Decision Support System for Conflict Resolution in Construction

Conflicts and disputes occur regularly throughout the entire construction process due to the complexity of operations and their conflicting resource requirements. At times, unresolved conflicts may slow or halt the entire project. In the past, many traditional methods have been used to resolve disputes, including starting with a simple resolution approach and ending with legal arbitration, which consumes time and money. However, in complex conflicts where multiple parties are involved, resolving conflict becomes a complex task and decision support tools are needed. This paper presents a new methodology to facilitate the negotiation that takes place among multiple parties in construction conflicts. Two fundamental theories are used in this methodology: 1) Game theory, which is the study of decision makers and their level of satisfaction in various actions/ counteractions; and 2) the Graph model for conflict resolution, which aims at analyzing the interactions among the decision makers, and reducing their differences to produce the most acceptable settlement. Based on these two fundamental theories, this paper presents a collaborative negotiation methodology and a computer Decision Support System (DSS) named GMCR II, which facilitates the negotiation of multiple-party conflicts in large construction projects. The DSS allows all parties to express their options and interests to create various courses of actions. The DSS then helps in performing an in-depth analysis to ascertain the possible compromise resolutions or equilibria. Details on the DSS are provided in this paper and a case study of a construction conflict is used to demonstrate its application and potential benefits. Based on the case study results, the effectiveness of the proposed DSS system in conflict resolution is confirmed. This DSS is useful for both researchers and practitioners to better deal with the dispute prone-nature of the construction industry.