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Exploring the Project Owner’s Behaviour of Addressing Sustainability in Project Assignment and Governance

Author

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  • Gilbert Silvius

    (Institute for People & Business, HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Padualaan 101, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
    Department of Applied Information Systems, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa)

  • Ronald Ursem

    (Institute for People & Business, HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Padualaan 101, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • José Magano

    (Research Center in Business and Economics (CICEE), Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Rua Sta. Marta 47, 5.º Andar, 1150-293 Lisbon, Portugal
    Higher Institute of Business Sciences and Tourism (ISCET), 4050-180 Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

The instrumental role of projects in the transition of organisations and society towards sustainability requires that the concepts of sustainability are considered in projects and project management. Within a project’s organisation, the project manager and the project owner bear the most responsibility for integrating sustainability into the execution, management, and governance of the project. The project owner is expected to translate the organisation’s commitment to sustainability into the assignment and governance of the project. However, several factors influence the behaviour of project owners, of which the organisation’s strategy is only one. Following the studies that explored the stimulus of project managers to consider or address sustainability, this study explored the factors that influence the project owner’s behaviour with regard to addressing sustainability in assigning and governing a project. A survey-based study with quantitative data analysis identified three factors that stimulate the project owners to address sustainability in assigning and governing projects: Organisational attitude, Private attitude, and Practical implementation. Of these factors, Practical implementation and Organisational attitude have the most influence. The importance of the Practical implementation factor highlights the need for practical, applicable tools and instruments that support the implementation of sustainability into projects and project management. The strong orientation on the organisational context may be explained by the managerial responsibility that project owners often have. The study contributes to the further understanding of how organisations can realise their transition to a sustainable enterprise.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert Silvius & Ronald Ursem & José Magano, 2023. "Exploring the Project Owner’s Behaviour of Addressing Sustainability in Project Assignment and Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-24, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14294-:d:1249205
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. José Magano & Gilbert Silvius & Cláudia Sousa Silva & Ângela Leite, 2021. "Exploring Characteristics of Sustainability Stimulus Patterns of Project Managers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    3. Marco Barneveld & Gilbert Silvius, 2022. "Exploring Variety in Factors That Stimulate Project Owners to Address Sustainability," International Journal of Information Technology Project Management (IJITPM), IGI Global, vol. 13(1), pages 1-28, January.
    4. Robinson, John, 2004. "Squaring the circle? Some thoughts on the idea of sustainable development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 369-384, April.
    5. Carl Marnewick & Gilbert Silvius & Ron Schipper, 2019. "Exploring Patterns of Sustainability Stimuli of Project Managers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-17, September.
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    7. Gilbert Silvius, 2012. "Change the Game: Sustainability in Projects and Project Management," Springer Books, in: Jan vom Brocke & Stefan Seidel & Jan Recker (ed.), Green Business Process Management, edition 127, pages 161-177, Springer.
    8. Chen, Shih-Chih & Hung, Chung-Wen, 2016. "Elucidating the factors influencing the acceptance of green products: An extension of theory of planned behavior," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 155-163.
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