Managing Interfaces in Large-Scale Projects: The Roles of Formal Governance and Partnering
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 147, Issue 7
Abstract
Interface management has been viewed as one of the important organizational capabilities to promote coordination and integration among stakeholders in construction project delivery, especially for large-scale projects. This paper examines the role of formal governance, partnering, and organizational boundary activities and their interactions in interface management performance. An integrated framework with consideration of the influence of formal governance, partnering, and boundary activities on interface management performance and associated project outcomes was developed and empirically tested with data collected from 85 large-scale international projects. The results show that formal governance is the dominant determinant of interface management performance and can indirectly influence it through improving partnering and boundary activities. Partnering and boundary activities are also significant antecedents of interface management performance, which, in turn, improves project outcomes of large-scale construction projects. Formal governance and partnering mutually reinforce each other. Interface management performance is positively related to project outcomes in terms of quality, cost, and schedule. This empirical research contributes to the fundamental understanding of the critical factors that govern the interface management performance and, ultimately, the project outcomes. In addition, the outcomes of this study highlighted the broad managerial implications for participants in large-scale projects.
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Data Availability Statement
All data and models that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51579135, 51779124, and 51379104), the Major Science and Technology Research Project of Power China (Grant Nos. DJ-ZDZX-2015-01-02 and DJ-ZDZX-2015-01-07), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2020M680333). The authors also thank the respondents for their contributions during the survey.
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Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 147 • Issue 7 • July 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Aug 17, 2020
Accepted: Feb 18, 2021
Published online: Apr 29, 2021
Published in print: Jul 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Sep 29, 2021
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