Blueprints and broken promises: Managing conflict in construction projects
Keywords:
Negotiation; Conflict Management; Construction Projects; BrazilAbstract
The article addresses a negotiation challenge that occurred at a primary construction site. Two outside design professionals are working on the project: one is responsible for architectural work, and the other for structural design. The project faces delays because key documents remain unavailable, threatening to disrupt both project timing and fieldwork activities. The project team developed increasing conflict with their suppliers because the team members failed to meet their deadlines and maintain their commitments. This study negotiation theory and conflict management principles to analyze how positions and interests affect each other through BATNA-based negotiation power enhancement and ZOPA-based definition of possible agreement ranges. The process of trust restoration and value creation faced obstacles because different proposals failed to establish effective communication, which led to intense emotional reactions. Organizations need to decide their next steps because team collaboration breakdowns have created an unclear path for project success
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