Social Responsibility Initiatives for Public-Private Partnership Projects: A Comparative Study between China and Ghana
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper addresses an interesting and very important research area, investigating social responsibility in public-private partnerships in China and Ghana. The authors draw on some prior studies, but a much more critical literature analysis is needed to strengthen the paper’s argument and draw out the (theory) gaps they seek to address. Also, the paper needs to be present much stronger discussion and conclusion sections in order to offer value to the reader. Overall, the manuscript makes some very interesting points and I realize that a lot of work went into this study. Nevertheless, I see room for improvement which will help to enhance clarity, readability, practical and theoretical contributions. The following paragraphs address each section of the paper in more detail and provide suggestions on how to revise the paper.
Major concerns:
Introduction:
While the author(s) establish some links to some extant literature, author(s) need to establish a more coherent framework for the overall paper. That means, the introduction should clearly indicate the need for this paper in relation to extant research studies. The authors do a good job to explain why the paper is relevant for practice, but miss out to clearly draw out the gap(s) they seek to address with regards to extant studies. The authors have established a clear argument with regards to gaps for policy and practice, but further more detailed insights with regards to gaps in extant literature is vital to draw out. Here, the authors need to more clearly link PPPs and key extant studies (e.g. James Barlow, Nigel Caldwell, Ilze Kivleniece) to sustainable development and concepts of sustainability (e.g. Stefan Hoejmose, Johanna Grosvold, Helen Walker).
Conceptual background & Theoretical development:
The authors need to establish some clearer links to extant PPP literature (e.g. please see suggested key references) to guide the reader. This would help to clearly establish the basis of this paper, before delving deeper into social responsibility. The author(s) should clearly draw out the benefits and limitations of PPPs and issues around the management of such long-term relationships to drive social responsibility. The paper by Kivleniece and Quelin (2012) might prove helpful to link to the ongoing value (co-) creation discussion over the relationship lifecycle, as this is key to achieve social responsibility. This should then be linked to discussions around value for money, risks and particularly sustainable development (e.g. Roehrich et al., 2014 and similar) as key drivers. A much clearer positioning of the current study will help to further guide the reader and draw out gap(s) in extant studies.
Methods and Analysis:
Overall, this section is well written, but I see some room for improvement to obtain robust results and strengthen the paper’s argument. The authors should address the following concerns:
# Please clearly tell the reader about your sampling logic with regards to respondents, the PPP projects under investigation and the countries you selected.
# There needs to be more detail with regards to ‘industry practitioners’. Who are they?; What is their experience with regards to PPPs etc.?
Discussions and Conclusions:
Derived from a conceptual background section which did not clearly draw out the gaps the paper seeks to address, the discussion and conclusion sections do offer very little additional value to the reader as it stands. The authors need to offer more fine-grained results here and discuss what they intended to find out in the introduction section (link to research questions; overall aim of the paper). Overall, the authors need to clearly draw out what the theoretical contributions are and how they add to the existing body of knowledge. This section also needs to clear link back to extant studies (PPP, social responsibility) to offer some clear value to the reader.
Useful references:
Brammer, S. and Walker, H. L. 2011. Sustainable procurement in the public sector: an international comparative study. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 31(4), pp. 452-476.
Caldwell et al. (2017). Social value creation and relational coordination in public-private collaborations. Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 54 No. 6, pp. 906-928.
Kivleniece, I. and Quelin, B. (2012). ‘Creating and capturing value in public-private ties: A private actor’s perspective’. Academy of Management Review, 37, 272-299.
Roehrich et al. (2014). Are public-private partnerships a healthy option? A systematic literature review. Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 113, pp. 110-119.
Touboulic, A. and Walker, H. L. 2015. Theories in sustainable supply chain management: a structured literature review. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 45(1/2), pp. 16-42.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
The paper represents a good contribution to the literature and important results are achieved. The authors aim to empirically investigate the SR factors in PPPs through a comparative study between China and Ghana. However, before being considered for publication, the authors must take into account:
· The abstract can be improved, for example introducing the methodology adopted;
· Introduction can also be improved, for example, highlighting the novelty and contributions to the literature;
· In this regard, risk assessment is also a relevant aspect (see Marques and Berg, 2011);
· Moreover, I think the paper would benefit with a chapter for literature review (with parts of the introduction);
· The literature review can be improved;
· In fact regulation is a matter that should be better discussed regarding the PPP (vide Marques, 2017);
· I think the text of chapter 3 can be included in a subchapter of chapter 4;
· Highlight the main characteristics and limitation of the methodological approach;
· All the abbreviations must be presented in the text;
· Include the units of all variables in the text;
· More information could be provided about the case studies of PPP (for example, GDP, …);
· All sources of information must be included;
· Explain better the statistical significance of the results;
· I would expect more recommendations for decision makers in the conclusions;
· The references must be in line with the author guidelines, for example some issues are missing.
REFERENCES:
MARQUES, R.; BERG, S. (2011). Risks, contracts and private sector participation in infrastructure. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. Vol. 137, no. 11, pp. 925-933.
MARQUES, R. (2017). Why not regulate PPPs. Utilities Policy. Vol. 48, pp. 141-146.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper addresses an interesting and very important research area, investigating social responsibility in public-private partnerships in China and Ghana. The authors have addressed a few of my comments, but have ignored others. The next round of revisions need to clearly present a more critical literature analysis to strengthen the paper’s argument and draw out the (theory) gaps they seek to address. Also, the paper needs to be present much stronger discussion and conclusion sections (the authors have only slightly improved it) in order to offer value to the reader. I still see significant room for improvement which will help to enhance clarity, readability, practical and theoretical contributions. The following paragraphs address each section of the paper in more detail and provide suggestions on how to revise the paper.
Major concerns:
Introduction:
This section has not been improved and my comments from the last round are still valid. Please clearly address my comments rather than glossing over by adding 1-2 sentences. While the author(s) establish some links to some extant literature, author(s) need to establish a more coherent framework for the overall paper. That means, the introduction should clearly indicate the need for this paper in relation to extant research studies. The authors do a good job to explain why the paper is relevant for practice, but miss out to clearly draw out the gap(s) they seek to address with regards to extant studies. The authors have established a clear argument with regards to gaps for policy and practice, but further more detailed insights with regards to gaps in extant literature is vital to draw out. Here, the authors need to more clearly link PPPs and key extant studies (e.g. James Barlow, Nigel Caldwell, Ilze Kivleniece) to sustainable development and concepts of sustainability (e.g. Stefan Hoejmose, Johanna Grosvold, Helen Walker).
Conceptual background & Theoretical development:
This section has been improved, but needs much more critical reflection on extant PPP literature (e.g. please see suggested key references) to guide the reader. Please revisit my comments from the previous round.
Methods and Analysis:
This has been improved and my comments have been addressed.
Discussions and Conclusions:
This section still needs most work and I would urge the authors to revisit my comments from the previous round.
Derived from a conceptual background section which did not clearly draw out the gaps the paper seeks to address, the discussion and conclusion sections do offer very little additional value to the reader as it stands. The authors need to offer more fine-grained results here and discuss what they intended to find out in the introduction section (link to research questions; overall aim of the paper). Overall, the authors need to clearly draw out what the theoretical contributions are and how they add to the existing body of knowledge. This section also needs to clear link back to extant studies (PPP, social responsibility) to offer some clear value to the reader.
Useful references:
Brammer, S. and Walker, H. L. 2011. Sustainable procurement in the public sector: an international comparative study. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 31(4), pp. 452-476.
Caldwell et al. (2017). Social value creation and relational coordination in public-private collaborations. Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 54 No. 6, pp. 906-928.
Kivleniece, I. and Quelin, B. (2012). ‘Creating and capturing value in public-private ties: A private actor’s perspective’. Academy of Management Review, 37, 272-299.
Roehrich, J.K. et al. (2013). Delivering European healthcare infrastructure through public-private partnerships: The theory and practice of contracting and bundling. In: Professor Das, T.K. (Series Editor); series: ‘Research in Strategic Alliances’, book: ‘Managing Public-Private Strategic Alliances’, 1st ed., Information Age Publishing.
Touboulic, A. and Walker, H. L. 2015. Theories in sustainable supply chain management: a structured literature review. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 45(1/2), pp. 16-42.
Author Response
Please the response is attached.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 3
Reviewer 1 Report
Please ensure to proof-read your manuscript before resubmission. I would also urge the authors to include a few more key PPP references in their manuscript (especially with regards to PPPs in the UK/healthcare sector as this is the basis for a lot of subsequent research - Please check references provided in previous rounds etc.). This would further help to strengthen their argument and more clearly draw out their contributions.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
