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Week 3 Article Critique
Use the Campbellsville University Library databases to do research on peer-reviewed journal articles on the topic of Project Management (do not use Google or Wikipedia). Choose an article that includes all parts listed in the Article Critique Rubric located on the Moodle course page. Download the file in the attachment below to type in your responses, then upload the completed file.*After downloading the word document below, type your responses directly into the word file.
KESHAVARZIAN, S., & SILVIUS, G. (2022). The Perceived Relationship between Sustainability in Project Management and Project Success. Journal of Modern Project Management, 9(3), 66–85.

*Students should type directly into the chart below.

ARTICLE CRITIQUE

Parts of Article Critique

Student Responses

Your First and Last Name

Author(s) First and Last Name

Article Title

Publication Date: Year (within last 10 years)

Journal Name

Journal Volume

Journal Number

Journal Pages (range, ex. 1-10)

Article Abstract: highlight and copy the exact abstract from the article chosen and paste the abstract here

Takeaway: In a bulleted list, write complete sentences about three things you have learned from the article.
*The takeaway should be written in your own words with no similarity.

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PAGE 67

JOURNALMODERNPM.COM JANUARY/APRIL 2022#28 ISSUE VOL. 09 NUM. 03

DOI NUMBER: 10.19255/JMPM02805

Abstract: Sustainable project management is one of the most important

global project management trends today. And despite several studies

addressing the relationship between sustainable project management and

success, this relationship is still inadequately addressed. Following the

suggestion that project success is just as much influenced by subjective

perceptions as it is by objective performance data, this study focuses on the

subjective perception of the relationship between the dimensions of

sustainable project management and the criteria of project success.

Based on a quantitative survey-based research design, the study found a

positive perceived relationship between sustainable project management

and all criteria of project success. However, the participants of the study

differentiated this positive relationship for the different criteria of project

success. The study also found that practitioners perceive sustainable project

management as a single integrated construct and do not differentiate

between the different dimensions of sustainable project management.

THE PERCEIVED
RELATIONSHIP

W I T T E N B O R G U N I V E R S I T Y O F A P P L I E D S C I E N C E S , T H E N E T H E R L A N D S ,
A N D U N I V E R S I T Y O F J O H A N N E S B U R G , S O U T H A F R I C A

BETWEEN SUSTAINABILITY IN PROJECT
MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT SUCCESS

GILBERT SILVIUS

Keywords: Sustainability; Project management; Project success

W I T T E N B O R G U N I V E R S I T Y O F A P P L I E D S C I E N C E S , T H E N E T H E R L A N D S
SARA KESHAVARZIAN

1. INTRODUCTION
The awareness that sustainable development of society

requires a more conscious use of natural resources, and a

balance between economic, environmental and social

impacts, is now firmly established in businesses and

organizations. The 2019 ‘State of ‘Sustainability’ business

survey indicates that CEOs are increasingly pursuing the

integration of sustainability into the strategies and practices

of their businesses (BSR/GlobeScan, 2019). This integration

impacts a wide range of functional areas in the organization,

such as strategy, research and development, human

resources management, supply chain management and

finance (Tulder et al., 2014). The transition towards more

sustainable business practices requires organizational

change, in which projects play an instrumental role

(Marcelino-Sádaba et al., 2015).

The pivotal role of projects in the transition towards

sustainability of businesses, organizations and society

require a reconsideration of the way projects are planned,

organized, executed, managed, and governed (Silvius and

Schipper, 2014). This sustainability perspective on project

management (Silvius, 2017) is addressed in a growing

number of studies (Aarseth et al., 2017; Sabini et al., 2019;

Silvius and Schipper, 2014). An open question, however, is

how sustainability impacts project success (Silvius and

Schipper, 2016). Considering sustainability in project

management may increase the quality of the deliverable of

the project and/or the satisfaction of stakeholders, but

considering sustainability also comes at a price (Silvius et

al., 2012). Khalifeh et al. (2019), therefore, conclude that the

relationship between sustainability and project success is still

inadequately addressed in the literature and that more

research is needed. It is this gap in the literature that the

study reported in this paper addresses.

One of the issues in studies on the relationship between

sustainable project management and project success is the

operationalization of success. Studies on project success

point out that success is multidimensional (Ika, 2009),

evolving over time (Pinto and Slevin, 1988; Shenhar et al.,

2001) and perceived differently by different stakeholders

(Prabhakar, 2008). PS is therefore not easy to measure.

Pirozzi (2021) points out that, perhaps even more important

than the objective measurement of success, the subjective

perception of project success may be essential. In line with

this, Silvius and de Graaf (2019) found that the more

favorable the project manager beliefs the outcome of

considering sustainability in the project will be, the more

likely he or she is willing to consider sustainability. For the

consideration of sustainability in project management,

therefore, the perceived impact on project success plays an

important role. The study reported in this paper, therefore,

focuses on exploring the perceived relationship between

sustainable project management and success. This focus

presents a novel approach compared to the earlier studies

on this topic, and the therefore makes a contribution to the

understanding of the aspects and effects of integrating

sustainability into project management.

The research question of the study was formulated as How

does considering sustainability in project management

influence the perceived success of projects?

The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In the

following paragraph, the main variables of the study,

sustainable project management (SPM) and project success

(PS) will be described based on the literature on these

topics. The largest part of the review of the literature will be

devoted to the discussion of earlier studies on the

relationship between sustainable project management and

project success. The design and methodology of the study

are revealed in the third paragraph of this paper, after which

the following paragraph will discuss the findings and the data

analysis. The paper will be concluded with a reflection on the

findings and the answering of the research question.

2. BACKGROUND LITERATURE
In this paragraph, the main variables of our research

question, SPM and PS will be explored. We used Google

Scholar as the search engine in our search for relevant

literature. As PS is a frequently studied topic in academic

literature, we relied on earlier published literature reviews on

the topic, specifically Ika (2009), to guide the

operationalization of this variable. On SPM, a number of

recently published structured literature reviews, specifically

Silvius and Schipper (2014), Chofreh et al. (2019), Sabini et

al. (2019) and Kiani Mavi et al. (2021), provided a solid

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JOURNALMODERNPM.COM JAN/APR 2022

foundation for the understanding of the concept of SPM.

For the analysis of literature that specifically focuses on the

relationship between SPM and PS, we formulated a series of

search strings that were all variations of the main search

string “”PROJECT+SUCCESS+SUSTAINABILITY””. We

expanded our search based on the sources used in the

publications that were found. In total 66 publications were

identified that based on their abstracts, were reduced to 18

relevant studies. After reading the full papers, our analysis

focused on 15 articles that specifically addressed the

relationship between SPM and PS variables.

This paragraph will first discuss the characteristics of SPM

shown in the literature. Following this, the concept of

success in projects and project management will be

discussed. The literature review will be completed with a

discussion of earlier studies on the relationship between

SPM and PS.

2.1 Sustainability Project Management
SPM is defined as “the planning, monitoring and controlling

of project delivery and support processes, with consideration

of the environmental, economic and social aspects of the

lifecycle of the ‘project’s resources, processes, deliverables

and effects, aimed at realizing benefits for stakeholders, and

performed in a transparent, fair and ethical way that includes

proactive stakeholder participation” (Silvius and Schipper,

2014). This definition integrates the consideration of familiar

sustainability concepts, such as the ‘Triple Bottom ‘Line’

(TBL) of economic, social and environmental perspectives

(Elkington, 1994), lifecycle orientation (Labuschagne and

Brent, 2005) and stakeholder orientation (Freeman, 1984)

into project management, which is defined as the planning,

monitoring and controlling of project delivery and support

processes.

SPM is considered one of the most important global project

management trends today (Alvarez-Dionisi et al., 2016;

Gemünden, 2016) and several authors (Silvius and

Schipper, 2014; Aarseth et al., 2017; Sabini et al., 2019)

report a growing number of studies that address the topic.

From this emerging literature base, it appears that the

relationship between sustainability and project management

can be interpreted in two ways (Sabini et al., 2019; Silvius

“Sustainability by the project”: the sustainability of the

deliverable or result that the project realizes;

“Sustainability of the project”: the sustainability of the

delivery and management processes of the project.

and Schipper, 2015). These two interpretations are

characterized by Huemann and Silvius (2017) as:

In Sustainability by the project, sustainability is mainly

considered with regards to the deliverable or result of the

project. Frameworks of sustainability are used to define or

assess the content related aspects of the project (Silvius and

Schipper, 2014), such as the specifications and design of the

‘project’s deliverable (Aarseth et al., 2017; Brones et al.,

2014) materials used (Akadiri, 2015) benefits to be achieved

(Silvius et al., 2012; Weninger and Huemann, 2013), quality

and success criteria (Martens and Carvalho, 2017). Studies

on the integration of sustainability into project management

that take this content related perspective, often focus on

operationalizing the TBL concept (Elkington, 1994), by

developing sets of indicators on the different perspectives

(For example, Bell and Morse, 2003; Edum-Fotwe and Price,

2009; Fernández-Sánchez and Rodríguez-López, 2010;

Keeble et al., 2003; Labuschagne and Brent, 2008; Martens

and Carvalho, 2017).

In Sustainability of the project studies, the sustainability

perspective is applied to the processes of project delivery,

management and governance, such as the identification and

engagement of stakeholders (Eskerod and Huemann, 2013),

the process of procurement in the project (Molenaar and

Sobin, 2010), the development of the business case

(Weninger and Huemann, 2013), the monitoring of the

project (Sánchez, 2015), the identification and management

of project risks (Silvius, 2016) the communication in and by

the project (Pade et al,.2008; Barendsen et al., 2021) and

the selection and organization of the project team (Silvius

and Schipper, 2014).

In one of the first publications on sustainability and project

management, Labuschagne and Brent (2005) link the two

interpretations, Sustainability by the project and

Sustainability of the project, by elaborating on the lifecycle

orientation of sustainability. Project management logically

considers the life cycle of a project, from its initiation to its

closure. However, Labuschagne and Brent argue that from a

sustainability perspective, project management should not

only consider the life cycle of the project, but also of the

deliverable or result the project realizes, for example a

change in products, assets, systems, processes or behavior.

This deliverable, in their words: the “asset”, should also be

considered over its full life cycle, for example: design–

develop–manufacture–operate–decommission–disposal. In

the context Labuschagne and Brent studied, this asset would

in its “operate” phase, produce products or services that

would have a life cycle on their own. Considering

sustainability in a project would therefore suggest that all

three lifecycles, “project life cycle”, “asset life cycle” and

“product life cycle”, are considered, as these lifecycles

interact and influence each other. The definition of

sustainable project management referenced above, refers to

these interacting lifecycles by stating that in sustainable

project management the sustainability perspective is applied

to the life cycles of “the project’s resources, processes,

deliverables and effects” (Silvius and Schipper, 2014).

2.2 Project Success
The concept of success in projects or project management is

one of the most studied concepts in project management

research (Ika, 2009). In the literature, a distinction is made

between project success criteria and project success factors.

Project success criteria are the measures used to measure

and judge the success or failure of a project (Müller and

Jugdev, 2012). They may also be referred to as the

performance indicators of the project. Project success

factors are the elements of a project which, when influenced,

increase the likelihood of success (Müller and Jugdev,

2012). These are the input factors or circumstances that

make success more likely.

The study reported in this paper focuses on the perceived

impact of considering sustainability, as an input factor, on

project success, as a resulting performance of the project.

Therefore, we will elaborate in this section on the criteria and

variables of measuring project success: the project success

criteria.

Few people would disagree with the statement that project

success is interpretable in many ways. It is, simply put, a

rather “elusive concept” (Prabhakar, 2008). Most early

research on project success seems to emphasize the three

traditional criteria of success: realizing the deliverable of the

project according to specifications within the agreed

schedule and budget (Albert et al., 2017). This threesome of

success criteria, quality, schedule/time and cost/budget,

sometimes also referred to as the ‘iron triangle’, remains

often used, “despite the fact that this method is currently

subject to widespread criticism” (Bakker et al., 2010).

Starting around the early 80s of last century, however, also

other criteria of success emerged from literature, such as the

benefits that the use of the project’s deliverable generates

for the user organization, or the “effectiveness of the project

from the perspective of the stakeholder” (Jugdev and Müller,

2005). Ika (2009) analyzed the development of criteria used

to assess project success, as visualized in Figure 1.

FIGURE 1 EVOLUTION OF PROJECT SUCCESS

CRITERIA (BASED ON IKA, 2009).

From the overview in Figure 1, it appears that the criteria of

PS evolved from the iron triangle of time, cost and quality to

a more holistic set of criteria that also included the benefits

that the project generates and the satisfaction of

stakeholders. In addition to the success criteria identified by

Ika, Almahmoud et al. (2012) conclude that criteria for

health, safety, and environmental performance should be

included in the assessment of PS. Sustainability, therefore,

may be starting to be included in the criteria for PS.

2.3 The Relationship between SPM and PS
Following the distinction made above between project

success factors and success criteria, the publications that

relate SPM to PS also can be distinguished in these two

perspectives. For example, Michaelides et al. (2014) and

Daneshpour (2015) conclude that sustainability should be

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JOURNALMODERNPM.COM JAN/APR 2022

considered a critical success factor for projects, whereas

Kometa et al. (1995); Lim and Mohamed (1999); Chan and

Chan (2004) and Almahmoud et al. (2012) assert that

sustainability-related aspects should be included in the

criteria for PS.

Despite this suggestion that considering sustainability should

be considered as a factor or criterion for success, the actual

relationship between SPM and PS has only received limited

coverage in the emerging academic literature on

sustainability in project and project management. Dubois and

Silvius (2020) provide an overview of studies that specifically

address the relationship between SPM and PS. Table 1

elaborates on their overview by presenting the 15 articles

that our literature search delivered.

Table 1 shows that most of the initial studies were

conceptual in nature. For example, Mishra et al. (2011) link

PS to ethics in business. They conclude that “The project

manager should make sure that he is completing the project

while keeping the ethical standards and social impact in

mind”. Craddock (2013) also links PS to business and

therefore aligns the criteria of PS with business excellence

models, such as the European Foundation for Quality

Management (EFQM) model. And as one of the EFQM

model’s fundamental concepts of excellence is “Taking

responsibility for a sustainable future”, he concludes that

sustainability should be integrated in the criteria for PS and

that SPM would therefore positively impact PS.

The other conceptual studies, Martens and Carvalho (2014)

and Silvius and Schipper (2016), both build up a conceptual

model of the relationship between SPM and PS that later

was used in empirical studies (in Martens and Carvalho,

2016b, resp. Khalilzadeh et al., 2016). Based on their

conceptual model, Silvius and Schipper (2016) also provided

a conceptual mapping of the different relationships between

the dimensions of SPM and the criteria of PS. This mapping

showed that most of the relationships are expected to be

positive, however, the expected relationship between SPM

and the PS criteria time and budget are labelled “uncertain”.

The rationale behind the uncertain effect of SPM on two of

the three iron triangle criteria of project success comes from

the expectation that a more sustainable project may require

additional investments, for example in better materials

(Packard Foundation, 2002), that are projected to deliver a

benefit in the medium to long term from lower operation

costs. However, these future benefits are by nature

uncertain, where the higher investment is not uncertain. In

some cases, the higher investment may therefore result in

the project not being taken beyond the initial concept and

design phases (Pearce, 2008).

Besides this assumed higher investment risk, incorporating

environmental and social considerations into projects

suggests extra requirements and specifications (Maltzman

and Shirley, 2010; Taylor, 2010), which may increase the

complexity of the project. For example, Hwang and Ng

(2013) conclude that incorporating sustainability in

construction projects makes planning harder, causes more

variations in design, causes difficulty in selecting

subcontractors, causes uncertainty in the required materials

and equipment, requires more coordination with different

parties, and leads to more unexpected circumstances at

project closure. This increases the pressure on project

managers and decision makers (Knight and Jenkins, 2009).

Moreover, it has been argued that incorporating

sustainability raises the level of expectations of stakeholders

of the project (Marcelino-Sádaba et al., 2015) and may

increase tensions between them (Brandoni and Polonara,

2012; De Brucker et al., 2013; Singh et al., 2007; Tam et al.,

2007). Therefore, the expected impact of SPM on the iron

triangle criteria of PS is considered uncertain.

Next to the conceptual studies, Table 1 also shows 10

empirical studies on the relationship between SPM and PS.

Table 2 presents how these studies define or operationalize

the variables SPM and PS, and what the studies concluded.

PS is more than the iron triangle.

The operationalization of SPM is diverse

From the studies presented in Table 2, a couple of

observations can be made.

The studies listed in Table 2, mostly operationalize PS in a

holistic set of criteria that cover both the traditional ‘iron

triangle’ criteria of project success, time – quality – budget,

as well as criteria related to the project’s deliverable and the

benefits this deliverable enables. This is in line with the

evolution of PS criteria that Ika (2009) observed.

In most of the empirical studies, the TBL perspectives of

economic dimension, environmental dimension and social

dimension, are recognizable in the operationalization of

SPM. This is in line with the observations of Silvius and

Schipper (2014) that concluded that the TBL was the most

used concept of sustainability in studies on SPM. However,

the same authors concluded that SPM is more than

considering the TBL perspectives. SPM also includes

dimensions that are derived from the literature on (corporate)

TABLE 1. PUBLISHED STUDIES ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPM AND PS.

Table 2. Overview of empirical studies on the relationship between SPM and PS. (continue)

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JOURNALMODERNPM.COM JAN/APR 2022

The relationship between SPM and PS is mostly

considered positively.

social responsibility (Silvius, 2017). Based on this broader

understanding of SPM, Silvius and Schipper (2014)

developed nine dimensions of SPM that are also used in a

number of studies on the relationship between SPM and PS.

In line with the analysis of Khalifeh et al. (2019) the overview

provided in Table 2 shows support for the conclusion that

SPM supports PS, and that no negative impacts of SPM

were observed. However, the limitations of the available

studies, lead Khalifeh et al. (2019) to comment that the

relationship between SPM and PS is still inadequately

addressed in the literature and that more research is

needed. Since this comment, four more empirical studies

have been published that all concluded a positive correlation

between SPM and PS. However, whether this empirical

evidence is sufficient to convince project managers and

project owners about the positive effects of SPM is still

unknown. And in addition, it should be noted that the

perception of the relationship between SPM and PS is not

studied yet.

Studies mostly focus on traditional project industries.

Sustainability is about balancing or harmonizing social,

environmental and economic interests

Sustainability is about both short-term and long-term

orientation

With regards to the industries covered in the empirical

studies, the traditional project industries, such as

construction and oil & gas, show up more prominently than,

for example, information technology or financial services

3. RESEARCH STRATEGY

3.1 Research approach and model
The authors choose a quantitative survey-based research

design for the investigation of the perceived relationships

between SPM and PS. The conceptual model of the study

was taken from the studies of Silvius and Schipper (2016)

and Khalilzadeh et al. (2016). In this model, SPM is

operationalized in nine dimensions of sustainability in project

management, that was developed by Silvius and Schipper

(2014) in the first structured literature review on the topic:

TABLE 2. OVERVIEW OF EMPIRICAL STUDIES ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPM AND PS.

Table 2. Overview of empirical studies on the relationship between SPM and PS. (continue)

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JOURNALMODERNPM.COM JAN/APR 2022

H1. Project managers perceive the relationship between

sustainable project management and more controlled

execution of the project as positive.

H2. Project managers perceive the relationship between

sustainable project management and completing the

project on time and within budget as positive.

H3. Project managers perceive the relationship between

sustainable project management and the project’s

deliverable is fit for purpose as positive.

H4. Project managers perceive the relationship between

sustainable project management and the realization of

Based on earlier studies the impact of SPM on the

product/benefits related criteria of PS is more positive than

on the iron triangle related criteria. The previous studies

therefore provide an indication that scenario C might be the

best depiction of the relationship between SPM and PS. The

study therefore adopts scenario C for the formulating the

hypotheses of this study. However, in the data analysis, all

four scenarios A – D will be considered, by analyzing the

internal consistency of both the SPM and the PS

composites.

The hypotheses for the study were formulated as:.

Sustainability is about local and global orientation

Sustainability is about values and ethics

Sustainability is about transparency and accountability

Sustainability is about stakeholder participation

Sustainability is about risk reduction

Sustainability is about eliminating waste

Sustainability is about consuming income, not capital

As these dimensions were developed by synthesizing a

broad array of publications on SPM, they provide a well-

developed conceptualization of sustainability in projects and

project management.

In the study PS was operationalized in six project success

criteria, that are summarized in Table 3 (Silvius and

Schipper, 2016).

These criteria summarize the criteria suggested in earlier

studies, including the frequently referenced works of Pinto

and Slevin (1988), Baccarini (1999), Atkinson (1999),

Shenhar et al. (2001), Nelson (2005) and Müller and Turner

(2007).

The resulting conceptual model of the relationship between

SPM and PS is shown in Figure 2

TABLE 3. CRITERIA OF PROJECT SUCCESS (SILVIUS AND SCHIPPER, 2016)..

FIGURE 2. CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPM AND

PS (BASED ON SILVIUS AND SCHIPPER, 2016).

A. 54 hypotheses for all perceived relationships between

individual SPM dimensions and individual PS criteria.

B. Nine hypotheses for the relationships of the individual

dimensions of SPM with the overall concept of PS.

C. Six hypotheses for the relationships of the overall

concept of SPM with the individual criteria of PS.

D. One hypothesis for the perceived relationship

between overall concept of SPM and overall concept of

PS.

In this model, SPM is operationalized in the above

mentioned nine dimensions, and PS in six criteria, resulting

in 9 x 6 = 54 relationships between the different dimensions

of SPM and the different criteria of PS. And as our study was

aimed at exploring the perceived relationship between SPM

and PS, these 54 relationships provided the foundation for

the development of the questionnaire.

3.2 Hypothesis development
Based on the research model, the hypotheses on the

relationship between SPM and PS can be developed in four

possible scenarios:

H5. Project managers perceive the relationship between

sustainable project management and the satisfaction of

project’s stakeholders as positive.

H6. Project managers perceive the relationship between

sustainable project management and how the project

prepares the organization for its future as positive.

project’s benefits as planned in the business case as

positive.

Figure 3. shows the hypotheses plotted on the conceptual

model of the study.

3.3 Questionnaire
The content section of the questionnaire contained nine

questions, Q8 – Q16, corresponding with the nine

dimensions of SPM, in which the respondent was asked to

express his or her perception between the particular

dimension of SPM and the six criteria of PS. The

relationships between SPM and PS were formulated as

statements expressing a positive effect of considering SPM,

on which the respondent was asked to indicate his consent

on a five-point Likert-type scale, ranging from strongly

disagree to strongly agree.

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3.4 Sampling
Data collection was done internationally based on

convenience sampling. Assuming a total global population of

project managers of over one million individuals, the targeted

sample size was set at 384 for a 5% confidence interval at a

95% confidence level. Although a larger size of sample leads

to the less amount of probable errors for generalizing the

population, practical issues prevented the study to realize

this sample size. In total, 133 PMs were reached through

Table 4 presents an example of one of these question, the

one on the SPM dimension Stakeholder participation.

The questionnaire included two further sections with

descriptive questions. The first is about the demographics of

the respondent and the second about the projects the

respondent usually works in. Table 5 shows these questions

and the answer categories.

FIGURE 3. THE HYPOTHESES PLOTTED ON THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE STUDY.

TABLE 4. EXAMPLE OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN.

TABLE 5. DESCRIPTIVE QUESTIONS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE.

LinkedIn and project management website, of which 132

provided useable answers. Based on the recommendations

of Reio and Shuck (2015), this was considered satisfactory.

The sample size of 132 delivered a confidence interval of

8.53%, at 95% confidence level, instead of the targeted 5%,

which is acceptable. For the validity of the data, respondents

with less than one year of experience in projects were

excluded. Table 6 presents the demographics of the sample.

TABLE 6. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLE.

TABLE CONTINUE…

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projects in the sample shows a quite even distribution

amongst building and construction, organizational change,

R&D, IT and other projects, the overrepresentation of certain

industries in the sample is not considered a blocking

limitation for the analysis of the data from the sample.

More than half of the projects represented in the sample are

international, and the majority of projects has between 1 and

15 business partners.

3.5 Data analysis
The data from the content questions of the questionnaire

coded 1 to 5, thereby following the ‘interval lists’ view of

Likert-type scales (Carifio and Perla, 2008). SPSS software

was used for the analysis of the consistency of the SPM and

PS composites and the influence of the demographic and

work environment variables.

4. FINDINGS
This paragraph presents the data analysis and findings of

the study. Section 4.1 presents the descriptive analysis of

the 54 perceived relationships between SPM and PS. In

section 4.2 the fit with our conceptual model will be analyzed

by testing the consistency of the SPM and PS composites.

Section 4.3 presents the inferential analysis of the

demographic and work environment variables.

4.1 Descriptive analysis
Figure 4 presents the overview of the participant’s

perception of the relationships between SPM and PS. The

relationships are shown in order of the perceived positive

impact of SPM on the individual criteria of PS. This figure

shows that the participants in the study in general perceive

the relationship between the dimensions of SPM and the

criteria of PS positively. All relationships showed a mean

score of between 3 and 4.2, which indicates that they agreed

with the statements that SPM increases the probability of

success. The study confirms the six hypotheses formulated

in section 3.2. SPM is perceived to relate positively with all

criteria of PS.

However, Figure 4 also shows that this positive relationship

between SPM and PS is not perceived equally strong for the

different criteria of PS. The perceived impact of SPM on the

different criteria of PS is summarized per criterion in Table 7.

This table ranks the different PS criteria in order of strongest

perceived relationship with SPM.

TABLE 6. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLE.

Table 6 shows that the sample was male dominated, 82.6%

male respondents versus 17.4% female respondents, which

reflects the professional community of project managers, as

also appears from other studies (Silvius and de Graaf, 2019).

Regarding the age of respondents, the majority of the PMs

are in the age category of 45 to 54 years, and only 4 project

managers participated in this study are 65 years old or over.

Also, this pattern can be observed in other studies on project

management and may be an indication that project

management requires a certain level of knowledge gained

through work experience in other fields.

The experience in projects within the sample shows an even

distribution between 1 to 10 years of experience and more

than 10 years of experience, with the largest fractions of

participants being the ones with 1 to 5 years of experience

and the ones with more than 15 years of experience. This

provides a well-distributed basis of data for our study.

The industries that are represented in the sample skews

towards the sectors industry and energy, with the service

sectors being somewhat underrepresented. This might be

caused by the personal networks of the research team, as

convenience sampling was followed. However, as the type of

FIGURE 4. PERCEIVED RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DIMENSIONS OF SPM

AND CRITERIA OF PS.

This table confirms the impression that arises from Figure 4.

The strongest perceived positive impact of SPM relates to

the PS criteria. The stakeholders of the project are satisfied

and The project prepares the organization for the future. The

weakest perceived relationships are related to the criterion.

The agreed project deliverable is completed on schedule and

within budget.

T H E P E R C E I V E D R E L A T I O N S H I P . . . PAGE 81

JOURNALMODERNPM.COM JAN/APR 2022

SPM Composite internal consistency

The internal consistency analysis of the SPM dimensions

can be found in Table 9.

From this table, it can be concluded that the consistency of

the perceived relationships related to the individual

dimensions of SPM is on the majority of the SPM

dimensions’ moderate’. This indicates that the respondents

differentiated the perceived impacts of the dimensions of

SPM between the different criteria for PS.

A more detailed analysis shows that especially the

relationship with the PS criterion D. Project realizes its

benefits as planned in the business case is perceived

differently. For all SPM dimensions, the consistency

increases when the relationship with this PS criterion is

removed from the analysis. However, the resulting

Cronbach’s alpha values are still lower than the values for

the PS construct. An additional consideration is that

removing this business case criterion of PS from the

analysis, damages the completeness of the construct.

Discussion of the Scenarios

Based on the high internal consistency of the total set of 54

relationships (showing from the Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.919),

it might be concluded that scenario D (one hypothesis for the

perceived relationship between the overall concept of SPM

and overall concept of PS) depicts the perceived relationship

between SPM and PS best. However, studying the

relationship between SPM and PS as a single unspecified

relationship does not make a contribution to the

understanding of this relationship and how it is perceived by

project managers. Based on our analysis of the consistency

of the SPM and PS constructs, we conclude that scenario C,

in which SPM is considered as a single concept, but PS is

considered in six separate PS criteria, provides the best

depiction of the perceived relationship between SPM and PS

as appears from our study. Therefore, the conceptual model

of the study is confirmed, and the formulation of hypotheses

remains as developed in section 3.2.

4.3 Inferential Statistics Analyses
In order to investigate the influences of demographic

questions on findings, ANOVA tests were performed for all

seven demographic and work environment-related variables.

From this analysis it appeared that from all demographic

variables (Gender, Age and Experience) no significant

inferential effect was experienced. Also, the work

environment variables Type of project, Industry and

International did not show a significant interference. Only the

number of business partners showed a significant influence,

on the PS criterion: realization of the business objectives or

goals of the project. An explanation for this interference

could not be derived from the data. However, a potential

explanation could be that a higher number of business

partners adds complexity to the project, for example in

decision making with regards to the integration of

sustainability, which might hinder the realization of business

benefits.

TABLE 7. PERCEIVED RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SPM AND PS, TOTALED PER PS CRITERION.

This finding is in line with the expected relationships between

SPM and PS formulated by Silvius and Schipper (2016). In

the model they developed, the expected relationship

between SPM and the iron triangle criteria of PS were

labelled ‘uncertain’. However, Khalilzadeh et al. (2016)

found, when testing the model of Silvius and Schipper, a

positive relationship between SPM and all criteria of PS.

Apparently, the perceptions and expectations of the project

managers on this point are underestimating the positive

effects of SPM.

4.2 Consistency analysis
In the development of hypotheses for the study, section 3.2.

discusses four potential scenarios for depicting the

relationship between SPM and PS. Based on the findings

from earlier studies, the study adopted scenario C,

consisting of six hypotheses for the relationships of the

overall concept of SPM with the individual criteria of PS. for

the formulation of hypotheses for this study. However, the

collected data allows us to test this scenario, based on a

consistency analysis of the SPM and PS constructs. For this

consistency analysis, the Cronbach’s alpha reliability

coefficient was calculated.

The consistency of the total set of 54 relationships showed a

Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.919, indicating the high internal

consistency of the questionnaire. A high Cronbach’s Alpha

on the 54 perceived relationships implies that the

participants see the relationship between SPM and PS as

one consistent relationship and they do not differ so much

between all 54 potential relationships between different

dimensions of SPM and criteria of PS. The respondents do

not consider this relationship in a very detailed or specified

way which is the indication of scenario D.

PS Composite internal consistency

In order to test the internal consistency of PS criteria, all six

criteria are tested for the consistency in the perceived

relationships with the nine sustainability dimensions,

resulting in a Cronbach’s alpha value for each criterion of

PS.

From this table 8, it shows that the Cronbach’s alpha

coefficient of all PS criteria is above 0.7, indicating that there

is a high consistency in the relationships of a specific PS

criterion with all nine dimensions of SPM. This shows that

the participants do not differentiate between the different

dimensions of SPM, but perceive SPM as a single ‘overall’

concept.

TABLE 8. CONSISTENCY ANALYSIS OF THE PS CRITERIA.

TABLE 9. CONSISTENCY ANALYSIS OF THE SPM DIMENSIONS.

T H E P E R C E I V E D R E L A T I O N S H I P . . . PAGE 83

JOURNALMODERNPM.COM JAN/APR 2022

focus of the sample. Sampling was based in the Netherland

which may present a bias. In the study the researchers

aimed to eliminate the limitations of previous studies, by not

focusing on specific industries or types of projects.

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5. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
The study reported in this paper set out to answer the

question How does considering sustainability in project

management influence the perceived success of projects?

The study focused on the relationship between SPM and PS

because earlier studies indicated that this relationship is not

straightforward. Where some studies found that considering

sustainability in project management positively influenced

the success of those projects, other studies showed doubts

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criteria of project success.

Adding to the complexity of the relationship between SPM

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that success is a criterion that is just as much influenced by

subjective perceptions as it is by objective performance data.

Following the recommendation of Pirozzi (2021), the study,

therefore, focused on investigating the perception of the

relationship between SPM and PS.

The conceptual model of the study operationalized SPM in

nine dimensions of sustainability in project management and

six criteria for PS. This resulted in 54 perceived relationships

between dimensions of SPM and criteria of PS. Based on

the indications found in earlier studies, six hypotheses were

formulated, suggesting a positive perception of SPM, as a

single construct, on all six criteria of PS. Based on a

quantitative survey-based research design, with 132

participants, the study confirmed this model of the

relationship between SPM and PS. The findings also showed

a positive perceived relationship between SPM and all

criteria of PS, thereby confirming the hypotheses. However,

the participants of the study differentiated this positive

relationship for the different PS criteria. The strongest

perceived positive impact of SPM relates to the PS criteria.

The stakeholders of the project are satisfied and The project

prepares the organization for the future. The weakest

perceived positive relationship is found on the iron triangle

criterion. The agreed project deliverable is completed on

schedule and within budget.

The perceived relationships between SPM and PS appeared

to be independent of personal characteristics, such as

gender, age, experience, and work-related aspects, such as

industry, type of projects and internationalization. Only the

number of business partners showed a significant influence

on a single criterion of PS. In general, it may therefore be

concluded that the perception of the relationships of SPM

and PS is independent of demographic and work

environment-related variables.

The interfering effect of the number of business partners in

the project, which showed from the study, provides a

relevant direction for further exploration.

The study reported in this paper once again shows a positive

relationship between SPM and PS, as also shown from the

studies of Khalifeh et al. (2019), Malik, et al. (2020), Dubois

and Silvius (2020), Zaman et al. (2020) and Khan et al.

(2020). The contribution the study makes is that it explores

the subjective perception of the relationship between SPM

and PS. This complements the earlier studies, that aimed to

establish a relationship between SPM and PS based on

performance data of the projects. But as success is not just

determined by the performance of the project, highlighting

the subjective perceptions contributes to the further

understanding of the effects of SPM.

The study also contributed to the further development of the

model of the relationship between SPM and PS. By testing

the consistency of the answers of the participants it could be

established that the participants perceive SPM as a single

overall construct, but with differentiated effects on the

different criteria of PS.

The study showed that the perception of the positive

relationship between SPM and PS is not equally strong for

all criteria of PS. As was already expected by Silvius and

Schipper (2016) and the experts of the study by Martens.

and Carvalho (2016a), the relationship between PS and the

traditional iron triangle criteria of PS is less straightforward.

In fact, the perception this relationship appeared in the study

was only slightly positive, despite empirical studies showing

positive relations. Apparently, the perception that paying

attention to sustainability costs money, is widespread. In

projects, this perception implies that sustainability might

endanger the iron triangle success criteria cost and time.

Further studies need to be developed in order to investigate

the financial and time impacts of sustainable project

management further.

Limitations of the study are provided by the geographical

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ABOUT AUTHORS

GILBERT SILVIUS

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands,

and University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Gilbert Silvius (1963) is professor of applied sciences at

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences in the

Netherlands, associate professor at HU University of Applied

Sciences Utrecht and visiting professor at the University of

Johannesburg in South Africa. He has authored several

books and over 50 academic journal articles, and a

recognized expert in the field of sustainability in project

management. For his work on this topic, Gilbert received the

GPM 2013 sustainability award and an 2020 outstanding

contribution IPMA research award.

As a practitioner, Gilbert has over 30 years’ experience in

organizational change and IT projects and is a member of

the international enable2change network of project

management experts. Gilbert holds a PhD degree in

information sciences from Utrecht University and masters’

degrees in economics and business administration. He is

also a certified project manager, scrum master and product

owner

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