21 research outputs found
Balancing contractual and relational approaches for PPP success and sustainability
Useful synergies are targeted by proposing a convergence of hitherto parallel international endeavours towards: (1) developing better and sustainable relationships for more productive construction project teams, in general; and (2) optimising the necessarily long term contractual arrangements of PPPs in particular. Examples are drawn from Africa and Latin America to reinforce reported PPP experiences from other regions, in building up a case for injecting ārelational contracting approachesā in order to develop more productive and sustainable PPPs. Strong and sustainable relationships are shown to be essential, and complementary to appropriate contractual incentives, that would together empower PPP project teams to focus on developing sustainable infrastructure and ultimately on overall sustainable development. These propositions are merged into a basic model that merits further investigation and development, in order to ensure that planned PPPs benefit the community at large, in respect of both present and future generations
Which governs - the relationship or the contract?
According to the transaction cost economics literature, a firmās external contractual relationships must be āfit for purposeā. What is a āfit for purposeā contractual relationship should not be a normative decision, but an objective one, to be made with regard to achieving transaction cost efficiency, while defending the core competencies of the firm. Data from a Hong Kong case study is used to examine whether or not the clientās choice of contractual relationship is āfit for purposeā and also to evaluate the impact of such a choice. The findings suggest that maintaining a relationship of high quality as a strategic policy not only reduces recourse to the contract but, also improves the quality and predictability of project performance and, is an antidote to ill-aligned contractual elements. These findings lend support to the growing trend towards relationship or relational contracting in construction
Taking forward public procurement reforms in Ghana
The construction industry in Ghana, like many others worldwide, has had its fair share of damning independent reviews. Huge and unsustainable foreign debt, excessive budget deficits, huge contractual payment arrears, poor construction performance, corruption and pressure from international financial institutions, forced the government to commit to a reform of public procurement, which culminated in the passing of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663). The paper outlines the events leading to, and features of, the public procurement reform in Ghana and analyses its potential impact and the unique challenges it presents. Comparisons are also drawn from relevant scenarios in other countries. The paper concludes that while the Procurement Act sets out the legal, institutional and regulatory framework to secure fiscal transparency and public accountability, the sole reliance on traditional contracting and price-based selection limits the scope for the value for money achievable. Expanding the reforms to cover procurement and project delivery methods and strategies, with a focus on ābest valueā, will increase the potential and likelihood of achieving value for money in public construction in Ghana
Making PPPs work in developing countries: overcoming common challenges
Public private partnership (PPP) has emerged as a more acceptable and beneficial alternative to privatization. Furthermore, the special mind-sets and specific skill-sets needed for successful PPPs are now impacting on the development of construction industries the world over. While their benefits may seem apparent, and of great promise to developing countries in particular, PPP projects present major challenges which, if not adequately addressed, may undermine their very purpose and also lead to a distortion of public sector priorities when choosing which infrastructure to develop. The paper explores these challenges and the implications for developing countries. It also provides an overview of a framework for a Decision Support System (DSS) designed to address the shortfalls in reliable knowledge about when (under what conditions) and how (in what form) PPPs should be mobilised. The DSS framework is being developed as part of an ongoing R&D project that aims to help public procuring agents achieve āvalue for moneyā in PPP projects by (1) assisting in ābetter valueā decisions on the āPPP-iabilityā of proposed projects and (2) providing a means for the live capture, codification and quick transfer of experiential knowledge
International multi-party projects: the importance of negotiating process in cross-border contractual relationships
Empowering collaborative total asset management and inspiring innovations through Rivans
Multi-disciplinary and multi-functional teams in PPP procurement and delivery
Abstract not available
Effects of Teamwork Climate on Cooperation in Crossfunctional Temporary Multi-Organization Workgroups
In this study, the formative roles of common goals, equal status, integrative interactions, and authority support as the optimal factors for engendering individualsā cooperation with their proximal cross-functional project workgroups are examined. The four factors are properties of the workgroup environment, and have each been highlighted as being important in previous conceptual and critical success factors (CSFs) studies of project effectiveness. However, until now, there has been no systematic empirical test of the interactive effects of all four factors in a construction temporary-multi organization (TMO) workgroup setting. The four factors are conceptualized in this study as the reflective dimensions of a superordinate multidimensional latent construct, teamwork climate. An integrative test was undertaken of the construct validity of this multidimensional construct, its substantive utility relative to its dimensions, and of specific hypotheses connecting the multidimensional construct and its dimensions to individualās in-role, extra-role, compliance, and deference behaviour; the test was performed using two cross-cultural samples of built environment professional managers (UK, N = 381; and Hong Kong, N = 140) and structural equation modelling. The results showed convergence in support of the multidimensional 18 conceptualization of teamwork climate, and also show that teamwork climate significantly and positively influences workgroup membersā in-role, extra-role, compliance, and deference behavior. These findings provide compelling indication that teamwork climate is an important and efficient determinant of cooperative behavior within TMO contexts and, in so doing, make an important contribution to the extant and construction engineering and management lines of literature on work climates. This study also makes an important contribution to the debate in the extant literature about how to model the four climate dimensions, in so far as it shows that a superordinate multidimensional conceptualization maximizes predictive utility, theoretical parsimony and bandwidth. Finally, this study makes an important contribution to practice, as it focuses project managersā attention on creating the generative project environments for the four optimal conditions for teamwork