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The construction industry is currently in transition as a result of innovations in procurement and project management approaches, in particular, the utilization of supply chain management, and technology or work clusters in the context of partnering relationships between project coalition actors and the client organization. These new strategies require an analytical method that deals with actor interdependence and provides an appropriate level of detail and quantitative data in relation to the non-linear, complex, iterative and interactive process that construction projects comprise. The construction project is conceptualized as a number information exchange networks, classified according to the principal project functions and supported by performance incentive and contractual relationship networks. The point centrality of the project actors within these various networks provides quantitative data and graphical representation of the governance of construction projects and the changes brought about by innovations in procurement and project management techniques. Social network analysis (SNA) provides an important new quantitative approach in the comparative analysis of procurement and project management of construction projects. SNA enables traditional project coalition management approaches to be compared with those associated with innovative management approaches. Quantitative analysis relates to the appropriateness and effectiveness of both financial incentives and contractual conditions involved in the governance of construction projects.

The findings of a study are presented using social network analysis in an innovative application involving the analysis of construction project governance. The rationale supporting the application of social network analysis (SNA) within the construction project coalition context was published by this author in a previous paper in this journal. The rationale is summarised in order to explore a very specific framework for the examination of the governance of construction coalitions. The significance of the analytical approach proposed relates to the weakness in existing analytical methods, particularly in relation to changes in approach to procurement following the publication of the Latham and Egan reports. The research framework relates to the key functions of the coalitions to SNA. Within the framework of these key functions, network density and actor point centrality data are gathered using a form of linear responsibility analysis chart adapted to assemble network data in node list form for input in UCINET 6, SNA analysis and visualisation software. Analysis of the directional, non-trivial, valued and multivariate network data reveals that the study of comparative network density and project actor related point centrality is effective in providing an understanding of a number of characteristics of new procurement. Specifically, we can study and evaluate quantitatively, possibly for the first time: use and relevance of financial incentives in the governance of projects; emergent and redundant project actor roles; movement away from traditional independent financial management roles within projects adopting a supply chain management (SCM) approach; alternative candidates for the role of manager of the supply chain and their relative levels of engagement and effectiveness; the effects that the use of clusters and SCM have upon post-contract production activities; the effects that partnering arrangements and standardisation of design have upon transaction costs during the production phase; the effects on project governance of a reduced reliance on contract for project governance; and characteristics of the relatively new role of cluster leader. The results of the research are presented here principally in tabulated form and involve network density values for contractual, performance incentive and information exchange networks. Centrality values relate to the prominence of the key project actors within the three main types of network identified above.Governance, procurement, project management, social network analysis (SNA), intra-coalition networks,

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While significant importance is given to establishing formal organizational and contractual hierarchies, existing project management techniques neglect the management of self-organizing networks in large-infrastructure projects. We offer a case-specific illustration of self-organization using network theory as an investigative lens. The findings have shown that these networks exhibit a high degree of sparseness, short path lengths, and clustering in dense “functional” communities around highly connected actors, thus demonstrating the small-world topology observed in diverse real-world self-organized networks. The study underlines the need for these non-contractual functions and roles to be identified and sponsored, allowing the self-organizing network the space and capacity to evolve.