Validation of a team integration assessment tool in road infrastructure alliance projects

Continuous and consistent integration practice within alliance teams is the key to breakthrough outcomes in alliance projects. However, there are currently no systematic approaches for measuring the integration practice in alliance projects. This paper presents the Alliance Team Integration Performance Index (ATIPI), developed to measure the current state of the team integration performance. With the aid of a panel of alliance experts, the key indicators (KIs), the quantitative measures (QMs) and the range of performance levels are identified for inclusion in the ATIPI. The ATIPI is then developed in a spreadsheet format, thereby providing a systematic way of measuring the performance. Whether the ATIPI is valid, and performs its intended function for use by industry, relies on the process of validation with the alliance practitioners. Consequently, 13 alliance practitioners participated in an interview to validate the ATIPI based on six validation aspects. The findings indicate that the ATIPI is a simple and user-friendly assessment tool that enables alliance teams to self-diagnose the their team integration performance over time. In addition, based on the lessons learned from the experts' interview feedback, further work could enhance the utilization of the tool to manage different project alliance teams consistently and objectively.