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Evaluating the Role of Project Management on Sustainable Development

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Pakistan Research
Journal of
Management
Sciences
J Pak Res Man Sci 2017;1(1):64-69

www.pakpub.com/index.php/JIRMS/

Evaluating the Role of Project Management on Sustainable

Development
Shobayo Peter B1*, Elumah Lucas O2
1. Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria.
2. Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Received 12 May 2017; Accepted 22 May 2017; Published 30 Jun 2017

Abstract

Sustainable development is an important challenge currently facing the economy. It deals with how to develop the economy
without jeopardizing the life of future generations. Organizations have incorporated the concept of sustainability in their overall
organizational structures. In recent times the concept of sustainable development has been associated with project management;
Projects are seen as a mechanism of change both within an organization, and the economy at large, and this mechanism play a
crucial role in achieving both sustainable business process and practices. Thus, project managers are seen as change agents who
play important role on the sustainability of an organization. However, the standard of project management in Nigeria have failed
to realize the crucial role project managers play in ensuring sustainable development, and the project managers as well lack the
capability to achieve sustainability in their project. This study aims to identify the role of project management in ensuring
sustainable development. The study further aims to make specific recommendations on developing the standards of the project
management capabilities so as to prepare the project managers for the crucial role of achieving sustainable development in an
organization and the economy at large.

Keywords: Sustainable development, Project Management, Project Manager, Sustainability, Capabilities.

pillars in all cases, and whether this will bring about a

1. Introduction
A key notion of sustainable development entails the
integration and harmonization of the social,
environmental and economic wellbeing both in the
short term and in the long term. The combination of
these three variables can also be seen as the “Triple
Bottom Line” which includes People (social), Planet
(environmental) and Profit (economical) (Elkington,
1999). A change in sustainable development entails the
changes in the three pillars of the triple bottom line.
There exists however the argument on whether an equal
amount of attention should be given to each of the three
non-realizable situation. Project managers need to take
into cognizance the scope of sustainable development
within their projects, and whether this scope is limited
to project deliverables or whether it comprises of more
than the deliverables as well as whether the project
relates with the organization within which it takes
place. There has been recent connection of project
management with sustainable development (Gareis,
Heumann & Martinuzzi, 2009; 2011; Silvius, Brink &
Köhler, 2009; 2010). Sustainable development in
principle can be seen as “a process of change in which
the exploitation of resources, the direction of
investments, the orientation of technological

*Tel:+2348034626058
E-mail: shobayopeterbabatunde@gmail.com
 Shobayo et al.
development; and institutional change are all in
harmony and enhance both current and future potential
to meet human needs and aspirations” (UN, 1987). In
recent years, an increasing number of interests have
emerged on the study of sustainable development in the
field of academic research as well as an area of practice
(Shrivastava, 1995; Van Berkel, 2010; UNCTAD,
2014). According to Silvius et al (2010), there is no
recognition yet on the effect of sustainable
development. The manner, in which projects are
managed, measured and reported do not really reveal
the various aspects which sustainable development can
be achieved. The concept of sustainable development
according to Alzami (2010) describes it as each
individual seeking to do their part in building the kind
of world both economically, environmentally and
socially they want to live in, and which they want their
children and grandchildren to inherit. This ensures that
there is awareness of the interconnectedness which is
both visible and invisible and that which the everyday
choices affects the complex balancing of the social,
economic and environmental systems. The definition of
a project according to OGC (2002) can be defined from
two angles; first is the management environment which
is created to deliver one or more business products
according to a specific business case. Secondly it can
be defined as a temporary organization that is used to
produce a unique and pre-defined outcome at a pre-
specified time using pre-determined resources.
With an emphasis on the macro level sustainable
development issues by past research (climate change,
and consumption of natural resources), there has been
few attention on the micro-level and more practical area
of sustainable development. For instance less attention
has been given to the role of professional and
knowledge workers who acts as major mediators in
developing a sustainable economy and society. This
paper contributes to the current research direction by
investigating the role of Project Management (PM) in
sustainable development. This research focuses on the
role of project management in building sustainable
development. This is imperative because the
professionals involved in project management which
include the project managers have the necessary
technical skills, the competencies as well as the
knowledge needed to effectively implement the
sustainability creativity. In the way that the accountants
engages in developing sustainability reporting tools, the
engineers engage in the development of sustainable
„green‟ technologies, so as well does the project
managers are responsible in developing and
transmitting the sustainable practices. The role of
project managers in the context of this paper is
specifically essential in the trend growing towards
„projectification‟ (the reorganization of tasks and
activities) in which puts the project managers in a
noticeable economic and societal position.
This research is timely as it focuses on the important
role of project managers in sustainable development, as
well as addresses key research areas which include
inclusiveness, innovativeness and reflective societies
through examining the way in which the well-being of
the society can be generated and sustained overtime.
This research looks to contribute to the understanding
of professionals in the context project managers in the
development of a sustainable society. Thus, this
research emphasizes on the contribution of project
management to sustainable development through
adoption, adaptation, and the rejection of sustainability
principles and practices.
2. Literature Review
Project managers are vital instrument in the
achievement of strategic objectives, because they are
important in the execution and implementation of the
objectives. The project manager is responsible for
identifying and analyzing issues and situations which
are socially relevant and are not within the knowledge
of the top management. Issues which include the
inconsistencies that exist between the minimum
required law and what is suitable for the society, and
others which can be ranked in the same manner as other
project risks either in term of probability or in term of
impact (Russel, 2008). According to Russel, analyzing
sustainable development from the social perspective is
tantamount with other project risks.According to
Silvius et al (2010), there is the general belief that
sustainable development in project management
concerns the integration of the economic,
environmental and the social perspective, and that the
sustainable development that can be discovered in a
project should be measured on the level of the project,
the end result of the project as well as the overall effect
of the project. The researchers defined sustainable
project management with the combination of the
elements of the triple- P of sustainable development
and the life cycle view. According to them, sustainable
project management can be defined as the management
of project oriented change in policies, assets or
organizations, with a concern on the economic, social
and environmental effect of the project and its end
result for the present and the future generations.
2
 Shobayo et al.
In the research of Taylor (2008), the researcher
argued that the idea of sustainable development should
be incorporated in every stage of the project life cycle.
According to Grevelman & Kluiwstra (2009), there is
still little focus on the alliance between sustainable
development and project management. Their research
indicates that no attention is given to sustainable
development within the project management process; it
however showed that some emphasis was placed on
sustainable development within the project
deliverables. The researchers also indicate that although
there seems to be a wide spread awareness on
sustainable development, the relationship which defines
the sustainable development process and methodology
involved for project management is still lacking.
According to Labuschagne & Brent (2006), it was
revealed that projects are the catalyst in which
sustainable development in the corporate level which is
the strategic, methodological and operational can be
achieved, and it is the responsibility of business to the
society to be actively involved in the sustainable arena.
Furthermore, it was argued by the researchers that the
existing project management framework have failed to
effectively incorporate the goals of sustainable
development (social equity, economic efficiency and
environmental performance). This argument was
further supported by Silvius et al. (2010) who
discovered that sustainable development is a big
mission in majority of the project management
guidelines. The researchers highlighted three germane
reasons for the inclusion of sustainable development on
the project managers agenda, first of which is that
investment in the projects which are set to incorporate
sustainable development have tendency to be less prone
to financial crises than those that do not incorporate
sustainable development. Secondly is that organizations
that have a strong sustainability image have a higher
value than organizations with weaker sustainability
image, and finally, is that public organizations are
looking to integrate standards of sustainable
development in their procurement policies, thus
inspiring other organizations to look and take active
part on this area. The research of Turner (2010) looks at
project management and sustainable development from
a different approach. The researcher did not consider
the business at large, but rather looked at the
anonymous group and all the roles of project
governance. The researcher studied the responsibilities
of the key players on projects and programs as well as
their role in the implementation of sustainable
initiatives, and then argued that sustainable
development can be achieved both in the product of the
project and in the process of delivering the project in
project management. According to the researcher, he
identified six concepts in project management which
are pertinent integrating aspects of sustainability and
achieving sustainable development, and they include;
project objectives; project scope and schedule; project
resources, cost, income, and risk; project organization;
project context; and project design in the management
process. It was further argued by the researcher that
little research has been carried out on the
responsibilities of the different participants as regards
the project and programs needed for the implementation
of sustainable development. However, a combination of
the governance model for projects and programs as well
as the six principles of sustainability which include the
holistic approach; long term view; large scale; risk and
uncertainty reduction; values and ethics; and
participation could serve as responsibility for some of
the key players involved.
An increase in the economic activities which are
based on projects allows the projects to be more
sustainable, thus bringing about a more sustainable
economy and society. Consequently, there is a rising
argument among researchers on the issue of sustainable
projects. As a way to achieve sustainable projects, the
project managers have developed quite a number of
new methods, tools, and techniques which focus on
achieving sustainable development. A look from the
theoretical perspective indicates that the importance of
project managers is not only limited to the functional
roles which they perform, but also includes the broader
institutional role which are performed by professional
in achieving radical changes. This is germane because
achieving sustainable development may involve a
challenging assumption and practice which extremely
exists in creating new organizational model as well as
working arrangements. Developing a sustainable
economy and society through projects is not an entirely
technical matter, but one which encompasses
institutional change (Scott, 2008).
2.1. Sustainable Development Concept
Sustainable development can generally be defined as
the development which meets the needs of the present
without comprising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs (Brundtland Report, 1987).
Additionally, numerous definitions of sustainable
development can be adopted. These definitions serve as
compliment in understanding the sustainable
development objectives better. First of these definition
can be seen as the improvement of human life while
3
 Shobayo et al.
living within the carrying capacity of supporting
ecosystems. It can further be seen as the development
which delivers the basic environmental, social and
economic services to all the residence of a community
without threatening the viability of natural and social
systems upon which the delivery of those systems
depends. The focus of early research was on economic
development, but more recently, human development
has been focused on with attention on the increased life
expectancy, education, equity, and opportunity. The
definition of sustainable development also suggest
integrating that which is to be sustained as well as that
which is to be developed. However, there are variances
in the limits of “sustain only” and develop mostly”. The
period of time concerned as well differ from what was
described in the standard definition as “now and in the
future” (Kates, Parris & Leiserowitz, 2005).
2.2. The Role of Projects in Sustainable Development
The Brundtland report (1987) shows a sustainable
development can be related to change by stating that “in
essence, sustainable development is a process of change
in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of
investments, the orientation of technological
development and institutional change are all in
harmony and enhance both current and future potential
to meet human needs and aspirations” (World
Commission on Environment and Development, 1987).
This change and intervention perspective in projects
was also recognized by Winter & Szczepanek (2009).
Projects can be considered in this viewpoint as
temporary organizations which provide change to
organizations, products, services, business processes,
policies and assets (Lundin & Söderholm, 1995; Turner
& Müller, 2003; Silvius, Schipper, Planko, Van den
Brink & Köhler, 2012). These projects can be described
by; a temporary nature or temporary organization; most
often across organizational structures and boundaries; a
defined deliverable or result, logically or preferably
connected to the organizational strategy or goals; and
finally specified resources and budget. Explaining the
assessment of projects a tool of change and
intervention, it can be observed that a sustainable
society needs project to achieve change. It was however
observed by Gareis et al (2009) that there is little
consideration on sustainable development in temporary
organizations such as projects and programs.
Consequently, it was concluded by Silvius & Tharp
(2013) that there is momentum in the relationship
between sustainability and project management over
the years, and that from the published researches in
recent years, some conclusions can be derived (Silvius
et al., 2012).
2.3. Sustainable Development and Project Management
There are various bases for the study of the
integration of sustainable development. The first among
which focus on recognizing that the present ways in
which the earth‟s natural resources are exploited are not
sustainable. This rationally brings to the conclusion that
there need to be a change in the way in which things are
done as well as the things which are done. There need
to be a change in the use of resources, the way in which
products are produced, and ways in which wealth are
shared. These changes are inevitably inseparable from
innovation and projects. Thus, sustainable development
requires projects in order to comprehend the changes
required. The second bases concentrate on the change
has been connected with the strategies of the companies
and other organizations. Organizations seek to achieve
sustainable development, and this affects the type of
project they embark on, as well as the ways and
methods in which the projects are executed. The third
bases for the study of the integration of sustainable
development is concerned with project management
have been developing into a true profession and with
this come a professional responsibility. There should
thus be a high level of responsibility taken by project
managers in integrating sustainable development into
their work.
3. Methodology
This paper is centered on the literature study. The
research looks to contribute to the discussion on the
role of project management on sustainable development
within the project management processes. This paper is
based on the analysis of past literature and standards
due to the emerging field of the relationship between
project management and sustainable development. Thus
the nature of this study should be considered as
conceptual and interpretive.
4. Conclusion
This paper takes an in-depth investigation on project
management and sustainable development. This is
necessary because of the understanding that project
management requires change, and thus the required
changes can be effected and organized in projects.
4
 Shobayo et al.
Hence the project manager serves as an essential
change agent in ensuring that more sustainable business
process and practices are achieved. It is therefore
concluded that project manager have a significant
influence in the implementation of sustainable
development in the project they embark on as well as
the project management process. This influence can
however be regarded as medium for both the holistic
approach as well as in the long term.
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