The Influence Of Contractual Governance On Negotiation Outcome When Negotiating Construction Claims

With the enhancement of the investment scale and complexity of construction projects,claims and disputes occur more frequently in construction industry,and in turn,construction claim settlement becomes a more important problem for both the owner and the contractor.Negotiation,arbitration,and litigation are three main ways to settle down construction claims.While arbitration and litigation need the involvement of a third party,which increase the cost to solve construction claims.Negotiation is regarded as beneficial to both parties as it can save time and money and maintain good relationship.A contract provides a basic framework for claim settlement between the owner and the contractor.The research of contract governance has developed from a single dimension of control function to the comprehensive three-dimension of control,coordination,and adaption functions.At present,there are many researches about contract governance and construction claim negotiation,but there are limited researches into influence of control,coordination,and adaption function on the outcome of construction claim negotiation.In that,based on the extant researches,this thesis explores the relationship between contract governance and the outcome of construction claim negotiation,and introduces negotiation behavior and dependency for further explanation of the influence of the contract governance on the outcome of construction claim negotiation.This thesis collects empirical data through questionnaires and the respondents are the contractor's personnel who have rich experience of claim negotiation in construction industry,and finally,83 valid questionnaires were collected.First of all,the reliability and validity of the questionnaires were assessed by a reliability analysis and an exploratory factor analysis,which confirmed the applicability of the questionnaires in construction claim negotiation.Then,the hypotheses were tested by regression analyses.The results show that 1)The coordination and adaptation functions of contracts have a positive impact on the negotiation outcome,while the control function of contract`s positive influence on the negotiation outcome is not significant,2)Negotiation behavior fully mediates the positive relationship between the coordination function of contracts and negotiation outcome,and partially mediates the positive relationship between the adaptation function of contracts and negotiation outcome,3)Total dependence has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between contractual functions and negotiation outcome,while asymmetric interdependence shows no significant moderating effect,4)Total interdependence and negotiation behavior,have a mediated moderation effect on the relationship between coordination,adaptation functions of contract and negotiation outcome,while have no mediated moderation effect on the relationship between control function of contract and negotiation outcome.According to the results of this thesis,the owner and the contractor can distinguish the different effects of the control,coordination,and adaption functions of the contract on solving construction claim negotiation during the process of contract negotiation and execution.The owner and the contractor should clarify the rights and obligations of both sides,and strengthen communication and cooperation between both parties,prepare guidelines and measures for the uncertainty,and finally,achieve a win-win solution based on the framework of the contract.