Manu, E; Ankrah, N A; Chinyio, E and Proverbs, D G (2012) Influence of the macro-economy on trust in construction supply chain chains. In: Smith, S D (ed.) Proceedings of 28th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2012, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract
It has often been claimed that developing trustful relationships across the construction supply chain is likely to yield higher project performance outcomes. However, most recently, it has been suggested that there seems to be an apparent retreat by some of the earlier advocates of the relational agenda through trust development given the economic turbulence. Such claims raise important questions regarding the influence of macroeconomic factors/environment on relationship-based approaches and hence trust development. Was the promotion of such relational agenda purely driven by the burgeoning economy as claimed by some at the time or was this the right direction for the construction industry if higher project performance outcomes were to be delivered to clients? This study aims to explore from literature, the current state of the relational agenda in the UK construction industry with particular emphasis on trust development so as to gain an insight into what the future outlook is likely to be. Literature on trust in construction and other team-based industries are synthesized to identify any links between trust development and themes that relate to or can be influenced by the macro-economy. From this, it is argued that perhaps, the macroeconomic environment exerts a considerable influence on trust. There is a higher tendency for firms to display higher levels of competence trust and relatively lower levels of integrity trust during economic downturns. For high levels of project performance to be maintained, clients may switch between different governance modes underpinned by 'collaborations with and without integrity trust' depending on the project life cycle and macro-economic outlook. This could influence overall procurement and managerial strategies on projects such that the use of transactional approaches could become more prominent during periods of economic downturn.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | macro-economy; construction supply chains; trust |
| Index terms: | construction industry, turbulence, collaboration, competence, construction supply chain, project performance, life cycle, integrity, strategy, trust development, promotion, governance |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, management, health safety and environment, project management theory and practice, personnel development, psychology, fluid mechanics, business, construction logistics, value management |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Human Resources, Supply Chain Management, Governance, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Project Management, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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