The risks of and barriers to social procurement in construction: a supply chain perspective

Loosemore, Martin; Alkilani, Suhair; Mathenge, Robert

doi:10.1080/01446193.2019.1687923

Cited by 50 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Although the risks presented by social procurement varied from stakeholder-to-stakeholder, they were perceived to be the greatest for subcontractors who made repeated reference to increased costs, lower productivity and reduced safety. This supports recent research by Loosemore et al (2019) whose survey of 70 Australian subcontractors also revealed significant perceived business risks associated with safety, productivity and costs with disengaged youth being perceived as the highest risk cohort, followed by migrants and refugees, people suffering disability, ex-offenders, women and Indigenous workers. However, expanding this research across other stakeholder groups, it was also found that employment priorities reflected these perceptions and that perceived barriers to employment varied significantly across these groups, with smaller and younger firms perceiving the greatest barriers – particularly for women and Indigenous workers.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Optimising social procurement policy outcomes through cross-sector collaboration in the Australian construction industry

Loosemore

Denny-Smith

Barraket

et al. 2020

ECAM

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PurposeSocial procurement policies are an emerging policy instrument being used by governments around the world to leverage infrastructure and construction spending to address intractable social problems in the communities they represent. The relational nature of social procurement policies requires construction firms to develop new collaborative partnerships with organisations from the government, not-for-profit and community sectors. The aim of this paper is to address the paucity of research into the risks and opportunities of entering into these new cross-sector partnerships from the perspectives of the stakeholders involved and how this affects collaborative potential and social value outcomes for intended beneficiaries.Design/methodology/approachThis case study research is based on a unique collaborative intermediary called Connectivity Centre created by an international contractor to coordinate its social procurement strategies. The findings draw on a thematic analysis of qualitative data from focus groups with 35 stakeholders from the construction, government, not-for-profit, social enterprise, education and employment sectors.FindingsFindings indicate that potentially enormous opportunities which social procurement offers are being undermined by stakeholder nervousness about policy design, stability and implementation, poor risk management, information asymmetries, perverse incentives, candidate supply constraints, scepticism, traditional recruitment practices and industry capacity constraints. While these risks can be mitigated through collaborative initiatives like Connectivity Centres, this depends on new “relational” skills, knowledge and competencies which do not currently exist in construction. In conclusion, when social procurement policy requirements are excessive and imposed top-down, with little understanding of the construction industry's compliance capacity, intended social outcomes of these policies are unlikely to be achieved.Originality/valueThis research draws on theories of cross-sector collaboration developed in the realm of public sector management to address the lack of research into how the new cross-sector partnerships encouraged by emerging social procurement policies work in the construction industry. Contributing to the emerging literature on cross-sector collaboration, the findings expose the many challenges of working in cross-sector partnerships in highly transitionary project-based environments like construction.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Optimising social procurement policy outcomes through cross-sector collaboration in the Australian construction industry

Loosemore

Denny-Smith

Barraket

et al. 2020

ECAM

Self Cite

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“…Table 6 shows that, while the strongest correlation was between two variables that were capitalist and individualistic in that they are related to earning money, there are also several variables not linked to financial outcomes, such as helping employees stay connected to their culture, being engaged with communities, and maintaining rituals and practices. Maintaining rituals and practices indicates a preference for routinised, stable work, the lack of which, as Loosemore et al [62] found, is a major risk to the success of new social procurement policies which will be applied to Australia's recent infrastructure commitments. Indeed, the larger representation of non-financial variables in Table 6 supports the notion that non-monetary factors influence employee motivation and performance [63].…”

Section: Relationship Between Construction Employment Outcomes and Social Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

How Construction Employment Can Create Social Value and Assist Recovery from COVID-19

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COVID-19 has created or amplified economic and social crises internationally. Australia entered its first recession in 30 years and saw a significant rise in unemployment. In response, Australian governments have increased their commitments to infrastructure construction to stimulate the national economy and combined this with new social procurement policies that aim to create social value for targeted populations like Indigenous peoples and unemployed youth. However, emerging social procurement research in construction shows a disconnect between policymakers and the practitioners who must implement them. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide theoretical and practical insights on creating social value in the context of construction employment created by new social procurement policies. Reporting a survey of 107 construction workers in Australia, it is shown that social procurement policies and construction employers can create social value when they provide work benefits like adequate pay and training and development and cultural benefits like inclusive workplaces. Recommendations are made to demonstrate how the results presented in this article can be used by contractors to create social value. This research is significant for advising how increased infrastructure spending commitments in Australia can create social and economic outcomes for workers, ensuring a sustainable recovery from COVID-19 crises.

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“…Raising awareness of this framework in the construction industry so it benefits Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples could be challenging. Many construction contractors who have to meet the requirements imposed on them by social procurement policies see Indigenous businesses as a significant cost, time and safety risk to their project deliverables (Loosemore et al 2020). Recent data also shows that up to three quarters of Australians hold an implicit bias against Indigenous Australians (Shirodkar 2020).…”

Section: Potential Barriers To Using This Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the impact of social procurement policies for Indigenous people

Denny-Smith

Williams

Loosemore

2020

Construction Management and Economics

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Governments of highly developed western nations with colonised Indigenous populations such as Australia, Canada and South Africa are increasingly turning to social procurement policies in an attempt to solve social inequities between Indigenous people and other citizens. They seek to use policies and funds attached to infrastructure development and construction to encourage private sector companies to provide training, employment and business opportunities for Indigenous people in the communities in which construction occurs. This paper outlines the rise of these policies and their origins, and critiques their connection to Indigenous people's human rights, impact measurement, evaluation and accountability mechanisms. In doing so this paper also explores benefits and potential of social procurement policies, as well as risks. Drawing on insights from an Aboriginal-developed evaluation framework, Ngaa-bi-nya, and Indigenous Standpoint Theory, this paper highlights Indigenous peoples' definitions of value and outlines their relevance to social procurement. Introducing the notion of cultural counterfactuals into social impact measurement research, it also offers a new conceptual framework to enable policymakers and practitioners to more accurately account for social procurement value and impact, including Indigenous people's notions of social value.

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The risks of and barriers to social procurement in construction: a supply chain perspective

Cited by 50 publications

References 42 publications

Optimising social procurement policy outcomes through cross-sector collaboration in the Australian construction industry

Optimising social procurement policy outcomes through cross-sector collaboration in the Australian construction industry

How Construction Employment Can Create Social Value and Assist Recovery from COVID-19

Assessing the impact of social procurement policies for Indigenous people

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