The Effect Of Contract On Inter-organizational Relationship Quality In The Construction Project

The inter-organizational relationship in construction projects promotes the transaction and cooperation smoothly,and it has attracted the attention of scholars and managers in the construction industry.However,existing research lacks a systematic explanation for the differences in the inter-organizational relationship quality,lacks clear guidance on how to maintain a good relationship between the two parties in terms of governance and behavioral paths,and ignores the key role of organizational culture in the contract execution.This study focuses on contract,inter-organizational relationship,and organizational culture in the construction project.Based on the logic from regulatory focus theory and social exchange theory and the conclusions from the related research,this study constructs a theoretical framework that includes contractual complexity,organizational culture,relational behavior,inter-organizational task conflict,and inter-organizational relationship quality,which characterizes the paths to achieve good inter-organizational relationships.Based on an integrated method of decision-making trail and evaluation laboratory(DEMATEL)and interpretive structural modelling(ISM),which is improved by the entropy method,this study obtains the multi-level factor hierarchical structure model impacting relationship quality.Namely,contractual complexity and organizational culture can jointly affect relational behavior or task conflict,which in turn affects relationship quality.Through validating the empirical data collected by the questionnaire survey,this study reveals that contractual coordination only influences relational behavior by stimulating prevention focus,whereas contractual control or adaptation can directly impact relational behavior and affect relational behavior through the mediating role of prevention focus or promotion focus.Different types of organizational culture play different moderating effects in the process of stimulating regulatory focus.This study finds that organizations with high group culture have a strong driving force for the formation of regulatory focus,while the average level of development culture,clan culture,or rational culture is negatively related to prevention focus or promotion focus.Moreover,only the U-shaped relationship between contractual coordination and task conflict is verified and this study confirms the spillover effect of organizational culture of one party on inter-organizational task conflict: group culture suppresses task conflict,development culture or rational culture enhances task conflict.Furthermore,asymmetric dependency has a moderating effect on the relationship between different types of organizational culture and task conflict.Finally,according to the empirical data verifying the interactive effects of relational behavior and task conflict on relationship quality,an interactive-effect model of task conflict,relational behavior of both parties,and project delay on inter-organizational relationship quality is constructed.The fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis(fs QCA)method is used to systematically analyze the different antecedent configurations and driving mechanisms of relationship quality.This study concludes that the common feature which drives high relationship quality is that three dimensions of relational behavior from both parties are at the same level or relational behavior of the counterparty is more in line with the expectations of both parties.The conclusions of this study expand the integration and application of existing research on contractual governance and relational governance in the context of construction project management,explain the motivation of relational behavior in the transaction at the inter-organizational level from the perspective of social psychologic,confirm the spillover effect of organizational culture of one party at the interorganizational level on relational behavior and task conflict,establish a driving mechanism for relationship quality in which relational behavior of both parties and task conflict interact with each other in the transaction from the perspective of complex systems,and provide construction practitioners with advice and references on how to develop the inter-organizational relationship and allocate resources appropriately.