Mangvwat, J S; Spillane, J P and Bradley, J G (2023) Instrumentality of procurement laws to implement social sustainability in Nigeria. In: Tutesigensi, A and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 39th Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2023, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
Construction projects can achieve social sustainability when anchored on relevant statutory instruments that support the procurement process. However, the absence of provision for social sustainability in procurement laws in Nigeria presents a significant challenge to the sector. Hence, this study documents the challenges site workers and host community face, as two key stakeholders in social sustainability. The aim is to explore how the absence of social sustainability in public procurement law affects implementation of the social agenda. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with six senior management staff with experience in public procurement in tertiary institutions. A thematic analysis of the result shows the prevalence of casualisation of labour as a major impediment. Other factors are the contractors' profiteering, community belief systems that restrict employing women as site labour and client’s drive to evade additional cost associated with implementing social factors. The study recommends advocacy by pressure groups for legislation to amend and update the Procurement Act to capture social factors. This will develop and integrate the social agenda alongside existing procurement objectives, for implementation, in Nigeria, and internationally.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | legal instruments; procurement; social factors; sustainability |
| Index terms: | face, tertiary, social sustainability, social factor, management staff, Nigeria, construction project, legislation, women, implementation, interview, documents, procurement process, thematic analysis |
| Subjects: | production management, legal systems, sociology, Geography, curriculum development, methods and analysis, professional development, data collection methods, management, contractual arrangements, communities and social development, psychology |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Procurement, Project Management, Legal Issues, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Human Resources, Information Management, Geographical Context, Education |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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