Sustainable Development in the Building Sector: A Canadian Case Study on the Alignment of Strategic and Tactical Management

Increasingly, organizations view sustainable development principles as a key tool in aligning their strategic plans with specific objectives and procedures used for managing projects. However, more research is needed to identify how sustainable development contributes to aligning longer-term strategic management of clients in the building sector with their short-term needs for construction project management. We present a multicase study of three construction projects conducted by an institutional client in Canada, developed through a review and evaluation of project feasibility studies, construction project meeting transcripts, contract documentation, organization and policy documents, and seven semistructured interviews of managers involved in these projects. We found that the principles of sustainable development transcended both short-term needs and long-term responsibility, facilitating the alignment of the strategic and tactical plans.