A Study of Negotiation Styles in Malaysian Construction Industry

The daily routine of construction management involving the participation of clients and professionals is full of collaboration, conflict and negotiation. The nature of the construction industry itself has contributed to the conflict condition in project management. Different technical backgrounds from different organizations produce different points of view that may create the crippling conflict, influence the negative decision making process and cause lack of mutual agreement among the parties. Negotiation is seen to be the most efficient way to overcome the conflict. By understanding the other negotiator’s style, it will help professionals such as architects, engineers and project managers to solve conflicts during a negotiation. This study aims to identify different styles of negotiation in construction industry in Peninsular Malaysia and determine the most dominant style among the professionals. The study uses the Survey Research methodology in collecting data and descriptive as well as severity index analysis in analyzing data. From the study, the most dominant negotiation style has been found and can be taken as the benchmark for use during future negotiations.