Instruments and Methods for the Integration of Sustainability in the Project Management

The purpose of this chapter is to propose a framework that is supporting achievement of the sustainable strategy of the organization. The research frames the methodology that integrates project management and Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in the management system of the organization. In this applicative project research, the authors identified and analyzed the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that significantly contribute to the benefits of the business processes exploitation. The involved company executes monitoring of its business performance in the four perspectives of the BSC. With this case study, the authors attempted to get deeper understanding, and to clarify and evaluate the causalities between strategic goals and their respective KPIs. For this purpose, they developed an Error Correction Model with which they performed application on the KPIs and estimated short and long term effects between them. The developed model also supports improvements of the performance management system and monitoring of projects.

Drivers for Sustainable Project Management Behaviours in Facilities Management

This chapter moves outside the traditional methodology of project management, looking more broadly at aspects that influence project sustainability initiatives, including regulation, legislation, brand reputation, government and non-government organisations, and client requirements. Using the example of mercury recycling from fluorescent tubes generated from the Facilities Management (FM) sector in Australia, the relationship between environmental management systems, specifically ISO 14001:2004, and project management aspects are highlighted. The importance of management support, both at a strategic and project level is discussed. The opportunity to create competitive advantage from the sales perspective is demonstrated, through a cost justification and review of client sensitivity to influencing factors, enabling reasoned decision making for a successful, environmentally sustainable initiative.

Project Manager as a Pivot Point for Implementing Sustainability in an Enterprise

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.

How Positive Psychology can Support Sustainable Project Management

In this chapter, the relationship between positive psychology and sustainable project management is discussed. A general description of the field of positive psychology is given. The relationship between positive psychology and the three P’s of sustainability (People, Planet, and Profit) is described. Specific attention is paid to hope and optimism as ways to intervene in project teams. Hope and optimism are central concepts in positive psychology. These concepts can help to improve the sustainability of project teams and to stimulate sustainable change.

Evaluating Sustainability on Projects Using Indicators

The objectives of this chapter are: (1) identify different sustainability indicator sets and their strengths and weaknesses; (2) explain what a multi-level analytical hierarchy project is and why it is important to integrating sustainability into such projects; and (3) state the steps in a procedure to integrate sustainability into project baselines.

GreenPM®

The world is going green and we are collectively realizing that we do not have an unlimited amount of natural resources to utilize as we have done in the past. Material Handling Industry of America (2007) notes, “Not only do we have climate problems but we are also dealing with a resource depletion issue.” However, the project management profession seems to be in its infancy in applying green standards. How can we apply these “green” concepts to our project management discipline? One obvious way is that we can manage green projects more efficiently. For example, if you are the project manager on a project that will result in using less packaging in your products, it would be good if your project completed on time. The sooner that project ends, the sooner the green benefits will be achieved. On the other hand, if you are dealing with projects such as installing a new software package or upgrading network infrastructure, how can these projects become more environmentally friendly? The answer is Green Project Management (GreenPM®). Green project management is a model that allows project managers to think green throughout a project and make decisions that take into account the impact on the environment—if any. It is a way to ingrain “greenthink” (or green thinking) into every project management process. Greenthink connects the environment with the decisions that are made, whether project-related, professional, or in our everyday lives.

Application of Sustainability Considerations in Practice

Many articles have called attention to the concept of sustainability in project management. However, it still remains a challenge to tie all these very important principles to practice. In this chapter, the main issues with the practical application of sustainability to an actual project are identified, and a method for analysis is presented. Through this method, the authors answer the main question of this chapter: “How can a project and its project management be analyzed for sustainability and how can adequate actions be selected?” The proposed method is then applied to an actual case. In the analysis, an explicit distinction is made between the internal project view of sustainability and external view of sustainability. From the analysis, various conclusions can be drawn.

Changes of Projects by Considering the Principles of Sustainable Development Case Study

Permanent organizations, such as companies, divisions, profit, and cost centres, as well as temporary organizations, i.e. projects and programmes, change. Reasons for changes might be new values of organizations such as transparency, empowerment, stakeholder participation, risk-orientation, etc., which are values on which sustainable development is based. Different change types, namely organizational learning, further developing, transforming, and radical re-positioning can be identified and can be described by specific chains of processes. For performing change processes of permanent organizations projects and programmes can be applied. The processes for managing the different changes of projects, in which the principles of SD might be considered, are described. The focus is on the management of transforming a project. The case study: Transforming the Project Hospital North is based on a comprehensive analysis of this project transformation in the book Project Management & Sustainable Development Principles by Roland Gareis, Martina Huemann, and André Martinuzzi (all WU Vienna) published by PMI (Gareis et al. 2013).

Project Initiation

The consideration of Sustainable Development (SD) becomes more and more important for investments and the projects which implement those investments. In the project initiation process, the decision regarding the realization of an investment is made. Analyzing the investment is one of the main tasks of the project initiation process. Thus, this process is identified as most important for the integration of SD principles. The authors define SD with the following principles: economic, ecologic, and social-orientation; short, mid, and long term orientation as well as local, regional, and global-orientation. Furthermore, SD is value-based and considers values such as transparency, fairness, trust, etc. In this chapter, the authors describe the concept of responsible and ethical investment, which may also provide the basis for an investment decision within a project’s initiation. While global project and program management standards show very limited consideration of comprehensive investment analysis, the authors draw on the Logical Framework Approach used by the World Bank to see how SD principles are considered in investment analysis methods. They then propose the integration of SD principles into the discipline of project initiation. This more holistic approach considers the investment life cycle, the consideration of different stakeholders, and investment method, which explicitly integrates SD principles.

Re-Thinking Project Initiation and Project Management by Considering Principles of Sustainable Development

Project initiation and project management are specific processes of the project-oriented company. In order to improve the performance of these processes in their descriptions as well as in the design of the methods to be applied, the principles of sustainable development can be considered. Templates for some project initiation and project management methods considering SD principles are provided. This chapter is based on the results of the Research Project: SustPM, which was completed in May 2012. The overall research results are published by PMI in the book Project Management & Sustainable Development Principles by Roland Gareis, Martina Huemann, and André Martinuzzi (all WU Vienna)1.