Understanding social value creation in public construction projects using systems thinking

Interest in social issues increased in EU member states and the UK where this interest was shown via public policy documents and governmental initiatives to create social value as part of the procurement activities of construction projects. This encouraged construction client organisations to use their buying power to create value for their local communities. However, after reviewing literature and reports about using procurement in creating social value and the factors affecting social value creation in construction projects, and stakeholders’ perceptions of social value this research concluded that satisfaction with social value creation was disputed and contested. This was due to the soft, non-quantifiable nature of social value outcomes, the multiple perception about it in every stage of construction project, the gap between the social value strategies and the operational tools available and the varying impacts of factors influencing the performance of construction projects. Accordingly, the researcher adopted an abductive approach and utilised Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and the Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol (GDCPP) to understand how current processes in public construction projects are used to create social value. SSM was used because of its ability to investigate ill-defined issues and problem situations through using system’s concepts in the investigation of these problem situations. Human Activity Systems which consist of activities to provide multiple perceptions to think about the problem situation. The GDCPP was used in association with the HAS models to produce the Social Value Activity Zone which is a set of, task driven, activities distributed across different construction project phases and performed by a cross-functional team to achieve social value objectives. The research’s propositions and the SVAZ were developed through a pilot study that used expert panels to investigate current social value delivery processes and test the SSM and GDCPP approach. Then the research tested and validated the propositions and the SVAZ in four construction projects case studies which were selected according to the factors thought to influence social value in each project. The cases implied that client organisations who lead how Social Value was perceived achieved their objectives and were satisfied with it, despite the notion of social value varied from one stakeholder to the other because including social value in the core construction objectives and early involvement clarified how social value was viewed to other stakeholders.