The antecedents of co-operative behaviour among project team members: an alternative perspective on an old issue

Poor project performance is generally attributed to a lack of co-operation between project participants. Much work is directed towards understanding the structural and organizational antecedents of co-operation, but little in understanding how socio-psychological factors affect individual co-operative behaviour. Using social identity theory, this study attempts to fill this research gap by arguing that individuals define their self-concepts through the organizations with which they identify and that these identity-based forces are the basis for the development of co-operative behaviour. Empirical findings using responses from 398 senior executives of construction firms substantiate this argument, as individuals with strong organizational identity are indeed more psychologically predisposed to behave co-operatively. There are grounds to propose that organizational identity should be used in conjunction with other tangible economic incentives as effective mechanisms for improving individual co-operation. Therefore, rigorous attempts by construction firms to foster such identity may prove fruitful to overall project performance. Further research is needed to explore how it may impact on other important aspects of co-operation such as decision making and problem solving processes within the construction industry.