Relationship Management in Construction Projects: Systematic Literature Review

Abstract Rivalry competitiveness, significant capital investments, and cultural diversity are defining the construction industry’s evolving nature. Therefore, construction organizations have to manage their construction projects’ relationships carefully. Construction management researchers have progressively recognized the intelligible link between Relationship Management and construction project performance. However, few studies structurally reviewed the precipitated progression in this topic. This paper follows a systematic approach to review the literature from reliable databases and prominent journals between 2000–2020 in topics associated with Relationship Management in construction projects. This investigation sets to identify the key characteristics, categorial dimensions, attributes, or enablers of relationship management in construction. More than 500 articles were explored in this systematic review by thorough keyword research, out of which 73 articles were found relevant to this topic where an explicit content analysis was carried out. The findings identified 18 key Relationship Management characteristics classified into four categories: Contract-related, Management-related, Team-related, and General characteristics. Project Managers are recommended to pay specific attention on investigated characteristics to strengthen relationships, promote collaboration, and thereby foster project performance.