An interdisciplinary perspective of conflict and relationships in construction procurement and logistics

Abstract

Due to the construction industry’s eagerness tolifting adversarial trends and realising the benefits of good relationships, the current research intends to investigate the construct of relationship quality in construction projects; especially in the eventof a conflict. An interdisciplinary construct is derived using a three step methodology and wide range of theories from a comprehensive literature review. These theories range from relational marketing to relational contracting and construction project management. A conflict process model is used to outline the association of conflict and relationship quality in construction projects. Concepts such as psychological meaningfulness, psychological availability, resource availability, aligned-commitment, teamwork, performance satisfaction and trust are attributed to relationship quality. An interdisciplinary construct with antecedents, core attributes and outcomes are achieved. Conflict is demonstrated as a potential antecedent of relationship quality. Finally, moderating factors such as actions and strategies, some of which could be used in conflict management are identified as moderators of relationship quality. By identifying and mapping all the possible components in relationship quality, its different constructs and potential interactions can be recognised. This is extremely important in future investigations of relationship quality in relation to construction project issues and trainingproject teams. The choices of components for the construct are extracted from existing literature; however other components may be of effect which are not included and explored in the future. The model can be used to achieve project integration goals and joint problem solving strategies.