Determining the Dominant Personality Traits of Construction Teams for Proactive Dispute Management

Construction dispute must be properly managed or else it will mar projects success by its negative impacts. The challenge in managing construction dispute aggravates by virtue of the diversity in the background of people who come together to deliver projects during procurement process. People could have distinct personality traits which come to bare in the course of interactions. While some traits in individuals enhance dispute management, others complicate and prolong the dispute management process. Of recent, it has been found that dispute increasingly takes longer time to resolve. One area that can bring improvement is a proactive approach in dispute management. The knowledge of the dominant traits among construction disputants will enhance proactive management. The purpose of this research therefore is to enhance proactive dispute management by determining the dominant personality traits in construction teams that could explain difficulty in dispute management. Seven personality traits were identified and a questionnaire administered through stratified random sampling process among clients, consultants and contractors teams. The research computed the mean values and used t distribution to test the level of significance of identified traits among—the client, consultants and contraction teams. The results of the analyses found that there are distinct traits among the teams. Clients are dominating during dispute, the consultants are obliging and integrating, while contractors avoid dispute situations. The clients and contractors’ traits are unhealthy to dispute management. However, all parties are found to have a common tendency to compromise during dispute situation. Knowledge of this will enable better planning as well as strategies developed for enhanced dispute management. In dispute management, strategy should focus on aspects that can cause a compromising stance among disputants while putting into cognizance the unique traits, characteristics or behavior of each team during dispute. Research should avail those aspects that add value to quick compromise among stakeholders during construction dispute.