| 1. |
- Petersen, Daniella, 1991, et al.
(author)
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Employment requirements in Swedish construction procurement: Institutional perspectives
- 2018
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In: Journal of Facilities Management. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1741-0983 .- 1472-5967. ; 16:3, s. 284-298
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose - Today social procurement, and requirements to create employment for disadvantaged groups in particular, are increasingly used in the construction sector. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of employment requirements and its organizational implications in Sweden, and to suggest a possible theoretical approach for studying this phenomenon in the future. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on written sources describing influential Swedish cases where employment requirements have been used, as well as on interviews with central actors in industry and society. Findings - Due to the increased use of employment requirements, the construction industry may currently be experiencing the initial stages of a process of institutional change. This implies that a traditional logic, where value is perceived as a function of the cost and quality of the physical product, is increasingly co-existing and competing with a logic where social value plays an important role. Practical implications - An institutional perspective could enable a rich explication of processes, practices and roles, which might help individual practitioners and organizations to more purposefully work towards a more informed and effective use of employment requirements. Originality/value - This study takes a first step towards increased theorization of the emergent practice of including employment requirements in construction procurement and its organizational implications. Thereby, research on this phenomenon may be more closely related to and informed by relevant developments in the wider academic community.
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| 2. |
- Molén, Jessica, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Integrating Facilities Management knowledge in municipal school building : Swedish case studies
- 2023
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Due to population growth and evolving demands for flexible premises, the design and construction of school facilities is currently a highly prioritized activity for many Swedish municipalities. However, previous research has found that facilities management (FM) knowledge is rarely integrated in the design of schools, resulting in construction deficiencies, high lifecycle costs and lower user functionality. The propensity to integrate FM knowledge in school projects varies greatly across Swedish municipalities, but the underlying factors shaping such organizational capabilities are less studied. In response, this study investigates how Swedish municipalities are currently organizing the integration of FM knowledge in the design phase of schools. The case study includes three municipalities of different sizes, where 18 interviews were performed with 22 representatives from users, operations and maintenance, construction project management, procurement and top management. To analyse the findings, a framework based on knowledge management was applied. The findings showed that FM knowledge is increasingly translated into codified processes and project planning standards and guidelines, but that personalized knowledge still plays an important role. Further, knowledge sharing in this field is complex and municipalities still face challenges despite improvement efforts. Thus, there is considerable potential to strengthen knowledge codification and sharing between municipalities and on the sector level. The study also points at the importance of studying knowledge governance at higher municipal levels, where many key organizational decisions are made.
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| 3. |
- Sloot, Ruth N.F., et al.
(author)
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Change in a project-based organization: The mutual shaping of institutional logics and change programs
- 2024
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In: International Journal of Project Management. - 0263-7863. ; 42:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Modern organizational transformations increasingly rely on change programs led by the introduction of new information technology. Managing these information technology-based change programs within project-based organizations presents unique challenges due to the division between ongoing business processes and temporary project activities. This study uses an institutional logics perspective to understand how a project-based organizational context shaped and was shaped by an information technology-based change program. Through a three-year longitudinal case study on the interaction between a project-based organization and its information technology program, our findings reveal that institutional logics prevailing in the project-based organization significantly influenced the program's implementation. In turn, the information technology program acted as a catalyst for change, creating a competitive environment where two primarily segmented logics—a project organizing logic and an asset management logic—competed for dominance. The conflict between these logics led to new beliefs, values, and practices being dominant, marking a shift in balance between the two logics. Our findings contribute to increasing understanding of the dynamic interplay between project-based organizations and information technology-based change programs, shedding light on their mutual evolution over time and offering a deeper understanding of transformative change within project-based organizations.
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| 4. |
- Troje, Daniella, 1991, et al.
(author)
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As above, not so below : developing social procurement practices on strategic and operative levels
- 2021
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In: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 2040-7149 .- 2040-7157 .- 1758-7093. ; 40:3, s. 242-258
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PurposeProcurement is increasingly used as a strategic tool to mitigate societal issues such as social exclusion and unemployment of marginalized groups. By conducting social procurement and imposing so-called employment requirements, organizations can create job opportunities for marginalized people. Such practices are becoming increasingly popular in the construction sector, but remain scattered, which hinders the effective creation, use and dissemination of cohesive and commonly shared social procurement practices. Accordingly, this paper analyzes the creation, use and dissemination of social procurement practices in the Swedish construction sector.Design/methodology/approachThe theory of proto-institutions, which refers to institutions under development, is applied to analyze 46 interviews with construction practitioners.FindingsThere is currently little convergence of social procurement practices, due to practices not being fully internalized across organizations and projects; interns hired through employment requirements not having strong enough incentives to engage with their internships; actors working strategically and operatively having different possibilities to create social procurement practices; and the development of maintenance mechanisms for the formalization of sustainable practices being weak.Originality/valueThis paper contextualizes efforts to increase equality, diversity and inclusion of marginalized groups in the construction sector. The adoption of an institutional perspective of practice development elucidates the institutional constellation of existing institutional logics that impact on this practice development. This paper also indicates how the work with social procurement can become more effective and efficient and maximize the social value output for marginalized people living in social exclusion. For institutional theory, it illustrates how proto-institutions can be driven by both top-down and bottom-up perspectives.
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| 5. |
- Troje, Daniella, 1991, et al.
(author)
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Beyond Policies and Social Washing: How Social Procurement Unfolds in Practice
- 2020
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In: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 12:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Social procurement is increasingly used by organizations to create social value. An important feature of social procurement used to mitigate issues with social exclusion is employment requirements, which aim to create internships for unemployed marginalized people. However, little is known of their effects on people working at an operative level. Through 23 semi-structured interviews with practitioners in the Swedish construction and real estate sector, this paper adopts a practice lens to analyse the effects of employment requirements (ER). Findings show that practitioners must handle the tension between old and new practices, and strike a balance between fulfilling formal responsibilities and performing new practices on an ad hoc basis, and finding the time and resources to do so. Practitioners act as practice carriers for both traditional work tasks and new employment requirement practices, which can lead to role ambiguity. The paper provides novel details for how employment requirements unfold in practice. It also adds to practice theory by suggesting an important relational aspect between first-order, premeditated practices, and second-order, emergent practices, and how both types of practices are vital for working with employment requirements.
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| 6. |
- Troje, Daniella, 1991
(author)
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Can I Get Some Help Down Here? Inter-Project Support for Creating Social Value Through Social Procurement
- 2020
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In: ARCOM 2020 - Association of Researchers in Construction Management, 36th Annual Conference 2020 - Proceedings. ; , s. 105-114
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Employment requirements, as an aspect of social procurement, can be used as an innovative way for construction organizations to create internships for marginalized unemployed people, in the process creating social value. However, how to organize and collaborate to implement employment requirements in construction projects is unclear. Therefore, this paper investigates how practitioners working operatively in projects perceive the support from and relationship with their parent company and client when they have to implement and work with employment requirements on a daily basis. Semi-structured interviews with 23 practitioners working in three projects in Sweden were analysed using a theoretical framework of project management focused on resources and collaborative relationships. Findings show how resources and support is often lacking, and how relationships with parent companies and clients are tenuous. There is a lack of knowledge and clear goals from the parent company and client which create uncertainty. The operative actors in the projects have to deal with this uncertainty without formalized routines, standardized information sharing, or enough resources, so to cope they create their own tools and practices. The paper provides a bottom-up perspective on social procurement and illustrates concrete areas where parent companies and clients must rethink their (lack of) resources and support. For research the findings indicate what factors make collaboration regarding social procurement difficult and contributes novel insight into a scarcely researched phenomenon.
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| 7. |
- Troje, Daniella, 1991
(author)
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Constructing Social Procurement: An Institutional Perspective on Working with Employment Requirements
- 2020
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Private and public organisations are increasingly using their purchasing power to mitigate societal issues and create social value. This is called social procurement. Due to problems such as segregation, unemployment, and social exclusion, social procurement in Sweden has focused on employment requirements. This is a type of criterion within social procurement that is used to create employment opportunities for marginalised long-term unemployed people, such as immigrants, youths and/or people with disabilities. These target groups often live in segregated neighbourhoods in run-down housing. This situation has led organisations in the Swedish construction and real estate sector to implement employment requirements in the procurement of their building and refurbishment projects and also in the facilities maintenance of the buildings, often hiring their own tenants. By hiring unemployed people to work with refurbishing their run-down housing, and supplying more labour to the construction sector, employment requirements have the potential to create social value for individuals, organisations, and for society. However, it is unclear how social procurement and employment requirements unfold in practice and what it means for the daily work of individual and organisational actors. Working with employment requirements can spur new ways of thinking and organising; create new roles, actors and responsibilities; create new practices, knowledge and coordination needs; and create new business opportunities. These new ways of thinking and organising, requires closer empirical, theoretical and conceptual examination. Therefore, this thesis aims to analyse how individual and organisational actors work with social procurement and how this work brings about institutional change processes that affect the everyday work of these actors. This thesis builds on a qualitative research design, mainly using interviews, where the practice-oriented theoretical perspectives of institutional work and institutional logics are applied to analyse how practices, roles, identities and norms change as a result of working with social procurement. The findings in this thesis make several contributions to both theory and practice. For social procurement research, in the context of the construction and real estate sector, this thesis adds rich details about what employment requirements mean for individual actors, and their professional roles, identities and daily work practices. The research also provides details on what enablers, drivers and barriers there are for working with employment requirements, as well as a discussion on which type of actors that are affected by these enablers, drivers and barriers. For the theoretical perspectives of institutional logics and work, this research adds insight and an empirical example of how a conflicting and disruptive institutional logic collide and mesh in a tightly regulated and institutionalised environment, and how a sustainable concept may become institutionalised despite considerable inertia, through the use of creative institutional work. Moreover, the research illustrates how actors differ in terms of the type of institutional work they conduct, and how these different kinds of ‘institutional workmanship’ interact. It also calls into question the role of intentionality in institutional work. For practitioners, the findings highlight what works well and less well when actors work with employment requirements. The identified barriers constitute a concrete list of areas in which adjustments can be made to enable an effective and efficient creation and dissemination of employment requirements and associated practices. For those already working with employment requirements today, the findings acknowledge the struggles that individual actors face when working with employment requirements, which can help legitimise their roles and practices and, by extension, the use of employment requirements.
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| 8. |
- Troje, Daniella
(author)
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Improving social value through facilities management : Swedish housing companies
- 2023
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In: Buildings and Cities. - : Ubiquity Press, Ltd.. - 2632-6655. ; 4:1, s. 749-766
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Housing companies create, maintain and develop an important part of the built environment. Besides their core activity of providing housing, they can increasingly also mitigate societal problems and contribute to social, environmental and financial sustainability. One contribution to sustainability by housing companies is to create meaningful activities for tenants that benefit their employability, skills, careers, and physical and mental wellbeing. These ‘activity interventions’ are used as a vehicle to create social value. However, it is unclear what sort of impact these interventions have, and how they affect housing companies’ financial value. This paper investigates: (1) Swedish housing companies’ initiatives to provide meaningful ‘activity interventions’ for tenants; (2) what value these interventions create; and (3) how social value creation relates to financial value. Observations and interviews (n = 23) with Swedish housing companies are mapped onto a social value creation framework. The findings reveal several types of employment, educational and leisure activities that have been created for tenants, and the areas in which these initiatives create the most social value. Social value creation is often used as risk management to mitigate issues related to criminality, welfare-dependent tenants and decreased property values.
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| 9. |
- Troje, Daniella
(author)
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Path dependencies and sustainable facilities management : a study of housing companies in Sweden
- 2023
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In: Building Research & Information. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0961-3218 .- 1466-4321. ; 51:8, s. 965-978
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Facilities management (FM) of housing stocks has great potential to contribute to sustainable development, but the transition to sustainable facilities management (SFM) is complex and slow. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges of transitioning to SFM for housing companies in Sweden in relation to practical and technical innovations like digitalization. Using a path dependency framework, and drawing on semi-structured interviews with 23 FM professionals, the findings reveal many technologies and practices that housing companies can adopt to transition towards SFM. However, their institutionalized path-dependent behaviour means they are unwilling to change, tend to avoid uncertainty, and overemphasize the financial bottom line. These new innovative solutions also present challenges, such as a lack of established business models and poor value for money. This study contributes insight into what path dependencies need to be broken, what behaviours need to be changed, what structures must be created, and what skills and knowledge must be developed to increase SFM in the housing sector.
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| 10. |
- Troje, Daniella
(author)
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Policy in Practice : Social Procurement Policies in the Swedish Construction Sector
- 2021
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In: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 13:14
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Procurement has long been used to fulfil policy goals, and social procurement policies can mitigate issues connected to social exclusion, unemployment and segregation. The target groups for such policies are disadvantaged people such as immigrants, young people and people with disabilities. Due to its close connection to exclusion and segregation issues, the construction and real estate sector has often been seen by policymakers as an appropriate sector for social procurement. However, practices to implement such policies are underdeveloped, which creates uncertainty and hinders the transition towards sustainability in the construction sector. This paper investigates how construction clients and contractors perceive the implementation of social procurement policies in practice. Drawing on policy-in-practice literature and interviewing 28 actors in the Swedish construction sector, the findings show a misalignment between: (1) social procurement policies, (2) the sector and its existing practices, and (3) the target group and their skills and needs. Although this misalignment adversely impacts policy implementation and practice formation, it can likely be mitigated if actors co-create policy goals and practices that mesh with existing practices, and provide more resources to enable policy implementation. This paper shows how procurement can help fulfil social policies and the difficulties of achieving that in practice.
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| 11. |
- Troje, Daniella, 1991, et al.
(author)
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Populating the social realm: New roles arising from social procurement
- 2020
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In: Construction Management and Economics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1466-433X .- 0144-6193. ; 38:1, s. 55-70
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Employment requirements, as part of social procurement, are increasingly used in construction procurement as a tool to mitigate issues of exclusion on the job market. To create a better understanding how employment requirements nurtures a new type of actor, here named the“employment requirement professional” (ERP), the aim of this paper is to study how this role is framed in terms of work practices and professional identity. Building on 21 semi-structured interviews in the Swedish construction sector, a detailed account of who works with employ- ment requirements, how and why they conduct their work is provided. The findings show how ERPs mediate between contrasting interests when they create new social procurement roles and practices; how they enact different approaches to promote social sustainability, how their roles are formed by multiple and reciprocal lines of actions, and how they make sense of who they are and what type of work they engage in. The research contributes to a discussion on effects from social procurement in construction and the emergence of a new professional role, their identity and work practices.
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| 12. |
- Troje, Daniella, 1991
(author)
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Rhetorical Strategies to Diffuse Social Procurement in Construction
- 2018
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In: Proceeding of the 34th Annual ARCOM Conference. - 9780995546325 ; , s. 505-514
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Social procurement - in particular employment requirements aimed to create employment opportunities for disadvantaged unemployed people like immigrants or the disabled - are increasingly implemented in Swedish construction procurement. Social procurement is novel in Sweden, and actors who work with implementing employment requirements try to spread these practices throughout the sector. Building on interviews with 21 actors working with social procurement, this paper investigates rhetorical strategies for diffusing a social procurement practice in the construction sector. Applying the Aristotelian types of arguments, ethos, logos and pathos, when investigating the rhetoric used by proponents of social procurement, the findings show that they use a wide range of rhetorical strategies that that emphasize the character of the proponents and their arguments, that explicate the rationality of social procurement, and that appeal to the emotions of potential supporters. The findings contribute to research on social procurement by identifying discourse related to social procurement, as well as rhetorical strategies proponents of social procurement use in attempts to diffuse social procurement practice throughout the Swedish construction sector. These rhetorical strategies may potentially increase legitimation of social procurement. For managers who aim to diffuse social procurement in the sector, the findings provide an overview of a number of different types of arguments that can be used in order to argue for social procurement and its benefits.
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| 13. |
- Troje, Daniella, 1991, et al.
(author)
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Social procurement in the real world: How employment requirements unfold in construction projects
- 2019
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In: Proceedings of the 35th Annual ARCOM Conference. - 9780995546349 ; , s. 24-33
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In hopes of mitigating issues with segregation, unemployment and a lack of workers in the construction sector, social procurement and employment requirements are becoming increasingly popular. Albeit high on the policy and industry agenda, little is known of its effects for practitioners and the newly employed themselves, when they face these in practice. With an aim to understand how social procurement and employment requirements unfold in practice, what effects this has for construction practitioners, for the interns themselves, and for individual projects and organizations, 23 semi-structured interviews were conducted with practitioners and interns in three cases where employment requirements have been applied. The findings show that for practitioners, employment requirements place new demands on themselves as “receivers” of interns, which require personal engagement. For the interns, demands are set on how they should engage in their internship and to seize the opportunity, while same-time facing a risk to become overexposed for advertisement purposes if they perform well. For the construction projects a concern is raised regarding safety, due to the interns’ poor language proficiency. However, also positive effects are seen, such as improved team spirit among the project members and added value to the working life of the intern supervisors.
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| 14. |
- Troje, Daniella
(author)
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Social Sustainability in Projects : Using Social Procurement to Create Employment in the Swedish Construction Sector
- 2023
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In: Project Management Journal. - : SAGE Publications. - 8756-9728 .- 1938-9507. ; 54:1, s. 52-69
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Social procurement can increase social sustainability by creating employment for marginalized people. This article investigates how project organizations perceive and handle the resources from and relationships with their main contractors and clients when implementing social procurement. Analyzing 20 semistructured interviews with actors working in Swedish construction projects, the findings show how resources are lacking and relationships are tenuous, but also that the innovative capacity of actors at the project level, in a bottom-up fashion, can overcome some of these issues. This article shows how sustainability initiatives are difficult to implement in projects, and what strategies actors use to cope.
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