Culture impact in construction supply chain management

Awareness of cultural differences in construction supply chains is of fundamental importance because only through a thorough understanding of the manifestations of culture can fragmented supply chains be appropriately integrated into cohesive and collaborating teams which enhance project performance Hence the concept of cultural alignment with the project supply chain is introduced in order for long-term collaborative relationships based on trust, co ordination and mutual benefit to be established. Therefore, the principles of Partnering and Supply Chain Management must be adopted in order for the opportunistic and adversarial culture of the construction industry to be eliminated The extent to which supply chain participants with different goals, needs and cultures are culturally aligned with the project's values and objectives and are properly integrated into a cohesive and mutually supporting unit is investigated This thesis presents the findings of semi-structured interviews which examined the cultural impact in the supply chain management of two construction companies, i.e. Greek 1NTRAKAT and UK Taylor Woodrow Furthermore, this study has uncovered serious concerns among the Greek Contractors that point towards the establishment of an aligned culture with their clients rather than with the whole supply chain In contrast, the UK Contractors are investing very heavily in their relationships with the entire supply chain and hence they seem to be embracing with success the partnering ideal further down the supply chain A range of attitudinal change requirements for overcoming the cultural and organisational barriers to change is identified for both the contactor's companies It is suggested that training practices should be implemented more intensively in both the contractor's organisations supported by intensive management activity from the senior management if further performance improvements are to be realized throughout the supplier networks.