The role of contracting strategies in social value implementation

Awuzie, BO; McDermott, P

Abstract

There has been an increasing demand for social value (SV) implementation to assume a cardinal position in the infrastructure delivery efforts of infrastructure client organisations (ICOs). However, whereas successful implementation has been recorded in some projects, monumental failures have also been recorded in others. This variance in implementation performance is a cause for concern. The mode of governance applied in an infrastructure delivery endeavour has been identified as capable of influencing the implementation of SV. This observation makes imperative an investigation into the role of contracting strategies – an integral part of governance modes – adopted by ICOs on SV implementation performance. This is the aim of this study. Using a case study approach, three infrastructure projects which used different contracting strategies were selected from two different countries, the UK and Nigeria. Semistructured interviews were conducted with ICO representatives on these projects and subsequently analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings confirmed that the kind of contract adopted by ICOs influenced their ability to drive the successful implementation of desirable SV objectives through their supply chain. It is therefore recommended that ICOs ensure that the selected contracting strategies are capable of ensuring successful implementation of the desired objectives.

Citation

Awuzie, B., & McDermott, P. (2016). The role of contracting strategies in social value implementation. Proceedings of the ICE - Management, Procurement and Law, 169(3), 106-114. https://doi.org/10.1680/jmapl.15.00024

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 5, 2015
• Publication Date: Feb 16, 2016
• Deposit Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: Proceedings of the ICE - Management, Procurement and Law
• Print ISSN: 1751-4304
• Electronic ISSN: 1751-4312
• Publisher: Thomas Telford
• Volume: 169
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 106-114
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1680/jmapl.15.00024
• Publisher URL: http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/jmapl.15.00024
• Related Public URLs: http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/