Defining social value in the public procurement process for works

Abstract

PurposeThough the Public Procurement Act of Ghana makes room for specific socio-economic policies (environmental, social, economic and other policies which are intended to promote social and economic impact), there is no explicit definition and provision for social value as an evaluation criterion, culminating in the absence of a definition in the Act. This paper elicits the conception and understanding of social value from stakeholders in the Ghanaian construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a qualitative method that relied on a semi-structured interview of 30 participants purposively drawn from Western, Western North and Central regions of Ghana. An inductive thematic analysis approach, which involved identifying repetitions, exploring similarities and differences, noting linguistic connectors, and a framework were employed to analyse the data.FindingsThe study established no single definition or explanation for social value in the construction industry in Ghana. However, it was revealed from the study that the concept of social value could be defined from the functional perspective of the definer, particularly from the perspective of a Procurement Officer, Works Engineer, and a Quantity Surveyor. A new insight from the study that differs from the body of literature is that participants equated benefits derived from physically constructed projects as social value.Social implicationsThe study has implication for public administration and practice regarding the decision-making process in the construction industry in Ghana. It provides a vital awakening on social value as a criterion in evaluating construction works procurement in Ghana. The ability of participants to equate the benefits derived from executed construction projects as social value creates a new perspective on understanding the meaning of social value in the procurement of works construction.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the state-of-the-art and ongoing discourse on the concept of social value globally. The findings create an important catalyst for social value research in the Ghanaian construction industry.

Creating Social Value Using the High-Performance Organisation Framework

“…'Social value creation' can be defined as the process that results in the creation of something of value for society (Dietz & Porter, 2012) or providing solutions to social problems (Dacin et al, 2011) while altering existing social structures (Mair & Marti, 2006). The definition of 'social value' itself is a bit more controversial as there currently is not a universally accepted one (Gidigah et al, 2022;Rygh, 2020). This is because the social value is a complex concept with a subjective nature (Choi et al, 2014): its definition basically lies in the eyes of the beholder (Russel, 2013).…”

“…One of the developments in this respect is the UK Government that now demands of its suppliers that these need to show in their product and service proposals how they are going to create social value in one or more of the themes of COVID-19 recovery (help local communities to manage and recover from the impact of COVID-19), tackling economic inequality (create new businesses, new jobs, and new skills; increase supply chain resilience and capacity), fighting climate change (effective stewardship of the environment), equal opportunity (reduce the gender and disability employment gap, tackle workforce inequality), and wellbeing (improve health and wellbeing, improve community integration) (Government Commercial Function, 2020). More governments worldwide are expected on short notice to follow the UK's example (Gidigah et al, 2022).…”

Barriers to stakeholder engagement in sustainable procurement of public works

“…The problem emanates from the cultural settings in the construction industry where few people (stakeholders) take decisions leaving large affected stakeholders out of the process (Dadzie et al , 2012). Other scholars assign the challenge to the nature of the procurement processes in the country (Amoah and Shakantu, 2019, Gidigah et al , 2021). Available institutional reports specify that the problem of single (sole) sourcing of public procurement hinders stakeholder engagement in the procurement process (Aboelazm, 2018).…”

Obtaining the best value for money through procurement planning: can procurement regulatory compliance intervene?

“…For instance, governments can procure health equipment and medicines to enhance health service delivery to the public (Adusei, 2018;Israel et al, 2019;Miller and Lehoux, 2020). In addition, the construction of classrooms and other infrastructure for public schools boosts access to education for the public (Gidigah et al, 2022;Matto, 2021). Furthermore, public procurement enhances transportation infrastructure construction under public-private partnerships (V€ alil€ a, 2020), facilitating trade, business and other economic activities within and across regions.…”

“…, 2019; Miller and Lehoux, 2020). In addition, the construction of classrooms and other infrastructure for public schools boosts access to education for the public (Gidigah et al. , 2022; Matto, 2021).…”