Sustainability in the Context of Project Management

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to identify what has been studied regarding sustainability in the context of project management. Project / methodology / approach: Through a Systematic Literature Review delimited in the period between the years 2008 and 2019, 31 articles from the area of project management were analyzed, extracted from the Web of Science databases. As selection criteria the articles needed to address sustainability or sustainable development. Findings: It was noticed that sustainability has been studied in different ways in the context of project management, the articles were grouped according to their study focuses: Project Management; Project Manager; Project Deliverables; Social Responsibility; Stakeholders and Work Safety. Furthermore, it was perceived that the social dimension is often neglected, especially when it comes to studies related to project workers. Limitations / implications of the research: The research was conducted only in the six major journals of project management, (International Journal of Project Management; Project Management Journal; International Journal of Managing Projects in Business; International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management; International Journal of Project Organization and Management and Journal of Modern Project Management), so while it brings as a benefit the fact of being focused on this area, it may also have neglected works related to projects focused on sustainability or sustainable development that may be published in journals that are not from this area.