Managing discords, disputes and conflicts (DDC) in the Ghanaian construction industry, an empirical examination of traditional procurement of assembly projects

Abstract

The complexity of construction projects, as well as the diversity of stakeholders and their interests in any particular project make disputes, discords and sometimes conflicts (DDCs) in construction projects a regular occurrence in the construction industry. The study seeks to explore DDCs in the construction industry in Ashanti Region with a view to developing a framework of recommendations for minimising DDCs associated with assembly project to improve project performance. The study adopted a quantitative research approach involving the administration of survey questionnaires to a simple random sample of 119 consultants and 201 contractors working with fifteen Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ashanti region. The findings revealed seven critical factors influencing DDCs in relation to assembly projects in the Ashanti Region namely; poor communication between the parties, type of procurement method adopted, differences in views among stakeholders, adversarial nature of contracts among others. Further findings of the study revealed six key challenges to minimising DDCs associated with assembly projects in the study setting were; irregular payments, conflicting instructions, incompetent contractors, lack of proper communication channels and others. Also, the findings revealed that there can be effective management of DDCs to improve project performance through certain factors such as, employment of qualified personnel with specialized knowledge to handle key positions, appropriate procurement methods, and effective teamwork/teambuilding. Finally, the study recommends that, there should be carefully planned and regular schedule of payments of the total sum of the project, the design team should maintain as much as possible project drawings, specifications and construction methods that are adequate and free from deficiencies.