Speeding up decision-making in project environment: The effects of decision makers' collaboration network dynamics

Faced with continuously changing project environments, organizations need to not only make the right decisions but also make decisions in a timely manner. This study investigates the determinants of timely decision-making from the perspective of collaboration network dynamics. From the archival data recordings of the decision-making meetings of Program N, a national water transfer program, the meeting-based collaboration relationships of the decision makers were identified. Cox regression was employed to explore the effects of collaboration network dynamics on the time needed to reach a decision. The results suggest that stronger previous collaboration relationships and more centralized social capital distribution in decisions groups contribute to more timely decision-making. These findings substantiate social network theories in a real-world collaborative decision-making setting and reveal the facilitators of timely project decisions. The practical implication for project decision management is that the recruitment of a decision-making group should be based on not only the decision makers' technical expertise but also their collaboration network dynamics.