New Procurement Approaches Facilitating Collaboration in the Construction Industry : Experiences From the Bispevika Project

Abstract

In this preliminary thesis report we are presenting what we are going to study, why we are studying it, and how we are planning to study it. That is done through an introduction, a presentation of our planned research method, the theory we are planning to use in the research, and our project plan. Both in the literature and from watching the Norwegian news, we have seen that the demand of clients is shifting from a focus on just the price to a focus on criteria like sustainability, digitalisation and innovation when they are selecting their main contractor. The main contractor is, however, dependent on its subcontractors and suppliers to meet the clients’ demand, and the existing procurement system in the industry is found as an obstacle for, amongst other, the innovation desired by the client. Since the need for a change in the construction industry was reported in the 1990s, different approaches to procurement in construction projects have been suggested, and tried, but the partnering concept for instance has still not yield the same positive effects as in other industries. It is found there is a general lack in enthusiasm between the contractor and subcontractors to adopt collaborative processes largely due to the mistrust between them, and that the scepticism towards for instance partnering among subcontractors and suppliers exists due to a lack of understanding. To meet the new demand of the clients, some main contractors are, however, trying to adopt new procurement strategies. In this research, we therefore want to enlighten why a main contractor is adopting new procurement strategies – to increase the understanding of its implication for the different actors, and how the procurement strategies are adopted – to show other contractors how they can overcome the scepticism and adopt new procurement strategies. This will be done through a qualitative research, where we are systematically combining the theoretical and empirical domains. The research is designed as a case study, where the case is a construction project in Bispevika. There we are, through interviews and observations, going to study their new procurement strategies, with a focus on the supplier selection, contracting, and modes of collaboration.