Sustainable project life cycle management : development of social criteria for decision-making

Abstract

An initial analysis of sustainable project life cycle management methodologies’ current status highlighted that social and environmental aspects of sustainable development are not addressed effectively. An acceptable model aimed at addressing the various sustainable development aspects from a project management perspective is thus needed. This study’s main research objective was consequently to develop the different elements of such a model for social business sustainability. The research focused on the three main research questions discussed below. Which lifecycles should be considered when evaluating the project’s possible impacts? Projects implement or deliver certain products, which in turn, can produce other commodities sold by the company. The three lifecycles, i.e. project, asset and product, were studied to determine which lifecycles to consider when evaluating projects’ possible impacts. It was concluded that it is specifically the project’s deliverables and its associated products that have economic, social and environmental consequences. These life cycles must therefore be considered as part of the project life cycle when evaluating social impacts. What social business sustainability impacts or aspects should be considered in the project life cycle? A sustainable development framework that can be applied to projects directly to ensure their alignment with sustainable development does not exist at present. A social sustainability assessment framework as part of a sustainability assessment framework for operational initiatives was consequently developed and introduced. The social framework was verified and validated by means of case studies, a survey and a Delphi Technique case study to test the framework’s completeness and relevance. How should project management methodologies be adopted to ensure incorporation of social business sustainability? The research indicated that the various social aspects are addressed in different ways in the individual asset life cycle phase. The social criteria in the framework should therefore also be addressed in different ways in the project management methodologies. A Social Impact Indicator (SII) calculation procedure, based on a previously introduced Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) calculation procedure for environmental Resource Impact Indicators (RIIs), was developed as a method to evaluate social impacts in the project life cycle phases. Case studies in the process industry and statistical information for South Africa have been used to establish information availability for the SII calculation procedure.