An examination of the ‘rule of law’ and ‘justice’ implications in Online Dispute Resolution in construction projects

Ojiako, Udechukwu; Chipulu, Maxwell; Marshall, Alasdair; Williams, Terry

Abstract

This paper examines the ‘rule of law’ and ‘justice’ implications of using Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platforms as technology-mediated interfaces for small claim dispute resolution in construction projects. Data is obtained from a questionnaire survey of construction stakeholders, administered using direct non-random sampling of professional contacts with the authors. Data is analysed using SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) on a Windows 7 platform. Surprisingly, study findings do not suggest any ‘rule of law’ and ‘justice’ implications for small claim ODR. Tentatively, this conclusion supports wider use of ODR. The originality of the study is that although there is considerable academic and practitioner interest in various alternative forms of dispute resolution (ADR), both practitioner use and academic study of ODR remain sparse. Thus, this study serves as a foundation for further empirical exploration of ODR as a nascent component of ADR.

Citation

Ojiako, U., Chipulu, M., Marshall, A., & Williams, T. (2018). An examination of the ‘rule of law’ and ‘justice’ implications in Online Dispute Resolution in construction projects. International journal of project management, 36(2), 301-316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.10.002

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 11, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Nov 6, 2017
• Publication Date: 2018-02
• Deposit Date: Oct 12, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 7, 2019
• Journal: International journal of project management
• Print ISSN: 0263-7863
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-4634
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 301-316
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.10.002
• Keywords: Project Management; Disputes; Construction
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/455621
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263786317305859
• Additional Information: This is a description of an article published in International journal of project management.