Impact of Sustainable Project Management Practices on Project Success: Mediating Role of Digital Transformation and Moderating Role of Risk Management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58932/MULE0046Keywords:
Sustainable Project Management, Digital Transformation, Risk Management, Project Success, Oil and GasAbstract
Sustainability, digitalization, and risk management have each been recognized as critical levers of project performance, yet their combined influence on project success remains underexamined in the oil and gas industry, where capital intensity, safety criticality, and regulatory exposure make project delivery especially challenging. This study examines the impact of sustainable project management (SPM) practices on project success, testing the mediating role of digital transformation and the moderating role of risk management. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 182 project managers, engineers, construction managers, planning engineers, HSE managers, procurement managers, and senior project professionals engaged in oil and gas projects, and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS. The measurement model demonstrated adequate reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity, and the structural model explained substantial variance in digital transformation (R² = 0.68) and project success (R² = 0.72). Results show that sustainable project management practices significantly and positively predict both digital transformation and project success, and that digital transformation partially mediates the relationship between sustainable project management practices and project success. Risk management significantly strengthens the relationship between sustainable project management practices and project success, but does not significantly moderate the relationship between digital transformation and project success. These findings position sustainable project management practices as the central driver of project success in oil and gas projects operating both directly and through digital transformation and reveal an asymmetric conditioning role for risk management. The study contributes to project management theory by integrating the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities theory, and contingency theory within a single empirically validated model, and offers practical guidance for oil and gas organizations seeking to convert sustainability commitments into measurable project performance.
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