Gupta, P and Jha, K N (2024) Integration of blockchain in contract management for prevention of construction disputes: A systematic literature review and conceptual framework. International Journal of Construction Management, 24(10), pp. 1054-1065. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
Certainty, commitment, and communication are essential requirements which seem to be eluding the existing contracting process giving rise to claims and disputes. Contract management practices continue to be manual and traditional despite the digital and technological developments in construction sector. Blockchain technology is increasingly used in different aspects of the business world with its intrinsic qualities of transparency and security. This research conducts systematic literature reviews in three areas aiming to: analyse the chronic problem of construction disputes, investigate recent methods and tools of contractual dispute avoidance, and provide a compelling rationale for the integration of blockchain technology into the contracting process. While the 'contract-related' issues were found to be the leading cause of disputes, a 'centralized' hierarchy-based environment was established as one of the key challenges to dispute avoidance mechanisms. Discussion followed by feedback survey from industry experts further validated the literature review results. Based on the findings, an integrated blockchain-based conceptual framework is proposed illustrating a contracting process that is: (1) efficient and transparent; (2) digitally integrated; and (3) trustworthy and secure in execution. The study reviews the existing practices and challenges in contract management and offers an interdisciplinary and novel approach for future research in this domain.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | automation; blockchain; collaboration; contract management; dispute avoidance; dispute cause; smart contract |
| Index terms: | blockchain, contract management, automation, systematic literature review, conceptual framework, smart contract, commitment, literature review, transparency, construction dispute, construction sector, prevention, integration, dispute, collaboration, survey |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, data analysis and analytics, theoretical framing, automation and robotics, financial risk, professional development, management, digital technology, contract management, industry analysis, psychology, organizational analysis, dispute resolution, research evaluation and metrics, computing systems |
| Topics: | Legal Issues, Contract Administration, Research Practice, Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Cost Management, Information Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here