Application of Dual Concern Theory in Elucidating Conflict Behavior in Infrastructure Public-Private Partnership Projects

Abstract

Conflict and its management are prevailing challenges in infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP) projects. In developing effective conflict management (CM) systems for PPPs, the consideration of behavior and attitudes of PPP project parties is valuable given their contribution to escalation and deescalation of conflict. In order to guide the incorporation of behavior and attitudes in the CM process for infrastructure PPPs, this paper examines how the behavioral patterns and corresponding CM styles proposed by the dual concern theory (DCT) relate to CM in infrastructure PPPs. Behavioral tendencies of PPP project parties in conflict situations are scrutinized based on their concern for their own and/or others’ outcome and subsequent inclination toward the five CM styles (integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising) depicted by the DCT. The results demonstrate, in some part, that there is sufficient connectivity to support the application of the DCT in CM of infrastructure PPPs. On that basis, a conceptual framework that incorporates behavioral aspects in CM for infrastructure PPPs has been developed. This framework fills a theoretical gap in existing knowledge regarding conflict and can be applied to develop strategies for constructively managing conflict in infrastructure PPP practice.