Trust factor in construction alliances

In any strategic alliance, there are cooperation and competition aspects between the parties involved. The propensity to pursue vigorously either of them depends on the confidence each party has that the partner(s) will not act opportunistically. A study in Botswana was undertaken to determine the role of trust on the propensity to pursue the competition aspect of the alliance. Using structured interviews on five construction alliances, it was found that the firms tended to pursue the competition aspect when trust between the partners was low, but strengthened the cooperation aspect when trust was high. It was concluded that if construction alliances are to achieve their principal aims, then the partners need to nurture a high level of trust between themselves. A framework for doing this is proposed and tested on a case study.