A Structural Model for the Antecedents of Sustainable Project Management in Pakistan

Mehfooz Ullah, Muhammad Waris Ali Khan, Lee Chia Kuang, Ammar Hussain, Faisal Rana, Asadullah Khan and Mirza Rizwan Sajid
Additional contact information
Mehfooz Ullah: Faculty of Industrial Management, University Malaysia Pahang, Gambang 26300, Kuantan, Malaysia
Muhammad Waris Ali Khan: Faculty of Industrial Management, University Malaysia Pahang, Gambang 26300, Kuantan, Malaysia
Lee Chia Kuang: Faculty of Industrial Management, University Malaysia Pahang, Gambang 26300, Kuantan, Malaysia
Ammar Hussain: Department of Business Management, Karakoram International University, Gilgit 15100, Pakistan
Faisal Rana: School of Business Administration, American University in Dubai, 28282 Dubai, UAE
Asadullah Khan: Department of Business Management, Karakoram International University, Gilgit 15100, Pakistan
Mirza Rizwan Sajid: Department of Statistics, University of Gujrat, Punjab 50700, Pakistan

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 19, 1-19

Abstract: Sustainable development is the core agenda item of the 21st century to be addressed simultaneously by societies, businesses, and academia. Likewise, sustainability research in the project context is fragmented and still at a nascent stage with less attention directed towards the key antecedents particularly in developing countries. Using institutional theory, this paper analyzes the role of normative and mimetic isomorphic pressures as external enablers for integrating sustainability in project processes. Additionally, it aims to empirically validate a structural model for predictors of sustainable project management (SPM). Data were collected from 146 large construction firms in Pakistan which were then analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. The results show that mimetic isomorphic pressures assert more influence than normative pressures in predicting the sustainability performance of construction projects. The inferred implications suggest that large construction firms will tend to improve their sustainable performance under isomorphic pressure from professional bodies and from those competitors who are early adopters of sustainable project practices. This paper contributes to the literature by explaining the role of non-coercive isomorphism as an important enabler of SPM in developing countries. The model presented will enrich our current understanding of SPM by studying its juxtaposition with institutional theory and sustainable development research.

Keywords: sustainable project management; institutional isomorphism; construction industry; developing countries; Pakistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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