In recent times, government led consortium strategies for collaborative procurement of major capital projects in the Further Education (FE) sector have been heralded as a vehicle to obtain best value and improve levels of quality. Yet there is still evidence of low levels of client satisfaction, owing mostly to poor cost and time predictability. The study aim explores the extent to which trust is a necessary part of this process and a viable tool in collaboratively procuring more successful UK Further Education projects. It gives greater understanding of how trust building mechanisms and initiatives can be designed and implemented for improving project outcomes. A review of literature identifies a framework for measuring the extent of trust building mechanisms under three group categories namely motivational, ethical, and organisational initiatives as the independent variables (IVs). The degree of trust is measured through established trust-related attributes and behaviours as the dependent variable (DV). A mixed method approach of quantitative and qualitative methodologies is adopted, with the former using survey questionnaires and subjecting data to correlation analysis. The quantitative survey was administered electronically with 41 responses to the pilot and 79 replies received for the main study. The research population is restricted to those contracting, consulting and client organisations that have had experience of collaboratively procured Further Educational projects. The qualitative approach consists of eight semi-structured interviews where raw data is coded using content analysis and sorted into themes from transcribed recording for analysis. Study findings provide an insight as to why organisations may feel vulnerable about vesting trust in their partners and these include scepticism of realisable benefits, opportunism and inequitable working relationships. Potential trust building measures to overcome such dilemmas are presented such as, professional development, senior management commitment and team workshops. Furthermore, quantitative study findings have determined that there is a correlation of 0.87 between these trust building mechanisms/initiatives (IVs) and the degree of trust in collaborative working (DV) suggesting a very strong influence with p≤0.05. Future research is recommended to further explore how certain trust building initiatives linked to co-location, integrated project insurance and risk workshops can be designed and implemented in developing a framework for increasing trust in partnering strategies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:687618 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Challender, Jason |
| Publisher | University of Bolton |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://ubir.bolton.ac.uk/906/ |
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