Developing together: the Finnish way of promoting sustainable public procurement

Abstract

Purpose Public procurement is a major driving force that can be used to advance societal goals such as sustainability. The lack of strategic management and top-level commitment have been found to be major hindrances to the promotion of sustainable public procurement (SPP). This study aims to examine the functioning of a successful Finnish SPP development programme, the KEINO Academy (2019–2020), that tackled these challenges in a holistic way. Design/methodology/approach The article is mainly based on qualitative analysis of interviews with 24 municipal representatives. Findings The KEINO Academy advanced SPP management through the following functions: legitimising SPP development work, structuring SPP development work, offering expert support and facilitating peer support. The functions were mainly able to meet the key challenges experienced by the participating municipalities. However, some challenges cannot be directly solved by an intermediary such as the KEINO Academy. These challenges include, for example, a lack of resources. Social implications On the basis of the study, SPP development programmes should: build a holistic working model; respect the versatility of the participating organisations; involve all the key people in the organisations, including the directors; and sustain change. Originality/value The main theoretical contribution is the combination of two streams of literature, those of SPP management and intermediary functions. Further, the article makes an empirical contribution by studying the KEINO Academy as a pioneering SPP development case.

Challenges of sustainable public procurement in Chinese higher education institutions: a Delphi study

“…In contrast to GPP and EPP, which emphasize environmental benefits, SPP includes three elements: economic development, social progress and environmental protection (Berg et al , 2022). Hald et al (2020) identified and assessed the cost trade-offs inherent in the implementation and operation of sustainable procurement initiatives through a case study of a European bank, and found that sustainable procurement can deliver cost savings from a full life-cycle perspective.…”

“…SPP has been widely implemented among developed countries (Dimand, 2022; Leal Filho et al , 2019; Smith and Terman, 2016; Zaidi et al , 2019) and developing countries (Delmonico et al , 2018; Liu et al , 2019, 2021; McMurray et al , 2014; C. Wang et al , 2020; C. Wang and Li, 2014). It has the advantages of responding to consumers’ demand for sustainable products (Sarkis et al , 2010), alleviating environmental pressure and reducing environmental pollution (Lindfors and Ammenberg, 2021), improving the efficiency of resource utilization (Berg et al , 2022), encouraging sustainable production(Smith and Terman, 2016), promoting technological innovation (Dimand, 2022) and realizing sustainable development (Terman and Smith, 2018). SPP has huge purchasing power, which can improve the sustainability of production and consumer markets, contributing to the development of a circular economy(Cader Da Silva et al , 2018).…”

Sustainability takes centre stage in public procurement

“…43 Jannsen, Caranta (2023). 44 ; Klingler, Schooner (2022); Lozano, Santos, Barreiro-Gen (2022); Piga, Schooner (2022); Berg (2022); Nicolas, Schotanus (2023).…”

The predicting role of sustainable supplier selection on lead-time performance in public procurement: relational capability as a moderator

“…Consequently, this investigation is expected to lay groundwork for integrating sustainability considerations into supplier selection processes, not only for enhancing the overall performance buying organizations but specifically for improving lead-time performance, which impacts delivery outcomes in public procurement. Moreover, this study contributes to existing literature addressing sustainable development goal 12 (SDG12) by focusing on promoting sustainable practices in public procurement (Berg et al, 2022;Knebel and Seele, 2021). The second research question aims to delve deeper into the primary relationship by exploring the "when question" of the effect of SSS on lead-time performance in public procurement.…”