Addressing the Challenges Associated with Construction Partnering Projects: Leadership of a Cultural Change

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the use of partnering in construction. Since partnering is seen as changing behaviours and attitudes, cultural transformation cannot be forgotten in the process. Much of the literature tends to presume that cultural alignment is a prerequisite for partnering. Furthermore, the existing research fails to adequately address the complex relationship between individual or group behaviour and organisational culture which, nevertheless lies at the heart of many prescriptions for improving collaboration within the industry. This paper initially reviews the benefits, critical success factors and major cultural and behavioural challenges in construction partnering projects. Many commentators place considerable emphasis upon the importance of changing attitudes and cultural transformation to address various challenges in construction partnering. Together with the understanding of current state of culture, management has the most significant role to play in the transformation of attitudes. As such, paper explores the leadership perspective of cultural transformation in construction partnering.