Loosemore, M (2015) Barriers to social enterprise in the UK construction industry. In: Raiden, A and Aboagye-Nimo, E (eds.) Proceedings of 31st Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-9 September 2015, Lincoln, UK.
Abstract
Given recent trends towards social procurement in many countries, it is surprising that there has been no research into social enterprise in the construction sector. In-depth interviews with twelve senior representatives of UK social enterprises indicate that social entrepreneurs face significant barriers to operating in the UK construction industry. Respondents perceive that the vast majority of the construction industry is ignorant, mistrustful and resistant to engaging with social enterprises. Traditional monetary perceptions of value, established supply chain relationships and biased procurement practices are just some of the barriers which exist. Recommendations are made to reduce these barriers which will involve: incentivising social enterprise through the adoption of social procurement policies; reducing bureaucracy in tender processes; opening up rigid supply chains; unbundling trade packages; building effective partnerships and social enterprise networks; challenging negative perceptions of social enterprise; and overcoming strong path dependencies and resistance to change.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | corporate social responsibility; community; innovation; social enterprise; social procurement |
| Index terms: | partnership, face, social enterprise, procurement policy, interview, package, construction industry, construction sector, corporate social responsibility, unbundling, path dependency |
| Subjects: | partnership management, procurement strategy, industry analysis, health safety and environment, public policy, psychology, contractual arrangements, organization, strategic management, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Stakeholder Management, Procurement, Governance, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here