Measuring Success and Sustainability in Project Management: A Case Study Supporting the Delivery of Quality Education Projects in Pakistan.

Abstract

Pakistan is ranked in 164th place globally in terms of its investments in education and healthcare according to the inaugural scientific study that ranks countries based on their levels of human capital. This ranking serves as an indicator of the country's dedication towards economic development. Education projects have a notable impact on enhancing economic and developmental outcomes. In this regard, NGOs (NGOs) operating in Pakistan make a significant contribution of 56% of their financial resources towards education projects in adherence to the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals. To align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, it is imperative that NGOs establish a robust project management framework. This framework will enable them to effectively assess the success and sustainability of their education projects. At present, the log framework utilised by NGOs exhibits a deficiency in its allocation of a specialised segment for the administration and assessment of sustainable projects. The study proposes a novel project management instrument tailored for NGOs to evaluate the success and sustainability of education projects which aims to ensure high standards of education in Pakistan are delivered. For this research, data was gathered from a sample of 25 experienced participants from various NGOs and government departments, to understand the challenges they faced when delivering sustainable education projects in Pakistan. The recursive abstraction approach (Polkinghorne and Taylor 2022) was employed to analyse the qualitative data, resulting in the identification of themes that were utilised to create the instrument. The proposed instrument has been grounded in established project management knowledge by utilising the project management life cycle as its foundation. The utilisation of the instrument is expected to aid project managers in delivering Quality Education projects and so enable them to better control the success and sustainability of their projects. This, in turn, is anticipated to have an impact on the definition of project success. The findings of this study have the potential for wider applicability beyond the specific context of sustainable projects in Pakistan. Other types of organisations engaged in sustainable projects in Pakistan, as well as those involved in education projects across Asia, may also benefit from the insights gained through this research.