Levels of Interorganizational Trust in Construction Projects: Empirical Evidence
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 138, Issue 7
Abstract
Interorganizational trust is important, especially in an industry characterized by constantly changing combinations of organizations working on temporary projects, as in the construction industry. However, little is known about the factors influencing trust in this setting. This study aims to begin to fill that gap by studying trust in their counterparts, as expressed by principals and contractors engaged in construction projects. The findings show that the temporal embeddedness of the relationship (past and expected future relationships) is strongly positively related to the level of trust. Moreover, this study finds that the tendering procedure used and the delivery system employed influence the level of trust of the contractor but not that of the principal. Practical implications and suggestions for further research are drawn from these results.
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Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 138 • Issue 7 • July 2012
Pages: 821 - 831
Copyright
© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 8, 2010
Accepted: Sep 29, 2011
Published online: Oct 3, 2011
Published in print: Jul 1, 2012
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