Sustainable Project Management Methods and Techniques for Sustainable Games Development free essay sample

If organizations want to incorporate sustainability into their strategy and culture, sustainability principles need to be integrated in projects and project management. The purpose of this paper is to critically reflect on the importance of considering sustainability in projects and evaluate appropriate methods and techniques for embedding sustainability principles in project management. This essay is organized in four main parts. The importance of considering sustainability in project is critically analyzed in the next part. Methods and Techniques for the integration of sustainability in project management are evaluated on the third part of the essay. This will involve practical examples from the workplace and case studies focused on new media projects, in particular, the development of games and applications. Concluding remarks are presented in the last part of the essay. 2. The importance of sustainability in project management The debate about the importance of considering sustainability in project management cannot be appropriately discussed without understanding the need for corporate sustainability and its drivers. We will write a custom essay sample on Sustainable Project Management Methods and Techniques for Sustainable Games Development or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Project management is intrinsically embedded in the business environment and we cannot to evaluate the significance of sustainable projects management without analyzing the importance on embedding sustainability into business. Both go hand in hand. Sustainability in business aims to achieve long term financial success while contributing to economic and social growth, and reducing its impact in the environment. Corporate sustainability includes three dimensions of needs, known as the â€Å"triple bottom line†; economic prosperity; social equity and quality of life; ecological resource preservation. Corporate sustainability can be defined as â€Å" a business approach that creates long-term shareholder value by embracing opportunities and managing risks derived from economic, environmental and social developments† ( Dow Jones Sustainability indexes, 2011). While the issue of sustainable business, often referred under the â€Å"green† umbrella, has been the object of abundant literature, there has been little emphasis on understanding how the principles of sustainability apply to project and project management until recently. Taking into account the pivotal role of projects in the shaping of products and services within organization, it is surprising that these to concepts- sustainability and project management- have not had more relevance in the discussion of corporate sustainability. As Maltzman and Shirley rightly question in their introduction to Green Project Management (2011, p. xxi): â€Å"Projects are where business ideas become reality, after all. Projects, by definition, use resources. Shouldn’t projects, therefore, be a key are of any focus on green business? † The business case of sustainability has the same multifaceted approach as its definition. The main drivers of green business and projects fall in the 3 main areas considered in the â€Å"triple bottom line approach- social, environmental and financial- plus an added area of legislative drivers. In the following four sub-segments we will analyzed these drivers of from a business and a project management point of view. 2. 1Environmental drivers The environmental sphere of business is related to the management of resources required to produce a product or a service. The two main environmental drivers for organizations are to decrease the impact in the environment generated by harmful waste and to achieve a better use of resources. Sustainable waste management can bring financial benefits to business by reducing the cost of dealing with the impact of the damage to the environment degradation; with regards to resource use, the focus is on efficiency. The less materials they are use, the greater the positive environmental impact. This also applies to human resources and time management. Minimizing waste has also positive financial effects because it drives costs down. Efficient use of resources and time is a vital part of project management, it has been suggested (Maltzman, Shirley 2011) that the discipline of project management always has been concerned on how to efficiently use resources even if that concern did not come from a sustainability background. Good project managers will always try to reduce cost and use resources in the most efficient manner. The only thing that is missing is to add that environmental layer to it. As Gill Friend clearly outline on his book The Truth About Green Business (2009) that sustainable business are not just about the environment, it presents a whole new way of seeing business and it brings a new range of direct opportunities to make money. There is an increasing social interest on sustainability; therefore, there is an increasing demand on products and services that take sustainability into account. 2. 2Social drivers The management of corporate social sustainability is more widely known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Two Tomorrowsâ„ ¢ (2009) explains that CSR is about â€Å"how businesses align their values and behaviour with the expectations and needs of stakeholders not just customers and investors, but also employees, suppliers, communities, regulators, special interest groups and society as a whole. â€Å" There are many business benefits that can be achieved by taking an ethical and socially responsible approach within the organization. It could help increase brand reputation and value within its stakeholders. Intensive research over 3 year covering 300 firms (Hillman, Kleim, 2001) concluded that investing in stakeholder management may be complementary to shareholder value creation and may indeed provide a basis for competitive advantage as important resources and capabilities may be created that differentiate a firm from competitors. As Maltzman and Shirley (2011, p. 3-25) explain that corporate social responsibility is an integral part of project management. Project managers are at the forefront of business activities and at the leading edge of change within organizations so â€Å"who better to emphasize CSR, particularly if it isn’t in the corporations DNA? †. 2. 3Economic drivers When we talk about economic sustainability we are not only talking about financial capital or tangible capital; economic sustainability it also takes into account intangible capital such as reputation. Tangible effects could be the cost reduction achieved through improved environmental, health and safety performance or revenue increases due to a raise on sales caused by the market opportunities for sustainable products and services. Intangible effects referred to in the figure below (Salzmann et. al. ) as value constructs, do no improve the revenue per se, but they do have significant positive effects that can, indeed, be utilize to achieve financial gains to organizations. The same principles can be applied to project management. Figure 1: Systemization of value drivers and value constructs (Salzmann et al. 2. 4Legal drivers From the facts presented in the previous sections, one might conclude that they create a sufficient business case for sustainability on their own accord. However legislation is still one of the key drivers for organizations to incorporate green business practices. While some voices have raise the financial burden that following this legislations can bring to c ompanies, numerous studies (Greenstone, List and Syverson, 2010; Goodstein, 1994; Jaffe et al. , 1995; Meyer, 1995) have found these economic effects are limited in scope and duration and are fewer in number than previously believed. Moreover it has been empirically demonstrated (Meyer, 1995) that complying with legislations contributes to cost savings by avoiding the financial penalties for not complying and, in some case, by achieving incentives. Regulation can fuel innovation that improve productivity, increase efficiency, and provide substantial cost savings 3. Sustainable game development projects In this section we will evaluate different methods and techniques that help project managers to incorporate sustainability in their projects. Practical examples and tools will be provided focused in the area of games software development. I have chosen this industry not only because we can supplement the research with useful personal work experience, but more importantly because a lot of the discussion on sustainable project manager has been centred in the type of project and we believe that sustainability considerations can and must be embedded in the PM cycle of any project. 3. 1Methods for sustainable project management 3. 1. 1Lean games development: an Agile approach As we have seen in previous section, sustainability principles talk about reducing waste and increasing resource efficiency and understanding stakeholders to drive value. Poppendieck explains (2003) how lean thinking is based on a deep understanding on what it adds value to the project and to the customer, the importance of rapid flow and using the teams capabilities to their best potential, in other words lean thinking is all about sustainability. While lean thinking has its origin in manufacturing, it also can be applied to other industries. In the world of software development, that includes games software, Agile methodologies provide a new framework for the application of lean thinking to software development projects. Lightweight software development methods started to appear in the mid-1970s as a reaction to the inefficiency of the traditional methodology in software development. These are now typically referred to as agile methodologies, after the Agile Manifesto was published in 2001. There are many correspondences between Lean thinking and Agile. David Harvey concludes his essay Lean, Agile by saying : â€Å"the insight of agile, in getting back to fundamentals of how we can work together to deliver things of human as well as commercial value, is compelling; the thrill of lean lies in the discovery that we are not alone. Understanding lean principles and applying agile methodologies will help project managers to incorporate sustainability to software and games development projects. 3. 1. 2Life cycle thinking: It is not over until long after is over Essential to successfully relate sustainability to project management is to understand the cradle to crate philosophy, and to apply sustainability to project life cycle, from the project beginning through closure and beyond. The project life cycle of sustainability should include another phase after the project completion. It can be defined as the complete cycle of a project that includes not only the beginning of the project through to implementation, but also beyond the defined parameters of the projects (Maltzman, Shirley 2011). Dick and Naumann (2010) proposed a definition of green software development that applies the principles of life cycle thinking and that can be also applied to Games Development (GD): â€Å"Green and Sustainable Software Engineering is the art of developing green and sustainable software with a green and sustainable software engineering process.

buy custom Corporate Social Responsibility essay

buy custom Corporate Social Responsibility essay For a long time, there have been endless debates on whether businesses should give back to the society, especially the communities in the vicinity of businesses. It can be argued that any person who establishes a business does it with the purpose of gaining profits and furthering personal interests. However, civil society and other advocacy organizations have been pressurizing business entities to give back to the community as a way of paying them back for allowing them to operate in their environment (Hughes 2008). Due to this, most corporations have felt obligated to give charitable services to the society, such as promoting health and education by building institutions to offer such services. Corporations also give back to the society though employing local personnel as well as improving infrastructural facilities, such as roads, building play grounds and places of worship. However, most corporations feel that by being socially responsible, their ultimate goal of making profits is compromised. The argument for this case is that, when a company focuses on making profits, in the end it will be socially responsible as all stakeholders will benefit from it. Therefore, corporations fulfill their social duties by pursuing profits and should not be pushed to forego this goal since by doing so the benefits that come with it will be lost. Do Businesses Have Social Responsibilities? Classical View As mentioned above, the social responsibility of corporations is to make profits since it is in such a pursuit that everyone benefits; shareholders gain profits from their investment whereas other stakeholders, such as customers get high quality products. For example, in the pursuit of profits, a company that deals with the processing of foods can focus on producing foods that are low fat and healthier so as to attract more customers. This will benefit the company in that more people will buy such foods hence increasing the company sales. On the other hand, customers will be healthy and avoid eating related diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and blood pressure. According to McWilliams (2008), corporations end up improving social welfare by focusing on making profits. A theory of corporate social responsibility by Friedman concurs with Adam Smiths view that, when companies pursue the goal of making profits, the whole society benefits (Hood 1998). Friedman, in his classical view of social responsibility, argues that since the ultimate goal of any business corporation is to make profits, managers should never at any time use shareholders money to pursue social interests. Therefore, any money spent in any activity should proof to be worth it. Further, Friedman argues that businesses do not have any responsibilities and hence can not be held to be socially responsible, only their owners. As quoted in Hood (1998), Friedman holds the strong view that any business has only one social duty of making use of its resources and being involved in activities aimed at increasing its profits as long as it operates under the set rules. Moreover, in the pursuit of maximizing profits, companies end up delivering unique social benefits. In support of Friedmans views, Hood (1998), states that any private business fulfills its social responsibility only when it tries to make profits. Additionally, an argument by Visser (2007) is in support of Friedmans view that companies should be left to pursue the goal of making profits. In this argument, Karnani holds the view that by forcing corporations to be socially responsible through doing some acts of charity, shareholders in turn lose their profits. Therefore, any manager who would not focus on making profits for the corporation is going against the stakeholders aim of maximizing profits. These stakeholders include the customers, shareholders, government, generl public among others (Branco Rodrigues, 2007). In some cases, such managers can face dismissal. As a result of the pressure to give back to the society, some companies claim to be socially responsible only though talking, but no action accompanies such words (Haynes 2010). Therefore, companies according to Kalind (2001) should be left free to maximize their profits since at the end social benefits will be realized. Branco Rodrigues (2007) maintains that businesses do not owe anything to the society as long as they conform to the set rules and regulations. However, Janda Pitts` (2009) view differs with that of Friedmans in that, it supports some degree of dishonesty when undertaking any business activity. Janda Pitts (2009), in support of his pure profit-making view argues that dishonesty is part of the strategy for success in business since business people have lower moral standards as compare to the rest of the society. Moreover, Janda Pitts (2009) holds the opinion that as long as a business operates under the legally set of laws, it has no moral obligation towards the society. On the other hand, Friedmans view supports honesty in business, which according to Branco Rodrigues (2007), can be referred to as the constrained profit-making view. Another argument against corporate social responsibility is by the chief economist, David Henderson (Branco Rodrigues 2007). In his 2005 publication, Henderson argues that corporate social responsibility affects a companys resource allocation procedure (Branco Rodrigues 2007). His argument is that, when companies engage in CSR activities, they lose focus of their ultimate goal of profit making. This will in turn end up misappropriating company finances which will lead to losses. The losses will then increase poverty, since it will make the shareholders poorer (Sun 2010). Moreover, Henderson holds the opinion that CSR regulations or laws that are formulated to support CSR lead to decreased business operations, which will translate into ineffective markets, reduced wealth generation and increased social inequity and poverty (Branco Rodrigues 2007). Hendersons views in general support that businesses have the ultimate goal of profit making and wealth creation and, therefore, are not obl igated to serve the community in any other capacity. Branco Rodrigues (2007) is in support of the view that a businesss sole purpose is profit maximization. These authors argue that managers find it difficult to carry out their duties as well as to make decisions in cases, where the company has multiple objectives. Therefore, it is vital that businesses hold the shareholders interests of profit maximization close at heart so as to create wealth, which in the end will lead to more benefits to the society at large. Stakeholder View This is a theory that supports the involvement of companies in CSR activities. The theory holds the view that apart from shareholders, there are other groups that are interested in the actions of any business. These groups are generally referred to as stakeholders and are in one way or another affected by the actions of a business entity. Stakeholders range from customers, employees, suppliers as well as the communities around the business entity. This theory holds the view that a company should not only focus on profit maximization and wealth generation but should also strive to improve the welfare of its stakeholders (Roper 2007). Therefore, despite businesses being established solely as profit making entities, they have some responsibilities to the general public (McWilliams 2008). Other strong supporters of the stakeholder view are Janda Pitts (2009), who argue that, corporations are owned by interrelated groups of people who are affected by the actions of the corporations in diifferent ways, either positively or negatively (Branco Rodrigues 2007). Corporations should, therefore, embrace CSR so as to be sustainable and to brig forth benefits for all stakeholders. According to Cohen (2005), businesses should embrace moral values, since economics is deeply infused with ethics. Any business activity being undertaken should always strive to protect the interests of all stakeholders. For example, a cement manufacturing company has the responsibility of ensuring that all its employees always wear protective gear so as to protect them from work related disease, injuries among other dangers that may arise in the work place. This company also has the responsibility of ensuring that proper pollution control measures are put in place so as to ensure that the communities around them are not affected negatively. In addition, such a company has a responsibility to protect the environment from pollution as well as to ensure that it harvests natural resources in a sustainable way. This example shows that the shareholders will achieve their interests of profit making, whereas the community and the environment who are stakeholders will be protected from harm (Hart 2011). Another supporter of the stakeholder view is Sacconi (2004), who, in his three- dimensional conceptual model argues that, any company has several social responsibilities. This model describes CSR as having four categories that include legal, social, ethical, and philanthropic (Friedman 1970). Economically, any company is expected to produce high quality products that are good for customers, whereas legally it has the responsibility of conforming to the set rules and regulations. On the other hand, ethical responsibilities of a company include undertaking of business activities in a way that respect societal values, norms, and standards. The philanthropic category entails a companys responsibility to voluntarily support the society with the intention of improving its welfare. For example, an automobile manufacture industry has the economic responsibility of manufacturing vehicles that meet the consumers needs, while at the same time conforming to the governments regulations. Such a co mpany can also build an engineering institution for the community around so as to support science and technology in that community. In summary, the stakeholder view holds that corporations should undertake their activities with the aim of fulfilling the interests of all stakeholders. A strong argument in this theory is that, a corporation should establish good relations with all stakeholders so as to grow and be successful. Any business should not only focus on wealth creation and profit making, but also on improving social interests (McWilliams 2008). Businesses have been for a long time been pressurized to be socially responsible to enhance their short and long-term sustainability. However, this has been met by opposition from various economists who argue that the sole purpose of any business is profit maximization and wealth creation. Therefore, any deviation from this objective will lead to great losses for shareholders. The classical view has been supported by such authors like Friedman and Carr who argue that businesses should strive to make profits, while conforming to the set rules and regulations. This view holds that businesses are obligated to serve the shareholders interests only and hence are not obligated to serve the interests of the society. On the other hand, the stakeholder view supported by authors, such as Freeman and Carroll, calls organizations to be socially responsible. Generally, companies are urged to embrace CSR at all levels of their operations. By doing this, they are able to attract and retain customer s, investors among other key stakeholders, who ensure short and long-term growth of the business. In addition, the companies are required to fulfill ethical, economic, philanthropic, as well as legal obligations so as to be successful (McWilliams 2008). Buy custom Corporate Social Responsibility essay buy custom Corporate Social Responsibility essay Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a form of policy where a business organization employs a self regulating mechanism that will provide the business with appropriate information. These policies ensure that the company complies with the set laws, ethical and international standards of there business activities (Grace, 2005). The main objective of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is to encourage the companys actions and also support a constructive impact through its activities with the aim of conserving the environment and also maintaining a good relationship between the company and its employees, customers, shareholders, community and all the other members of the public (Garriga Mel 2008).. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a way in which the organizations incorporates the views and interests of the public in the decision making process of the organization as a strategy used by an organization to maintain the close relationship with the public (Ismail, 2009). It also encourages public interests into the organization by eliminating practices that will harm the great coexistence between the community and the organization; while promoting the growth and development of the community and customers of the organization. It should be noted that this is also a strategy that is being used by the organization to generate extra financial gains and also increase its customers outreach (Lantos, 1998). Incase the organization doesnt record any increase in the sales and customer improvement the organization has no reasons of continuing with its activities as it is a waste of time and resources. Therefore it has to stop undertaking the Corporate Social responsibly role and thus i ndulge in other activities that will increase its sales and productivity (Smith et al, 2006). 1. Marks and Spencer is a leading British retailer company that specializes in the selling of clothing and extravagant food products. The store headquarters is located in the city of Westminster, London with more that 700 stores in England and more than 300 more stores spread allover the world (Murray, 2009). The company had introduced a new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy commonly known as "Plan A" (Marks Spencer Inc, 2010). The plan was launched as an initiative by Marks and Spencer MS January 2007; and will last for the next 5 years. It was intended to be used by the organization to ensure that it would be in a position of providing its customers with efficient environmental and ethical operations that will benefit the customers well being in the society (Garriga Mel 2008). Some of these measures that the company employed included the uses of Fair-trade products, use of environment friendly dyes on its clothes and sustainable fishing (Murray, 2009). As these aspects were seen as some important ways in which the organization can be able to conducts it business fairly and at the same time improve the relationshp that exists between the organization and its customers. The plan A that was initiated with the organization back in the year 1997 had vowed to undertake more than 100 commitments that were seen as the key factors that were seen as the greater challenges. These challenges were both in the organization and the entire universe some of these challenges they included the health, fair-trade (Partnership), climate change, waste products, and raw materials sustainability. With all these plans the companies was aiming at tackling these challenges and at the same time improve the livelihood of the communities in the world and at the same time benefiting from the social welfare of the customers and the community that is around the organization (Grace, 2005). The company will be in a position of making it as one of the major retailer store in the world by 2012; this is because it has been able to achieve and fulfill the key possible strategies that will be more responsive in ensuring that the organization relationship with its customers is improved. Thus the plane will ensure that the customers, employees and the surrounding community is in a position of becoming one of the most successful retail store organization in the world (Marks Spencer Inc, 2010). The first target that is set by the organization is to ensure that the organization is environmental friendly; this is by Becoming a carbon neutral organization. This is seen as the most pressing issue in the world today and this will add some credits on the organization as this will be seen as a good initiative used by the organization in conserving the world today. This is by reducing the rates of carbon gas emissions into the atmosphere; thus making it the friendliest organization as it is concerned with the environment of where it conducts its activities (Lantos, 1998). The organization will also be the most sorted after Retail Store Company this is when the organization implements its Corporate Social Responsibility that will help improve the lives of the people in the supply chain (Visser, et al 2008). This is well categorized when the organization will tend to strengthen the relationship that exists between the organization and its competitors. This is when the organization will negotiate with its competitors and thus come to a point of selling its products at a slight lower price that will be of great benefit for the customers of the retail store. With the implementation of this will definitely result to an increase in customers who will be purchasing their products from the stores; this is as a result of the store selling its products at reasonable and affordable prices (Smith et al, 2006). 2. The 2010 Mark and Spencers CSR report that was released by the organization ensured that the organization was in a position of achieving its 100 commitments that are supposed to be of greateer benefit the customers, employees, suppliers and the environment in general (Pitts, et al. 2009). This will subsequently make it easy for the organization to be able to supply and be of great benefit to the organization that is more beneficial to both the organization and the community around the organization. Plan A also known as the How we Do business ensured that the company was in a position of succeeding in the retail industry by ensuring that its 5 main objectives of the Plan A are successfully completed without interfering with the ways in which the organization performs its activities (Marks Spencer Inc, 2010). The organizations main way or Corporate Social Responsibility was aimed at ensuring that the organization fulfill the social, environmental and ethical performances this will efficiently ensure that the organization is in the point of facilitating the recommended plan that will oversee the success of the organization Plan A. It is noted that all these recommended commitments that were established and initiated in 1997 with the aims of ensuring that the customers, employees and the other stakeholders are incorporated in the decision making of the organization (Visser, et al 2008). In matters that pertain to the environment conservation the company has bee able to monitor its contributions in the emission of carbon in the atmosphere. This eventually made it easy for the organization to reduce and regulate the rates in which the environment is destroyed. This reduced the rate of emission of carbon into the organization by 8% (Marks Spencer Inc, 2010). The organization has also managed to reduce the rate of waste matters it disposes to the world by approximately 33% of the previously recorded cases. This has been as a result of sensitization that has been constantly been conducted by the organization on the importance of the waste disposal management (Ismail, 2009). In social welfare the organization has achieved in the improvement of the lives of the people who are less privileged in the society; this is from the initiative that the organization had implemented of buying green palm certificates. These would be used by the organization to raise money by employees and the customers in order to ensure the organization funds all projects. Such projects were directed and stated in the third world nations as a way of raising the social status of the of the people living in these critical situations. The organization has also achieved in its health plan; this is in both the employees and the customers. This is by introducing them into healthy eating habits that will help reduce the cases of obesity and heart failure conditions (Marks Spencer Inc, 2010). Thus the organization stated the selling of cakes and bread that contains marginally reduced calories; in view of the fact that they will pose no health risks on the people eating them and this is when its sells these products to the entire store it has worldwide. Buy custom Corporate Social Responsibility essay