DEGREE PROJECT
DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT
MASTER OF SCIENCE, 30 CREDITS, SECOND LEVEL STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2020
Organizing municipal procurement of civil
works and the perceived conditions for
promoting innovation
Mayowa Alaiya
TECHNOLOGY
Master of Science thesis
Title: Organizing municipal procurement of civil works and the perceived conditions for promoting innovation
Author: Mayowa Alaiya
Department: Real Estate and Construction Management Master Thesis number:
Supervisor: Anna Kadefors
Keywords: Public procurement, municipal procurement, innovation, public organizing, interprofessional collaboration
Abstract
Construction research brings attention to the persistent efficiency and productivity issues in the industry which often are related to a lack of innovation in the sector. To tackle these issues, considerable research has been focused on improved procurement practices, as it is seen that choosing the optimum procurement strategy can promote the development of innovative solutions, thereby resulting in improved efficiency and productivity in the sector. Moreover, research and numerous policy initiatives highlight that public clients play an important role in promoting innovation and improving the overall efficiency and productivity level in the sector through improved procurement practices. Still, this is an area in need of continued improvement since many public clients still frequently rely on traditional and rigid procurement practices which inhibit the potential for innovation to take place. Furthermore, promoting innovation in the procurement of civil works requires interprofessional
collaboration between construction project managers and procurers, which can be difficult to achieve since research has shown that interprofessional tensions between these professional groups may occur.
Considering the relevance and importance of the subject the research aims to study how technical functions and procurement functions are organized in the procurement of civil works and how project managers and procurers collaborate during the process. The study has also investigated the perceived conditions for promoting innovation in the procurement of civil works by project managers and procurers. The aim was achieved through a case study of four Swedish municipalities where the empirical data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with project managers and procurers in the municipalities.
The findings showed that the studied municipalities largely lacked organizational resources conducive for innovation-oriented procurement of civil works. The findings suggested that the support and commitment for innovation within the civil engineering field was modest in the municipalities, however, there existed strong support for innovation in other areas such as within IT. Still, there exists a willingness among project managers to promote innovation and increase the efficiency in the civil works contract and the findings indicated that the project managers and procurers were better equipped for focusing on incremental innovations rather than radical innovations. Furthermore, opportunities for promoting innovations were
discussed and identified. For example, setting higher and more project-specific environmental requirements in projects could improve the potential of increased efficiency and development of innovative solutions in the civil works.
Acknowledgement
This thesis has been written during the spring semester of 2020 at The Royal Institute of Technology, KTH and concludes the enrollment of the master’s programme Real Estate and Construction Management
I would like to thank my supervisor Anna Kadefors and the individuals who participated in the study. Finally, I would like to give special thanks to my family, friends and significant other for their love, patience, and endless support during this journey.
Stockholm, June 2020
Examensarbete
Titel: Organisering av kommuners upphandling av
anläggningsentreprenader och de upplevda förutsättningarna för innovation
Författare: Mayowa Alaiya
Institution: Fastigheter och byggande
Examensarbete Master nivå: TRITA-ABE-MBT-20534 Handledare: Anna Kadefors
Nyckelord: Offentlig upphandling, innovation, samarbete, offentlig organisering
Sammanfattning
Byggrelaterad forskning tyder på att branschen präglas av effektivitets- och
produktivitetsproblem som många menar beror på en låg innovationsnivå inom sektorn. Mycket forskning har därför riktats mot förbättringar inom upphandling då man anser att valet av en optimal upphandlingsstrategi kan främja innovation, vilket i sin tur kan resultera i ökar effektivitet och produktivitet inom sektorn. Dessutom, tyder mycket forskning på att
offentliga beställare utgör en stor roll i att främja innovation och effektivitet inom sektorn, något som stödjs genom flera politiska direktiv. Detta är dock ett område som behöver förbättras då många offentliga beställare fortfarande tillförlitar sig på traditionella och
stelbenta upphandlingsmetoder som hämmar innovationspotentialen. För att främja innovation inom upphandling av anläggningsentreprenader krävs det inter-professionellt samarbete mellan byggprojektledare och upphandlare, något som kan vara svåruppnått då forskning har visat att spänningar kan uppstå dessa två yrkesgrupper emellan.
I betraktande av ämnets vikt och relevans är arbetets syfte att studera hur byggförvaltningar och upphandlingsfunktioner i kommuner organiseras vid upphandling av
anläggningsentreprenader samt hur projektledare och upphandlare samarbetar under processen. Studien har även undersökt de upplevda förutsättningarna av projektledare och upphandlare för att främja innovation vid upphandling av anläggningsentreprenader. En fallstudie av fyra svenska kommuner genomfördes för att uppnå studiens syfte, där empirin framställdes genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med projektledare och upphandlare i kommunerna.
Empirin visade att de studerade kommunerna till stor del saknade organisatoriska resurser för att främja innovation vid upphandling av anläggningsentreprenader. Resultaten indikerade att stödet och engagemanget för innovation inom anläggningsområdet var måttligt i
kommunerna, men att det fanns ett starkt stöd för innovation inom andra områden exempelvis inom IT. Likväl, finns det fortfarande en vilja bland projektledare att främja innovation och öka effektiviteten i anläggningsentreprenaderna, och resultaten visade att projektledare och upphandlare var bättre rustade för att fokusera på inkrementella innovationer snarare än radikala innovationer. Möjligheter att främja innovation diskuterades och analyserades. Till exempel bedömde man att högre och mer projektspecifika miljökriterier i projekt kunde förbättra potentialen för ökad effektivitet och utveckling av innovativa lösningar i anläggningsentreprenaderna.
Table of contents
1. Introduction ... 1
1.1 Background ... 1
1.2 Aim and research questions ... 2
1.3 Research context and limitations ... 3
2. Theoretical Framework ... 4
2.1 The public sector and interprofessional collaboration ... 4
2.1.1 Characteristics and structure of public sector organizations ... 4
2.1.2 Interprofessional collaboration and relationships ... 5
2.2 Innovation – definition, learning and the role of the client ... 6
2.2.1 Innovation: definition and basic concepts ... 6
2.2.2 Explorative and exploitative learning ... 7
2.2.3 Innovation in the construction industry ... 8
2.2.4 The role of the client in promoting innovation ... 9
2.2.5 Innovation and the choice of delivery model ... 11
2.3 Summary of theory ... 12
3. Method ... 13
4. Findings ... 15
4.1 Structure and organization of municipal procurement functions ... 15
4.2 Roles of the different professions ... 16
4.2.1 Järfälla Municipality ... 17
4.2.2 Linköping Municipality ... 18
4.2.3 Uppsala Municipality ... 18
4.2.4 Stockholm Municipality ... 19
4.3 Common problems relating to the procurement process, conflicting goals and ambiguities ... 19
4.4 Industry relations and market intelligence ... 20
4.5 Support and commitment for innovation in municipalities ... 21
4.6 Choice of delivery models ... 23
4.7 Promoting innovations through functional requirements and partnering ... 25
4.7.1 Functional requirements ... 25
4.7.2 Partnering and collaboration ... 25
4.8 Knowledge transfer and environmental requirements ... 26
5. Analysis ... 28
5.1 Organization of technical and procurement functions in the studied municipalities ... 28
5.1.1 Structure of purchasing functions ... 28
5.1.2 Interprofessional collaboration and professional roles ... 28
5.1.3 Challenges in the procurement process ... 29
5.2 Conditions for promoting innovation ... 30
5.2.1 Support and potential for innovation ... 30
5.2.2 Lack of organizational resources ... 32
5.2.3 Areas of development and ambidextrous organizational agility ... 33
6. Conclusions ... 36
6.1 Research question 1 ... 36
6.2 Research question 2 ... 37
6.3 Research question 3 ... 38
6.4 Limitations and future research ... 38
References ... 40
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Construction research brings attention to the persistent efficiency and productivity problems in the industry (e.g. Abdel-Wahab & Vogl, 2011; De Valence, 2010; National Research Council, 2009; Tran & Tookey, 2011) which often are related to a lack of innovation in the sector (Loosemore, 2015; Murphy, Perera, & Heaney, 2015). To tackle these issues,
considerable research has been focused on improved procurement practices, as it is seen that choosing the optimum procurement strategy can promote the development of innovative solutions thereby resulting in improved efficiency and productivity in the sector (Blayse & Manley, 2004; Gieske, Van Buuren, & Bekkers, 2016; Kumaraswamy & Dulaimi, 2001). Research has highlighted that public clients play an important role in promoting innovation to improve the overall productivity level in the civil engineering and construction sector, which is supported by numerous policy initiatives (Borg, 2015; Edler et al., 2006; Lenderink, Halman, Boes, & Voordijk, 2020). Furthermore, research highlights that innovations
promoted by public clients are important to preserve and improve public services, and thereby create public value (Gieske et al., 2016). Still, this is an area in need of continued
improvement since many public clients still frequently rely on traditional and rigid
procurement practices which inhibit the potential for innovation to take place (Eriksson et al., 2019; Loosemore & Richard, 2015; Sporrong & Kadefors, 2014). Furthermore, public clients often lack resources and the knowledge needed to effectively assess and promote innovations in public procurement.
Typically, both procurement functions and technical functions are involved in the
procurement of construction-related services in Swedish municipalities. These two functions distinctly different knowledge bases partly overlap and complement each other which is necessary in order to design the most suitable procurement strategy for a specific project (Brodkin, 2012; Sporrong, 2014). Further, research by Sporrong (2014) investigating municipal procurement practices of construction-related services suggests that
interprofessional tensions may occur between public officials in procurement functions and technical functions. Yet, good interprofessional collaboration between the project managers representing the technical functions, and the procurers representing the procurement
functions, is needed to efficiently plan and strategize procurement processes and also to successfully promote innovation in the procurement of civil works.
To stimulate innovation public organizations need to have organizational resources conducive to innovation work (Gieske et al., 2016), such as a culture of innovation within the
organization and individuals who lead and partake in innovation work (Blayse & Manley, 2004). Also, Industry relationships are critical in promoting innovation, in which the importance lies in the public client’s ability to facilitate knowledge flows and competence sharing through interactions and transactions with supplier organizations in the market.
Therefore, market intelligence is another important factor in innovation-driven procurement in the construction and civil engineering field. In innovative public procurement, the client’s needs have to be conveyed to the supplier, while the suppliers’ knowledge of available innovative solutions have to be conveyed back to the client. In this respect, innovative public procurement requires a higher degree of interaction between the client and potential supplier
than does standard procurement procedures (Edler et al., 2006). Furthermore, innovation can be promoted by choosing integrative and collaborative delivery models such as; Design-Build (DB), Early Contractor Involvement (ECI), Maintain (DBM) and Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM). Research shows that these models may enhance the opportunities for improved efficiency and innovation in construction projects (e.g. Eriksson et al., 2019; Kumaraswamy & Dulaimi, 2001).
Different examples of civil works include the construction of roads, streets, bridges and parks, as well as various groundworks such as excavation of foundations, infrastructure, cablings and pipelines. Civil works executed by public clients can generate added public value, considering they may involve the construction of new, or maintenance of existing public utilities, serving an overarching and important societal function. Furthermore, research indicates that it is important for public clients to promote innovation to sustain public value and preserve legitimacy (Gieske et al., 2016), thus it becomes interesting to study the potential for municipalities to promote innovation in their procurements of civil works. However, promoting innovation in municipal procurement of civil works involves a complex process requiring interprofessional collaboration between project managers and procurers. This requires great efforts from these public officials in their role as the public client. There is considerable research addressing different aspects of public procurement within the construction and civil engineering field but there still exists a large need for continued research on the subject (Olander, Widén, & Nordvall, 2008); for instance, regarding municipal procurement of civil works, where the research is scarce (Bretzer, Persson, & Randrup, 2016). Therefore, this thesis will contribute to the continued need for research within the subject field.
1.2 Aim and research questions
The aim of the research is to increase the understanding of how technical functions and procurement functions are organized in municipal procurement of civil works and how the public officials involved in the process collaborate. The study also aims at investigating the potential for promoting innovation in municipal procurement of civil works based on the experiences and views of these public officials. To achieve the aim of the study, the following research questions will be answered.
1) How are technical and procurement functions organized in municipal procurement of civil works and how do they collaborate?
2) What are the perceived conditions for promoting innovation in the procurement of civil works by project managers and procurers in Swedish municipalities?
3) What opportunities for increasing innovation potential in municipal procurement of civil works may be identified based on the project managers’ and procurers’
1.3 Research context and limitations
A total of four Swedish municipalities have been studied and the thesis focuses on the
procurement of civil works (e.g. road constructions, groundworks, infill works, infrastructure developments, etc.). Further, the study focuses on civil works contracts exceeding a value of 2 MSEK. The study is directed towards public client organizations where their views and perspectives have been captured, and therefore the contractors’ and suppliers’ perspectives have not been covered or analysed in the study. Interviews were held with respondents from both procurement functions and technical functions for each studied municipality.
2. Theoretical Framework
2.1 The public sector and interprofessional collaboration
2.1.1 Characteristics and structure of public sector organizations
Public organizations are characterised by being multifunctional and politically lead while often having to conform to contradicting considerations. The challenges experienced by multifunctional organizations can be viewed as either pathological or inherent features (Christensen, 2007). Pathological features refer to the perception of ambiguities and conflicting goals as being issues that need to be dealt with, leading managers to investigate different forms of control and organization aimed at dealing with these issues. Inherent features refer to the perception of unclear and partly conflicting goals as being an inherent part of multifunctional organizations. By this inherent view, the objective is not to find ways of dealing with these unclear and conflicting goals, but rather to explore ways of coping with them. Public organizations are confronted with lasting and insoluble tensions which cannot be easily resolved (Christensen, 2007).
These complex and sometimes contradicting goals are also common in public procurement and become conflicting forces that public procurement professionals have to handle in their work. Through the years public procurement has become more complex, forcing public procurement professionals to have to handle issues relating to (Thai, 2015):
• Balancing the dynamic tension between socioeconomic aspects and increased regulative complexity
• Adherence to fairness, equity and transparency
• Upholding a continuous focus on maximising competition
• Using technology and innovation as a means to enhance efficiency in procurement Thai (2001) distinguishes between two types of goals within procurement; (1) procurement goals and (2) non-procurement goals. Procurement goals may relate to aspects such as quality, cost, time, management of business, financial and technical risks, maximising competition and upholding integrity. Non-procurement goals can consist of environmental, economic and social sustainability goals. It becomes challenging for public procurement professionals and policymakers to optimally make decisions concerning these goals as there always will exist trade-offs between them (Christensen, 2007; Sporrong, 2014; Thai, 2001). These conflicting and ambiguous work conditions force public officials to develop and rely on coping
strategies, involving the adoption of different routines, simplifications and patterned behaviours aimed towards coping with the situation (Christensen, 2007; Tompkins, 2005). These behaviours and habits are not what the public officials actually would like to deliver, but due to the prevailing conditions, it is what they can deliver (Brodkin, 2012).
There are multiple structural characteristics when referring to the structure of purchasing organizations (Kanepejs & Kirikova, 2018) but the structural variable most frequently is used in purchasing research concerns the centralisation (de-/centralisation) of purchasing
organizations (Glock & Hochrein, 2011). Centralisation could be described as the extent to which authority, responsibility and power are concentrated within an organization or purchasing function (Glas, Schaupp, & Essig, 2017; Kanepejs & Kirikova, 2018). It is
uncommon for organizations to be fully centralised or decentralised, however research indicates that highly centralised purchasing organizations seem to be more common than highly decentralised organizations, especially in the public sector (Glock & Hochrein, 2011). Decentralised procurement functions are more common in organizations lacking experience and management skill such as in new businesses, while centralised procurement is common in the public sector (Glock & Hochrein, 2011). Public bodies often have larger purchasing functions which in turn leads them to adopt a higher usage of specialization, formalization and complexity in organizing their functions. This is partly explained by laws and regulations requiring public spending to be conducted transparently, entailing a formal and complex purchasing process (Kanepejs & Kirikova, 2018). Research has also has pointed toward a growing trend of increased involvement of centralised purchasing functions (Sporrong, 2014). Further, it is common in many industries to adopt hybrid purchasing organizations,
incorporating both centralised and decentralised elements as a way of capturing benefits and avoiding disadvantages of both structures (Bals & Turkulainen, 2017).
2.1.2 Interprofessional collaboration and relationships
Organizations generally consist of different individuals, forming groups or units with
disparate knowledge bases, cultural identities and proficiencies. These groups, at times, form specific communities of practice that may cross organizational barriers to engage with similar functions in other organizations (Brown & Duguid, 2001; Wenger, 2000). These communities of practice are described by Wenger (2000) as epistemic communities, in which learnings are shared to improve their practice and develop a shared repertoire of resources consisting of experiences, useful tools and methods of managing recurring issues. Further, these epistemic communities often find success in transferring knowledge and executing innovation internally within the group, but it is often challenging for different epistemic communities to
successfully transfer knowledge and creatively collaborate. This can be explained by the inherent differences in academic backgrounds, professional terminologies, codified knowledge as well as the experiences attained through routine practice in relation to the nature of common issues within the specific communities (Brown & Duguid, 2001). Research addressing interprofessional collaboration between public officials highlight that time constraints, differences in professional and cultural identities, different knowledge bases as well as ambiguous goals can inhibit the implementation of desired public policies
(Driedonks, Gevers, & van Weele, 2010; Sporrong & Kadefors, 2014). Further, research by (Sporrong, 2014) investigating practices in municipal procurement of construction-related services suggests that interprofessional tensions may occur between public officials in procurement functions and technical functions. Typically, both procurement functions and technical functions are involved in construction-related procurement in Swedish
municipalities. These two functions’ different knowledge bases partly overlap and
complement each other which is necessary in order to design the most suitable procurement strategy for specific projects (Sporrong, 2014). The technical and procurement functions individually represent two different professional cultures and competencies and research has found that these differences may create barriers to communication and competence integration amongst the two functions (Sporrong, 2014). Moreover, due to the high difficulty and
managers normally play a central role in the procurement of construction and civil works. Project managers can use industry-level standard contracts, specification templates and standard specifications as tools to procure projects. These tools support the project managers in the procurement process however, they do not encompass factors relating to the regulatory framework of public procurement. These factors could relate to the choice of tender
evaluation model, formulation of evaluation criteria and what information to request from tenders. Often so, project managers with high competence in construction law are not very competent in public procurement law, seeing as they are two different fields of law (Sporrong & Kadefors, 2014). Thus, two different knowledge bases are combined in construction-related procurement; the project managers – perhaps with an engineering background, and the
procurers – possibly with a purchasing, economic or judicial background. The collaboration between these two professions has been studied in research. Sporrong and Kadefors (2014) have studied how the working conditions and relationships between procurement functions and construction functions affect construction-related procurement processes. It was found that the technical staff represented by construction project managers have a preference for procuring professional services based on safer low-cost methods focusing on price, while the procurement staff preferred more advanced methods. It was suggested that simplified
procurement practices associated with poor acknowledgement of the service provider’s
competence, were caused by knowledge barriers, differences in knowledge bases, professional cultures and identities as well as coping strategies due to a lack of resources.
Stricter control together with more complex regulations seems to have generated a trend in which the possibilities for general procurement functions to become more involved in construction-related procurement have increased (Sporrong, 2014). Seemingly, this development has generated frictions and animosity between procurement and technical functions in municipalities. These tensions have negative effects seeing as the knowledge barriers are not easily resolved and are straining both for the organization and the individuals involved. Closer collaboration between the two professions is needed and desired to integrate the different competencies in order to generate higher quality in the procurements (Sporrong & Kadefors, 2014).
2.2 Innovation – definition, learning and the role of the client
2.2.1 Innovation: definition and basic concepts
There exist different types of innovations such as product innovations, process innovations and organizational innovations (Boer & During, 2001) while Slaughter (1998) defines the concept of innovation as:
“Innovation is the actual use of a nontrivial change and improvement in a process, product, or system that is novel to the institution developing the change.
Innovation initiatives can be characterized by uncertainty, complexity, diversity and
interdependence (Boer & During, 2001). There are two main phases for any innovation; the first one being development and the second phase being realization through diffusion (Tidd & Bessant, 2013). Success in managing these phases are controlled by the capability of the organization as well as the innovative climate in the industry (Boer & During, 2001).
The degree of innovation can range from incremental innovation to radical innovation (McDermott & O’Connor, 2002). Radical innovation implicates more risk and uncertainty than incremental innovation. Incremental innovation can refer to the development of currently available products or logical and relatively small advancements to existing processes. Radical innovation concerns the development or implementation of new technologies or ideas into non-existent markets, or existing markets leading to major changes in behaviour. Radical innovations normally require extensive changes in work procedures of the organization (McDermott & O’Connor, 2002) and the literature highlights that it is often challenging for large organizations to implement radical innovation in their projects. Such efforts are frequently repressed by risk-averse and conservative internal forces and cultures, shifting focus to incremental projects associated with more immediate rewards and lower risks (McDermott & O’Connor, 2002).
2.2.2 Explorative and exploitative learning
Literature in organizational learning usually characterizes two main learning modes;
explorative learning and exploitative learning (March, 1991). Eriksson et al. (2017) explain
that explorative learning refers to a distant search for, and assimilation of new knowledge and technology to increase creativity and achieve innovation and radical development of novel solutions. Exploitative learning is based on an internal search of familiar knowledge and technology as a way of deepening existing knowledge. This is done to achieve efficiency through incremental development and continuous improvements to existing solutions. Research has shown that efficient use of existing resources and competencies combined with a constant search for new business opportunities and development of new technologies and skills, give rise to strong competitive advantages for companies (March, 1991) Thus, many companies in different industries try to combine short-term efficiency (exploitation) and long-term innovation (exploration) (Benner & Tushman, 2003; Gupta, Smith, & Shalley, 2006). Too much focus on innovation and too little focus on the efficient use of existing resources can lead to long-term economic difficulties when large development efforts do not generate sufficient profits for companies (March, 1991). The opposite scenario is when a company succeeds in making efficient use of its existing resources but puts too little focus on analysing the need for future innovation and development efforts. Research has indicated that many companies are focusing more on short-term efficiency and less on long-term innovation (Uotila, Maula, Keil, & Zahra, 2009). The direct and short-term benefits generated by the use of existing resources divert companies from investing in innovation, which hampers the long-term viability of businesses (March, 1991)
These two learning modes can also be related to a public context. Public organizations are rooted in policy subsystems or regimes, serving and upholding fundamental societal functions (Geels, 2002). Typically, public organizations are relatively stable over long periods, while it is common they adopt a certain conservativism and resistance towards the development of new routines and institutional patterns (Rip & Kemp, 1998). This leads to difficulties for involved organizations and individuals when internal or external developments generate a need for radical policy, procedural and technological changes. However, more incremental developments can be executed through continuous change processes. Essentially, public organizations need to be capable of combining radical and incremental developments to preserve public value and maintain legitimacy (Gieske et al., 2016).Therefore, it is important
for public organizations to support both long term innovation-oriented explorative learning and short-term efficiency exploitative learning by establishing strategies, policies and routines supporting both learning modes. This could involve the implementation of strategies aimed at analysing present and future needs of improvements or innovation to maintain or advance public value. It could also involve the implementation of innovation-supportive policies and routines which integrate innovation processes with regular routines. Also, providing an adequate and balanced allocation of resources for both explorative and exploitative learning (Gieske et al., 2016).
Because of their inherent differences, these two learning methods are difficult to combine and manage together, especially in organizational contexts with limited or insufficient resources such as project organizations (Gupta et al., 2006). To successfully balance the use of existing resources for short-term efficiency and the exploration of long-term innovations,
ambidextrous organizational agility is essential (Tushman & O'Reilly, 1996). However, this organizational ambidexterity is difficult to achieve because the two learning modes involve activities based on disparate abilities (March, 1991).
2.2.3 Innovation in the construction industry
As project organizations are characterized by time and resource constraints, the balance between short-term efficiency and long-term innovation is particularly complex to manage (Eriksson, 2013). However, previous research has indicated that it is possible for both short-term efficiency based on exploitative learning, and more radical innovation based on explorative learning to be supported by inter-organizational collaboration (Eriksson, 2013; Eriksson, Leiringer, et al., 2017).
Project-based organizations are established around one or more projects where the aim is to deliver complex or unique services to clients. The construction industry is a project-based industry where project-based supplier organizations execute business projects by order of a specific external client (Winch, 1998). This external client could, for instance, be a
municipality procuring construction services, although even municipalities can be described as project-based organizations. Generally, the client starts up a business project, defines the specifications and provides financing to obtain the desired result (Keegan & Turner, 2002). Phases typically included in business projects within project-based industries are concept, definition, design, construction, implementation testing and operation (Larsson, 2016). Business projects are often autonomously managed, bound to a contractual agreement and executed by actors in a multidisciplinary project environment. Moreover, project-based organizations also execute development projects, which are carried out separately from business projects where the focus lies on innovation. These projects aim to develop,
commercialize and offer new services and products to different clients (Blindenbach-Driessen & van den Ende, 2006).
Researchers have indicated that there exists a hesitancy among managers to develop
innovations in business projects. This could be explained by the negative impact imposed by traditional linear project management practices on the success and execution of innovative activities (Keegan & Turner, 2002). Moreover, the focus in construction management
literature historically has been on innovations and performance in business projects. Because of the project-based setting, attention has directed towards efforts of carrying out individual
construction projects successfully in regards to budget, schedule, quality and short-term efficiency (Larsson, 2016).
Construction research brings attention to the persistent efficiency and productivity problems in the industry (e.g. Abdel-Wahab and Vogl, 2011; National Research Council, 2009; De Valence, 2010; Tran and Tookey, 2011) which are often related to a lack of innovation in the sector (Loosemore, 2015; Murphy et al., 2015). Still, there is research suggesting that this view is unfair considering that innovation traditionally is measured through R&D expenditure (Loosemore, 2015) and that innovations developed within projects often are not accounted for in such assessments (Aouad, Ozorhon, & Abbott, 2010). Furthermore, researchers highlight that the type and size of projects are linked to the innovation potential and that considerable innovations do take place in mega projects since their complexity allows for ample
opportunities for the adaption of innovative and novel technological solutions (Brockmann Christian, Brezinski Horst, & Erbe Anita, 2016; Larsson, 2016; Lenderink et al., 2020). The widely believed view of low innovation in the industry can also be linked to the industry’s characteristics, for instance, the project-based mode of production relating to construction projects as temporary and unique “one-offs” (Cox, Ireland, & Townsend, 2006; Gann & Salter, 2000). This temporary project-based mode is more favourable towards more process-related and incremental innovations as opposed to radical innovations (Murphy et al., 2015).
2.2.4 The role of the client in promoting innovation
Research has highlighted that public clients play an important role in promoting innovation to improve the overall productivity level in the civil engineering and construction sector, which is supported by numerous policy initiatives (Borg, 2015; Edler et al., 2006; Lenderink et al., 2020). Still, this is an area in need of continued improvement since many public clients still frequently rely on traditional and rigid procurement practices which inhibit the potential for innovation (Eriksson et al., 2019; Loosemore & Richard, 2015; Sporrong & Kadefors, 2014). Moreover, public clients often lack resources and the expertise and knowledge needed to promote and assess innovations in public procurements to achieve their demands and
requirements. The sections below highlight critical factors in stimulating innovation by public clients.
Organizational resources and absorptive capacity
To promote innovation it is necessary for public organizations to have established processes conducive to innovation initiatives (Gieske et al., 2016). These processes can be described as organizational resources relating to (Blayse & Manley, 2004):
• The culture of innovation within the organization
• The capability to successfully implement innovations developed elsewhere • The existence of individuals who lead and participate in innovative initiatives • Procedures which facilitate the codification or preservation of gained knowledge Moreover, sufficient absorptive capacity is needed for organizations to fully take advantage of valuable knowledge transfer relating to innovation in the construction and civil engineering field. The term is described as a function of prior knowledge and on-going technical
resources in their organization that are professionally qualified to interpret and act on the knowledge captured in projects (Blayse & Manley, 2004).
Industry relationship and market intelligence
The client’s industry relationships are critical in promoting innovation (Blayse & Manley, 2004), which applies to public organizations in their role as the client in their procurement processes. The importance lies in the client’s ability to facilitate knowledge flows and competence sharing through interactions and transactions with supplier organizations in the market. Theses supplier organizations offer innovative technical solutions and therefore have knowledge and information that is valuable for the client’s innovation-oriented ambitions. The relationships prevalent in the construction industry are described by as “loose couplings”, which refer to the temporary coalitions of individuals and firms assembled to complete
projects and to, later on, disband (Dubois & Gadde, 2002). This arrangement could both hinder and support innovations. Innovation is supported in the sense that the construction projects can be perceived as “experimental workshops” where innovations may arise in response to idiosyncratic site conditions, the character of the individuals participating in the project and the requirements unique to the specific project. However, experiences and learnings are often not captured and codified and consequently lost to future projects. At the same time, the learning environments of individuals involved in projects are constantly changing, limiting their ability to form cognitive structures favourable to learning (Dubois & Gadde, 2002). Therefore, it becomes important for clients to establish good relations with supplier organizations as it is important in the gathering of market intelligence (Song & Thieme, 2009).
Market intelligence is an important factor in innovation-driven procurement in the construction and civil engineering field. Innovation theory suggests that user-producer interaction and interactive learning are fundamental aspects of the innovation process. In innovative public procurement, the client’s needs have to be conveyed to the supplier, while the suppliers’ knowledge of available innovative solutions have to be conveyed back to the client. In this respect, innovative public procurement requires a higher degree of interaction between the client and potential supplier than does standard procurement procedures (Edler et al., 2006). Market intelligence serves to help the client understand what the market currently has to offer and what could be offered in the future, giving an assessment of the feasibility of potential projects (Song & Thieme, 2009). However, there exists an inherent problem of privileging individual market actors if market intelligence activities become too interactive. Here the procurers play an important role in ensuring transparency and strict separation of actual tendering processes and market intelligence activities. The client’s technical knowledge is important for them to understand and critically assess the innovations offered in the market. Close coordination of technical expertise and procurement knowledge is essential in the gathering of market intelligence. When internal technical expertise is not sufficient and the client organization instead relies on external consultants, it is important that an extensive and objective review of the market intelligence is made (Edler et al., 2006).
Furthermore, innovation brokers as described by Winch & Courtney (2007) can support in orchestrating cooperation and knowledge growth to realize innovative initiatives. These brokers include industry participants such as academic institutions, universities, professional institutions and construction research bodies among others. These innovation brokers conduct research and act as repositories of knowledge (Gann, 2001; Winch, 1998) and intermediaries
of information between construction companies and different organizations (Blayse & Manley, 2004).
2.2.5 Innovation and the choice of delivery model
Delivery models inclined more towards discouraging contractors or suppliers clients from implementing non-traditional processes and products are detrimental to the promotion of innovation. These delivery models are characterized by placing focus on speed and urgency of project delivery, evaluation based solely on lowest price, rigid role responsibilities and
detailed requirements or fostering adversarial and self-protective behaviour amongst project actors (Kumaraswamy & Dulaimi, 2001). Research shows that many public clients still frequently evaluate and award the contracts based on lowest price (Loosemore & Richard, 2015; Sporrong & Kadefors, 2014) which can inhibit the freedom and possibilities of innovative solutions because of the rigid boundaries set by the use of detailed construction requirements (Eriksson et al., 2019)
Integrative and collaborative procurement strategies may enhance the opportunities for improved efficiency and innovation in construction projects. In Europe, common integrative collaborative delivery models are Design-Build (DB), Early Contractor Involvement (ECI), Design-Build-Maintain (DBM) and Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) (Erikson et al., 2019). In Sweden, Design-Bid-Build is most common and is executed as general contracts and split contracts (Borg, 2010). Eriksson et al. (2017) distinguishes four fundamental
procurement strategy components; (1) The delivery system, including the nature and timing of contractor involvement (2) the reward system, (3) the contractor selection procedure and lastly (4) the collaboration model. Different combinations of the components can be made to construct an opportune governance structure based on project characteristics.
DBB contracts capture and combine the client and the architect's competencies but not that of the contractor. In the DB contracts, design and construction are integrated to promote
constructability. In this way, the contractor has more freedom and better conditions for
developing technical and innovative solutions that contribute to increased efficiency regarding time and costs (Eriksson & Hane, 2014). Further, it is argued that the communication,
learning and innovation potential is increased throughout the supply chain in DB contracts since the project is managed by a single entity (Kumaraswamy & Dulaimi, 2001). Since both DB and DBB contracts do not link the client to the contractor in their traditional forms, neither contract stimulates collaboration between the two actors. Instead, the contracts separate, allocate and clarify the responsibilities of the two actors, which increases
transparency in the contract from the client's perspective (Eriksson, Lingegård, et al., 2017). ECI contracts are believed to be supportive of innovations and the contracts introduce the contractor at an earlier stage compared to what DB contracts traditionally would. ECI contracts are well suitable for projects involving high uncertainty to the extent that it is not possible to calculate the project value during the procurement process. ECI is also suitable when the client sees advantages in involving the construction contractor very early in the design phase to integrate their knowledge of the construction phase with the design (Lenferink et al., 2013). Partnering, long-term maintenance commitments as well as bundling of contracts are also seen as advantageous ways of creating incentives for innovation and adaptation of an LCC-perspectives in public procurement (Aldenlov, Bergquist, Söderholm, Eriksson, &
Gustavsson, 2017; Borg & Lind, 2014; Gustavsson et al., 2019). The DB model can be integrated with maintenance services and private financings, known as DBM and DBFM models. These contract models are associated with other business models for infrastructure projects but are also perceived to be supportive for efficiency and innovation (Roumboutsos & Saussier, 2014).
2.3 Summary of theory
Public organizations are multifunctional, politically lead and serve important public interests. Ambiguous and conflicting work conditions are common in these organizations which can force public officials to rely on coping strategies to manage the complex circumstances. Moreover, numerous policy initiatives together with research point out the importance of these public organizations, such as municipalities, to promote innovation to spur development and to improve public value. Municipalities could contribute to this development by
promoting innovation in the procurement of civil works. However, this involves a complex process requiring interprofessional collaboration between project manager and procurers. Also, these public officials need to be equipped with organizational resources supportive of innovation work, engage in market intelligence activities and choose procurement strategy components which increase innovation potential in civil works projects. It is also important to consider that there are different types of innovations and that they can range from incremental innovations to radical innovations.
The theory used for the thesis includes public management and organization theory, public purchasing and procurement literature, innovation theory and literature concerning
interprofessional collaboration. The theory used is relevant to the subject field of the thesis and the collected empirical data will be analysed together with and based on the theory to answer the research questions. The following chapter covers the method for the empirical data collection.
3. Method
A case study has been conducted of four municipalities; two municipalities within Stockholm county and two outside of Stockholm county. A case study is defined as an in-depth inquiry into a research area within its actual setting (Yin, 2014). A Case study approach was
considered a suitable strategy since the research will address complex integrated project environments and requires the comprehensive insight of the dynamics between the procurement process, interprofessional collaboration, purchasing organizations and
innovation. Initial semi-structured interviews and open dialogues were held with the procurer and one of the project managers from Järfälla municipality for the author to obtain a general overview of the procurement process of civil works. The interviews and discussions were used to help map the organizational structure of the procurement department, describe how the procurement practice was conducted in the present day and a provide a general view of what problem and improvement areas were prevalent regarding the procurement processes in the municipality. The flexibility in semi-structured interviews, as explained by Kvale (2007) allowed for more nuanced and elaborated answers from the interviewees.
Semi-structured interviews were then held with representatives for Järfälla, Linköping, Stockholm and Uppsala municipality. The municipalities were selected to represent
municipalities with different sizes and procurement volumes in the case study. Stockholm is the capital city in Sweden and Järfälla is small municipality in the outskirts of Stockholm, while Linköping and Uppsala both are major cities in which significant construction activities are taking place. Below is a table presenting general information about the municipalities.
Table 1: General information about the studied municipalities (SCB, 2019)
Järfälla Linköping Stockholm Uppsala
County Stockholm county Östergötland county Stockholm county Uppsala county
Province Uppland Östergötland Uppland and Södermanland Uppland
Area (land) 53,79 km2 1427,81 km2 187,2 km2 2182,31 km2
Population 79 990 163 051 974 073 230 767
Population density
(residents/km2) 1 487,1 114,2 5 203,4 105,7
Considering some of the respondents had distinct and unique positions in their respective municipalities, the respondents in the study were categorized as either (a) project manager or (b) procurer. The project managers consisted of respondents working in technical
construction-related functions while the procurers consisted of respondents working in procurement functions. This categorisation was done to preserve the respondents’ anonymity so that they cannot be identified by their distinct work position. All the respondents had senior positions with over 15 years of working experience within their respective field of work. Since the global Covid-19 pandemic was prevailing at the time the thesis was written, the interviews were conducted through video-interviews with the videoconferencing platforms Skype and Microsoft teams. The interviews were approximately 40 minutes in duration and were recorded and transcribed verbatim. To triangulate the results from the interviews,
existing project documentation such as procurement policy and guideline documents and organization schemes were examined.
Table 2: Interview respondents
Municipality Profession Department name
Järfälla Project manager Building and environmental department Järfälla Project manager Building and environmental department Järfälla Procurer Procurement department (centralised) Uppsala Project manager Urban development department Uppsala Procurer Procurement department (centralised) Linköping Project manager Environment and urban development department Linköping Project manager Environment and urban development department Linköping Procurer Procurement department (centralised) Stockholm Project manager Urban development department
Stockholm Procurer Procurement department (decentralised) The study focused on contracts with a project value exceeding the threshold of being
categorized as a framework agreement. Therefore, projects with a project value exceeding approximately 2 MSEK were considered in the interviews. Further, two different interviews were held, one for the project managers and one for the procurers. The interviews were centred around different themes. The project managers’ interviews had three themes; the procurement process, collaboration and innovation, while the procurers’ interviews had four themes; organizational structure, the procurement process, collaboration and innovation. The interviews resulted in a total empirical data set of 12 interviews (including the initial
interviews with Järfälla municipality) underpinning the study. The findings were compiled and analysed to examine similarities and differences between the studied municipalities. The analysis combined with support from the theory and document analysis were used to answer the research questions and thereby achieve the aim of the study.
4. Findings
In the following chapter, the empirical data gathered through the semi-structured interviews are presented. The interview respondents are represented in table 2, which can be found in the previous chapter.
4.1 Structure and organization of municipal procurement functions
The procurement functions in the studied municipalities were predominantly centralised were three of the four municipalities adopted a centralised structure. Järfälla municipality’s procurement department consisted of 8 procurers, one of which was an environmental strategist working with sustainability goals in procurements. Three of these procurers were dedicated to working with the Building and Environmental department’s procurements (two worked with property development and one with civil works). They had the responsibility of supporting in the Building and Environmental department’s procurements but were still a part of the central procurement department where they were located. Järfälla was previously decentralised but the municipal assembly decided to shift towards centralisation in 2009. The reason for this, explained by the interviewed procurer who works at Järfälla’s procurement department, was because the municipality experienced that the procurement and purchasing functions were too scattered and also lacked structure, control and coordination of the existing contracts. There was also little procurement knowledge within the municipality and therefore, it was determined to establish a centralised procurement department working strategically with procurement and providing support in procurement questions, contract issues and
contract evaluations. The procurer strongly believed that the current structure was good seeing as it is critical for the municipality to have the right knowledge and competence of the
regulations, legal cases and the public procurement act. The procurer added that the
centralised structure allows the municipality to gather similar competence in one place which is supportive of incremental learning and strategic development.
Linköping municipality has a centralised procurement organization where they, since the past year, had established a central procurement organization together with Norrköping and the neighbouring municipalities. The central purchasing department is located in Norrköping where they jointly procure commodities such as paper and office materials for all
municipalities. There are three procurers from the centralised department dedicated to Linköping’s Environment and Urban Development department. They are a part of the centralised procurement organization but placed outside of the organization directly in the Environment and Urban Development department and are thereby separated from the centralised organization. Out of these three procurers, only the interviewed procurer has competence related to the procurement of civil works. The interviewed procurer expressed their satisfaction with how the procurement was structured, stating that it is advantageous for them to sit with and work closely with the project managers in their department.
Uppsala has a centralised procurement department – consisting of a total of 26 procurers, 6 of
which are dedicated to the procurement of construction and civil works – where the procurers sit under the same roof. The interviewed procurer expressed their contentment with having a centralised structure and saw benefits of gathering similar competencies in one place,
considering the procurers’ main job relates to the procurement process and not project-specific matters which are handled by the project managers. The procurer added that it
process and procurement law, so it is important for them to learn from each other’s experiences.
Stockholm was the only municipality with a decentralised procurement structure. The
municipality consists of 32 departments and 16 municipally-owned companies, each with an individual procurement function. The interviewed procurer explained that Stockholm
municipality as a whole is decentralised but if you look at the departments individually, the procurement departments within them are centralised. The procurer explained that Stockholm has a model where every department and municipally-owned company act as individual procuring authorities. Thereby, each department has its own procurement organizations and handle their own procurements. There exists a service department, which is responsible for city-wide procurements and the municipal executive committee’s department which focuses on strategic procurement. These departments produce purchasing programs for the
municipality as a whole, which all decentralised procurement departments are to follow. The Urban Development department’s procurement department consists of 7 procurers. They also have procurement consultants in their large and complex projects; however, these consultants are not part of the procurement department. The interviewed procurer expressed their
positivity towards adopting a mix of centralised and decentralised elements in the purchasing structure. It was also stated that the current decentralised structure allows the procurers to come close to the departments they support which doesn’t necessarily happen when working in centralised functions. This closeness is seen by the procurer as something positive, that stimulates and makes the work more enjoyable.
4.2 Roles of the different professions
Generally, in all studied municipalities, the project managers were responsible for the
project-specific tasks in the procurement process such as bringing forth the tender documents. The procurers were responsible for compiling the information in the tender documents, including the commercial terms, securing that the regulative framework is followed, the publication of the contract notice and the opening of the tenders. The tenders are then evaluated by the project managers and procurers together. In the municipalities, administrative requirements templates were used to fill in the administrative requirements for the projects, which are the reference work to the general regulations for construction and civil works contracts. The template was then filled together by the project managers and procurers. Essentially, the procurers with their knowledge of the Swedish public procurement act were responsible for the general parts of the administrative requirements template and the project managers were responsible for the project-specific parts.
The findings showed that when the procurer was involved from the beginning in the procurement process, they could be more engaged and plan together with the project
managers to design the procurement strategy. However, when the procurer was involved late in the process, they assumed more of an administrative role, where their ability to add insight in planning and strategizing
th
e procurement were limited because they became occupied with trying to verify and review tender documentation while adhering to short deadlines and simultaneously managing heavy workloads. A common perception expressed by therespondents was that the different professional backgrounds and competence bases were not seen as an obstacle in the procurement process. Generally, there were good relationships and
collaborations between the project managers and procurers while the two professional groups rather saw strengths in integrating their knowledge and embraced an openness towards each other’s different perspectives.
4.2.1 Järfälla Municipality
In Järfälla the working-relationship between the two groups was generally perceived as good by both the interviewed procurer and the project managers. There was a mutual respect for each other’s competencies and there existed a clear distinction between project-specific and procurement-related responsibilities. The basis of evaluation was determined through dialogue between the two groups and price is the most frequently chosen evaluation base. This, because the municipality mainly procures the civil works using DBB contracts with detailed requirements in the contracts.
One issue mentioned by the project managers was that there has been a certain resource shortage of procurers, which made it difficult for the project managers to establish some sort of continuity and longevity with the same procurer. Further, it was stated that problems occur in procurements when the procurer is not fully understood of what is going to be procured. However, the project managers viewed this as their responsibility because they are the
individuals with the highest knowledge of the projects and therefore are supposed to provide a proper understanding of the project to the procurers.
An issue presented by the procurer was that they previously sometimes were initiated late in the procurement process. Often because of time constraints and heavy workloads, the project managers sometimes began to produce and bring forth the tender documents and initiated contact with the procurers too late requesting their support. The procurers then were thrown into halfway done procurements and thus lacked a proper understanding of the aim and purpose of the procurement since they were not involved from the start. In these situations, the procurer would not be fully involved and would then be incapable of efficiently directing and planning the procurement and they could not contribute with valuable input relating to procurement strategy components. When this happened, it forced the procurers to extend the tender period to have time to review the procurement. To tackle this issue, the procurement department implemented a new routine that involved initiating the procurement process earlier and starting it off with a strategy meeting between the project managers involved in the project and the procurer. In this meeting, the project managers and procurer together plan the procurement and discuss aspects such as choice of delivery model, reward system and evaluation basis to develop a procurement strategy tailored for the specific project. It was said by both the procurer and project managers that close collaboration between the two professions is key in developing efficient procurement strategies and effective contracts. The procurer saw no problems with the public procurement act, although the project managers stated that the law could be complicated at times. The project managers stated that even though they have good knowledge of construction law and it is important for them to have support from the procurers with their competence and proficiency in public procurement law which the project managers lack.
4.2.2 Linköping Municipality
In Linköping, the collaboration between the procurers and project managers was also seen as good by the respondents form both professional groups. A large contributing factor to the successful collaboration, voiced by both professions, was the co-localization of the project managers and procurer which encouraged dialogue and eased information flows between the two groups. Disagreements relating to the procurement process seldom occurred, and the procurers and project managers were often on the same page regarding the choice of evaluation basis, which almost always was based on lowest price. This, because DBB
contracts including many requirements were predominantly used, so lowest price was seen as a sufficient evaluation basis.
Regarding the public procurement act, there weren’t any substantial differences in the view of the law between the professions. Neither the procurer nor project managers viewed the law as a barrier in their work. The project managers were positive towards exploring possible ways of using the law to their advantage and finding ways of not just evaluating tenders based on price but incorporating more qualitative and soft criteria as well.
4.2.3 Uppsala Municipality
Previously in Uppsala, the centralised procurement department was responsible for the
framework agreements and the general contracts for the whole municipality, with exception of construction and civil works contracts which project management departments were solely responsible for. Since a year back it was determined that the procurement department were to be involved in the Urban Development departments procurements as a support function, and the new arrangement has been positively received. The Procurement department distributed a CSI-survey (customer satisfaction index survey) to the project managers asking about their experiences of work progression, personal treatment and professionalism and the results were positive with an average score of 4/5. The biggest challenge in the procurement process expressed by the respondents was managing the heavy workloads for both the procurers and project managers. The procurers were involved in multiple concurrent procurement processes and the project managers managed multiple projects simultaneously. The procurer also stated that it could be disadvantageous that the procurers do not have much insight into what goes on after the contract is signed. They are disconnected from how the work is progressing and knowledge of potential problems in the construction phase that could be linked to the procurement process is lost. In this respect, knowledge and learnings are not captured and transferred to procurers which could be valuable for future procurements.
Regarding the public procurement act, there were some differences in the perception of the law between the procurer and project manager. The project manager saw both advantages and disadvantages with the law and stated that large contractors nowadays have legal departments they can use to find and exploit contractual loopholes with support of the public procurement act and leverage these against the municipality. The project manager added that the law has gone through numerous changes and is substantially different from how it was 1994 and stated that the law was better 15 years ago from a client-perspective. The procurer mentioned that the law, fundamentally is good and fulfils its purpose of creating competition but that it in some ways might have been kidnapped by lawyers through the years.
4.2.4 Stockholm Municipality
Both respondents stated that the general perception of the collaboration between procurers and project managers was good but that there was room for improvement. The interviewed project manager believed that it was very individual-based since there’s a large number of both procurers and project managers who all act differently and work in different ways. Meanwhile, occasional clashes occur between the different competence bases of the two groups regarding how to divide the responsibilities. Although the administrative regulations template that has been produced by the procurers helps to determine and distinguish between the responsibilities. The procurer expressed that improvement areas include involving the procurers earlier in the procurement process, experimenting with different evaluation models and working more strategically, for instance by formulating more project-specific and less general requirements. It was explained by the procurer that the late involvement of the procurer hinders them from engaging in a creative process of planning and structuring the procurement. If the procurer is involved earlier, they can make better use of their
competencies and apply knowledge from previous procurements. The most common choice of evaluation basis was price, but the procurement department wishes to incorporate more
qualitative parameters in the evaluation. The project manager explained that the reason for evaluating based on price, and instead incorporating qualitative aspect in the requirements, is because it is difficult to compare and make a good evaluation of quality, and the time
constraints make it even harder. Neither the procurer nor the project manager expressed that the public procurement act is a barrier in the work.
4.3 Common problems relating to the procurement process, conflicting goals and ambiguities
A common problem found in all the municipalities related to the quality assurance of the construction documents (e.g. construction drawings) provided by external consultants in the DBB contracts. In Järfälla time constraints was one reason expressed by the interviewed project managers. The project managers are engaged in multiple projects simultaneously so there isn’t always enough time to verify all the tender documents provided by the consultants. Moreover, it is difficult to discover the flaws before the tenders have come in and the
construction phase has been initiated. It was also stated that the role of the project manager, essentially, is to be a generalist, so they should be able to trust the consultants to deliver complete and correct documents. The project managers expressed that consultants have for some time had the upper hand in the market and have not delivered on the desired level of the client. It was also stated by the project managers that the project managers have to become better clients and be clearer and more thorough with their consultants. The project managers mentioned that they sometimes can be unclear and vague leaving room for different
interpretations resulting in problematic discussions.
Uppsala also experienced a lack in the quality of the tender documents provided by their
consultants. The quality verification process is tedious, time-consuming and rather challenging considering the vast number of documents that have to be reviewed and
examined, the interviewed project manager explained. The project managers often purchase construction management services in an early phase to get a construction manager’s
perspective on the documents provided by the consultants. The documents are then referred internally for review by affected departments such as the Traffic department, Environmental
