THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROJECT TYPOLOGY AND SELECTION TOOL TO IMPROVE DECISION-MAKING IN SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS

Abstract

Decision-making in sustainable projects is a complex and challenging process, especially during the initiating and planning phases of project development, due to influence from several external factors, as well as the uncertain environments surrounding their creation. It is essential to improve the decision-making process in sustainable projects during these two phases by relying on strong decision-making tools. The first contribution in this work identifies gaps in the literature of how institutionalization can impact sustainable projects through the effects of institutional isomorphisms from institutional theory. This helps decision makers better understand the relationship between institutionalization and sustainable projects. The second contribution is a sustainable project typology based on the affects that the coercive, normative, and mimetic institutional pressures have on common key sustainable project characteristics. The typology can improve decision-making by providing realistic predictions about the project early in the planning phase. The third contribution further develops this typology into a project selection tool that can be used in the initiating phase. It applies the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) to rank the key project characteristics based on importance as selection criteria by utilizing the literature as the voice of expert opinion. Because using the literature as a source of expert opinion can present its own set of challenges, the fourth contribution considers how the choice of selection tool inputs can impact project selection. Accordingly, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are utilized as an alternative source of expert opinion in an effort to validate the previously generated results and compare how these selection criteria are prioritized in literature and practice.