Abstract:
The debate concerning the contributions of infrastructure
assets to economic growth persists in contemporary
society. Also, the delivery of infrastructure assets has been
identified as veritable platforms for implementing socioeconomic
policies. Social value (SV) happens to one of such
policy which has attracted the attention of the construction
industry. However, till date, research into SV implementation
performance remains underreported in extant literature.
This study set out to bridge this gap through an investigation
into the criticality of SV implementation barriers within an
IDS by interrogating the nature of interrelationships existing
among these barriers. This qualitative study utilized a focus
group discussion group session for eliciting the perspectives
of a purposively selected sample of key industry actors with
extensive experience. Eight discussants participated in the
focus group discussion group sessions. The data emanating
from the session was subjected to further analysis using
the Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) to ascertain
the relationships between the SV implementation barriers
and subsequently, determine the levels of criticality
thereof. Findings from the study indicate that poor policy
interpretation, poor government support and unnecessary
complexity of the implementation process proved to be
most critical when compared to other barriers. This study
holds significant implications for policy makers and industry
practitioners as it provides them with valuable knowledge
to enable the development of protocols for engendering
successful SV implementation in the IDS.
