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The Sustainability of Project Management for Saudi Arabia’s Projects
Investigating The Sustainability of Project Management for Saudi Arabia’s Projects and its Role in Creating Sustainable Performance: The role of Organisation Culture as a contribution factor
Problem Statement
There is growing awareness in Saudi Arabia that the country should no longer base its’ economic future solely on oil reserves, which are now known to be finite. While oil prices are currently high
the country is able to afford large-scale infrastructure and construction investment but increasingly there is recognition that more attention needs to be paid to alternative forms of economic
activity that is not totally dependent on a decreasing resource. There are two modern trends taking place in the country that impact on project management, which has a major role in
facilitating these projects. The first is to comprehend and utilise the leading ideas of the sustainability movement, as these are considered important ways and means of economic
transformation. Second, there is a recognised need to develop knowledge-based industries that are not dependent on oil. Both these trends have an impact on the project management
profession, that is, particularly those of Saudi nationality likely to remain in the country for most of their working lives.
The focus of the thesis is on how the issue of sustainability impacts on the project management profession in Saudi Arabia. This was achieved by asking members of the profession about their
project management best practice in their organisations by considering the relevance of sustainability ideas to current and future project management practice. A main assumption of the thesis
is that in the modernisation process in Saudi Arabia it is important that projects embraces leading ideas of good practice from around the world. This enhances the professionalism of project
managers and reassures stakeholders. Moreover it is considered that Saudi Arabia is a relatively unique environment, poised between tradition and change. The leading ideas of the sustainability
movement represent the future and provide a challenge to project managers to grasp new ideas.
One of these is the need to integrate the concept of sustainable development into project management practice in Saudi Arabia for the purpose of improving project performance. A key
element in the process is to better appreciate the importance of achieving a suitable organisational culture in project driven enterprises. This is regarded as an important condition for
improving professional capability in project managers. The creation of a model for evaluating and assessing the maturity of the sustainable dimension into project management practice will
show how an organization should focus its efforts to improve its performance. Such a model is intended to foster sustainable project outcomes that will directly impact business activity into
the longer-term.
The Purpose of the Study
• This research is to introduce a sustainable project management model provides insight and increase the understanding of current performance levels of projects in Saudi Arabia’s
organisations, with a view to integrating concepts of sustainability into project management in the country. Saudi Arabia’s need to diversify its economic productivity and be less reliant on oil
reserves in the long run and by implementing projects like currently those undertaken in infrastructure and construction gaining long-term value through sustainable project management will
serve to maximise investment. For this purpose, the extension of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) theory including the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework will address the opportunity
of an organisation to adapt sustainable development activates in the three sustainable dimensions (Economic, Social, Environmental) into their project management best practice for long-term
performance.
• Also, this research will be looking at organisational culture as a contribution factor for better performance. There is ability of an organisation to sustain a competitive advantage
through its strategic choice of resources. This evolves a Resource Based View (RBV) of the organisation.
Gaps
Undertaking research involves understanding the gaps in the literature in order to fill these by providing new insights in the area.
1. The lack of connection between project management and sustainable development using (CSR) & (TBL) theories. According to Silvious and Schipper (2009) sustainability is one of the
most important challenges of the recent times. Silvius and Schipper (2009) say that a changing ones mindset is needed in order to avoid economic frustrations in the future. Brent and
Labuschagne (2004) explain that there is a limitation in most of the current project management frameworks due to deficiency of the three goals of sustainable development in the projects
which include social equity, economic efficiency, and environmental performance (Barnard, Ackles & Haner 2011). Silvus and Jusper (2011) view the integration of sustainability with project
management in a different way. They said that sustainability is essential in order to allow continuous prosperity of projects and to avoid hurting future generation at the expense of developing
prosperity in current projects (Project Management Institute 2011).
2. The lack of connection between strategic management and organizational culture behavior using (RBV).
This current research project addresses gaps in the knowledge as follows:
• It interconnects project management and sustainable development theories (CSR) & (TBL) by studying organization not as isolated units, but as a part of society. It assumes that the
improved performance of enterprises benefits the whole of society through sustainable activates.
• It provides empirical testing of the RVB, CSR & TBL using advanced statistical methods. It tests the model empirically by determining statistically which variables are more important
to organization performance.
• It develops an integrated model. For example. This study will examine the relationship between sustainable development and project management for sustainable business performance.
Also, explaining the organisational culture as key driver in fostering the sustainability ideas into project management for sustainable performance.
Research Questions
1. How project management in the three sustainable development dimensions (Economic, social and environmental) influence project management best practice in Saudi Arabia’s
organizations.
2. How organizational culture influences the project management best practice in Saudi Arabia for better sustainable performance.
The questions addressed in this enquiry can be solved by studying the existing relationships among sustainable development and project management variables and their respective influence on
organisation performance. Additionally, it considers the relationships existing among organizational culture variables, project management variables.
The research addresses the main three questions:
1. What are the challenges facing the modernisation agenda in Saudi Arabia to achieve sustainability?
2. What is the role of sustainable project management as a part of the modernisation process in Saudi Arabia?
3. How important is organisational culture in fostering the introduction of sustainability ideas into project management?
Research Contribution
This research makes a contribution at two levels. First, at the scholarly level, This research is multifaceted in that it undertakes to identify those relationships connecting business performance,
project performance, project management maturity and the latest concept of sustainable development as well as identify those factors that impel the progress of sustainable project
management. Introducing a new sustainable project management model is the most proficient way to explore these relationships and by using Saudi Arabia as a new study context this model
will help to expand the system boundaries of the project and of project management by adapting new sustainable development elements for their benefit.
Furthermore, the examination of the combined interrelationships among sustainable development, project management and organization culture and performance constructs helps to develop a
more holistic theory.
Second, at an applied level, This research will help to bring a rich insight into the project management best practice in Saudi Arabia by exploring the feasibility of integrating the leading ideas of
sustainability with project management by investigating the sustainable project management practices implemented by organisations in Saudi Arabia. There is growing awareness in Saudi
Arabia that the country should no longer base its economic future on oil reserves, which are now known to be finite. While oil prices are currently high the country is able to afford large-scale
infrastructure and construction investment, but increasingly there is recognition that more attention needs to be paid to alternative forms of economic activity that is not totally dependent
on a decreasing resource.
This study will be able to illustrate problems and suggest sustainable solutions that could improve project management best practice in Saudi Arabia by exploring the concept of sustainability
and its application to project management. It also, aims to identify the responsibilities surrounding the integration of sustainability into project management.
Research Objectives
1. Explain the importance of sustainable development applications for project management in the modernisation agenda in Saudi Arabia.
2. Explain the significance of project management & maturity as a toll to assess the project management performance in Saudi projects for long-term project and business performance
for the modernisation agenda through sustainable development criteria (economic, social and environmental).
3. Explain the organisational culture as key driver in fostering the sustainability ideas into project management.
4. Provide sustainable solutions for project implementations in Saudi organisations, for practitioners and stakeholders based on the sustainable project management maturity assessment
results in order to enhance the projects outcome.
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