The Sustainable Project Management Model

In the era of digital transformation, following the emergence of disruptive technologies that guided and facilitated the shift towards sharing economy, change is imperative. Imagine the very nice-looking carriages that you see in the royal weddings and compare them to the latest generation of Tesla cars. Or compare the set of skills required to fly Yakovlev Air-5 model 1931 vis-a-vis the Dassault Rafale or the F16 Fighting Falcon (Top 10 fighters, 2017). Before embarking on driving/flying the latter, regardless how competent with the former, the driver/pilot needs to acquire relevant knowledge and master a new set of skills and techniques, and learn different methods in order to be able to deal with the state-of-the-art technology. The vibrant business environment that has become even turbulent amid the digital transformation is analogous to the rough sea with unfavourable conditions. Those who are not ahead of the game, vigilant, and aware of what they need to do in order to sail safe will have an unpleasant ending, regardless of how successful they are at present. The Titanic is just one example.

New Product Development, Implementing Agility through innovation and technology

New product development is an integral part of the project management practice. However, product design and process design have been, historically, two of the main components of the operations management theory. Operations management is the task of creating value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs. More specifically, the techniques to create value are universal in scope and can be applied to any form of enterprise whether service-oriented or manufacturing-based. It is this operations transformation model that creates the possibility for enterprise success. The efficient production of goods and services requires an effective application of the transformative process, and it is in this transformation that value is created. Value supports the possibility for enterprise viability, and without such, there is little opportunity for sustained financial feasibility – this is particularly so in the ever-increasing competitive landscape of today’s worldwide economic system. This chapter discusses the fundamentals of product and service development, in the context of sustainable competitive advantage, in the era of digital transformation.

Green ICT for Sustainable Development

Almost all businesses, organizations and governments today have Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at their core. ICT enables day-to-day operations as well as assessing what has passed and planning ahead. However, ICT professionals aside perhaps, there is often little understanding of the technology and little appreciation of the link to sustainability and the impact ICT is having on the environment. The coverage of this chapter is intended for an audience with no detailed knowledge of the various ICT specialisms, providing a broad, but high-level presentation of ICT, and discusses the various links to sustainability that are firmly established. The discussion starts with the rapid developments since computers first were invented and then moves to energy demands that are being placed as a result of technology proliferations. We then introduce the term Green ICT, report on metrics enabling the measurement of energy consumption and discuss efforts underway to curtail energy consumption, with a focus on data centres. A view from a number of European countries is then presented, looking at how governments are addressing the issues and the barriers that are still in place for a country-wide sustainability drive in ICT. The construction project management sector is one that relies heavily on ICT services, and a brief discussion at the end presents additional issues for the project manager to consider.

Sustainable Construction, Green Building Strategic Model

Academic and policy literature over the past four decades (from as early as the 1970s) has been, and still is, concerned with understanding and articulating the core principles of sustainable development and sustainable construction or, in other words, sustainable building and construction, which is a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach. The increasing global concern with the maintenance and improvement of the environment, as well as the protection of the human health has become an important aspect to be considered by construction companies worldwide. The chapter falls into two parts. The main aim of the first part is to present a critical review of the established theoretical frameworks in order to understand the topic in depth, and identify the main concepts and relevant dimensions or variables that have a crucial influence on promoting and implementing sustainable construction/green buildings practices. The second part presents the findings of a research study conducted by the authors (Salama and Hanna, 2013) that sought to develop a strategic model for implementing the green building initiative in the UAE; Green Building Strategic Model, (GBSM – UAE). Despite being based on the UAE case, the underpinning theoretical framework and the stages of modelling used in building, training and validating the model makes this section a useful read for all parties interested in the area of sustainable construction in general, and green buildings in particular, regardless of their geographical location.

Sustainable Tourism, Towards Sustainable Development

Following the previous two chapters on sectorial applications of sustainable project management, the tourism sector has been identified as one of the most influential contributors to the economic growth of many developing countries. The growing influence of the tourism sector as an economic powerhouse and its potential as a tool for development are irrefutable. The available data indicates that the sector contributes to more than 10% of global gross domestic product (GDP) and provides for one in ten jobs in the world. Not only does the tourism sector spearhead growth, it also improves the quality of people’s lives, supports environmental protection, champions diverse cultural heritage and strengthens peace in the world The necessary shift from the traditional tourism practice to sustainable tourism is a change which can very appropriately utilize the concepts, frameworks and methodologies of sustainable project management, presented and discussed in depth in the earlier chapters of this textbook. This starts from the higher level of applying eco-innovation concepts discussed in Chapter 4, in defining the business model, in the era of digital transformation, that would translate the set strategy of sustainable tourism into SMART objectives to be broken down into well-defined deliverables. Agile methodologies using Scrum tools and the 12 traits of sustainable change management, as discussed in Chapter 5, can be useful in managing this process amid the VUCA economic reality. The use of the technology will be imperative to manage such change with the urgent need for tools such as Smart Contracts on Blockchain as discussed in Chapter 7. In order to do so, the project manager seeking to contribute to this vital sector of the economy needs essential background about the basic concepts of the sector, with emphasis on the definition, attributes, goals, policies and tools of sustainable tourism. This chapter aims to provide the reader with these basic concepts. It start with a general background about the tourism sector leading to the concept of sustainable tourism in light of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the UNDP, (2015). The benefits of sustainable tourism are discussed in the context of sustainable development. The chapter then presents a detailed discussion of the attributes, governance, policies and tools for implementing sustainable tourism. It wraps up with eight real-life case studies from different parts of the world, about how sustainable tourism has a significant impact on sustainable development. Each case study is in fact a project, so it should make an interesting learning tool for project managers working in the tourism sector.

Blockchain, A Disruptive Technology in the Sustainable Economic System

This chapter aims to provide managers in general and project managers in particular with the basic information about one of the most hyped disruptive technology concept in the shared digital economy today: Blockchain. Blockchain and other disruptive technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data are important disruptive steps that are increasingly relevant when defining and managing projects in the sharing digital business economy. The chapter comprises three main parts. The first part introduces the basic concept of the disruptive technologies in the digital transformation context and the main blocks required for the build of Blockchain framework. The focus is on describing each block in details applicable for any selected platform. The second part of the chapter outlines the concept of the smart contract. The general aim is to provide knowledge with actionable guidelines on how best to implement a smart contract using the Ethereum platform. All the components for the design, deployment, and implementation of decentralized applications (Dapps) are discussed. The final part discusses the benefits of using smart contract on the Blockchain technology and wraps up by two brief illustrative case studies, enlightening project managers about the Blockchain technology applications in different vertical segments; Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) leading to Environmental Product Declaration (EDA) and energy trading in pursuit of sustainable development.

Self Organising and Virtual Teams

Amid the shift towards digital economies in the context of globalisation, project team members are required to work together remotely, utilising the current highly accessible technology (Han and Beyerlein, 2016). Virtual teams are growing rapidly in today’s world as companies are being involved in a constant fight for existence, due to the very vibrant and continuous competition which makes organizations emerge in different countries. Being a global organisation involves synchronization among people situated in diverse geographical areas, thus there arises the necessity for managing global virtual teams, assigned to resolve issues at a global level (Paul et al., 2016). The existence of a variety of technologies allows companies to have access to a large pool of talented people located all over the world, as it reduces costs and facilitates cooperation among different locations and time zones (Paul et al., 2016). According to Hertel et al. (2005), the allocation of work among employees has become more efficient due to the evolvement of technology. Consequently, for international companies to collaborate with each other and to have high performing virtual teams, there has been a need to consider the impact of cultural diversity on virtual teams’ practices and performance (Han and Beyerlein, 2016). This discussion should also include self-organising teams in the context of agile methodologies and beyond. In addition, studies have been focusing on how emotional intelligence impacts teams and groups (Wolff et al., 2001). However, limited research has been conducted on how culture and emotional intelligence impact virtual team performance in the context of project management. This chapter aims to discuss the critical area of managing project teams with emphasis on the relationship between culture, communication, emotional intelligence and trust in self-organising and virtual teams, and how the interaction between these factors impact team performance. This attempts to answer the call by the sixth edition of the PMI PMBOK that emphasised the importance of developing the soft skills of project managers in the pursuit of enhancing project management practice amid the growing interest in sustainability in general. In addition, this endorses and further justifies the suggested paradigm shift that the authors advocate, in pursuit of sustainable project management.

Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development

This chapter aims to introduce the reader in general, and project managers in particular, to the basic concepts and applications of renewable energy (RE) with emphasis on the various renewable energy technologies (RTEs), emerging as an alternative to traditional energy sources, in an applied, practical and project-focused context. The chapter builds on academic research-based cases studies conducted by the authors. The first case relates to a real-life project which will be the first advanced biofuels refinery to be built in the Middle Eastb with an estimated cost of $700m and commercial operation date in 2022. The financial close date is scheduled for the end of Q4, 2018, and it is expected to have a lower cost of production compared to European and US refineries. The second case study concerns the feasibility study to build a waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plant in Dubai. It provides project managers with useful insight into the details of this vital initiation stage for this type of project, based on a real-life data set, in an applied research context. The details of both cases can be found on: https://www.goodfellowpublishers.com/sustprojman. The first few sections of the chapter set up the scene for the case studies by presenting brief definitions of the basic concepts of RE and various RETs in the context of sustainable development. Then at the start of each case study, a brief introduction to the specifics of the case is presented.

Sustainable Logistics and the Supply Chain

In today’s global business environment, logistics has become one of the key determinants of sustainable competitive advantage. In the context of sustainable project management, every project will have to embrace a sustainable logistics system. Port and maritime logistics is classified as the most significant logistics system since it is considered to be the backbone for facilitating global trade. Around 80% of the world trade by volume, and 70% by value, is done by sea and is managed by seaports across the globe. It is evident that managing the pressures of sustainability is one of the critical challenges for creating value and ensuring growth across all businesses. Port and maritime industry is required to ensure high level of accountability and transparency on sustainability concerns including waste management, climate change and global warming, energy efficiency, employee health, safety and security, impacts on local society and coastal and local environmental health. Because of the global nature of the port and maritime sector, it encounters more challenges in improving sustainability performance. This chapter covers sustainable port and maritime logistics. It starts by presenting an overview of logistics, supply chain management and maritime logistics. The second section discusses sustainability in the context of supply chain and logistics management. The third section explicates green port and maritime logistics aspects. The fourth identifies sustainability issues and introduces an integrated framework for sustainable port and maritime logistics. It wraps up with a brief section on suggested areas for future research.

Sustainable Change Management

Get ready! Buckle up! This chapter is very different from the previous chapters and even the following chapters, in this textbook. It is about change, so it leads by example! A change in the writing style, the structure and the approach. Our approach in this chapter, deviates from the standard academic writing style to a more practical, hands-on, case study-based approach. Most of the content reflects on the first author’s vast experience; guiding businesses to cope with the challenges amid the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) economic environment. The main body of the chapter is based on a fictitious case study about Kimlach Shahidi, a business owner and a CEO of a struggling business, seeking to adapt her business to the new economic realities of the Digital Age to build sustainable businesses and win in the VUCA 1 reality. In telling her story, Ed Capaldi uses a free writing style that makes it easy to read and follow, and hopefully an enjoyable learning tool. However, it was deemed appropriate that at the outset the reader gets introduced to the relevant academic concepts covered in this chapter which is presented by the second author, the editor of the textbook, and which ties well with the previous chapters, particularly the section that discusses in depth Scrum as a process, following the earlier discussion on teams in Chapter 2.