Searching for trust in the UK construction industry: An interim view

The pursuit of harmony and profit in the UK construction industry has seen firms eschewing traditional competitive behaviour in favour of some forms of co-operative behaviour. Partnering, as advocated, is the institutional form that co-operative behaviour is taking. The relationship between the adoption of Partnering and the creation of harmonious relationships is not yet clear. The Partnering literature does refer frequently to trust as being the foundation of partnering. However, there is no clear conceptual view of what is meant by trust. This paper reports on a pilot study of trust in the UK construction industry: interviews were conducted with five senior managers from differing kinds of firms in the industry. These managers were found to look beyond narrow self-interest, to a concern with establishing relationships which earn a profit, yes, but which produce higher returns for all if their adversarial nature can be changed. There is a clear desire to move beyond narrow self-interest to a philosophy of partnering and co-operation to gain those higher returns by lowering transactions cost and reducing conflict. However, these respondents were as concerned that the processes of the relationship were fair, open and honest as with outcomes, that is, they were as concerned about procedural justice as about distributive justice. From this they are able to offer a clear agenda for further progress in developing co-operative partnering. The pilot study has produced a clear agenda for a larger acid more comprehensive study within the UK construction industry.