Collaborative identity in project alliances: improving collaboration through collaborative identity formation

Abstract

As a result of the high failure costs and many project delays in the construction industry, collaborative contracts emerged in an attempt to improve project performance. The project alliance was one of them. This integrative way of working requires a focus on the human aspects, because people from different organisational cultures are brought together, but this is not the case in practice. One of these human aspects is the formation of a collaborative identity.A collaborative identity refers to the collaborative values and working practices that form the organisational self-image and differentiates the organisations from others. It provides a feeling of belonging for each individual within the project alliance. The collaborative values and working practices that are required to build a collaborative identity are unknown, and therefore this research answers the question "How can collaboration within a project alliance be improved through a focus on the formation of collaborative identity?". The research is performed by means of a literature study as well as a Delphi study with two participating project alliances. The main outcome of the research was that forming a collaborative identity requires a different combination of working practices and collaborative values, that were defined during this research, for different project alliances.