As above, not so below: developing social procurement practices on strategic and operative levels

Abstract

PurposeProcurement is increasingly used as a strategic tool to mitigate societal issues such as social exclusion and unemployment of marginalized groups. By conducting social procurement and imposing so-called employment requirements, organizations can create job opportunities for marginalized people. Such practices are becoming increasingly popular in the construction sector, but remain scattered, which hinders the effective creation, use and dissemination of cohesive and commonly shared social procurement practices. Accordingly, this paper analyzes the creation, use and dissemination of social procurement practices in the Swedish construction sector.Design/methodology/approachThe theory of proto-institutions, which refers to institutions under development, is applied to analyze 46 interviews with construction practitioners.FindingsThere is currently little convergence of social procurement practices, due to practices not being fully internalized across organizations and projects; interns hired through employment requirements not having strong enough incentives to engage with their internships; actors working strategically and operatively having different possibilities to create social procurement practices; and the development of maintenance mechanisms for the formalization of sustainable practices being weak.Originality/valueThis paper contextualizes efforts to increase equality, diversity and inclusion of marginalized groups in the construction sector. The adoption of an institutional perspective of practice development elucidates the institutional constellation of existing institutional logics that impact on this practice development. This paper also indicates how the work with social procurement can become more effective and efficient and maximize the social value output for marginalized people living in social exclusion. For institutional theory, it illustrates how proto-institutions can be driven by both top-down and bottom-up perspectives.

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

“…Many contractors and subcontractors see the groups targeted by social procurement policies as a significant safety, productivity, and cost risk to their business [62]. At the same time, there has been little convergence of social procurement practices in construction due to practices not being fully internalised across organisations and projects, people hired through social procurement do not have strong enough incentives to engage with their employment, actors working strategically and operatively have different opportunities to create social procurement practices, and the development of maintenance mechanisms for the formalisation of sustainable practices is weak [71], while social procurement is also creating new roles for construction practitioners that are still in their genesis and under-researched [35]. Further research is needed in this area to explore how contractors are utilising their employment to create social value for employees if the economic and social recovery from COVID-19 is to be sustainable.…”

Public procurement – price-taker or market-shaper?

“…The COVID-19 global pandemic amplified pre-existing inequalities already disproportionately affecting “equity-deserving” groups – those “left behind” on the basis of race, class, gender, sexuality, disability or place of birth (Oxfam, 2021; Troje and Andersson, 2020). The World Trade Organisation (WTO) describes the COVID-19 pandemic as an unprecedented health crisis with far-reaching socioeconomic effects.…”

Assessing the Labour Government’s new procurement approach through a Māori economic justice perspective

“…Social value can be achieved, not only in contracting a minority vendor, but also by requiring that in large contracts, targeted groups are offered employment, training opportunities, health benefits, wage increases or other benefits that lie outside of what is legally required. Such a shift away from "standard" employment requirements can give opportunities to targeted groups, particularly those who are unemployed, under-employed, or precariously employed (Troje & Andersson, 2020;Troje & Kadefors, 2018). For example, Hurt-Suwan and Mahler (2020) found that social procurement can reduce precarious employment in the Aotearoa New Zealand construction industry by improving the skills and capabilities of employees.…”