Vaux, J S and Kirk, W M (2018) Relationship conflict in construction management: Performance and productivity problem. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 144(6): 1478, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Performance and productivity in construction management are essential for schedule and profit considerations, but are often diminished by conflict. Task conflict provides incentive for decisions and innovative solutions, whereas interpersonal conflict, also referred to as relationship conflict, is detrimental to performance and productivity because it affects schedules, cognition and collaboration efforts, and the morale of the team. This qualitative study investigates how relationship conflict affects performance and productivity among construction management professionals. Interviews were conducted in 18 construction firms with 25 construction management professionals, including project executives, senior project managers, project managers, and superintendents. The goal is to understand the antecedents and consequences of relationship conflict within construction management, and discover methods used to mitigate these effects. Key antecedents producing relationship conflict are lack of communication, old-school attitude, and lump-sum contracts. The key individuals generating relationship conflict are the owner or owner's representative, subcontractors, and superintendents. Consequences of relationship conflict include schedule delays, lowered morale and motivation, and reduced profit, whereas mitigating factors are good communication and trust building
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | schedule delay, morale, profit, subcontractor, interview, trust-building, project manager, relationship conflict, motivation, executive, owner, cognition, productivity, collaboration, construction firm, qualitative study |
| Subjects: | cognitive psychology, economic analysis, management, project controls, profession, leadership, data collection methods, organization, research design and methodology, practitioner, sociology, psychology |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Time Control, Human Resources |
| 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