Abstract
Interface management (IM) has been viewed as an emerging strategy for improving communication in construction projects. The implementation of IM involves boundary-spanning roles across organizations. However, previous studies shed little light on how boundary spanners and IM practices facilitate inter-organizational communication in construction projects. Built on boundary-spanning theory, this paper aims to empirically investigate the relationships between different IM practices and boundary-spanning roles, and their impacts on inter-organizational communication effectiveness in construction project networks. Using data from eight large-scale construction projects in Ningxia that are managed by the same owner, a social network analysis was performed to examine the structural characteristics of inter-organizational communication networks. Results show that both boundary-spanning roles and IM practices have positive effects on inter-organizational communication effectiveness. These findings provide insights for developing strategies to improve inter-organizational communication.
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Acknowledgement
This research is supported by The Foundation Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant Nos. 2021RCW103), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2020M680333 and 2021T140047), Beijing Jiaotong University Training Program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduates (Grant Nos. 210140068).
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Wu, L., Weng, Y., Shen, W., Tang, W. (2022). Effects of Boundary-Spanning Roles and Interface Management Practices on Inter-organizational Communication in Construction Projects: Perspective of the Owner. In: Guo, H., Fang, D., Lu, W., Peng, Y. (eds) Proceedings of the 26th International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate. CRIOCM 2021. Lecture Notes in Operations Research. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5256-2_29
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