Assessing the role of project managers in the promotion of Sustainable Procurement in Design-build Projects in Ghana

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Date
2021-05-31
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Infrastructural development has a reputation of doing irreparable damage to the environment. The quest for meeting human development requirements whilst simultaneously sustaining the ability of our eco systems to provide natural resources for the dependence of current and future generations is of the outmost concern. This study was conducted with the aim of assessing how Project Managers involved with design- build (DB) projects; which is fast becoming the second most popular project sourcing; can contribute to the promotion of sustainable procurement (SP) throughout the project management phases. The objectives of this study which was necessary in the realization of the research aim were: to assess the level of knowledge of Project Managers on the concept of SP, to identify the measures that Project Managers employ in promoting the implementation of SP on DB projects, identify the challenges encountered by project managers in the promotion of the concept and to ultimately identify the underlying role of project managers in their advocacy to promote SP on DB projects. The researcher adopted the survey method strategy and used questionnaires as the major tool for the collection of primary data. A total number of sixty (60) questionnaires were retrieved out of the one hundred and forty-five (145) that was administered online to Project Management Professionals of the Project Management Institute. With the adoption of purposive sampling, 39 of the responses were deemed valid and the sample size was validated by employing the Central Limit Theorem. Data gathered was analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings from the study indicated to that fact that most of the Project Managers with experience with design-build projects were aware of the concept of SP and mostly, have made efforts to promote the concept even though organisations they belong to did not have policies on SP. The major challenges encountered by them whilst implementing it on design-build projects were negative perception about sustainability being more expensive, project stakeholders not having in-depth knowledge of SP, lack of organizational policies on SP among others. Providing education to project participants about the potential social, economic and environmental benefits and encouraging organizations to implement policies enforcing the implementation of SP on DB projects was seen as an effective strategy to actively promote SP. Recommendation was made for conducting of educational outreach programmes by necessary bodies to create awareness for the concept which will make it easier for Project Managers to obtain stakeholder support for its implementation on projects.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award degree of Master of Science in Project Management.
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