Drivers and deterrents of sustainable procurement practices – an exploratory study in context of Pakistani HEIs
ISSN: 1535-0118
Article publication date: 25 October 2022
Issue publication date: 3 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify drivers and deterrents to sustainable procurement (SP) via field-level inquiry in the context of public sector higher education institutes in an emerging economy like Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
Unstructured interviews guided by the interview guide were conducted. The participants were selected via purposive sampling. A three-step process was carried out for data analysis. The first-order codes were generated from the views expressed by the informants. The descriptive codes (second-order categories) were developed, providing insights into the main factors. These codes helped to generate the third-order themes related to drivers and deterrents of SP.
Findings
The results reveal that interdepartmental cooperation is the most discussed driver, followed by government regulations. The most noted deterrents include a lack of interdepartmental cooperation, a lack of environmental laws and resistance to change. The participants have highlighted interdepartmental coordination as both a driver if available and a deterrent if not available.
Social implications
The identified drivers and deterrents shall help the managers and policymakers as a guide while transitioning from traditional procurement to SP.
Originality/value
With the increased focus of the higher education commission Pakistan on implementing green practices in higher educational institutes, this study proposes the understanding of a systematic and holistic view of SP by proposing a theoretical framework.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the editorial team of the journal for their extremely useful suggestions to improve the quality of the article. The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Citation
Shaikh, A.R. and Channa, K.A. (2022), "Drivers and deterrents of sustainable procurement practices – an exploratory study in context of Pakistani HEIs", Journal of Public Procurement, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 289-313. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOPP-02-2022-0006
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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