Public private partnerships and value creation: the role of relationship dynamics

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate on what is value and value creation in Public–private partnerships (PPPs)? How coordination and trust among project partners is created in PPPs? In which way coordination and trust among project partners are related to organizational governance and success? How risk management is related to the success or failure of PPP project implementation? How organizational attributes can influence the PPP project implementation? Design/methodology/approach – This study was conducted using qualitative research method. In all, 3 Indian PPPs were selected in the first phase, and then, 26 respondents were randomly chosen from the selected PPPs. One-to-one personal discussion was conducted with each respondents using predetermined set of questions. The responses were transcribed, and similar ideas were clustered together across the thematic research questions and themes. Subsequently, interlinking of themes and ideas was done through inductive reasoning and represented in the form of a causal relationship. Findings – The study found that the importance of trust and confidence among project partners; organizational attributes (system, structure and style, process) of partner organizations; and the risk reduction and control in the PPP project company have influenced the relationship dynamics among project partners. Originality/value – This study encourages future researchers to empirically test the possibility of existence of mediating and moderating effects in the link between value creation and contract management in PPPs. A structural framework was derived, which is expected to provide momentum for theoretical exploration and empirical verification.