Partnering practices: An investigation of influences on project success

Historically, traditional procurement systems have resulted in low levels of client satisfaction, owing mostly to poor cost and time predictability. Alternative approaches, including partnering and collaborative working have consequently been developed. This paper examines whether such collaborative approaches can deliver improvements in project procurement and management, and considers the extent to which partnering practices influence the success of building projects. Project success in this regard is measured in terms of cost predictability, programme implications, quality control, health and safety, risk management, teamwork and communications. A focus is made on the importance and influence of contractor selection processes within collaborative procurement, and what constitutes best practice in this regard. Exploratory interviews were conducted with a group of construction project managers who have had extensive experience with both collaboratively and traditionally procured construction projects. Coding and analysis of the resultant data indicated that collaborative procurement routes do have many advantages over traditional adversarial routes in most cases, but not all. Practitioners regarded the individuals deployed on projects having more influence on success than choice of procurement method. Projects were categorised as suitable or unsuitable for modern innovative procurement methods, dependent on a number of determining factors. There is support for the premise that partnering practices can potentially yield more benefits where projects are highly complex. Early supply chain involvement in design is required, and robust contractor selection processes are vital for collaborative procurement to be successful. Further research is proposed to expand the knowledge base around the range of suitable projects which may benefit from partnering approaches to procurement, in order to facilitate decisions in practice