Ekeskär, A; Havenvid, M I and Gustavsson, T K (2019) Horizontal inter-organizational collaboration: The case of third-party logistics. In: Gorse, C and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 35th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2019, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
In urban development projects there are several actors working side by side in different projects. In this multi-project context there should be opportunities for these actors to collaborate and coordinate their activities and resources in order to increase the economy of scale and performance of the construction projects. Numerous studies have been done studying inter-organizational collaboration in the vertical dimension, i.e. partnering, which is mainly collaboration between clients and contractors. However, few studies have been done in the horizontal dimension, studying collaboration between different actors working for different clients, in different projects.The aim of this paper is to study inter-organizational collaboration in the horizontal dimension, focusing on main contractors. The study is done through a case study of a stage in an urban development project where several housing developers had ongoing projects. In the urban development project, a construction logistics center (CLC) where used to coordinate logistics and constructions works between the different projects. The method is qualitative and based on semi-structured interviews with managers at the CLC and with the different contractors involved. Secondary data was collected via observations at meetings and documentation. This paper investigates the extent of horizontal interaction in a multi-project setting. Interaction is investigated from an industrial network perspective which focuses on the interactive elements (material and immaterial) and adaptions taking place between business actors (in this case main contractors). The multi project setting creates a context of interdependence between contractors and other actors on site. In addition, in the multi-project all actors are demanded to interact with the CLC. This creates a multi-dependent project environment. In laying out the interaction patterns that this induces, this study contributes to a better understanding of drivers and hinders of horizontal collaboration.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | horizontal interaction; inter-organizational collaboration; industrial network approach; multi-project; third-party logistics |
| Index terms: | urban development, construction logistics, construction project, collaboration, housing developer, interdependence, interaction, dimension, case study, third-party logistic, partnering, main contractor, manager, interview, documentation, secondary data |
| Subjects: | organizational analysis, partnership management, sociology, behavioral psychology, management, production management, professional development, urban design, supplier oversight, health monitoring assessment and metrics, data collection methods, construction logistics, practitioner |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Project Management, Research Practice, Information Management, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Urban Studies, Supply Chain Management, Organizational Design |
| 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