A Scoping Review of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Project Management Through a Sustainability Perspective

In response to the growing emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, companies are increasingly integrating these principles into their organizational fabric as a commitment to societal well-being. The evolving literature highlights the intricate relationship between CSR and sustainability, suggesting CSR as a pivotal intermediary towards achieving sustainability. This has recently extended to project management, recognizing projects as agents of change essential for sustainability. While the impact of sustainability on project management has been explored, a significant gap persists in understanding the intersection of CSR practices and project management. In this scoping review, we try to address this gap by comprehensively mapping key research on CSR in project management. The study identifies five distinct perspectives through which CSR in project management can be examined. It also uncovers underlying theories and perspectives and lays the groundwork for future studies to explore relationships among project management, sustainability, and CSR. In the upcoming sections of this review, we provide some statistics about the relevant papers we found on three databases of ABI/INFORM, Web of Science, and Emerald and then identify five main themes encompassing the papers included in this review. Finally, we propose a potential research question to be further explored in the future.