E. Sambo¹, E.U. Obijuru², A.A. Kifordu^3,, N.O. Emelike⁴

This study was prompted by the desire to assess the relationship among partnering, trust and organizational efficiency in selected construction firms in North-East, Nigeria. It sought to:(i) ascertain the nature of the effect of partnering on organizational productivity in selected construction firms in North East, Nigeria; (ii) ascertain the extent of the relationship between partnering and trust in the selected construction firms in North East, Nigeria. The population of the study was 1662 staff of the selected construction firms in North East Nigeria. The sample size of 553 was obtained using freund and William formula. Proportionate Stratified sampling technique was used to select respondents in each of the construction industry. Data were collected using content validated questionnaire. The reliability was test using a test retest method and Cronbach’s alpha was adopted, giving a coefficient of 0.94, indicating a high degree of items consistency. It was found that Partnering had a positive effect on organizational productivity in selected construction firms in North East, Nigeria (r = 0.772, p < 0.05); Partnering had a significant positive relationship with trust in selected construction firms in North East, Nigeria. (r = 0.948, p < 0.05). Based on the findings the study concluded that trust is simply indispensable for long term strategic relationships like partnering; however, successful partnering in contracting firms has certain pre-requisites that must be fulfilled before implementing the concept. Based on the conclusion, the study recommends that Management should continually and continuously design effective partnering that will achieve organizational productivity. This will ensure that these organisations are equipped with the requisite rules and regulation of Agreement. Trust should be targeted to ensure that it is focused on achieving organizational profitability; The Partnering Agreement of construction firms should be focused to enhance organizational market share and appropriate partnering that suit the uniqueness of the organization should be adopted, to ensure that growth is achieved.

relationship, partnering, trust, organization and firms