Critical Success Factors of Sustainable Project Management : a Literature Review
Nyonyoh, Deborah Enam (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025120131349
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025120131349
Tiivistelmä
Despite a great deal of investment made globally over $4 trillion every year in sustainable development projects, the application of sustainable project management (SPM) practices continues to be inconsistent and ineffective in many sectors. This study sought to identify and analyze the critical success factors (CSFs) that play a significant role in sustainable project management implementation in different contexts in order to synthesize the knowledge in bridging the gap between academic knowledge and practice.
A qualitative systematic literature review was performed, analyzing 41 peer-reviewed publications from 2014 to 2025 from academic databases. Data was analyzed applying Braun and Clarke's six-step thematic analysis approach, with findings organized in accordance with the Triple Bot-tom Line (TBL), which has three dimensions; economic, environmental, and social.
Social factors emerged as the most significant dimension with stakeholder engagement, health and safety, skills and capacity, communication and coordination, and leadership and governance being identified as key determinants. Environmental factors highlighted regulatory compliance, risk management, quality assurance, and project complexity aspects. Economic factors demonstrated financial capacity importance, innovative procurement systems, effective utilization of resources, and appropriate management structures. The results showed that there are significant interdependencies between the dimensions of sustainability, suggesting that sustainable project management demands holistic approaches that consider multiple interconnected factors simultaneously.
A qualitative systematic literature review was performed, analyzing 41 peer-reviewed publications from 2014 to 2025 from academic databases. Data was analyzed applying Braun and Clarke's six-step thematic analysis approach, with findings organized in accordance with the Triple Bot-tom Line (TBL), which has three dimensions; economic, environmental, and social.
Social factors emerged as the most significant dimension with stakeholder engagement, health and safety, skills and capacity, communication and coordination, and leadership and governance being identified as key determinants. Environmental factors highlighted regulatory compliance, risk management, quality assurance, and project complexity aspects. Economic factors demonstrated financial capacity importance, innovative procurement systems, effective utilization of resources, and appropriate management structures. The results showed that there are significant interdependencies between the dimensions of sustainability, suggesting that sustainable project management demands holistic approaches that consider multiple interconnected factors simultaneously.