Leveraging social procurement within the construction industry for socio-economic advancement

Purpose The common procurement methods in the construction industry often face difficulties in addressing the socio-economic advancement in the societies they are building. In response, innovative procurement approaches, including social procurement, are currently gaining traction by primarily focusing on generating social value through acquiring goods and services. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the integration of the social procurement concept to enhance the socio-economic advancement through the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach Two systematic literature reviews were conducted using the PRISMA method to investigate the challenges for socio-economic advancement through commonly used procurement methods and to examine the distinctive characteristics of social procurement. These findings were analysed through descriptive and content analyses to map the two domains. Findings The study identified 40 challenges across six common procurement methods and 36 characteristics of social procurement. A comprehensive mapping was conducted to evaluate how the social procurement concept can be leveraged to enhance socio-economic advancement within existing procurement methods. Findings highlight that social procurement bridges short-term financial goals with long-term socio-economic benefits by encouraging collaboration and social responsibility. Among the methods, alliance contracting best supports social procurement due to its flexible, win–win nature. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to comprehensively map the challenges of common procurement methods against the distinctive characteristics of social procurement to find a way forward to create social value. It addresses a key gap in the literature by framing social procurement as a strategic response to enhance socio-economic advancement. This study supports local employment, assists disadvantaged groups and fosters community development, contributing to inclusive growth.