Factors Influencing Power and Dependence for Collaboration among Construction Project Participants

Abstract

Collaboration among project participants, specifically between main contractor and subcontractor, is an essential element for efficient project delivery. Observation from the literature suggests that the recent discourse in collaboration is focused on relational attributes. Nonetheless, the exchanges between project participants are highly transactional, and collaboration in construction projects is marred by constraints, i.e., regionalism, opportunism, breach of trust, lack of commitment, and reliability. However, the two key constructs of power and dependence are not explored in the context of collaboration in the construction sector, specifically in the context of the main contractor and subcontractor. Therefore, this study aims to explore the power and dependence in the context of collaboration between subcontractor and main contractor. The study applies a systematic process to review the literature to accomplish this research aim. The finding reveals that the power dynamics between the main contractor and subcontractor can be defined through the bargaining capacity of the parties and is influenced by the clarity of its procurement decisions, state of competition, and number of competitors available in the market. The dependence of the main contractor over subcontractor (or vice versa) is characterized by the commercial importance of the product traded and reputation of the actor.