A framework for understanding purchasing in building construction companies

Abstract

Purchasing on the part of a building construction company involves actors inside and outside the organization. These actors are driven by different motives that influence purchasing decisions in different situations. An explicit framework that assists in understanding the different purchasing situations would be of benefit to companies and researchers. Through a study of purchasing theory and practices, including interviews with a number of building construction companies, a framework of purchasing is proposed. The framework covers all stages in the purchasing process and focuses on four factors: (1) purchasing situations; (2) level of complexity; (3) active roles; and (4) supply chain involvement. The interrelationships between these factors are discussed from the perspective of the companies.

Long-standing themes and new developments in offsite construction: the case of UK housing

“…One of the approaches suggested is to utilise agile and lean concepts (Pasquire et al ., 2006, Court et al ., 2009, Mostafa et al ., 2018. In Sweden, buyer−supplier relationships were also investigated through case studies to propose new purchasing strategies for industrialised housing (Pasquire et al ., 2011, Bildsten, 2014, Bildsten and Manley, 2015. Agile and lean concepts have also been applied to industrialised timber housing construction (Sardén andStehn, 2006, Höök andStehn, 2008).…”

Development of a process reference model for construction supply chains

“…Το μοντέλο εστιάζει στην ολοκλήρωση των διαδικασιών και των ροών μεταξύ των συμμετεχόντων, όπως ακριβώς προτείνει η ευρύτερη βιβλιογραφία της διαχείρισης εφοδιαστικών αλυσίδων (Bankvall et al 2010). Το μοντέλο επιχειρεί να καλύψει και να ενοποιήσει έννοιες οι οποίες έχουν διαχρονικά αναδειχθεί από τη βιβλιογραφία όπως είναι οι σχέσεις εντός της εφοδιαστικής αλυσίδας από διάφορες οπτικές (Harland 1996), στενά συνδεδεμένες λειτουργικές περιοχές εντός της εφοδιαστικής αλυσίδας των κατασκευών (Benton & McHenry 2010), και τα στάδια του σχεδιασμού, της κατασκευής και της παράδοσης του κατασκευαστικού έργου (Olander & Landin 2005) με στόχο τον επαρκή έλεγχο επί των αποτελεσμάτων του έργου (Bildsten & Manley 2015).…”

“…that had assigned or will buy the end project is the client 4 . A client initiates the purchasing process and formulates specific requirements that the contractor has to cover (Bildsten and Manley 2015). Clients are diversified in their nature, complex in their procurement methods, varied in their knowledge of the industry and seek value for money in their transactions with increasing concerns in sustainability and the environment (Preece et al 2015).…”

“…Enquiring by contractors is based on experience instead of systematic evidence and this poses many problems (Laryea 2009) especially problems related to the large percentage of costs caused by the labour involved and the volume of enquiry documents (Bemelmans, Voordijk and Vos 2012A). Purchasing follows enquiring and "includes decisions on whether to use a new subcontractor, a new component or a new process" (Bildsten and Manley 2015). The purchasing volume in the industry is very high in relation to turnover (Hartmann and Caerteling 2010).…”

“…The focus of the model is on integration of processes and flows between parties, as the general supply chain management literature proposes (Bankvall et al 2010). The model attempts to cover and unify concepts that have diachronically been highlighted in the literature such as supply chain relationships in the context of different business trends (vertical disintegration, supplier-base reduction, focusing of operations, outsourcing, just-in-time, partnerships and partnership sourcing) (Harland 1996), functional areas that are linked closely together under construction supply chain management (purchasing, logistics, materials management, construction) (Benton and McHenry 2010), and the design, construction and handing-over stages of building construction projects (Olander and Landin 2005) in order to provide sufficient control over project outcomes (Bildsten and Manley 2015). In the rest of this chapter the literature background for each function is analysed and each function is presented including the findings from the interviews conducted.…”