title: Shaping sustainability that matters: corporate investment decision making in an international development institution
Creators: name: Gleleahanhanzo, Yvette
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2025

description: This research aims to learn lessons from an empirical experience to uncover attributes that shape decision-making in an international development organization and to propose areas for improvement and a decision-making framework for more sustainable investment outcomes. This study applies inductive grounded theory and in-depth case study approach to bridge theory and practice. The case study examined the decision-making during one significant capital investment project and the extent to which the organization applied sustainability principles. The researcher juxtaposed three sources of knowledge, namely research papers, secondary literature, and semi-structured interviews with project participants. The association of the three sources of knowledge served to understand and interpret what happened during the investment project and to identify failings in theory and in practice. The research found that the sustainability perspective and international development context required an interplay of additional factors as compared to existing models of accountable decision-making for megaprojects. Firstly, communication and information arose as an effect of unbalanced relationships between power and technical knowledge, unstructured knowledge management, and weakened transparency. Secondly, the case study observed that the lack of management support, frequent changes in governance structure and inadequate technical capability contributed to diluted accountability and nebulous sustainability objectives. Thirdly, the political character of international institutions necessitated the acknowledgment and management of politics and power relations during capital projects. Fourthly, the research uncovered that intimidation and fear had a paralyzing impact on decision-making and caused the rationalization of power. Lastly, the geographical location and international character of the case study organization evoked a series of external factors that affected the case study project execution and sustainability. The research culminates in two sets of instruments that seek to facilitate systemic and sustained change in projects to ensure sustainable investments for the future. The first set of instruments includes a framework to identify the determinants (enablers and impediments), and their inter-connections, that shape sustainable investment decision making in an international development organization. The second mechanism is a series of areas of improvement that are required for each enabler to reach its potential for creating more sustainable decision-making capital project outcomes. Despite the practical implications that the proposed framework has for the betterment of decision-making in the researcher’s organization, testing the framework in a different context (a different international development organization and in different geographical locations) may provide further insights into the components that impact the quality of decisions for long-term sustainable impact. Also, empirical research is needed to test the relevance of the proposed framework for investments in the case study organization.