Purpose This study investigates the extent to which the popular forms of contract adopted in the Middle East (ME) address collaboration. The purpose of this paper is to assess how collaboration features weaved into the construct of integrated project delivery (IPD) may impact projects in the ME. In this context, the study identifies features in IPD and existing delivery methods that may enable or inhibit collaboration and evaluates their impact on project success from the perspective of various contract managers in the ME. Design/methodology/approach The study employs structured face-to-face interviews with 41 construction industry practitioners in top contract management positions in the ME to evaluate the significance of collaboration features in IPD. Data collected from the structured interviews/surveys were analyzed using statistical tools in R and Excel. Findings Results reveal that while experts recognize the collaboration benefits which IPD features may contribute to a project, the current contractual environment of the industry does not optimally encompass these features. The current status of project delivery does not favor IPD implementation nor does it enable its collaborative features. Originality/value This study contributes to the growing international body of knowledge addressing the application of collaborative contracts in construction projects, and it is innovative in evaluating collaboration features within IPD and exiting project deliveries in the ME.

No abstract

Purpose In a public-private partnership (PPP), the private sector is represented by a company termed the special purpose vehicle (SPV), which combines different stakeholders including designers, contractors and service providers under one umbrella. Correct SPV team selection is critical to ensure PPP success as the SPV must act as an integrated entity. In fact, unless the SPV takes an active role in developing trust and promoting integration principles, segmentation of interests, highly adversarial atmospheres, loss of value and economic inefficiency will prevail. Absence of awareness of such principles among stakeholders and the scarcity of literature investigating SPV stakeholder integration create great risks that jeopardize project success. Accordingly, to mitigate the aforementioned risks and provide stakeholders with both the knowledge and the tools to instigate and maintain integration, this paper aims to develop and test a framework to measure SPV stakeholder integration, inspired by the correlation between integrated project delivery (IPD) and SPV operations. Design/methodology/approach Following a design science research approach, a structured review is conducted to develop the SPV integration metrics and framework. The framework is then validated through face validation by a panel of industry and academic experts to assess its applicability in measuring SPV integration. Finally, the framework is tested on a well-recognized international PPP project to measure the SPV integration level, and the outcomes are discussed and analyzed. Findings The framework was able to assess the integration level of the studied SPV highlighting several areas of low-integration settings and providing guidance for achieving better integration. Originality/value This research is the first that develops a model to investigate the SPV’s integration level, from a holistic IPD perspective, to enable successful relationship management and enhance collaboration success. This study inspires practical recommendations for PPP practitioners to reduce the risks of segregated SPVs and their contribution to PPP failure.

The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is the party representing the private sector in a Public Private Partnership (PPP), and combines a number of stakeholders including equity shareholders, designers, contractors, and service providers under one umbrella. Consequently, the key to ensuring successful project delivery is achieving an efficient integration of the different SPV stakeholders involved, to deliver the project as a unified entity. However, the SPV's stakeholder management role is highly under-investigated in the literature, and no studies have attempted to explore SPV stakeholder integration. This highlights a significant need to do so, considering that the former is both a prerequisite and a driver of PPP project success. This research aims to address this need through generating a list of SPV characteristics that reflect stakeholder collaboration and developing Critical Success Factors (CSFs) to measure the level of SPV stakeholder integration, based on concepts projected from the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) system. The aforementioned factors relate to the project's organization structures, commercial frameworks, and operating systems and processes. This research is the first of its kind that aims to investigate the SPV's integration level, from a holistic IPD perspective, as an enabler of successful relationship management.

A Public Private Partnership (PPP) describes an arrangement between the public and the private sectors for providing a public asset or service. PPPs are characterized by their long-term nature, complex contractual agreements, and distinct risk allocation formulas, all which distinguish them from traditional procurement routes. Performance evaluation is a prerequisite of performance improvement and is vital to the realization of project success, particularly in PPP projects. In fact, the absence of an effective performance evaluation framework in PPPs serves as a trigger for generating below optimum service quality. Although several performance evaluation frameworks exist, they prove more suitable for traditional projects, which highlights the need to account for the unique features of PPPs. This paper first introduces the various perspectives, from the literature, used to classify project success and evaluate performance. The paper then addresses the aforementioned need by introducing a new framework for evaluating project success, using the lean concepts of transformation, flow, and value. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are suggested as part of the framework to serve as performance measures on PPP projects. The introduced lean framework is the first of its kind and fills the gap in PPP research by being one of the few performance evaluation tools customized for PPPs.