Sustainable procurement on resource sector: mining sector in Australia
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Introduction
Mining sector plays an important role in the economic development of a country. A lot of sustainable economic development set by the United Nations (UN) could not be achieved without the contribution of minerals and metals. According to Mancini and Sala (2018), mining fuels the manufacturing sector, create jobs and add value to products along the supply chain of materials. This indicates important roles being played by the mining sectors in any economy. And therefore, sustainable procurement on resource determines the success of the mining sectors. In Australia, the resource sector has created economic boom delivered economic growth, jobs, investment and tax revenue to the government. Besides f the positive impact, the resource sector has also generated negative social and environmental impact, which constraint the achievement of sustainable goals. Therefore, sustainable procurement in the resource sector helps in addressing environmental problems. As stated by Brammer and Helen (2011) the sustainable procurement has transformed the mining sector in Australia. It has ensured that Australia corporate involve in the mining sectors work collaborate to safeguard the environment so that the country can be able to achieve sustainable development goals.
However, the purpose of this research is to investigate the sustainable procurement strategies, which are being used by the resource sector in Australia, Research has established efficient utilization of resources by most corporate involve in the mining sector and therefore, it is important to understand the responsibility of corporate in the sector CITATION Bra11 \l 1033 (Brammer and Helen 2011). The research also intends to identify and analyze how sustainable procurement in a different region, offering practical insights into whether or how the policies are being implemented by the Australia government. The effectiveness of the current and previous policies is also evaluated to understand the involvement of corporations in the effectiveness of sustainable development in Australia.
In order to achieve the core objectives of the research, qualitative research method and systematic literature review will be used. It is to ensure that relevant details regarding sustainable procurement are used to complete the study. The qualitative research method was used to conduct research on how corporate have utilized the relevant policies of sustainable procurement and its impact on society.
Research Methodology
The research methodology is techniques or procedures applied to identify select, process and analyze data of a topic CITATION War13 \l 1033 (Warring and Buckley 2013). In research, the methodology provides the reader with detail information on how the research was done to answer the research question. It also evaluates the research overall reliability and validity. Therefore, in order to complete the study efficiently both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. Quantitative method focus on the objective measurement, mathematical, statistical and numerical analysis of the data collected. In a quantitative method, the data is collected using surveys, questionnaires, and polls and manipulating of the existing statistical data CITATION Joh16 \l 1033 (Bacon-Shone 2016). However, the qualitative research method is regarded as exploratory research. It focuses on the understanding of behavior from an informatics perspective. While the quantitative method deals majorly with facts and social phenomena CITATION Sau17 \l 1033 (McLeod 2017). Therefore, the data collection for this study was collected using quantitative and qualitative research methods.
The qualitative research method has more advantage and it is the best method for this study and therefore, it is the primary research method CITATION Bra14 \l 1033 (Gaille 2014). Qualitative method is based on human observation and experiment and therefore, it provides more accurate information. Research work well within a fluid structure and this makes it easy to apply in the study and the research is an open-ended process CITATION Pat13 \l 1033 (Pathak, Jena and Kalra 2013). The qualitative research method also provides more independence to the researchers and therefore, it makes the study easier and faster. However, the advantages of quantitative research methods are
The data was collected through a survey and manipulating of the existing data to establish the effect of sustainable procurement on the resource sector. Since the primary research method was qualitative research method, the study focuses on what and how sustainable procurement impact the resource sector CITATION Pat13 \l 1033 (Pathak, Jena and Kalra 2013). The case study, historical analysis, ethnography, and discourse analysis were used to analyze the impact of sustainable procurement in the resource sector. Since sustainable procurement is a new concept in the resource sector globally, the study focused on the existing aspect based on the analysis of the existing data.
Research design
The research design is a well-arranged process or condition for collection and analysis of data, which were collected in a manner that can allow it to meet the purpose of the research CITATION RSC05 \l 1033 (Clarke 2005). According to Clarke (2005), a research design is regarded as a plan, strategy, and structure, which are used to conduct an investigation to obtain answers problems and research questions. However, the research to focus majorly on the achievement of sustainable procurement, to test the impact of sustainable procurement in the resource since it was introduced and whether it can lead to sustainable development. Therefore, the research intends to focus on three areas to ensure that it effectively conducted. After the research areas have been identified the places to acquire the information was also identify and these places are government databases, United National Development Program and UNEP database, the World Bank database and the department of mining in Australia. In order to complete the study, two research designs will be used semi-experimental and descriptive case study. Descriptive research design provides a description of a case or a study and it is based on the theories which are created based on previous studies CITATION Bra14 \l 1033 (Gaille 2014). Therefore, the study intends to be completed using case studies and other literature and therefore descriptive research design will be one of the best research designs. Experimental research design is used to establish a direct link between the cause and the effect of the situation. It is an effective design where variables are used in the study CITATION Pat13 \l 1033 (Pathak, Jena and Kalra 2013). It is, therefore, important to note the experimental research design will be used to find the relationship between reducing environmental problems with the use of sustainable procurement in the resource sector.
The data existing data were also gathered to establish the effect of sustainable procurement. The existing data were gathered from Google Scholar, EBSCO and other relevant and credible databases. The data was then compared with other data from other sources and the right data was used to complete the study. The comparison was done based on the relevancy of the information to the research question and the topic. The year of publication and methodology used to conduct the study and therefore, fifty sources are obtained and analyzed further for the study.
Identifying the research area
Identifying places to acquire the information
Gathering existing data
Carry out a comparison from different sources
Analyzing data
Diagram 1: the Research design process
Literature review
The study intends to analyze the impact of sustainable procurement in the mining sector in Australia. This will help in understanding the sustainable procurement implementation process. However, sustainable procurement is based on how a company implements corporate responsibility when the decision to purchase equipment or tools is made. UNDP and UN Environment (2018) pointed out that it is important to consider the social impact of every decision made to ensure that sustainable development is achieved. And therefore, the research design shall answer the objective of the study, regarding the social impact of sustainable development. The corporate should, therefore, consider the social impact on the way they spend money and still be able to obtain the value of their money and reducing the red tape at the same time. It means that it is appropriate for companies in the mining sectors to make the proper decision when purchasing to help in reducing red tapes at the same time a resource sector still remain viable to achieve the value of their money CITATION And19 \l 1033 (Andrews 2019).
Without efficient actualization of sustainable development in the resource sector, the environment degradation would be high and the result of this would result in a high rate of global warming in Australia. It is, therefore; essential to a high level of practical practice is applied appropriately when procurement for materials or equipment needed in the mining sector CITATION Bra11 \l 1033 (Brammer and Helen 2011). The research design would focus on establishing whether the use of sustainable procurement can help in reducing global warming and other environmental challenges being experienced in the mining sectors. It also intends to analyze the role of corporate and policies, which can be included to provide an effective method of reducing environmental challenges.
Data analysis
The data analysis will be done using software and descriptive statistic. Data analysis referred to as the process of analyzing the data gathered to find appropriate and accurate answers to the research questions. The discourse analysis will be applied in the analysis of the data collected. According to McLeod (2017), discourse analysis is the method of analyzing data of naturally occurrence all types of written text and talks. It is applied in literature and other case studies to establish the link between the study and other studies. It is also important to note that the deductive approach will be used to analyze the data. The deductive approach is the analysis of the data based on the early structure predetermine by the researcher CITATION Lea15 \l 1033 (Richard 2015). In this case, the research question will be used as guidance for grouping when analyzing the data. Every step of the analysis of the data shall be based on the research question to ensure that the research question is appropriately answered. After the analysis of the data, the finding will be captured based on the set objectives and therefore, it will ensure that the research question is appropriately answered.
Challenges
Some of the challenges are technical challenges and financials. This research needs many finances, which are not available and therefore, it is likely to affect the depth of the study. And the technical challenges are also evident because of limited or fewer resources available. The source areas are also sparsely located and therefore, finances are required to ensure that data are correctly collected.
Conclusion
Sustainable procurement is a new concept in the mining sectors to understand its impact, it is important to conduct research. Therefore, the research will be conducted using both quantitative and qualitative research method. The qualitative will be used to collect relevant data which are essential for the study. The data will be collected from databases such as government database, Google Scholar for literature and from other institutions such as the World Bank and The United Nations for Environmental program and UNDP. The analysis of the data will be data using a deductive approach to ensure that the objectives set are properly meant during the study. It is also to ensure that the research questions are efficiently answered. The research designs which will be applied are experimental and descriptive research design.
References
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Bacon-Shone, John. "Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265793712_Introduction_to_Quantitative_Research_Methods, 2016: 2-15.
Brammer, Stephen, and Walker Helen. "Sustainable procurement in the public sector: an international comparative study." International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 31, no. 4 (2011): 452-476.
Gaille, Brandon. "Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative Research." Journal of research methods, 2014: 2-25.
Mancini, Lucia, and Serenella Sala. "Social impact assessment in the mining sector: Review and comparison of indicators frameworks." Resources Policy 57, no. 4 (2018): 98-111.
McLeod, Saul. "What’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?" https://www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html, 2017: 2-19.
Pathak, Vibha, Bijayini Jena, and Sanjay Kalra. "Qualitative research." Perspective in Clinical Research, 2013: 2-15.
Richard, Lean. "Analyzing Qualitative Data." Center for Innovation and Research Institute, 2015: 2-35.
UNDP and UN Environment. Managing Mining for Sustainable Development. Bangko: United Nations Development, 2018.
Warring, Michael, and Charles Buckley. "Using diagrams to support the research process: examples from grounded theory." Sage Journal, 2013: 2-15.
