Assessing interdisciplinary collaboration in the detailed design phase of construction projects: applying practice-based inter-organisational theories

Managing collaboration among interdisciplinary teams in the detailed design phase of construction projects can be complex due to the involvement of multiple organisations. Previous studies have focused on identifying antecedents and outcomes of collaboration and overlooked the collaborative processes of project teams. Thus this practice-based study adopts an inter-organisational theoretical perspective and group interaction analysis to investigate interdisciplinary collaboration processes at a project level. A longitudinal multiple-case study framework was adopted to examine the similarities and differences between two cases, characterised by varying degrees of design complexity. The findings draw on the analysis of non-participant observations of 39 detailed design meetings of construction projects involving representatives of the client, architect consultancy, façade consultancy, main contractor, and subcontractor firms. Results show that successful collaboration patterns were achieved by giving detailed explanations followed by positive social reactions indicating a mutual understanding of technical problems. Collaboration inertia was detected by practices involving providing information followed by disagreements and signs of dissatisfaction, suggesting participants' reluctance to compromise when negotiating design decisions. This research presents a novel approach to design management studies by applying an inter-organisational theoretical lens to conceptualise interdisciplinary collaboration in construction projects.