Ceric, A (2014) Communication risk and trust in construction projects: A framework for interdisciplinary research. In: Raiden, A and Aboagye-Nimo, E (eds.) Proceedings of 30th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2014, Portsmouth, UK.
Abstract
Communication risk is one of the most important types of risk that occur in construction projects, and trust is one of the most effective ways to minimise it. Interest in communication risk and trust spans economics, sociology and psychology. These social sciences are most relevant for the understanding of different dimensions of trust investigated in the framework of the principal-agent theory. In construction projects, this applies to inter-firm, intra-firm and interpersonal relationships between the project parties. The project owner, contractor, and their respective project managers are among the key parties involved in every construction project. This conceptual paper is based both on empirical research that has evolved in four stages, and on extensive literature review that has developed through three stages. Using the principal-agent theory, this paper offers a framework for interdisciplinary research into communication risk and trust spanning economics, sociology, and psychology. This framework rests on firm theoretical foundations concerning inter-firm, intra-firm, and interpersonal relationships characteristic of construction projects, all of which depend on trust between project parties.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | principal-agent theory; trust; risk; communication |
| Index terms: | foundations, dimension, psychology, agent, construction project, social science, interpersonal relationship, interdisciplinary research, literature review, sociology, owner, project party, project manager |
| Subjects: | social theory, production management, structural engineering, theoretical framing, research methods, behavioral psychology, sociology, practitioner, profession, data analysis and analytics, health monitoring assessment and metrics |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Project Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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