The relationship between project management and sustainable development is rapidly gaining interest from both practitioners and academics. Studies on the integration of the concepts of sustainability into project management, approach this topic mostly from a conceptual, logical or moral point of view. Given the fact that the relationship between sustainability and project management is still an emerging field of study, these approaches make sense. However, they do not diminish the need for more empirical studies to understand how the concepts of sustainable development are implemented in practice. This paper reports an analysis of 56 case studies on the integration of the concepts of sustainability in the way organizations initiate, develop and manage projects. The research question of the study was: To what extent, do organizations consider the concepts of sustainability in the initiation, development and management of projects? The study uses the maturity model for sustainability integration that was presented at the 2010 IPMA World Congress for the assessment of the level of sustainability consideration. The study found an overall average level of sustainability consideration in the actual situation of 25.9%. For the desired situation, this score is almost 10 percent higher, showing an ambition to take sustainability more into consideration. The study also showed that the way sustainability currently is considered, shows the traditional ‘less bad’ approach to sustainability integration and not a more modern social responsibility approach.
The transition towards more sustainable business practices requires the changing of products, services, processes, policies and resources of organizations. Acknowledging the role projects play in these changes, the concept of sustainability should be integrated in the way projects are selected, prioritized, performed, managed, governed and evaluated. This requires the integration of sustainability in the organizational strategy, project portfolio management and project management. However, studies on sustainability in business describes the application of the concepts of sustainability mostly on the above-mentioned level in isolation, with little or no attention to the linkages between the strategy, portfolio and project levels. A conceptual framework is presented indicating the interlinking practices of integrating sustainability into the organizational strategy, project portfolio management and project management. From this framework, empirical studies can be developed, and guidance is provided for organizations that aim to improve this integration and thereby embedding the deeper implementation of sustainability into their policies and practices.
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It is becoming clear that the project management practice must embrace sustainability in order to develop into a 'true profession' (Silvius et al., 2012). In project management, sustainability can be gained in both the product of the project and in the process of delivering the product. (Gareis et al., 2010) Nine sustainability principles have been identified that should be implemented in the project management practice. These nine principles are: (1) values and ethics; (2) holistic approach; (3) long term view; (4) large scale; (5) risk reduction; (6) participation; (7) accountability; (8) transparency; (9) stakeholder interest. In a case study it is researched which project and program management roles can exert an influence to have the sustainability principles implemented in the project management practice and how they can accomplish this implementation.
In het project werken onderzoekers van het Lectoraat samen met publieke organisaties toe naar een tool waarmee onderstromen in het publieke debat rondom issues eerder kunnen worden opgemerkt. We exploreren met welk algoritme we patronen in geruchtvorming en mobilisatie kunnen opsporen, en tevens hoe we de interactie tussen newsroom-analisten en de output van een monitoring tool het beste kunnen vormgeven.Doel Het doel van dit project is een brede en structureel toepasbare aanpak van het issuemanagement: Hoe kunnen de communicatieprofessionals van publieke organisaties potentiële issues op sociale media vroegtijdig opmerken? Resultaten We willen dit bereiken door enerzijds kennis en inzicht te vergaren en anderzijds de uitkomsten daarvan voor publieke organisaties te vertalen in praktische handgrepen: tools, handleiding, training. Looptijd 01 oktober 2022 - 30 september 2024 Aanpak Via cases ingebracht door de praktijkpartners en focusgroepen staan we in nauw contact met het consortium. In de eerste werkpakketten onderzoeken we de verschillende cases aan de hand van discoursanalyse. De inzichten die we hierbij opdoen, gebruiken we vervolgens om te bekijken hoe we de interactie tussen mens en machine het beste kunnen vormgeven en wel zo dat er ten behoeve van de communicatie en het management van issues via interactieve visualisaties steeds weer triggers afgegeven worden. Op basis van de opgedane inzichten richten we een interface in. Deze maakt het analisten en communicatieprofessionals mogelijk om vroegtijdig issues te signaleren.
In het project werken onderzoekers van het Lectoraat samen met publieke organisaties toe naar een tool waarmee onderstromen in het publieke debat rondom issues eerder kunnen worden opgemerkt. We exploreren met welk algoritme we patronen in geruchtvorming en mobilisatie kunnen opsporen, en tevens hoe we de interactie tussen newsroom-analisten en de output van een monitoring tool het beste kunnen vormgeven.
Digital transformation has been recognized for its potential to contribute to sustainability goals. It requires companies to develop their Data Analytic Capability (DAC), defined as their ability to collect, manage and analyze data effectively. Despite the governmental efforts to promote digitalization, there seems to be a knowledge gap on how to proceed, with 37% of Dutch SMEs reporting a lack of knowledge, and 33% reporting a lack of support in developing DAC. Participants in the interviews that we organized preparing this proposal indicated a need for guidance on how to develop DAC within their organization given their unique context (e.g. age and experience of the workforce, presence of legacy systems, high daily workload, lack of knowledge of digitalization). While a lot of attention has been given to the technological aspects of DAC, the people, process, and organizational culture aspects are as important, requiring a comprehensive approach and thus a bundling of knowledge from different expertise. Therefore, the objective of this KIEM proposal is to identify organizational enablers and inhibitors of DAC through a series of interviews and case studies, and use these to formulate a preliminary roadmap to DAC. From a structure perspective, the objective of the KIEM proposal will be to explore and solidify the partnership between Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas), Avans University of Applied Sciences (Avans), Logistics Community Brabant (LCB), van Berkel Logistics BV, Smink Group BV, and iValueImprovement BV. This partnership will be used to develop the preliminary roadmap and pre-test it using action methodology. The action research protocol and preliminary roadmap thereby developed in this KIEM project will form the basis for a subsequent RAAK proposal.
