Infrastructure Delivery Systems

Infrastructure delivery systems have been identified as a veritable platform for implementing socio-economic objectives like social value, local content development, etc. This has become prevalent in resource-rich developing countries. Effective implementation of such policies through infrastructure delivery systems has continued to elude these countries because of implementation challenges which have been cited in different fora. Evidence of poor implementation can be deduced from the burgeoning levels of poverty and socio-economic underdevelopment observed in these countries. Yet, to date, few studies have sought to explore the capability of these infrastructure delivery systems to engender optimal implementation of socio-economic objectives. Even fewer studies have tried to investigate the governance challenge and its impact on the delivery systems ability to enable effective implementation. This observation led to the development of this study. As such, this study contributes towards bridging this gap. This chapter provides a background to the research problem being investigated citing contemporaneous literature and highlighting the gap. It provides an insight into the structure and content of the entire book. It is expected that this chapter will enable readers to gain an understanding of the study’s background and contribution to the body of knowledge and practice.

Local content development policies (LCDPs) have become a dominant feature in socio-economic developmental discourse within and beyond the comity of developing countries. Proponents of LCDP policies have advocated for a transformation in the extant mode of LCDP implementation in developing countries. They maintain that the current form of implementation through targeted procurement policies and trade embargoes have led to the emergence of a rent-seeking culture among a cross-section of the citizenry of these countries leaving most of the populace, unskilled, unemployed and poor. However, these anomalies are not only experienced in the developing country context but also in the developed country context. In this chapter, a review of the state-of-the-art literature as it pertains to the LCDP regimes in different countries and the role of different procurement systems in engendering implementation. Of significance is the review of the Nigerian and United Kingdom LCDP policies and implementation strategies within the realm of infrastructure delivery systems. It is expected that the chapter will enable effective comprehension of the various modalities being deployed in LCDP implementation through infrastructure delivery systems.

Advocates have continued to lament the inability of infrastructure investments in those climes to contribute to socio-economic upliftment for most of the populace. Previous studies have attributed this deficiency to improper planning, lack of relevant skills and finance, poor regulation, etc. These studies have proposed solutions, but these solutions remain at best, perfunctory as the challenges persist. One area that has been consistently overlooked is the absence of a real-time, monitoring and evaluation system entrenched within the infrastructure delivery system to provide for self-governance within the system. The process of infrastructure procurement and delivery takes place over an extensive duration. Often, monitoring and evaluation as well as an appraisal of the system’s performance is carried out upon commissioning and close out of the project. Indeed, this is considered problematic. In this chapter, a conceptual framework for performing real-time monitoring and evaluation, process control and co-ordination has been proposed. This framework is predicated on the concept of systems viability. As such, the viable systems model (VSM) is deployed towards framework development. The advantages of the VSM as well as its utility in providing a tool for diagnosing infrastructure delivery systems is highlighted in this chapter. Also, the component parts of an infrastructure delivery system, the relationship between these parts and, the influence of the nature of these relationships on the performance of the delivery systems vis-à-vis local content development policies (LCDP) implementation is discussed in more detail in the chapter.

Models and frameworks have been described as platforms for resolving contemporary real-world challenges. This is due to their ability to provide a symbolic depiction of real-world scenarios. As such, various studies have relied on models and frameworks in proffering solutions to different problems. A prevalence of models and frameworks developed and validated through overt reliance on quantitative data have been observed in the literature. This is particularly the case with model development in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) disciplines. In chapter, the process of model development and validation based on qualitative data is explicated. A three-tier approach to model validation which had been hitherto deployed in the validation and verification of Human, Social, Cultural and Behavioural (HSCB) models was utilized. Also, the systematic combining approach was used in establishing the model-theory fit as suggested in similar studies which had adopted abductive reasoning logic. In summary, this chapter provides a step by step account of the approaches which can be deployed in model validation and verification using qualitative data set in AEC research using a viable infrastructure delivery systems model (VIDM) exemplar.

The absence of an appropriate mechanism for diagnosing the ability of infrastructure delivery systems to engender the implementation of socio-economic objectives like local content development policies has been explicated. The temporary nature of the IDS makes it imperative that such mechanisms should be able to carry out this task during the lifecycle of the IDS and not after the disbandment of the IDS as is norm presently. As a result of this observation, a mechanism for carrying out such diagnosis. In this chapter, three distinct infrastructure delivery system case studies are diagnosed extensively relying on the Viable Infrastructure Delivery Systems Model (VIDM) which was developed and validated in Chap. 4. The deployment of the VIDM in the diagnosis of these cases enabled further validation and verification of the model. The chapter provides a succinct and detailed insight into the workings of the VIDM within the context of socio-economic policy implementation through infrastructure delivery systems in developed and developing countries respectively. In furtherance to this, it proves to be of immense significance to academics, policy-makers and practitioners within the realm of strategy/policy implementation research and the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industrial sector as it provides them with a toolkit for investigating the causes of implementation failure.

The performance of infrastructure delivery systems in the implementation of socio-economic policy objectives has come under scrutiny in recent times. This is due to the persistence of economic hardship being experienced by most of the global populace despite increased infrastructure investments. The ability of infrastructure projects to contribute towards improved productivity has not been in doubt. Yet, these investments have failed to bring about the expected levels of socio-economic upliftment of persons living under dire conditions. Advocates have proposed the deployment of the delivery stages to create access to finance and skills development among these people. Examples like targeted procurement will suffice in this regard. However, these delivery systems appear t have failed in engendering effective implementation. Also, the lack of an appropriate mechanism for diagnosing, monitoring and controlling effective implementation within the infrastructure delivery systems has been identified as the bane of these system’s ability to deliver. In subsequent chapters, a model—the viable infrastructure delivery system (VIDM) as developed to achieve this objective. In this chapter, the deployment of the VIDM in the diagnosis of distinct infrastructure delivery systems has resulted in the identification of factors which have contributed in one way or the other to the performance of these systems in the implementation of socio-economic policy objectives. As such, the diagnosis gave rise to the identification of critical success and failure factors influencing policy implementation within these delivery systems. It is expected that the contents of this chapter will assist relevant stakeholders in planning for optimal implementation of socio-economic objectives through infrastructure delivery systems.

This is the concluding chapter. As such, it catalogues the objectives of the study, the theoretical underpinnings of the study, the processes of model development as deployed during the development of the viable infrastructure delivery system model (VIDM). In this chapter, the finding of the study as obtained from the case studies were explicated in this chapter. Also, the chapter provides recommendations for relevant stakeholders to adopt in the enablement of effective policy implementation of socio-economic policy objectives through infrastructure delivery systems in developed and developing country contexts respectively.