The Inter-Firm Coordination of the Construction Project Supply Chain

Eduardo L. Isatto1 & Carlos T. Formoso2

1Associate Lecturer at the Building Innovation Research Unit (NORIE) – Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) – Av. Osvaldo Aranha, 99/3rd floor, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-190, Brazil, Phone (+55) 51 3316- 3959, [email protected]
2Associate Professor at the Building Innovation Research Unit (NORIE) – Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) – Av. Osvaldo Aranha, 99/3rd floor, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-190, Brazil, Phone (+55) 51 3316- 3959, [email protected]

Abstract

The application of supply chain management to construction has been a challenging task. An important reason for that is the difference between the industrial context where it was originated and the construction industry. Although the literature suggests that the use of multiple theoretical approaches can provide a comprehensive description and understanding of construction supply chains, so far no framework has been offered for their joint use in practical situations. This paper aims to provide a multi-theoretical approach that can be used to comprehensively describe inter-organizational coordination of construction project supply chains. The use of three theoretical approaches is discussed: the Theory of Coordination (TC), the Transaction Costs Theory (TCT) and the Language/Action Perspective (LAP). A case study is presented to illustrate the joint use of these three theoretical approaches in a practical situation. The study shows that the three theoretical approaches are highly complementary and that their joint use provides a comprehensive view of how such construction project supply chains arise, develop and finally disband.

Keywords

Supply chain management, inter-firm coordination, project management.

Files

Reference

Isatto, E. L. & Formoso, C. T. 2006. The Inter-Firm Coordination of the Construction Project Supply Chain, 14th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , 293-308. doi.org/

Download: BibTeX | RIS Format