International Journal of Managing Projects in Business

Purpose – Recent work on public private partnerships (PPP)/private finance initiatives (PFI) and on the construction industry has emphasised the importance of knowledge transfer, learning and innovation to improve the working processes and procedures of the industry. However, until recently all three have been researched separately. It is on this basis the research presents a theoretical proposition that “the integration of alliance principles through the formation of collaborative network; innovation, knowledge transfer and organisational learning can be enabled where there is coordination, cohesion, commitment, teamwork, clear vision, monitoring and governance structure for control, risks/reward sharing, efficient and effective communication strategy, learning and knowledge transfer strategy”.

Design/methodology/approach – The theory of social capital, social networks and inter-organisational network was applied based on a network perspective to explain and aid specific attributes of PPP and PFI as a collaborative network to achieve the research objective. A case study research methodology was adopted to investigate the theoretical proposition.

Findings – The findings of this research illustrates that collaborative relationship is a crucial factor in contractual arrangements to enable cost savings, time savings and project quality. In addition, the challenges clients and contractors encounter in integrating innovation are as a result of project scope, project duration, affordability and project procurement strategy. Furthermore, the difficulties of knowledge transfer and learning is as a result of the disconnection between the team that closes the PFI deal and the team that implements the contract.

Originality/value – The paper suggests a network perspective to improve work relationships that helps to achieve predetermined common goals and to enhance project performance.