.
Originality/value - A thorough discussion on the dynamics between cognitive dispositions, learning and cost estimation has been presented. It also presents a conceptual model for understanding two often conflated issues of cost overrun and under-estimation.
As megaprojects have become ubiquitous, their real benefits and costs have come under increased scrutiny. We interviewed Bent Flyvbjerg, who has extensively studied megaproject development. Flyvbjerg has found systematic problems in the development process: by intentionally misrepresenting information and deliberately disregarding risks, proponents instigate projects that result in fewer benefits and higher costs than promised.
A major source of risk in project management is inaccurate forecasts of project costs, demand, and other impacts. The paper presents a promising new approach to mitigating such risk, based on theories of decision making under uncertainty which won the 2002 Nobel prize in economics. First, the paper documents inaccuracy and risk in project management. Second, it explains inaccuracy in terms of optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation. Third, the theoretical basis is presented for a promising new method called "reference class forecasting," which achieves accuracy by basing forecasts on actual performance in a reference class of comparable projects and thereby bypassing both optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation. Fourth, the paper presents the first instance of practical reference class forecasting, which concerns cost forecasts for large transportation infrastructure projects. Finally, potentials for and barriers to reference class forecasting are assessed.
One of the developments that changed today's business environment is the increased concern about the sustainability, or unsustainability, of our society. Silvius and Schipper (2014) identify a growing number of publications that study the impact of sustainability on project management. One of the ‘impact areas' they identify is the identification and management of risk in the project. This chapter discusses the main concepts of sustainability and their implications for project risk management. The main findings are that the integration of the concepts of sustainability imply (1) A broader identification and considering of risks, expanding the orientation on risks to include also environmental and social perspectives and to consider the full life-cycle of the project's deliverable, impact and resources. (2) Inclusion of (potential) stakeholders in a transparent process of project risk management. And (3) Adopting a social, communicative, approach to risk management, as opposed to the calculating, rational approach.
Traditional project management methodologies [VV.AA. 2017,1] are too plan-driven to help organizations tackle increasing levels of complexity that characterize Large Engineering Projects (LEPs). By their nature LEPs invoke coordinated application of capital, sophisticated technology, intense planning and political influence [Gellert & Lynch, 2003]: the combination of these peculiar features makes the management of these projects particularly complex to the point whereby traditional project management methodologies are put in difficulty and discussion since in the face of unforeseen circumstances and difficulties they results as excessively rigid and therefore binding consequently undermining the final success of the project.
This paper aims to understand if “adaptive” methodologies [VVAA.4, DeCarlo 2004, Sliger, 2011] should be partially applied in the management of LEPs to overcome the typical constraints found in the rigorous application of classical/traditional methodologies considered as inadequate and too restrictive to cope with the typical complexities of LEPs. In this sense we argue that the partial and targeted application of adaptive methodologies to LEPS should favour resilience, that is the ability to identify an effective and short-term response to any negative external events of destabilizing nature and consequently contribute to the success of the project (in this case LEP) as a whole.
The book is based on an international research project that analyzed sixty LEPs, among them the Boston Harbor cleanup; the first phase of subway construction in Ankara, Turkey; a hydro dam on the Caroni River in Venezuela; and the construction of offshore oil platforms west of Flor, Norway.
As the number, complexity, and scope of large engineering projects (LEPs) increase worldwide, the huge stakes may endanger the survival of corporations and threaten the stability of countries that approach these projects unprepared. According to the authors, the "front-end" engineering of institutional arrangements and strategic systems is a far greater determinant of an LEP's success than are the more tangible aspects of project engineering and management. The book is based on an international research project that analyzed sixty LEPs, among them the Boston Harbor cleanup; the first phase of subway construction in Ankara, Turkey; a hydro dam on the Caroni River in Venezuela; and the construction of offshore oil platforms west of Flor, Norway. The authors use the research results to develop an experience-based theoretical framework that will allow managers to understand and respond to the complexity and uncertainty inherent in all LEPs. In addition to managers and scholars of large-scale projects, the book will be of interest to those studying the relationship between institutions and strategy, risk management, and corporate governance in general.
Contributors Bjorn Andersen, Richard Brealey, Ian Cooper, Serghei Floricel, Michel Habib, Brian Hobbs, Donald R. Lessard, Pascale Michaud, Roger Miller, Xavier Olleros
Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. It is recognized that projects play a pivotal role in the realization of more sustainable business practices and a developing theme in project management research is the relationship between projects and sustainability. As the literature on this topic is evolving, this paper discusses the question whether the growing attention for sustainability in project management research represents a new ‘school of thought’ in project management? The study builds upon earlier work on schools of project management research, in which nine schools were identified. The question whether sustainability should be considered a new school of project management is answered by deriving the criteria for recognition as a school and performing a structured literature review on a sample of 71 articles on sustainability in project management, taken from the leading academic journals on this topic. As criteria for recognition as a school of project management, the criteria content, community and impact were found. After a content analysis of the articles in the sample, the conclusion is reached that sustainability qualifies a new, distinct and emerging school of thinking in project management. The defining characteristics of this sustainability school are: considering Projects in a societal perspective, having a Management for stakeholders approach, applying Triple bottom line criteria, and taking a Values based approach to projects and project management.
Megaprojects are often associated with poor delivery performance and poor benefits realization. This article provides a method of identifying, in a quantitative and rigorous manner, the characteristics related to project management success in megaprojects. It provides an investigation of how stakeholders can use this knowledge to ensure more effective design and delivery for megaprojects. The research is grounded in 44 mega-projects and a systematic, empirically based methodology that employs the Fisher's exact test and machine learning techniques to identify the correlation between megaprojects’ characteristics and performance, paving the way to an understanding of their causation.
This study aims to propose and to validate a research model on project sustainability management. Moreover, it investigates the relation between project sustainability management and project success. The methodological approach is a survey-based research, using structural equation modelling to validate the research model. The hypotheses were tested based on a field study involving 222 projects distributed among eight industries and two countries. The results show a low degree of commitment to social and environment aspects of the surveyed projects. The structural model proposed shows a significant and positive relation between project sustainability management and project success and in reducing the social and environmental negative impact.
Infrastructure megaprojects are historically associated with poor delivery, both in terms of cost and schedule performance. Large Transport Infrastructure Projects (TIPs) are amongst the most controversial and are often delivered late, over budget, and providing less benefit than expected. While there is a growing theoretical body of literature addressing TIPs, empirical research is still required to determine which TIPs characteristics affect TIPs schedule & cost performance. This paper addresses this issue, applying an empirically-based methodology to a dataset of 30 European TIPs. The results highlight the importance of financial support from the government and the strong influence of both external and internal stakeholders, mainly in relation to their early engagement and to their nationality. Technological characteristics and the presence of Special Purpose Entities are also correlated with the TIPs performance. These key findings both support and contradict the literature, and are relevant for both policy makers and project managers during the decision-making process, planning and delivery of TIPs.
Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. Projects play a pivotal role in the realization of more sustainable business practices and the concept of sustainability has also been linked to project management. However, how managers of projects consider sustainability in their operational daily work is still to be explored. This paper uses Q-methodology to investigate the consideration of sustainability aspects in the decision making processes of project managers. The research question was How are dimensions of sustainability considered in the decision-making processes of project managers in relation to the triple constraint of time, cost and quality? Based on the Q-sort of selected respondents, the study found that the consideration of sustainability principles is underrepresented, compared to the triple constraint criteria. However, the analysis of the individual Q-sorts revealed four distinct perspectives that differ significantly in their consideration of sustainability principles and triple constraint criteria. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and Association for Project Management and the International Project Management Association.
In this chapter, the authors provide a rationale for asserting a special importance of the project manager with respect to implementing sustainability at their enterprise, due to their being at a key "pivot point." This does not come without challenges, and here the authors convey those specific challenges for project managers. They show that one of these challenges is adopting a sustainability thinking mindset, a mindset that has its roots in the "larger scheme of things, and the long-haul," even though project managers are often (necessarily) focused on their immediate scope, and short-term deliverables for demanding stakeholders. Finally, the authors advise project managers with some specific techniques to overcome the prior challenges.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish the linkages among Business Excellence Models (BEMs), project sustainability, and project success. The particular focus is on how the BEM framework contributes to project sustainability as one element of project success. Although general sustainability definitions vary, most describe a broad perspective that encompasses economic, social, and environmental objectives. This broad perspective fits well with the concepts of both Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Total Quality Management (TQM). Business Excellence Models, with their origins in the TQM movement, provide a framework to address sustainability. Although much of the literature focuses on applying these concepts in a general organizational setting, they also apply to a project organization. Project success criteria can be expanded to include project sustainability, measured both at the time of project closing and later when the overall project benefits are evaluated.
The working hypothesis of this study revolves around the lack of integration of sustainability and project management. Organisations, nowadays are increasingly keen on to include sustainability in their business. Project management can help make this process a success but little guidance is available on how to apply sustainability to specific projects. This work has analysed connections between the two disciplines by means of a comprehensive literature review covering more than 100 references. Sustainability has become a very important step, particularly in terms of environmental aspects. However, slightly less progress has been made socially. In any case, the ideal characteristics for a project and its management might be considered sustainable have still not been specified to this day. The main scientific contribution of this article is a new conceptual framework helping project managers deal with sustainable projects. This framework is based on the supposition that project products designed using sustainability criteria, sustainable project processes, organisations committed to sustainability that carry out projects, and project managers trained in sustainability are all necessary elements, although, maybe not enough, to attain sustainable projects. In addition, the article suggests a future research agenda that might specify how project management can help incorporate sustainability into organisations and their projects.
The complex and uncertain nature of mega construction projects (MCP) require an effective stakeholder management (SM) approach to accommodate conflicting stakeholder interests. Previous reviews regarding SM in construction sector are generic as their attentions have been placed on relatively small scale projects. A systematic review on SM studies in relation to MCP seems to be lacking. This paper analyzes the latest research development of this domain by reviewing selected articles published from 1997 to 2014. Four major research topics are identified: “stakeholder interests and influences”, “stakeholder management process”, “stakeholder analysis methods” and “stakeholder engagement”. This study reveals that SM approaches in MCP are subject to national context of the project, indicating a need to identify the impact of national culture on this discipline. Moreover, traditional stakeholder analysis techniques are widely adopted in MCP notwithstanding their weaknesses; therefore a social network approach for managing stakeholder interrelationships in these projects is needed.
Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. How can we develop prosperity, without compromising the life of future generations? Companies are integrating ideas of sustainability in their marketing, corporate communication, annual reports and in their actions.
Projects play a pivotal role in the realisation of more sustainable business practices, and the concept of sustainability has more recently also been linked to project management. The emerging literature on this topic provides strong indications that considering sustainability impacts project management processes and practices. However, the standards for project management fail to address the sustainability agenda.
This article provides a structured review of 164 publications, covering the time period 1993 - 2013, that relate sustainability to project management. The research questions answered are: 'How is sustainability defined or considered in the context of project management?' and, 'How does considering sustainability impact project management?'
Based on an identification of relevant dimensions of sustainability that was evident from the publications, we identified the areas of impact of sustainability on project management. It appeared that considering sustainability impacts project management on different levels. Considering sustainability implies, firstly, a shift of scope in the management of projects: from managing time, budget and quality, to managing social, environmental, and economic impact. Secondly, it implies a shift of paradigm of project management: from an approach that can be characterised by predictability and controllability, to an approach that is characterised by flexibility, complexity and opportunity. And thirdly, considering sustainability implies a mind shift for the project manager: from delivering requested results, to taking responsibility for sustainable development in organisations and society.
With these findings, the practices and standards of project management can be developed further to address the role projects play in creating sustainable development.
A competent project manager is vital to project success. While many studies have examined competency of project managers, few have done so in the context of green construction. Therefore, this study aims to identify challenges faced by project managers who execute green construction projects and to determine the critical knowledge areas and skills that are necessary to respond to such challenges. Through literature review, surveys and interviews with project managers, this study will help establish a knowledge base for project managers to be competitive and to effectively execute sustainable projects.
The paper analyses the literature on risk management in mega-projects suggesting possible mitigation actions to be considered in the stakeholders' management. EXPO 2015 represents a perfect project to understand the strength of a rigorous methodological approach to uncertainty and the need for a mature consciousness at managerial level on these topics. Analysing real available data on this project, the number of visitors appears overestimated, so, by adopting a framework, called SHAMPU, the paper quantifies the relative impact and provides possible mitigation actions. Practical actions crossing the risk management phases in mega projects proposed by literature are suggested in the conclusions.
Organizations increasingly use projects to achieve business objectives but report that results often fall short of goals. A number of formal standards for managing projects have been developed intending to improve such project outcomes. However, research examining this assumption is scarce and has yielded mixed results. This paper presents the development and use of a set of metrics for assessing the use of project management (PM) practices in an empirical assessment of the relative use of different practices, and the link between the use of those practices and project success. Our analysis shows widely varying usage of different PM practices and differences in use depending on the context of the project. Further, our study indicates that the level of use of PM practices is indeed related to project success. Finally, the results suggest that the PM practices that make a difference may not be the most frequently used.
This paper introduces a decision model and framework for subcontractor selection and team formation in the built environment based on the economic/business, social and environmental triple-bottom-line aspects of sustainability. The model and decision framework aid the decision maker in forming a construction project team that can most benefit the overall goal of sustainability and compatibility amongst the subcontractors (supply chain) from a number of trade industries. The model uses both the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Analytic Network Process (ANP) as its basis. Once the generic decision model is defined, an example application is described to show its use and feasibility. The robustness of the solution is demonstrated using sensitivity analysis, allowing the decision maker to appreciate the complexities in this decision environment. This work builds on the relatively sparse formal mathematical modeling research and applications to sustainability in the built environment, an industry that has significant economic, social, and environmental influences.
Editor's Note: John Elkington's new book, Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st-Century Business, has been hailed as “practical, compassionate and deeply informed, a brilliant synthesis of his genius for cutting through the thicket of tough issues–in the world of business and sustainability–and producing elegant solutions that can be applied today” (Paul Hawken). We are pleased to have the opportunity to publish a selection from this award-winning book. In this discussion of partnerships, Elkington explores how effective, long-term partnerships will be crucial for companies making the transition to sustainability and offers approaches and examples of keen interest. Special thanks to Capstone Publishers, U.K., for their gracious cooperation.
Summary Global projects affect and are affected by multiple stakeholders with differing interests and demands. Recently, there has been increased pressure for global projects to be more environmentally and socially responsible. A project creates a dynamic context for stakeholder management and stakeholder behavior because the project moves through different phases during its lifecycle. By adopting a lifecycle perspective on secondary stakeholders' behavior, we develop a set of propositions that increase our understanding of the potential of secondary stakeholders to influence the project management's decision making during the different phases of the project lifecycle. Ultimately, a better understanding of secondary stakeholders' influence behavior during the project lifecycle enables the use of more effective project stakeholder management approaches.
Water management projects are complex and contain many dimensions, including the nature of the problem, technologicalchallenges, and political relevance. Experts and consultants in water management usually work with a limited set of analysis and project planning methods. This implies that expertsand consultants have a restricted spectrum for bidding on watermanagement projects and that the engagement of a specific expertor consultant introduces a biased approach to water management.To alleviate these limitations, experts and consultants shouldhave a readily accessible collection of analysis and project management methods at their disposal, coupled with guidelinesfor combining these methods to best approach a water managementproject. In this paper we propose a taxonomy for classifying methods used in water management. Using this taxonomy, we derivea Project Management Specification Model (PMSM) to help expertsselect, combine, and operationalize methods to match best therequirements posed by a project. The taxonomy and PMSM were derived and validated by analyzing more than 90 methods togetherwith experts in the field of water management, and by using themwithin two new project proposals made by an engineering company.We could conclude that PMSM's broad view on water managementhelps experts and consultants choose flexible analysis and project management approaches, and that it increases the involvement of, and acceptance by, all parties involved in water management.
This paper provides some thoughts about success criteria for IS–IT project management. Cost, time and quality (The Iron Triangle), over the last 50 years have become inextricably linked with measuring the success of project management. This is perhaps not surprising, since over the same period those criteria are usually included in the description of project management. Time and costs are at best, only guesses, calculated at a time when least is known about the project. Quality is a phenomenon, it is an emergent property of peoples different attitudes and beliefs, which often change over the development life-cycle of a project. Why has project management been so reluctant to adopt other criteria in addition to the Iron Triangle, such as stakeholder benefits against which projects can be assessed? This paper proposes a new framework to consider success criteria, The Square Route.
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