Sustainability Assessment Criteria for Projects and Technologies: Judgements of Industry Managers

Abstract

Industries are increasingly under pressure to incorporate the objectives of sustainable development into company policies and decision-making processes. This study introduces a framework of sustainability assessment criteria that are relevant to projects and developments in industry. The study attempts to establish whether the professional exposure and experience of decision-makers at different management levels influence the individual's perceptions of the relative importance of the three main dimensions of the framework. The study finds that exposure and experience do not influence the weighting values. The study further highlights the importance of distinguishing between internal decision-making within industry and external decision-making where assessments are used for public reporting. That is, the context within which the three dimensions are weighted greatly determines individual and societal perceptions. OPSOMMINGIndustrieë is toenemend onder druk om die doelwitte van volhoubare ontwikkeling in maatskappybeleid en besluitnemingsprosesse te inkorporeer. 'n Raamwerk van volhoubare assesseringskriteria word voorgestel wat relevant is vir projekte en ontwikkelinge in die industrie. Hierdie studie beoog om te bepaal of professionele blootstelling en ondervinding van besluitnemers 'n invloed het op individuele persepsies van die relatiewe belangrikheid van die drie hooffasette van die raamwerk. Die studie vind dat ondervinding en blootstelling geen invloed uitoefen op die relatiewe gewigte nie. Die studie lig verder die belangrikheid uit om te onderskei tussen interne besluitneming binne maatskappye, en eksterne besluitneming waar assessering gebruik word vir publieke rapportering. Met ander woorde, die konteks waarin gewigte op die drie dimensies geplaas word, bepaal grootliks individuele-en gemeenskapspersepsies.

Sustainable Project Governance: Scientometric Analysis and Emerging Trends

“…Although research on both project governance and sustainability has been considerable, Brent and Labuschagne contend that there is rarely agreement between the two subjects [67]. However, the results of this study show that in the past, project governance and sustainable development have been intermingled topics with increasing interest, which is contrary to the judgment of Brent and Labuschagne.…”

“…Thomson explains the importance of sustainable development [6], and the results of this paper's analysis of hotspots support his judgment well. The results of analysis in previous articles show that the future research hotspots for project governance and green projects are mainly focused on studies of developing countries and emphasise government involvement in governance, keywords that foreshadow future research hotspots [67]. In order to achieve environmental sustainability, Koppenjan advocated in 2015 that projects should take into account energy utilisation and environmental legislation [68].…”

Investigating Cultural and Structural Influences on Optimizing Engineer-to-Order Project Delivery and Sustainability

“…Others consider ways to embed sustainability through outcomes, by ensuring indicators of project performance include sustainability [62,63], correlating project performance and sustainable outcomes [64] and by viewing how sustainability factors influence project performance [52]. Yet others consider ways to embed sustainability through project selection criteria that lead to sustainable projects [65] and portfolio selection processes that embed sustainability [66].…”

Modeling and Estimating Host Country Values in International Projects to Facilitate In-Country Value Creation

“…Some notable works [40][41][42][43][44] underlined that a project's sustainable value creation model shall encompass the study of the project's impacts on its multiple stakeholders in terms of sustainability. Indicators were identified or constructed to measure quantitatively or qualitatively project impacts and effects in terms of sustainability in the short term and the long term [45]. For instance, stakeholder objectives and preferences could be used to characterize sustainable values through the construction of indicators [46].…”

“…They generated direct and indirect positive effects for the project/host country stakeholders [45,[55][56][57][58]…”