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Partnering relationships in construction: A literature review

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Author

Summary, in English

There is no unified view as to what partnering relationships are in the construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature in order to identify the main assumptions about partnering relationships in construction research and practice. The literature is compared to the Construction Industry Institute's (CII, 1991) frequently cited definition of partnering as a long-term commitment between two or more parties in which shared understanding and trust develop for the benefits of improving construction. The literature review reveals a tendency to focus on project partnering in dyads between clients and contractors and there is also an emphasis on formal tools to develop these relationships, even if social aspects and relationship dynamics are recognised. The paper discusses these findings and suggests that, in order to increase the understanding of the substance and function of partnering relationships, it could be useful to incorporate knowledge from theoretical perspectives that are more in line with the CII definition. Two perspectives that seem particularly interesting in this respect are Supply Chain Management (SCM) and the Industrial Network Approach (INA), both of which focus on long-term relationships between actors beyond the dyad. INA also emphasises the informal aspects of relationship development. Incorporating these dimensions of partnering relationships requires processual and longitudinal studies, which are relatively rare in the contemporary partnering literature. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Publishing year

2010

Language

English

Pages

239-253

Publication/Series

Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management

Volume

16

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article review

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Transport Systems and Logistics

Keywords

  • Construction industry
  • Partnering relationships
  • Literature review

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1478-4092