MEDIATION TECHNIQUE OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION: A WIN-WIN APPROACH TO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BETWEEN CONTRACTORS AND CLIENTS IN THE POST COVID – 19 ERA
Keywords:
Construction project contractor’s team, Client’s team, Consultants, Building industry, Projects delivery, Construction sites, Construction contracts, Project Management, Alternative dispute resolution, Dispute settlement, Arbitration, Mediation, Conciliation, Negotiation, Adjudication.Abstract
The aim of this research is to determine the effectiveness of mediation technique of alternate dispute resolution (ADR) as a win-win approach to maintaining good business relationship between contractors and clients. Ten research hypotheses were formulated based on previous literatures on ADR techniques. Twenty research questions were developed directly from the null and alternative hypothesis based on opposing views of the researchers. Respondents from clients, consultants and contractors’ organizations were allowed to score the twenty research questions based on their different perspectives on five Likert – scale judgments. Non – parametric; Kruskal–Wallis’s test was used in conjunction with Spearman’s rank correlation to analyze data. The results showed that mediation has overriding merits over arbitration in these areas; Cost effectiveness (0.791), Timelier – effectiveness (0.733) and, Privateness and confidentiality (0.776). It was concluded that mediation is extremely advantageous over arbitration when time is of great essence and issues of dispute are to be made essentially private. Suggestions were made that mediation should be used in the stead of arbitration when considering cost of ADR, timeliness of ADR, and finally, when issues at hand are very sensitive to the public and as such should be made essentially private and confidential.
