Abstract
The move towards more sustainable outcomes under the triple bottom line (TBL) theory of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social) is one of the greatest challenges for organisations. Projects may have a pivotal role in the achievement of sustainability, as they are an ideal tool for bringing about change. Over the last decade, there has been growing attention to the incorporation of sustainability into projects (project sustainability). However, there are some criticisms regarding this incorporation, and one of the most important criticisms is that this incorporation may have a negative impact on project success, which is crucial and directly linked to the success of organisations as a whole. A systematic literature review revealed that to date, the relationship between project sustainability and project success has been inadequately researched in both developed and developing countries. There is an evident lack of research about this relationship in developing countries of the Arab world in particular. Further, it has been found that most of the few relevant contributions are conceptual in nature and focus mainly on manufacturing and construction projects. There is a lack of research which explores this relationship in some important projects such as information systems and technology (IS&T), services, and telecommunications projects. One of the most important of IS&T projects is software projects where this research focuses.
Currently, there is no recorded contribution which focuses on the relationship between project sustainability (PS) and project success in the software industry. This gap in the literature is the main basis of the current thesis. Therefore, this study aims to make a novel contribution to the literature by investigating the potential impact of software project sustainability (SPS) on project success. To achieve this aim, the author has developed a conceptual framework that helps in the empirical examination of the relationship between these two concepts. The proposed framework consists of six constructs which have been developed based on the analysis of the best contributions in the relevant literature. The first four constructs, which are independent variables (IVs) and represent SPS, are economic considerations (ECCs), environmental concerns (EVCs), social responsibilities (SRs), and TBLrelated quality requirements (QRs). These constructs encompass a unique combination of TBL-related aspects for incorporating sustainability into processes and products of software projects and form a significant part of the contribution of this thesis. The fifth construct, project success (PSCS), was positioned as a dependent variable (DV), and the sixth construct, project complexity, was set as a control variable in the proposed framework. The development of the framework is affiliated with the triple bottom line (TBL) theory, the ISO/IEC 25010:2011 product quality model of systems and software, the Sustainability Checklist of the International Project Management Association (IPMA), the contingency theory, and the multidimensional model of Shenhar and Dvir (2007) for measuring project success.
An empirical study was conducted to validate the proposed framework and test the research hypotheses. A quantitative methodology was applied using a hand-delivered selfadministered questionnaire as the data collection technique. 172 questionnaires were distributed randomly, targeting key stakeholders of internal software projects of the ten Jordanian public universities. Out of the 153 returned questionnaires, 140 were considered valid, after examining for missing data, suspicious response patterns, data distribution, outliers, response rate, and non-response bias. This constituted a high response rate of 81.4%.
The final data set was then analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The conceptual framework was validated as a model by establishing the internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. The results showed a good level of commitment towards the economic considerations (ECCs), social responsibilities (SRs), and TBL-related quality requirements (QRs) of SPS in the surveyed sample, while it was found that the environmental concerns (EVCs) were barely considered.
The analysis revealed a significant relationship between the four constructs of SPS and project success. The relationship of ECCs, SRs, and QRs to project success was positive, while it was negative for EVCs. However, it was found that the overall relationship of the four constructs “combined” with project success is significant and positive. Also, the analysis revealed that project complexity has no significant effect on the relationship between SPS and project success. Therefore, it was concluded that SPS can impact project success significantly and positively, especially if SPS is considered as a net of the four constructs’ relationships with project success, and not the solo relationship of each.
This study may contribute towards a more sustainable orientation in the software industry, as it provides empirical evidence of a significant positive relationship between SPS and project success. This is considered important due to the present contradictions in the relevant literature regarding the relationship between project sustainability, in general, and project success. Also, this study gives academics and practitioners a better understanding of how software projects can be managed sustainably; and it provides them with a validated model for measuring whether the incorporation of sustainability supports or impedes the success of these projects. Moreover, software companies – or other relevant organisations – may use the proposed model as a measurement tool to evaluate environmental and social impacts of their current products and project management practices. Consequently, these organisations may pay more attention to incorporating sustainability into their projects.
Finally, it can be argued that the findings of this study, along with the methodological approach used, constitute a valuable contribution to knowledge and provide a good basis for relevant works in future. It is hoped this research will contribute to the sustainability and success of organisations and society at large.