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The objectives of this study are twofold: first, to identify the effect of sustainability management on the success of international development projects, and second, to investigate the moderating role of political and social skills on this relationship.

This study adopted a quantitative research methodology based on questionnaire data collected from 43 international development project managers from various fields in Burkina Faso (West Africa). Descriptive statistics and exploratory and confirmatory analyses using principal component analysis were used to assess the quality of the measurement model. A multiple regression analysis based on the partial least squares approach was used to test the hypotheses.

The results show that sustainability management positively contributes to the success of international development projects. However, given the specificities of these projects and their perception of success, the project coordinator's political and social skills do not predict a greater impact of sustainability management on the success of international development projects. The study also found that project coordinators prioritize their technical skills over behavioral ones.

This study fills a gap in the literature, given that little is known about the moderating role of political and social skills in the effect of sustainability management on the success of specific projects such as international development projects.

The paper aims to identify core components for managing sustainability in construction-building projects and to understand how these components support each other to achieve project success. It proposes a model for sustainable project management (SPM) to achieve sustainable project success (SPS).

The research utilised structural equation modelling to empirically test the conceptual model and the hypotheses associated to the 35 project-management related success factors and 24 performance criteria identified in literature review. Data was collected through 143 questionnaires carried out with construction professionals who have minimum two years' experience in sustainable building projects across the UK. Mediation analysis was used to identify the inter-relationships between the variables and components in the model.

The paper developed a model for SPM which consists of five components: (1) sustainability goal definition, (2) project team enhancement toward sustainability, (3) planning for sustainability, (4) sustainability assessment and (5) stakeholder management. Stakeholder management and sustainability goal definition were found to have a significant and direct impact to the achievement of SPS. The other three were found to generate an indirect but important impact on the SPS. The results showed that attention should be paid to all five components to fully support the development of sustainability in projects.

Regarding the research approach, the generalisation of this research's findings is limited to the construction industry in the UK and similar developed countries.

This paper provides a further understanding of the inter-related effects of SPM and their impact on SPS.

Steered by upper echelon theory, this study aims to scrutinize the prevalence of project manager demographic factors (age, education and experience) in project sustainability management and project performance.

We used a sample of 209 project managers/supervisor/team leaders who were working in the projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The results indicate that project manager demographic factors have a significant influence on project performance (except experience) and project sustainability management. Moreover, project sustainability management partially mediates the relationship between age, education and project performance while it fully mediates the path between experience and project performance.

The research recommends senior, high educated and experienced managers for CPEC who promote sustainability and gain high project performance.

A number of studies have been carried out to assess the relationship between top managers’ attributes and environmental activities. However, so far, none of the studies has paid attention to the CPEC and projects working in Pakistan.

The paper is conceptual in nature and explores the role and function of project management in the achievement of sustainability in the built environment by developing a 4Es (Economic, Effectiveness, Efficiency and Ethics) and 4 Poles (Economic, Social, Environmental and Technology) model of sustainability. The study also identifies that the existing debates on sustainability seem to marginalise project management's positive contributions to sustainable construction, as well as the importance of technology in the sustainability agenda.

The paper consists of a literature review on the concept of sustainability, the contribution of the built environment to the sustainability problem, and an intellectual discussion of a proposed model for achieving sustainable development in the built environment. The body of this paper is divided into three sections: part one reviews “what is sustainability”, part two discusses the current state of sustainability including the importance of technology, and part three discusses the 4Es and 4 Poles model.

This research establishes the importance of technology in the sustainable development agenda. The paper proposes a 4Es (project management model) and 4 Poles (poles or factors of sustainability) model as a holistic approach to achieving sustainable construction. In addition, this paper proposes an extension to the definition of sustainable construction or development, as the existing definitions seem to be vague.

This research paper focuses only on sustainability in the built environment and sustainable development with reference to project management.

The proposed model uses a project management approach, which does not allow trade‐offs, but promotes integration of the 4 Poles. This will contribute to the achievement of sustainable construction at every level of a project or organisation.

The proposed model is new within project management and the built environment. It also promotes technology as a core factor in achieving sustainable development.

The purpose of this paper is to answer the research question: “does the incorporation of sustainability as a new school of thought in project management support project success?” The authors carried out a systematic literature review (SLR) on relevant empirical studies before 2018 to answer this question.

The authors carried out an SLR by selecting, extracting, analysing and critically appraising relevant literature that met pre-specified criteria by using transparent, well-organised and replicable steps. The main sources are publications in peer-reviewed journals regardless of their impact factor because the topic of incorporating sustainability in project management practices is restrained by a lack of research.

Based on the analysis, it seems that incorporating sustainability into project management may support project success. However, more evidence is required to support this finding as there are too few relevant empirical studies in the literature.

Therefore, considering sustainability as a new school of thought in project management is premature, and there are recommendations for further research at the end of this study. There are several limitations to the studies chosen, which may have significantly affected results, and thus may affect outcomes in this study.

Project success needs to be the main endeavour when incorporating sustainability into project management, and it should be a key criterion when considering sustainability as a new school of thought in managing projects. The most challenging elements of project success that need to be addressed are cost and time. This study contributes to a better understanding of the impact of PSM on project success. It facilitates decision making in considering sustainability as a new school of thought in project management. Furthermore, it defines a need for more research work in this potential paradigm shift in managing projects.

This study investigates whether corporate sustainability capability (CSC) along with project management maturity (PMM) based capability contribute to perceived organizational success. It also studies how this contribution varies by project type employed in the organization.

The research is based on survey data collected from 66 managers of mostly small service businesses. The survey instrument consisted of a four-part questionnaire with 41 indicators focusing on CSC, maturity in project management knowledge areas and perceived internal and external organizational success. The SEM methodology, GLM (General Linear Model), and ANOVA are used for the analysis of the causal relationship among the indicators. The moderating effect of Project Type is analyzed using the Multi Group Analysis.

The findings demonstrate the impact of the successful integration of corporate sustainability and organizational PMM efforts on organizational success. Project management capability strengthens the effects of sustainability efforts, specifically in economic and social sustainability. Moreover, project type ranging from derivative to breakthrough moderates this effect.

The findings demonstrate the strategic importance of corporate sustainability and its integration with organizational project management, valuing project sustainability management.

The study shows the importance of project management and sustainability capabilities for organizations in managing projects and developing vision, policy, and guidance with stakeholders, leading to organizational success.

This study reveals most success is achieved by maturity in stakeholder management, time, quality, communication and human resource management areas, economic and social sustainability capabilities demonstrated by platform and breakthrough projects.

Recent research on construction project management (CPM) envisions addressing wider social good while delivering value to the funding organizations. It is complemented by a growing body of knowledge on social sustainability in construction projects. These two literature streams are currently scattered and there is a lack of holistic guidance on integrating social sustainability with CPM. The current study addresses this knowledge gap through a critical review of these two bodies of literature and thereby proposing a conceptual framework for socially sustainable CPM.

A conceptual modelling approach, involving sequential steps of knowledge acquisition, and knowledge abstraction and representation, has been used. Knowledge acquisition was based on a systematic search and short-listing of research articles and knowledge abstraction was performed through thematic analysis of the 81 shortlisted articles. The categories abstracted through thematic analysis were integrated and presented as the framework.

A framework for socially sustainable CPM, consisting of four social sustainability characteristics and six areas of social sustainability integration in CPM (SSI-CPM), has been proposed. It presents possibilities of integrating social concerns in CPM processes at various levels – ranging from permanent firms that provide resources to the temporary (project) organization that delivers value.

This study seeks to bridge the gap between theory and practice of realizing social good through construction projects. To this end, a conceptual framework has been proposed along with an agenda for future research encompassing social sustainability and CPM.

The barriers to integrating sustainable practices into construction project management require extensive resource allocations to resolve. Within developing countries such as Iran (where resources are scarce), remedial strategies adopted must prioritise tackling those barriers that can be expected to yield maximum return on investment. The candidate barriers are many, and this paper aims to identify a hierarchy of barriers, providing a priority list of remedial targets.

A mixed philosophical stance of interpretivism and post-positivism is adopted within a deductive approach and survey strategy. A list of 30 known barriers are identified from extant literature and used to formulate a questionnaire data collection instrument administered within the Iranian construction industry. Data collected from 176 practitioners are analysed using the relative importance index and Mann–Whitney U test to compare groups based on the participants' demographic variables.

The findings challenge the common assumption that items related to market and workforce experience are major inhibitors of change. That is, economics and regulatory dependent barriers have a higher impact on the failure of a shift to sustainable practices in Iran. The most influential barriers to incorporating sustainability in construction projects are: (1) lack of understanding of the potential benefits; (2) insufficient cooperation among practitioners, research institutions and environmental organisations; and (3) a lack of a systematic approach to pursuing sustainability goals. No significant associations are detected between the affiliation of the respondents and their attitude towards the issue. Thus, a generalised approach can be applied to a broader range of organisations and construction projects in Iran.

While studies on sustainability impediments at the firm or project level are ubiquitous within literature, this research identifies that the most significant barriers to sustainable project management in Iran, as an underexplored context, are those experienced at the economic and institutional level. Moreover, this novel research presents important insights into the potential effects of participants' demographic profiles on their view of the importance of identified barriers.

The purpose of this paper is to reveal how management of uncertainty can enable sustainability of complex projects.

The research was conducted from June 2014 to May 2015 using a qualitative deductive approach among operation and maintenance actors in offshore wind farms. The research contains a focus group interview with 11 companies, 20 individual interviews and a seminar presenting preliminary findings with 60 participants.

The findings reveal the need for management of uncertainty through two different paths. First, project management needs to frontload important issues, which results in the need to use resources much earlier than noted in the usual stage gate approach. Additionally, the base organisation needs the capacity to both explore and exploit important issues. In the summarisation of findings, a tool is developed for the two paths to join efforts.

Further research is needed to reveal the generalisability of the findings in other complex project contexts containing “unknown unknowns”.

The research leads to the development of a tool for uncertainty management for sustainability of complex projects, which is termed “UMSCoPS”. The model provides a guide for insight and understanding of uncertainty management.

The previous knowledge on managing uncertainty for sustainability of complex projects is enhanced regarding the uncertainty management in complex projects. The approach to uncertainty has returned to the original notion of the “unknown unknowns”, and project management thereby leaves the widely used stage gate approach. The developed tool provides a fresh understanding of the challenges of uncertainty.

Existing literature points out that conventional educational modes are not sufficiently motivational for students. Concurrently, the contemporary society requires awareness of sustainability within project management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the use of simulations in project management education can positively impact students’ awareness of sustainability and enhance their ability to navigate projects in a sustainable way.

Experiment where 26 experienced professionals with different backgrounds engaged in three extensive project management simulations with sustainable aspects and participated in pre- and post-assessments.

Our research shows that simulations have a high potential for enhancing learning on project management with sustainable aspects. We conclude that simulations can significantly contribute to enhancing student awareness of sustainability. This is through directly confronting them with three areas in which sustainability impacts project management, that is the management of environmental, social, and economic aspects; through handling opportunities, complexities, and adaptability; and by assuming responsibility for sustainable development in the simulation case.

We have shown that simulations – as a part of project management education – are highly likely to augment students' capacity to navigate their projects in a sustainable way.

This paper offers results of an empirical study on simulations as a means to create awareness of ability to navigate projects in a sustainable way. The paper provides extensive qualitative statements from participants, and thereby gives the reader insights into the raw data leading to insightful conclusions for the field of project management education.