Partnering on construction projects: a study of the relationship between partnering activities and project success

Project partnering has generated considerable attention in the construction industry as a means for transforming hostile, adversarial owner-contractor relationships into a more collaborative, productive team. Empirical support for partnering, however, is limited. The present study used mailed questionnaire data to examine the relationship between specific partnering related activities and project success for 291 construction projects. All of the major partnering activities were found to be positively related to at least one of the measures of project success. The findings suggest that a comprehensive approach be applied to partnering on construction projects and that top management support for teamwork across organizations is critical to success