Measuring the networking performance for contractors in practicing construction management

The construction industry is recognized as being project-based and is fragmented in nature. Problems such as poor communication, mistrust, lack of cohesion, and adversarial relationships among project stakeholders are often found in construction projects. Previous studies have explored the formation of successful interfirm networks in construction and investigated how to solve the aforementioned problems by means of a networking approach. It is therefore important to gain a clearer understanding of whether such a built network is effective and can contribute to construction management. Investigation of parameters for measuring the performance of interfirm networks has attracted the interest of many researchers and practitioners in industry and business fields. However, seldom has similar research been conducted in the field of construction management. This paper presents key parameters for measuring networking performance within the construction context. Five parameters are applied in the formation of the measurement model, including information exchange between project members, project communication system, knowledge-sharing for collaboration, corporate culture for promoting networking, and learning capability in intra- and inter-organizational settings. The empirical results of this study enable contractors to realize what items determine the performance of interfirm networks, and what aspects of construction management practices should be emphasized to improve the networking performance effectively. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.