International Journal of Project Management 20 (2002) 497–505
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman
The engineering or evolution of co-operation? A tale of two partnering projects
Mike Bresnena,*, Nick Marshallb
aWarwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
bComplex Product Systems Innovation Centre (CoPS), Centre for Research in Innovation Management (CENTRIM), University of Brighton, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9PH, UK
Received 19 December 2000; received in revised form 21 February 2001; accepted 27 April 2001
Abstract
Accounts of the development of partnering in construction often stress the importance of formal mechanisms for lsquo;engineeringrsquo; collaboration and underplay the impact of social dynamics on the development of the relationship. Drawing upon case study evidence from two very different partnering projects, this paper examines the ways in which the nature and quality of relationships between client and contractor depend upon a complex and dynamic interplay of formal integrative mechanisms and informal social processes. The paper draws out a number of key implications for understanding partnering in practice. First, that attributing project success (or failure) to partnering is by no means a straightforward exercise. Second, that there is no one strategy or template for effective partnering. Third, that partnering is a dynamic process, involving short-term learning and mutual adjustment. Fourth, that wider organisational structures and cultures often have an impact upon partnering relationships. Finally, that partnering does not necessarily resolve project problems at source. # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.
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1. Introduction The spread of partnerships and alliances in construction in the last decade has ushered in something of a sea change in behaviour across certain parts of the construction industry. No longer content to accept shortfalls in project performance associated with fragmentation and conflict, clients have increasingly looked to alternative ways of working with contractors and other members of the project team. The result has been the development of partnerships and alliances in various forms, all of which have the aim of aligning project objectives to common business goals in order to create more cooperative and productive working relationships [1,2]. Reinforcing these practical developments have been a number of policy initiatives that have stressed the importance of improving collaboration and integration across the supply chain [3,4]. There is now also an extensive and growing research database on the suitability and efficacy of partnering in practice [5–7]. |
Despite this attention, however, there remain several important unanswered questions about the development and implementation of partnering in practice. Most of these questions revolve around the notion that partnering and alliances require a change of culture within the industry — away from a reliance upon adversarial ways of working and towards the development of relationships based upon co-operation [8]. One important question here is whether or not partnering actually does reflect a deep-seated change in attitudes within the industry, as opposed to a more calculated and superficial response by contractors to particular market conditions?. Another important question is how such cultural change can be brought about, given what we know about the subtleties of organisational culture and the complicating effects of contractual relationships? [9]. Despite the importance of these questions for understanding partnering in practice, there is comparatively little research available that attempts to provide any answers. The literature is certainly replete with case |
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* Corresponding author. Tel.: 44-24-76522951; fax: 44-2476524656. E-mail address: irobmb@wbs.warwick.ac.uk (M. Bresnen). |
study examples of successful partnerships and alliances. However, there is very little work available that analyses partnering in sufficient empirical depth to examine |
Keywords: Construction; Partnering
0263-7863/02/$22.00 # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved. PII: S0263-7863(01)00043-6
processes of cultural change properly. Instead, the literature is notable for the proliferation of reports, manuals and lsquo;toolkitsrsquo; that have accompanied the spread of the partnering phenomenon [10–12]. Although these provide useful additions to the armoury of information about partnering, their highly prescriptive nature limits their value in helping understand how partnering works in practice.
What is needed therefore to complement the growing number of proposed solutions to the problems of collaboration, is research that takes a step back to examine in more depth how these solutions actually work in practice and what constraints and difficulties need to be overcome in implementation. This paper is an attempt to present such more in-depth, critical research that examines the strengths and weaknesses of partnering in practice. It does so by presenting a comparative analysis of partnering on two selected case study projects.
2. The engineering or development of cooperation?
There is of course considerable debate about the range of practices subsumed under the lsquo;partneringrsquo; label, with some commentators arguing instead that partnering involves making progress across a number of technical and organisational fronts [7]. However, the principles of partnering are fairly well set out in the literature. Partnering is not simply a set of practices or techniques, but is about changing attitudes, as well as behaviour [5,8].
Yet much of the literature tends to presume or imply that implementing partnering is essentially a technicalmanagerial problem, involving th
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