Financial Resource Allocation in a Project Portfolio: Analysing the Necessity to Integrate Sustainability into Resource Allocation

Abstract Resource allocation in a project portfolio is a complex decision-making process that is influenced by multiple and very often conflicting objectives. Furthermore, companies are coming under strong social pressure to integrate elements of sustainability into their decision-making process, which makes this process even more complex. Nowadays, the concept of sustainability is widely applied by many companies through their mission statement and strategy. It is also one of the most popular research fields for scholars. Despite the fact that sustainability is considered one of the most important challenges of our time, the integration of sustainability into project or project portfolio management (especially in resource allocation) is not fully recognised. This paper presents a literature-based analysis of the use of the sustainability concept in project management and therefore makes suggestions on how to integrate sustainability into resource allocation in a project portfolio.