Title: The application of social network analysis to identify trust-based networks in construction

Authors: William Swan, Peter McDermott, Malik Khalfan

Addresses: Centre for Construction Innovation, CUBE Building, 113–115 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 6DW, UK. ' School of the Built Environment, Maxwell Building, University of Salford, The Crescent, Salford, M4 5WT, UK. ' Salford Centre for Research and Innovation, School of the Built Environment, Maxwell Building, University of Salford, The Crescent, Salford, M4 5WT, UK

Abstract: The role of trust has been identified as a central influencer on the performance of project teams in both research and policy contexts, to an extent that it is almost taken for granted. However, actually identifying where trust exists and how it impacts project performance is less common. The partnering literature considers trust important, yet it struggles to deal with a portmanteau concept such as trust, which includes many different inter-related concepts. A two-year trust study of trust in the construction sector, The Trust in Construction Project, looked to identify where trust existed in different relationships and how this impacted specific project performance. The application of Social Network Analysis (SNA) in construction project teams has been undertaken, however the consideration of trust to the structure of project relationships gives a different structure than one might see when analysing contractual or quantitative flows of information. This was supported by case study analysis to inform the quantitative data.

Keywords: social network analysis; SNA; trust; construction industry; communication; social networks; project teams; supply chain management; SCM; partnering.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2007.015720

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2007 Vol.4 No.4, pp.369 - 382

Published online: 10 Nov 2007 *

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