Guidelines to Support Negotiation for Sustainable International Development Based on Hierarchical Roles and Responsibilities of Project-Based Organizations

Abstract

In sustainable international development projects, a negotiation guideline for donor and recipient countries is essential to reduce conflicts among various stakeholders in project-based organizations (PBOs) consisting of leadership, senior executioner board, change management board, and executioner. This paper presents a guide focusing on the roles and responsibilities (R&R) of stakeholders according to the hierarchy in PBOs. R&R are classified to keep sustainability at multiple levels while balancing three controversial values: economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection. The proposed guideline was constructed from a literature review as a theoretical framework of R&R and relevant sustainability factors. Moreover, the guide was validated by conducting semistructured interviews and surveys with high-level decision makers. The results show that focused values and potential risks can be identified according to individual R&R in PBOs. Furthermore, sharing responsibilities among levels is necessary. This includes balancing sustainability values between the environmental and non-environmental aspects at the upper level and deploying full-time on-site managers to avoid conflicts with locals at the execution level. © 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.