The role of social ties in collaborative project networks: A tale of two construction cases

Figures & data

Table 1. Case comparison.

	Case Bilateral	Case Multiparty
Length	9.5 years (estimated)	6.5 years (estimated)
Monetary value	475 million €	390 million €
Contract type	ECI, Bilateral (client-contractor)	Alliance, Multi-party (client-contractor-design engineer)
Research methods	Interviews, document analysis, observation	Interviews, document analysis, observation

Table 2. Method of data collection.

	Case Bilateral	Case Multiparty
Interviews	20 interviews	21 interviews
Interview lengths	45 min − 1.5 h	45 min − 3 h
Roles interviewed	client (8), contractor (8), design engineer/subcontractor (4)	client (5), design engineer (7), contractor/subcontractor (9)
Observations	Observations of meetings and big room activities (2 days)	Observations of meetings and big room activities (4 days)
Documents	Organization charts, news articles	Organization charts, news articles, internal project surveys

Table 3. Respondents Bilateral.

Nr.	Work role	Actor affiliation
1	Block manager	contractor
2	Block manager	contractor, client
4	Design coordinator	client, contractor, design engineer
1	Design coordinator	contractor, design engineer
2	Line Manager	contractor, client
3	Line Manager	contractor, client
1	Collaboration coordinator	client
2	Project manager	contractor, client
3	Specialist	contractor, client

Table 4. Respondents Multiparty.

	Work role	Actor affiliation
2	Block manager	contractor
1	Collaboration manager	design engineer
3	Design coordinator	design engineer
3	Line Manager	contractor, client
1	Line Manager	contractor
1	Project manager	client
1	Project manager	contractor
8	Specialist	contractor, client, design engineer
1	Specialist	design engineer

Figure 1. Fruchterman-Reingold visualization of the project network in case Bilateral.

Figure 2. Fruchterman-Reingold visualization of the project network in case Multiparty. In order to ensure readability, tables and figures are provided as separate files.

Table 5. Empirical findings.

	Relationship	State ties: contract	State ties: relationship	Event ties
Bilateral Phase 1	client – contractor	Bilateral contract – ECI	Close – Negative Informal ties; different expectations/perceptions	Meetings; e-mail; project office
	contractor – design engineer/subcontractor	Bilateral contract	Close – Positive informal ties	Meetings; e-mail
	design engineer – client	none	Few to no informal ties – go via contractor	Meetings; e-mail; project office; communication platform
Bilateral phase 2	client – contractor	Bilateral – ECI	Close – Negative to neutral Informal ties; change towards a traditional project relationship	Meetings; e-mail; project office
	contractor – design engineer/subcontractor	Bilateral contract	Close – Positive informal ties	Meetings; e-mail
	design engineer – client	none	Few to no informal ties – go via contractor	Meetings; e-mail; project office; communication platform
Multiparty phase 1	client – design engineer – contractor	Alliance	Positive informal ties (exclusion of the contractor delayed the formation of a social network and the bonds necessary for knowledge development, trust-building and resource sharing	Meetings; e-mail; project office; communication platform
Multiparty phase 2	client – design engineer – contractor	Alliance	Positive informal ties – some differences in expectations between contractor and design engineering firms.	Meetings; e-mail; project office; communication platform