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Assessing the capacity of contractors to collaborate and perform in a client-contractor team

Portilla Flores, E.I. (2020) Assessing the capacity of contractors to collaborate and perform in a client-contractor team.

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Abstract:In construction projects, the client-contractor team performance has been crucial for the success of a project. A project team is efficient and high performing when relational and collaborative traits are present. Therefore, an essential mission of the client, at the beginning of a project (in the partner-selection stage), is to assess the capacity of the bidders to relate and collaborate, towards selecting the most suitable partner with whom the client could have a good relationship, and work effectively together. The relevance of these collaborative traits for team performance has been proven in literature. However, how the assessment of the capacity of contractors to collaborate and perform in a clientcontractor team has not been properly addressed. Therefore, the objective of this study is to: 1) Identify which categories could be used to assess the contractor’s capacity to collaborate and perform with the aims to increase team performance, 2) Investigate instruments that could be used for the assessment, and 3) Propose a general procedure for the assessment of contractors during the partner-selection process. Qualitative research methods such as interviews and an expert panel session were used to contextualize what is found in the literature to the construction industry. Results revealed that team dynamics is the main category for the assessment of contractors through competencies trust, communication, mutual respect, team learning, and ability to deal with different interests. Individual matching and organizational cultural congruence are considered as supportive categories to sustain and validate the results of the team dynamics assessment. Out of this research, it is recommended to: 1) use the TDA instrument to assess the team dynamics competencies, 2) use the EII instrument (that can assess individual matching) to strengthen further the argumentation of results in the competencies trust, communication, mutual respect, and team learning, and 3) use the OCAI instrument (that can assess organizational cultural congruence) to strengthen further the argumentation of results in the competencies trust, communication, and team learning. Additionally, a procedure for contractors’ assessment in the partner selection process, as well as the challenges and conditions for a proper assessment, are addressed.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:ET: Engineering Technology
Programme:Construction Management and Engineering MSc (60337)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/80991
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