Conflict Management Strategies: Exploring the Choice Pattern of Stakeholders on Construction Projects in Ghana

Conflict is a disagreement between two or several parties due to difference in thoughts, opinions and expectations in a project. Conflicts on projects have the tendency to affect stakeholders and project objectives. Several stakeholders are involved in the projects but mostly the main actors are contractors, consultants and the community. Various conflict management strategies are used by stakeholders to manage conflicts on projects as the occur. Every conflict has a better time to respond to a given solution and there is the need for stakeholders to know when to act to resolve it. This study sought to explore the choice pattern of conflict management strategies by stakeholders on construction projects in Ghana. Regarding concept, the study identified the factors that result in conflict among stakeholders on road projects and the conflict management strategies that are effective in managing these conflicts. The study used the descriptive research design with both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The population of this research covered the employees of the Ghana Highway Authority, the Department of Feeder Roads, the Department of Urban Roads, Contractors who had worked between the year 2014 and 2018, Chiefs, Opinion leaders, Assembly Members of affected communities with road construction conflicts and the Municipal Coordinating Directors (MCDs). Survey-based questionnaires were distributed to 108 stakeholders and retrieved for analysis. Geographically, the study was limited to Bono East, Bono and Ahafo regions of Ghana where conflict is generally high. The study found that various factors such as lack of communication, failure of client to honour payments and contracts awarded to incapable contractors result in conflicts on road projects. Other factors considered were poor quality of work by contractors and delay in execution of contracts. When these conflicts arise, stakeholders adopt different conflict management strategies in an attempt to manage these conflicts. For the community leaders and road agencies, the first conflict management strategy adopted was the compromising approach followed by avoiding. Once the avoidance strategy fails to resolve the problem, they change to adopt the accommodating strategy, then collaborating with competing as the last option. With the contractors, the first conflict management strategy adopted was the avoidance strategy. The next conflict management strategies endorsed by the contractors were compromising, collaborating, accommodating and competing being the last option. Following the choice pattern of these conflict management strategies by stakeholders, the study proposes an approach to guide conflict management in the road construction industry. The study concluded that compromising,iv accommodating and competing conflict management styles should be adopted when conflicts erupt on road projects in an attempt in resolving them. The findings of this study are expected to guide stakeholders in the management of conflicts and help project implementers adopt preventive measures of conflict

Source: KNUST