1. Introduction
In recent times, the topic of sustainability has become increasingly important in construction project management. Sustainability is seen as a crucial factor for project success. Organizations around the world are striving to implement sustainable project management (SPM) not only to achieve organizational or project goals, but also to continue to create value in the marketplace.
SPM and traditional project management (PM) have a variety of natural differences and there are many contrasting characteristics between SPM and traditional PM [
1,
2], as shown in
Figure 1. While the traditional PM method focuses on achieving project results within a specified time, budget, and quality [
3], the SPM approach basically focuses on the entire life cycle of project results, as well as the harmonization of TBL (triple bottom line) aspects (economic, environmental, and social) simultaneously when managing projects [
4], primarily focusing on the values and interests of the stakeholders [
5]. Furthermore, the authors [
6] highlighted the need to consider SPM practices, as improving SPM practices should also be viewed as an opportunity for businesses to create economic, environmental, and social benefits. Additionally, they asserted that SPM could bring long-term benefits to firms, such as improved operational efficiency and reputation.
However, SPM is resource-intensive, especially when managing large construction projects. The resource intensity of SPM has increased resource constraints. As a result, construction project managers are looking for innovative solutions and sustainable practices to help them maintain a competitive edge in the global construction industry [
7]. Because of this increasing competition and changing environment, the ability to successfully integrate SPM into construction projects has remained a significant challenge for global construction companies [
8].
However, there is a gap in the literature, especially regarding the factors and mechanisms that enable SPM practices [
9]. Recent academic discussions of SPM have referred to project externalities, which include external stakeholders and institutional isomorphic pressures as contributing factors to SPM [
10,
11,
12,
13,
14]. Examination of this pressure in the context of projects, however, is still lacking [
15] and research findings to date have been inconsistent. For example, some studies have found that institutional isomorphic pressures have little or no effect [
16], while other studies have emphasized the enabling role of both mimetic isomorphic pressure (MIP) and normative isomorphic pressure (NIP) on SPM in the manufacturing industry [
14,
17,
18]. Thus, this paper aims to fill this research gap. Moreover, this study included MIP and NIP as the antecedent variables that enable SPM in developing countries, such as China.
Sustainability, which integrates environmental, economic, and social factors, has become an essential part of project acceptance and success [
19,
20,
21,
22]. In addition, most of the previous research on the nexus between SPM and project success (PS) has been conducted in the context of developed countries [
23,
24,
25,
26,
27,
28] and there have been few empirical articles examining the SPM-PS relationship in developing countries [
22,
29,
30]. Furthermore, most previous studies have focused on assessing the direct relationship between SPM and PS. However, there has been a lack of identification of the key mechanisms through which this association can be strengthened. This research therefore agrees with the suggestion of scholars [
31] to include some mediating variables to study the SPM–PS relationship, but the literature is still insufficient on this issue and more research is needed. Consequently, to fill this gap in the literature, this paper incorporated SPP (sustainable project planning), a mediating variable to investigate the SPM–SPS connection by drawing on scholars [
30]. Hence, the research questions are: (1) Do institutional pressures (MIP and NIP) enable the implementation of SPM? (2) Does SPM have an impact on SPS in the construction industry? (3) Does SPP mediate the relationship between SPM and SPS?
The construction industry accounts for a large proportion of China’s GDP. It is therefore an important part of the domestic economy. In 2022, China’s construction industry generated about 8.3 trillion yuan in value added, accounting for 6.9% of China’s gross domestic product. Construction value added in China has grown by at least 3.5 percent annually over the past decade, outpacing the average growth rate of China’s GDP over the same period [
32]. Therefore, this study recruits the project management professionals who participated in SPM projects in the construction industry in Beijing, the capital of China, to find the answers to the above research questions.
The findings of this study contribute to SPM research in four critical ways. Firstly, this paper provided support for MIP and NIP as important enablers of SPM, thus adding to the current body of knowledge. Secondly, this article provides support for the SPM–SPP relationship and SPM–SPS relationship, and SPP mediates the relationship between SPM and SPS. Thirdly, previous studies have used developed country data, and evidence from emerging economies remains scarce. This study bridged the gap through an examination of SPM, SPP, and SPS relationships in China. Lastly, the novelty of this research addresses a significant knowledge gap and provides valuable insights for exploring the antecedent and mediator variables of the SPM–SPS relationship in sustainable construction.
The rest of this article is organized as follows. Firstly, a literature review and hypotheses development are provided and discussed. Secondly, it provides an overview of the data collection method and research process, offers data analysis, and presents the findings of the study. Thirdly, the results of the study are discussed, and the resulting conclusions are drawn. Finally, the limitations and directions for future works are also included.
5. Discussions
This study examined the effect of SPM on constructions’ PS with the antecedent role of the institutional pressures (MIP and NIP) and mediating role of SPP in a developing country, China. The results extend SPM research and contribute to the existing empirical findings.
Firstly, the results positively answer research question 1—Do institutional pressures (MIP and NIP) enable the implementation of SPM? Based on the institutional theory, the findings support the underlying hypothesis that institutional isomorphism is a crucial factor in SPM in developing countries [
18]. In addition, the results find that both MIP and NIP significantly affect SPM. These findings are consistent with the contentions of [
14,
17,
18]. Furthermore, NIP asserted a greater influence than MIP to predict the implementation of SPM on construction projects. These results suggested that construction firms improved their implementation of SPM under NIP from professional networks and associations as well as industry associations.
Secondly, regarding to the second research question, SPM significantly affects SPS. According to the resource-based view (RBV), SPM is a key determinant of SPS, which showed that SPM enabled construction industries to have a competitive advantage by successfully delivering projects [
22,
66]. Several studies [
22,
24,
28,
29,
30] have confirmed that SPM positively affects SPS.
Thirdly, SPM had a significant influence on SPP. Several studies [
25,
30,
47] have highlighted that construction project management and planning should be integrated. Project planning can guide a project team in executing, controlling, and monitoring projects. SPP can also identify and then reduce project risks and enable communications with team members and stakeholders who have contributed to SPM [
24].
Fourthly, the findings showed that SPP significantly affects SPS, which is in sync with other analyses [
30,
47]. This implies that SPP is an essential tool that affects the construct firm’s SPS. To sum up, SPM and SPP can lead to SPS for the construction company. Environmental, economic, and social dimensions are critical to SPM. The results demonstrated that a construction’s financial and economic performance, financial benefits, cost management, natural resources, energy, labor practices, and relationships with local communities can enhance SPM [
30].
Lastly, about the third research question, SPP mediated the effect of SPM on SPS. This result was in agreement with earlier propositions [
30]. SPP is a critical tool for project management to achieve the construction company’s project success. In the context of SPM, good project planning enables the construction industry to achieve SPS. It shows that both SPM and SPP lead to better SPS in the construction sector. To support sustainable business development, these results can provide construction industry guidelines and project management direction.
6. Conclusions
According to the above-mentioned findings, the results of this research elicit several crucial implications. Academically, the first contribution of the article is highlighting the role of MIP and NIP in facilitating SPM in China. This research model enriches the current body of literature by examining SPM along with institutional theory and sustainability research. The second contribution is that the results of this study are consistent with the RBV, which suggests the importance of incorporating the implementation of SPM to achieve SPS. The third contribution of the present study is that it has demonstrated that SPP is an important construct that acts as a bridge between SPM and SPS.
The present article also has several practical implications. The first implication is that sustainability practices are strategic issues that should be implemented to respond positively to external pressure. NIP had a more significant impact on project-based construction companies, which revealed that adopting sustainable practices will create a long-term competitive advantage.
The second implication is that SPM is essential to improve construction project success. Environmental, economic, and social dimensions are essential in a construction project’s SPM. Therefore, Chinese construction companies need to pay more attention to three dimensions to increase the likelihood of SPS. The importance of the economic factor means that construction firms in China need to adopt strategies that promote cost management techniques and greater stakeholder participation in decision-making. In addition, the consideration of the environmental factors guidelines that ensure the preservation of natural resources and regulating the negative impacts on the environment. Furthermore, social factors also require greater consideration by the construction in managing labor practices and setting up effective associations with customers and local communities.
The third implication is that direction in project management can help the industry achieve SPS. Project managers should improve and evaluate the relationship between SPP and SPM to verify a construction project’s SPS. The role of SPP in controlling and guiding project management is critical. The reduction of project risks and the understanding and commitment to the SPS of a construction project should be a priority.
This study has several limitations. First, this research collected data from the construction sector to evaluate the hypothesized model, but the study did not conduct a cross-sector analysis. Future research should address this issue. Second, due to there being no sampling frame, this paper used non-probability purposive sampling. As a result, the sample of this paper was not probability-stratified by country, organization size, or project complexity. To avoid asymmetries between categories, future research should use probability sampling to test hypotheses related to control variables.