Exploring the project manager's intention to address sustainability in the project board

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production Vol. 208; pp. 1226 - 1240
• Main Authors: Silvius, A.J. Gilbert, de Graaf, Marc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 20.01.2019
• Subjects: Project; Project management; Sustainability; Theory of planned behavior; Triple constraint; Project; Triple constraint; Theory of planned behavior; Project management; Sustainability
• ISSN: 0959-6526; 1879-1786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.10.115

Projects are recognized to play a crucial role in the sustainable development of organizations and the academic debate on the relation between project management and sustainability is emerging. Several publications highlight the role of the project manager in the sustainable management of a project and it can be concluded that the central position of the project manager provides him/her with the opportunity to influence many aspects of the project. This article reports a study into the factors that influence the project manager's intention to address the sustainability of the project with the project board. With the Theory of Planned Behavior as conceptual starting point, an exploratory study was performed in order to identify the factors that project managers perceive as influencing their intention to discuss sustainability with the project board. Based on open interviews with 21 respondents from the target group, a conceptual model of 13 salient factors was developed. This model was subsequently tested in a survey based study (N = 134) with quantitative data analysis. Exploratory factor analysis of the data revealed four factors: Moral compass & Personal ability, Potential benefit, Potential risk and Organizational fit, that influence the project manager's intention to address the sustainability of the project with the project board. Three of the four factors, influence the intention to address positively, whereas Potential risk is negatively influencing the intention. By identifying the factors that positively or negatively influence to behavior of project managers with regards to sustainability, the study contributes to the understanding of the ‘soft side’ of sustainability. •The project manager's intention to address sustainability is investigated.•The study followed a mixed methods ‘qual + QUAN’ research strategy.•EFA revealed a model of four influencing factors.