Impact of poor communication on dispute occurrence in the construction industry: a preliminary exploratory study of Yemen construction industry

Abstract

The Yemeni construction industry has been declining in it progress since early 2011 when the political unrest started, and many projects have been financially suffering and suspended or failed to achieve the primary plans. Disputed has been associated with the declination and in fact dispute in construction industry is a chronic and common issue for all countries. Many construction projects have been delayed or even failed due to dispute, misunderstanding and incongruities among construction parties. Many researchers have viewed this issue from the perspective of unclear contract terms and unclear distributions of responsibilities. However, this study aims to scrutinize the issue from the standpoint of poor and lack of communication among Yemeni construction parties. The study implements qualitative interviews with ten construction experts to share their views and uncover the issue. The method of analysis is based on the transformation of interviewed data into transcriptions and extraction and thematic analysis. The study found that poor communication is a major cause of dispute in the Yemeni construction industry, improper management of communication and its channels as the leading cause of the initial occurrence of dispute. Furthermore, the study found that integration with other success factors can bring about strategies to avoid dispute. The outcomes of this study are very useful in developing initiatives to minimize the issue and insuring successful and organized communication among construction parties which lead to successful project completion.