Towards a social network theory of project governance

Abstract

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,

Assessing Coordination Performance Based on Centrality in an E-mail Communication Network

“…Social network analysis emphasizes the relational measures among the parties represented in a graph or sociogram. The concept was introduced by Moreno (1960) and has recently been utilized in the engineering and construction field (Loosemore 1998;Pryke 2004Pryke , 2005Pryke and Pearson 2006;Chinowsky 2008Chinowsky , 2010aHossain 2009;Park et al 2011).…”

“…It is primarily focused on issues of information exchange (Loosemore 1998), project governance (Pryke and Pearson 2006), coalitions (Pryke 2004), procurement (Pryke 2005), knowledge sharing to achieve high performance (Chinowsky et al 2008(Chinowsky et al , 2010a, and collaboration strategies for overseas construction projects (Park et al 2011). Furthermore, hybrid approaches suggest connecting social network analysis with building information modeling (Taylor and Bernstein 2009).…”

“…Project success has been found to be very sensitive to the effectiveness of information links in the network (Loosemore 1998). Research focusing on relational analysis in construction management has recently utilized social network analysis for identifying the structural properties of various relations (Loosemore 1998;Pryke 2004Pryke , 2005Pryke and Pearson 2006;Chinowsky et al 2008Chinowsky et al , 2010aHossain 2009;Park et al 2011). A good example is the work of Chinowsky et al (2010b), which assesses project effectives by identifying project network misalignments.…”

The social life of the novel idea: what did social psychologists ever do for us?

“…More recently, design has been explored theoretically as a social and collaborative process too, notably in Pryke's (2004;2005) mapping of social networks in construction projects and in Bucciarelli's (1994) description of design as a social process of interaction and negotiation. Further, it is considered as aspects of Cross's design thinking (2011) and in the outcomes of the recent Design Thinking Research Symposia (DTRS).…”

Coordination Process and Network Centrality in ISGI Airport's Wayfinding Project

“…Studies primarily focused on SNA for issues of information exchange (Loosemore,1998) recognizing knowledge sharing to achieve high-performance teams (Chinowsky et al 2008), and investigating high-performance teams both from the perspective of traditional project management and social networks (Chinowsky et al 2010). Pryke conducted a series of SNA research focusing on project coalition, project governance and project procurement (Pryke, 2004;2005;2006). Recently, hybrid approaches suggested connecting social network theory with building information modeling (BIM) practice (Taylor and Bernstein, 2009).…”