What Is Going on with Stakeholder Theory in Project Management Literature? A Symbiotic Relationship for Sustainability

Diego F. Uribe, Isabel Ortiz-Marcos and Ángel Uruburu
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Diego F. Uribe: Department of Engineering of Organization, Business Administration and Statistics, Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Isabel Ortiz-Marcos: Department of Engineering of Organization, Business Administration and Statistics, Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Ángel Uruburu: Department of Engineering of Organization, Business Administration and Statistics, Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28006 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 4, 1-23

Abstract: Nowadays the advance towards sustainability poses a global challenge for modern society as well as for companies. Professionals and academics continually redefine business processes and design management mechanisms in a more appropriate way in order to allow companies to balance economic activity with the environmental and social impact that they generate. Under this complex and dynamic scenario, creating a product, providing a service, or achieving a given result requires a different interpretation of the efficiency paradigm and an adequate socio-environmental intelligence. In the context of project management, sustainability-related knowledge, skills, and suitable tools are necessary to face this challenge. Moreover, its close relationship with stakeholder theory presents an alternative to approach that purpose. This article attempts a systematic review of the literature on stakeholder theory in project management during the past nine years, with the aim of providing a comprehensive view of this relationship, revealing its impact and influence on sustainability, and finding new research paths. We highlight the potential benefits derived from this relationship, either as an instrument for the promotion of corporate social responsibility and inclusive policies, as a means for the generation of shared value and technological innovation, or as a key factor in the strategy and business management of a given project.

Keywords: stakeholder theory; project management; project stakeholder management; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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