| Continuous improvement of construction project management performance has always been the ultimate goal pursued by project management researchers and practitioners.With the advancement of the research,scholars generally believe that relational governance is an effective mechanism to improve project management performance.Its mechanism lies in the flexibility of operation,which can greatly improve the efficiency of project execution and reduce transaction costs.The positive role of relational governance is fully reflected in the management practice of some projects,and it is consistent with the theoretical presupposition;However,in some projects,the positive role of relational governance has not appeared,and even the phenomenon that relational governance is detrimental to project management performance has appeared.That is to say,there is a "relational governance dilemma" in project management practice--relational governance can not always play a positive governance effect and can not always improve project management performance.The existence of relational governance dilemma implies the deficiency of existing research.With the aid of bibliometric analysis on relational governance research,it is found that the existing studies imply the premise that the elements of relational governance play an independent role when demonstrating the relationship between relational governance and project management performance,and fail to define the types of elements included in relational governance,thus ignoring the interaction between these elements and their joint effects on project management performance.Therefore,the existing researches are limited in the depth of discussion on the role of relational governance,the reliability of research results and the contribution to management practice.The purpose of this study is to analyze the causes of relational governance dilemma and explore its formation mechanism.On this basis,the governance path of relational governance dilemma is revealed,so as to continuously improve project management performance.To this end,this study has carried out the following work:First of all,the domestic and foreign research on relational governance dilemma is reviewed,and it is found that the existing research is not clear how the relational governance dilemma exists and how to deal with it.So,this paper systematically combs the theoretical root of relational governance dilemma-relational governance.With the aid of bibliometric analysis,this study reveal the research status of relational governance in all directions.On this basis,the elements of relational governance are condensed and summarized into three types: relational norms,relational behaviors and relational situations,and the core elements of each type are defined.Then,the existing binary research framework of "relational norm-project management performance" is expanded in two directions.And the research framework of "relational situation-relational norm-relational behavior-project management performance" is established.Based on the relevant viewpoints of transaction cost economics,this paper introduces the category variable of project control right allocation,investigates its regulation on the research framework,and refines the theoretical model of this study.Secondly,test the theoretical model to reveal the formation mechanism of relational governance dilemma.Based on the valid sample data from 282 participants from construction projects,the theoretical model of this study is tested empirically by Smart PLS 3.0 software.And this can preliminary reveal the formation mechanism of relational governance dilemma.On this basis,using the system dynamics method and Vensim PLE 8.2.1 software,this study discusses the dynamic response and internal relationship of relational situation(asymmetric dependence),relational norms(trust and communication),relational behavior(coordination)and project management performance,so as to reveal the formation mechanism of relational governance dilemma in depth.Based on this,the following conclusions are drawn: relational norms(trust and communication)positively affect project management performance;relational behavior(coordination)positively affects project management performance;relational norms and relational behavior dynamically affect project management performance;asymmetric dependence of situational factors is an important incentive for relational governance dilemma;and the regulatiuon of project control right allocation on theoretical model is not significant.Finally,this study integrats the results of SEM quantitative analysis of structural equation model and simulation of system dynamics,and the formation mechanism of relational governance dilemma is revealed from the internal relationship between asymmetric dependence(relational situation),trust and communication(relational norms),coordination(relational behavior)and project management performance.Based on this,the governance path of relational governance dilemma is given from the following four aspects:(1)to avoid establishmenting the relationship with asymmetric dependence,preventing it from hindering the positive effects of relational governance;(2)to enhance trust level between owners and contractors in EPC,PPP and other projects,stabilizing the path of improving project management performance;(3)To improve project communication mechanism and strengthen communication between owners and contractors;(4)To improve project coordination mechanism and enhance coordination efficiency between owners and contractors.The innovative work of this study is mainly manifested in the following two aspects:Firstly,this research synthesizes the existing research on relational governance by using the methods of bibliometric analysis,and constructs the research framework of "relational situation-relational norm-relational behavior-project management performance".Based on dilemma of relational governance in the field of construction project management,this study analyzes the research status and research gap of relational governance dilemma,and integrates the core content of relational governance research with the aid of bibliometric analysis.In this way,it is subdivided into three types: relational norm,relational behavior and relational situation,which fills the shortcomings of existing studies focusing on relational norm analysis and expands the research scope and level of relational governance theory.The existing binary research framework of "relational norm-project management performance" is extended in two directions,and the research framework of "relational situationrelational norm-relational behavior-project management performance" is established.In addition,by incorporating the allocation of control rights of category variables into the analysis system of this study and combing the relationship between variables,several mediation models under the regulation of control rights allocation are constructed,which provides a detailed theoretical scheme for interpreting relational governance dilemma from the formation mechanism level.Therefore,this study can promote the sustainable development of related research on relational governance,and this study is innovative in theory.Secondly,this study designed a comprehensive research model of "demonstration+simulation",which deeply revealed the formation mechanism of relational governance dilemma and put forward the governance path for this dilemma.Empirical research is more suitable for analyzing the horizontal relationship between variables at a certain time point,but it is difficult to dynamically show the changing process among variables.So,empirical research on the formation mechanism of relational governance dilemma is bound to be limited.On the basis of the empirical analysis,this study constructs a project management system under the paradigm of relational governance from the perspective of system modeling,and makes a systematic simulation demonstration of the formation mechanism of relational governance dilemma,thus realizing an in-depth interpretation of this dilemma.Therefore,the comprehensive research mode of "empirical analysis + system simulation" in this study can better complement and compare the results of empirical analysis with the results of system simulation,and improve the stability of research conclusions,and strengthen the persuasiveness and credibility of research conclusions.Therefore,this study makes the research of relational governance progress from static analysis to dynamic disclosure,and the comprehensive research mode of "demonstration+simulation" is also innovative in research scheme design. |
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