Mitigation of Bias in Decision Making in the Construction Sector Dispute Resolution

Abstract

Construction projects are complex and involve a large number of stakeholders, thus disputes are very common throughout the life of the project. These disputes lead to cost and time overruns and thus need to be resolved in the most efficient manner. In the past only a few traditional methods were used for dispute resolution, such as litigation and arbitration, but these methods take a lot of time and money to lead to a decision. Thus, to resolve disputes more efficiently alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods were introduced, such as negotiation, mediation, med/arb, dispute boards, minitrial etc the main aim for these methods is to reduce the time and cost expenses in resolving disputes. In most research dealing with construction project dispute resolution (CPDR) it is assumed that the decision-making parties involved in the process are neutral and will make rational decisions, which is not always the case. Judgment errors are very common, and bias is one of the major judgment errors according to past research, bias may creep into the decision making process in CPDR subconsciously, which will lead to decisions that are not accurate, rational or just, if the parties fail to reach an acceptable decision in a timely manner then the dispute may be moved forward towards arbitration or litigation, thus defeating the purpose of ADR techniques which are meant to reduce the time and cost for the dispute resolution process. This study aims to develop a framework to better incorporate the factors that lead to bias in the dispute resolution process. Based on detailed literature review and primary survey of industry professionals, 15 top factor that lead to bias were identified. A secondary questionnaire survey was conducted to rank the bias mitigation strategies which were identified by through the relevant literature. Based on the results of the secondary survey the best remedial practices were identified and incorporated into a framework to deal with bias effects in CPDR process. This research will help in adding more information bias and paving way for future research on the topic of bias in regards to the construction sector.