Dive Brief:

• Dan McQuade, group president of construction services for construction giant AECOM, described what he considers three emerging trends for collaboration as the industry faces megaprojects that are "bigger and more complicated than they've ever been."
• Those three trends include: global collaboration, investing capital with clients as partners, and better collaboration with vendors and manufacturers.
• McQuade said AECOM's ability to capitalize on those trends has contributed to the company's success coming out of the recession.

Dive Insight:

"An evolving industry calls for greater collaboration," McQuade said during the Dodge Executive Outlook Conference Friday.

Growth in international collaboration has been the result of globalization of projects between companies from various countries, McQuade noted. Vendors and manufacturers are also getting involved in projects much earlier, often during the design stage. Integrated Project Delivery, for example, has emerged as a popular delivery method, as it encourages a holistic evaluation of problems, more collaboration, and a faster timeline for construction. However, it has been met with resistance from some who claim it forces working relationships and blurs the lines of responsibility.

Collaboration between owners and contractors has been touted as a goal most industry stakeholders can agree on, but also a difficult one to achieve.

Earlier this year, KPMG released a report that found at least one project failed or underperformed last year for more than 60% of organizations that spent $10 million or more on capital construction projects. One solution owners shared with KPMG involved making an effort to improve the relationship between project owners and their contractors. 82% of those in the survey predicted greater collaboration within five years. That effort is more difficult, however, due to the owners' lack of trust in their contractors. In fact, another 82% cited "poor contractor performance" as the biggest reason for project underperformance.

McQuade said he believes, though, that improved collaboration is possible between all parties on a construction project. "You get a better project that way," he said.