Answer

Introduction

Research Rationale

The construction industry is engulfed with disputes, mainly between the contractor, the owner, and the designer. Disputes in the sector result when the contracting parties have disagreements. The loss of productivity., delays, and cost overruns associated with disputes produce a devastating effect on the project implementation plan. Other than straining the relationships between contracting parties, the disputes affect the project objectives. Arbitration is a conflict resolution process that is mostly approved for construction project disputes (Simões, 2017). However, due to the associated bias, lack of promptness and adherence to set timeliness by the arbitrators and either parties, high associated costs, and the need to develop a shorter but effective resolution strategy cloud its current practice and create a need to avoid the tedious process in a bid to smoothen project implementation process. This research paper will therefore endeavor to design optimal and innovative strategies through which construction projects can be freed from arbitration procedures.

Objectives

The study objectives are:

To develop a process that can be suitable for long-term success by applying a risk management, prevention, probability, change management, mitigation and no Arbitration strategy.

Research Questions

What are the reasons for organizations and/or program/Project ending in Arbitration? What measures can be taken to prevent and organization and /or a project ending in Arbitration?

What are the full impacts of arbitration to an organization and/or a program/project? What is the percentage of program/Projects that plummet into arbitration?

Literature Review

Disputes in the construction industry are complex and their costs are resoundingly high. It is also marred with conflicts arising at various stages of project implementation. In order to resolve these conflicts, arbitration is preferred as an alternative dispute method instead of legal procedures. Arbitration can be described as a private dispute resolution method that takes a contractual form. Arbitration allows an arbitration panel or a third party selected by conflicting party to make determination of the disputes as guided by relevant legal principles, documents, and material facts.

As a conflict resolution process, arbitration has numerous advantages. One of its advantages is that it is private and any proceeding records are not availed to the public. The process is also considered fairly fast depending on the manner in which the proceedings are conducted (Marques, 2018). Thirdly, arbitration allows the disputing parties to agree on the expertise relevant to intervene on the matter although in some cases, the arbitrators are awarded through a court judgment.

Although arbitration has the outlined benefits, it is disadvantageous in that the cost of the proceedings venue and arbitrator fees is footed by the conflicting parties. Also, sometimes, the process is a simple mimic of the court proceedings which compromises on speed of delivery and the informality advantage. Besides, the process can be slowed down significantly by the limited sanction or compulsion powers be stored on the arbitrator in case any of the involved parties fails to follow recommended directives. The fourth disadvantage is that arbitrators are not allowed to take interim measures such as property preservation. Finally, arbitration leaves limited rights of appeal which implies that whatever decision is made is binding.

Based on these disadvantages which outweigh the merits, organizations/programs/Projects would function optimally is a strategy 8s available through which arbitration can be prevented. This study will reveal critical areas through which the goal can be achieved as guided by past literature and primary data gathered.

Theoretical Framework

Conflict management is centered around numerous theories. For this research, the traditional theory of conflict management, the contemporary theory of change management, and the game theory of arbitration and negotiation will be used to guide the study.

Research Methods

Research Design

This study will employ mixed research design. According to Schoonenboom and Johnson (2017), a mixed research design is where qualitative and quantitative methods are combined in data collection, inference techniques, and/or analysis. This study will employ a combination of qualitative and quantitative research. This combination enables the researcher to develop a comprehensive study which covers both the numerical and other aspects of arbitration prevention in project conflict resolution. Besides, mixed research design strengths the conclusions of the study

Research Context

The study will be conducted in Parsons Design and Program/Project Management Consultancy Company. The selection is appropriate because as a consulting company, Parson has exposure to a wide range of projects and consequently conflicts such as the 7 year costly  delay of the construction of thr royal commission of Saudi Arabia. The company  has approximately 130 workers who will be subjected to simple stratified random sampling. The samples population will be chosen from various departments within the company to ensure they are all fairly represented.

Procedure

The procedure commences with the preparation of interview questions and corresponding questionnaires to meet the research demands. The second stage is where the researcher reaches out to  participants and informs them of their privacy security, ethical requirements, and agrees in the most appropriate time to carry out the interviews or deliver the questionnaires. The third stage is the actual interview process. The researcher will meet participants for a face-to-face interview. Where interviewees are unavailable, the researcher will deliver a copy of the questionnaire to be filled within the specified time frame. Finally, the researcher will compile the interview/questionnaire results depending on the measurement scale and subject the content to statistical analysis.

Methods of data Collection

The main method of collecting information is the interviews. However, where the participants are incapacitated due to other engagements, questionnaires will be administered and picked on a later date as agreed. This combination will ensure that the respondents have adequate time to address the questions correctly and truthfully.

Methods of Data Analysis

Data analysis will be conducted using Microsoft excel, SPSS, and other statistical tools as deemed appropriate as per the researchers need and guidance from the supervisor.

Discussion

Significance of Proposed Study

The current study will inform on the strategies that can be adopted to ensure the organization does not plunge into the long and costly process of arbitration. Thus, these strategies can be borrowed by other companies to ensure construction projects run free or interruption from unresolvable arbitration processes.

Research Limitation

One of the limitations of this study relates to sample bias. The sample population is selected from the same organization which means that the information presented may not resound in other construction organizations. Selection of a single company for study is not a proper representation of the construction sector.

Secondly, there is limited research on the topic of interest hence insufficient literature that directly touches on prevention of arbitration. Most studies are focused on how to make arbitration process smooth and quick instead of how to keep them at bay.

Gantt Chart

Appendices

Arbitration

Arbitration is a conflict resolution process where instead of seeking legal resolution to their dispute, they engage the services of a neutral third parties with expertise in the construction industry. Construction disputes are intrinsic and complex. Thus, the involved parties and arbitration tribunal should be equipped with strong case management skills. Innate adaptability to the proceedings of the arbitration process should be engulfed by the parties instead of a standard approach to cases. This will ensure that proactive and continuous efforts are laid to achieve the most possible solution in form of cost and process efficiency.

Risk Management

Risk management can be defined as the process through which project risks are identified, evaluated, and prioritized then subjected to economical and directed resource allocation with the aim of monitoring, controlling, and minimizing their chance of occurrence or impact while maximizing realization of project objectives. Risks stem from project failure threats, market uncertainty, uncertain events, deliberate attacks, natural disasters, accidents, and credit and legal liabilities. Available risk management strategies include transfer of the effects of project risks to a third party, minimizing the probability of occurrence, absorbing part or the whole of actual or potential impacts, and threat avoidance.

Change Management

Change Management us the requisite support and preparation in organizational change processes. The phenomena equips organizations and programs with a structured approach through which individuals, project teams, and organizations can enact change of responsibilities, position, attitude, and approach. Construction projects push organizations through significant change phases where business operations are redefined during project brief preparation, business organizations are restructured, business location is changed, and new business practices are adopted. These changes are both traumatic and complicated and a professional management system is required to ensure smooth transition without altering achievement of business objectives or maintenance of organizational operations. Construction change, which mostly involves change of project scope impacts on its quality, cost, and time and its management comprises of approval and assessment of these impacts.

Commercial Awareness

Commercial Awareness is described as the understanding of company requirements to induce profitability, obtain success, and ensure customer needs are met. It entails knowledge of the organizations competitors, core values, current challenges in line of business, and key stakeholders. Commercial Awareness also equips an individual with information on the company strengths and weakness that guide their decision making process. Consequently, project disputes that compromise the successful implementation can be avoided.

Construction Law

The construction industry is a combination of various sectors such as engineering, architecture, and design among others. In a similar manner, construction law does not take a singular subset of specific law practice. Instead, it amalgamate various fields of law such as regulatory, insurance, environmental, employment, administrative, bankruptcy, real estate, finance, and contract law. Although the field is not specific to a given legal perspective, construction legal firms continue to accord assistance and counsel throughout the project process. The areas of focus can be broken down into pre-project, active project phase, and post-project legal enablement.

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