Scope
The journal publishes empirical and theoretical work that reflects the interdisciplinary character of construction procurement. Comparisons and detailed descriptions of procurement in practice are especially welcome.
The subject areas below show the ground the journal covers. They are offered as a guide to authors rather than as a fixed list, and contributions that sit between them are just as welcome.
Understanding construction markets and competition
How the construction sector is structured and shaped by culture, and what the future may hold for procurement. Supply and demand conditions, including the effects of aggregation, are of particular interest.
Public construction procurement
Reform agendas and capacity questions in both developed and developing countries. Institutions, legal processes, procedures and administration, together with transparency and accountability.
Policy through procurement
The use of procurement to pursue wider goals. Social and community benefits, economic and environmental benefits, employment and support for smaller firms. Work in this area often examines conflicts between policies, such as competition set against sustainability, and questions of ethics and trust.
Public private partnerships and private finance
Experience from different market sectors. Risk management, whole life costing and value for money, alongside resilience, affordability and governance. Project finance and unitary payments also fall within this area.
Clients and their role in procurement
Mechanisms for engaging clients, and the experience of clients as they work with newer procurement strategies.
Construction and facility management
The move from buying a product to buying a service, including upgrading, refurbishment and remanufacture, and the supplier arrangements that support them.
Integrated procurement strategies
Supply chain management, partnering and framework agreements, and the contracts that support them.
Procurement across sectors
Commercial and housing work, regeneration, health, custodial and education projects, studied on their own terms.
Value procurement
Briefing and the definition of value, prequalification criteria, the appointment of design and construction teams, quality and price mechanisms, performance indicators and contractual arrangements.
Conflict management and procurement systems
How procurement strategy can help avoid conflict, and how disputes are handled when they arise through arbitration, alternative dispute resolution, expert evidence and litigation. The influence of information systems on procurement, including electronic procurement, is included here.
Theoretical perspectives
Theoretical work from any tradition is welcome, including lean and agile perspectives and transaction cost economics.
Other areas
- International procurement
- Evolutionary developments and trends
- Performance of procurement systems
- Selection of procurement methods and contractual arrangements
- Facility management
- Decision making processes
- Psychological, sociological and behavioural questions
- Philosophical and ethical questions
- Environmental influences
- Information technology in procurement systems