Trust in Construction Projects: Literature Analysis Using Keywords

Abstract

Communication risk is one of the most important varieties of risk that occur in construction projects, and trust is one of the most effective strategies to minimize it. For that reason, trust has been playing an increasingly important role in the construction management literature. Interest in communication risk and trust spans psychology, sociology, and economics. These social sciences are most relevant for the understanding of different dimensions of trust investigated in the context of construction project management. In construction projects, this applies to interpersonal, intra-firm, and inter-firm relationships between the project parties. This analysis of the construction management literature uses keywords containing trust and related concepts. Keywords have become important parts of academic papers, and they are crucial in the literature search. The present analysis of literature shows that a large proportion of research to date has been dedicated to the study of inter-firm trust in construction, most of which concerns long-term relationships, such as partnerships and alliances. However, this analysis demonstrates that there has been relatively little research dedicated to the study of interpersonal and intra-firm trust in construction. Future research needs to address these neglected areas.