Bresnen, M and Marshall, N (1998) Partnering strategies and organizational cultures in the construction industry. In: Hughes, W (ed.) Proceedings of 14th Annual ARCOM Conference, 9-11 September 1998, Reading, UK.
Abstract
In the 1990s, partnering and related forms (e.g. 'alliancing') have been proffered as a new, alternative paradigm for the development of relationships between clients and members of the project team in which collaboration becomes the dominant leitmotif. Proselytizers of partnering, however, often fail to address a number of crucial questions about the relationship between forms of collaborative contracting and the economic and organizational contexts in which these occur. Based upon data obtained from case studies of medium to large scale construction projects undertaken by 'experienced' clients in a range of sectors (offshore, process plant, civil engineering and building), this paper aims to throw further light upon the coherence of partnering as a strategy and the economic and organizational (particularly cultural) factors that encourage or inhibit a partnering approach. The findings reported here suggest important differences between the rhetoric and reality of partnering that revolve around the effects of institutional and organizational factors and processes.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | partnering; clients; culture |
| Index terms: | construction industry, project team, organizational culture, paradigm, construction project, collaboration, coherence, strategy, organizational factor, partnering, alliancing, case study |
| Subjects: | production management, education and knowledge transfer, management, industry analysis, partnership management, sociology, human factors and perception, data collection methods, business, contractual arrangements, project delivery |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Project Management, Research Practice, Stakeholder Management, Procurement, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here