Configuring Governance Mechanisms to Improve the Engineering Consulting Project Performance

Abstract

Extensive research has demonstrated the significance of project governance in enhancing project performance. However, previous studies have not dealt with the problem of governance mechanism design for engineering consulting (EC) with intangible outputs. Researchers have overlooked corporate governance and the coupling of project and corporate governance in improving project performance. This study identifies effective governance mechanisms for enhancing EC project performance through the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of survey data collected from Chinese EC professionals. It reveals multiple pathways to achieving high performance in EC projects, including: (1) relational governance matched with governance of project management (GoPM); (2) relational governance; and (3) a combination of contractual governance, relational governance, and GoPM. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on EC project governance with intangible outputs in three ways. First, this paper incorporates corporate governance into the framework of EC project governance, demonstrating that GoPM is the core element for enhancing EC project performance. Second, the improvement in EC project performance stems from the synergistic effect of project and corporate governance mechanisms. Moreover, the relational governance mechanism plays a more crucial role than the contractual governance mechanism in enhancing EC project performance.