Optimizing contact moments between the public and private organizations to create more value in DBFM infrastructure projects

Abstract

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are currently the desired project delivery method for big infrastructure projects in the Netherlands. PPPs contain a lot of contact moments between both organizations. Contractors encountered the problem that not all contact moments create public or private value, some might cause a loss of value. This thesis researched this phenomenon and looked for optimizations to these contact moments to create more (public and private) value. The thesis did so by doing a case study on three Dutch DBFM infrastructure cases. The thesis conducted interviews with high-ranked managers of both the clients and contractors of the three cases to gain insights from both sides. The results of the subsequent qualitative content analysis showed that contact moments can be optimized to create more value in three different ways. The first is by introducing so called 'collaboration programs'. This program contains deep and frequent meetings between both the public and private organization where discussions on personal matters and soft factors take place, as well as workshops on these topics. The second optimization is to improve the contact moment structure of DBFM projects. This can be done by: having daily informal contact moments and bi-weekly or monthly formal contact moments, have easy access to informal contact moments by being in the same or adjacent buildings, have frequent BOT-meetings, Project Start-Ups and Project Follow-Ups. The third optimization is to improve single contact moments. This can be done by doing good preparations, defining a goal and evaluate the contact moment at its end.