Strahorn, S; Gajendran, T and Brewer, G (2014) Experiences of trust in construction project management: The influence of procurement mechanisms. In: Raiden, A and Aboagye-Nimo, E (eds.) Proceedings of 30th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2014, Portsmouth, UK.
Abstract
Trust is a key element in the project manager's toolkit, and fostering trust in a project team is often critical to the project's outcome. Literature suggests that relational procurement mechanisms underpinned by "pain-share/gain-share" principles ought to increase levels of trust between project participants as compared to traditionally procured projects, yet little related research exists. Using "trust as a phenomenon" as the philosophical point of departure the intricacies of trust formation and maintenance are explored in these contexts. A framework of trust-related personal attributes, attitudes and behaviours is used to analyse a series of 15 detailed interviews with multiple representatives from construction and client organisations. Preliminary findings identify: participantsÕ desire for trust in projects; widespread absence of strategies for trust building, maintenance and repair; adversarial dispute resolution as the default; poor project team member selection. Widely valued traits in trading partners include open and honest communication; technical competence; fairness; integrity; honesty, and; benevolence. Where disputation has occurred trust repair skills appear to be rare. Positive pre-existing relationships are reported as the antidote for many project ills. Differences in the perception of trust variables associated with procurement context are identified: superficially surprising and counter-intuitive, they reveal pan-procurement principles for trust-based project success.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | relational procurement; transactional procurement; trust; trust repair |
| Index terms: | resolution, toolkit, repair, project team, trust-building, competence, fairness, construction project management, dispute, strategy, integrity, client organization, interview, pain, trust repair, default, project manager, project success |
| Subjects: | project delivery, psychology, dispute resolution, profession, data collection methods, client relations, leadership, conflict resolution, health conditions and diseases, health safety and environment, personnel development, project management theory and practice, management, maintenance engineering, software systems |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Project Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Organizational Design, Human Resources, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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