Impact of Stakeholders' Involvement on Construction Project Variations

The scope of a construction project is likely to change due to various factors, including inadequate planning and financial challenges. Changes in scope can occur when the client or owner is not involved adequately during the design phase, leading to variations in the later stages. Financial constraints on the contractor's side can also impact the project progress, while delays in decision-making among stakeholders can increase the duration of the project and its cost. The distribution of power among key stakeholders is crucial for ensuring successful project development. Additionally, alterations in project specifications, design changes, and conflicts over contract documentation can all lead to variations in the construction project. It is essential to have a strategic plan in place to mitigate these risks and ensure that the project stays on track.

Dissertation
Client causes of variation in construction projects in United Arab Emirates

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Research Background.............................................................................................................4
Research Problem...................................................................................................................5
Research Aim.........................................................................................................................7
Research Objectives...............................................................................................................8
Research Scope......................................................................................................................9
Research Questions..............................................................................................................10
Summary..............................................................................................................................10
Literature Review.....................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................19

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Introduction
The current research paper is on client cause of variation in the construction projects in
United Arab Emirates. The understanding of this aspect is important as it is directly
associated with the failure or success of particular project. The parties that are generally
involved in the construction project are owner, consultants, and contractors. The variations in
the construction projects occur due to various reasons and the involvement of these three
entities are considered as important (Abdul Rahman et al, 2012). Variations are the deviations
that occur within the projects from what has been agreed among the stakeholders at the
beginning of the project. The deviation from the actual planned project can be of various
forms such as removal of certain activity, reduction in the amount defined for the budget, or
any changes in what has been written in the contracts (Wang, 2000). Some of the variations
can be visible to the stakeholders, while others cannot be seen or assessed.
The current paper will assess the variations in the project in the United Arab Emirates using
the various research techniques discussed in the research methodology section. The
Background: The United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates is the combination of seven states and is ruled by the Supreme
Council of Rulers. The seven states that are under the United Arab Emirates are Abu Dhabi,
Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Um al-Qaywayn , Fujayrah, and Ra’s al-Khayma. The country has
the appreciable amount of oil production and most of the economic aspect depends on the
production of oil (Council, 2007). The production of oil and gas in substantial amount from
within the UAE ground is bringing good amount of money into the country which is being
used as an investment in the various infrastructural developments around the country. In the

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past decades, the government has invested in various governments run construction projects.
The focus has been on improving the economic situation of the entire country by further
bringing them together with the help of infrastructural development.
As briefed earlier, the variations can be signified by various forms of changes in the
construction projects. One of them can be changes in the schedule (Alzahrani and Emsley,
2013). Schedule refers to the overall duration that has been assigned for the completion of
project. The changes in the schedule can occur due to factors such as lack of resources, or the
sudden occurrence of any kind of risks (Aminbakhsh et al, 2013). It might be related to the
desire of some of the stakeholder to extend the deadline or stretch the duration without any
reason. In some cases, the variations occur when the parties vary on the requirements that
have been defined for the project. The requirements or the things that are to be achieved by
the end of the project are generally defined in the beginning of the project. However, due to
some changes in the mind of stakeholders or occurrence of any kind of situation leads to the
change in the requirements which eventually creates variations in the project.
The understanding of the client causes of variations in the construction projects in United
Arab Emirates will be at the core of this entire research paper. The next sub-section briefly
states the research background upon which the entire research study is based. The research
background is followed by the research problem that is likely to be resolved through the
conduction of this research. The research problem is followed by the research aim which
states where the entire research project is heading. The research objectives, after the research
aim discusses the aspects that will be touched while moving towards the achievement of the
research aim. The research scope will define the premise within which the research will be
conducted. The research scope is likely to help understand the limitations of this research
paper. The research questions discussed after the research scope will showcase the questions

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that are to be answered by the end of this research project. This chapter has been summarized
in end under Summary section.
Research Background
The existence of variations among the construction project activities is inevitable, and any
effort to eliminate the variations is unlikely to be successful. The variations have impacted
almost all the associated individuals or entities with the construction projects. The individuals
or entities can be project owner, the individual who has monetary investment in the project;
the consultant, these are the individuals or entities who acts as bridge between the owner and
contractors; and the contractors, who are the individuals or entities who undertake the
construction project activities (Brockmann, 2012). The variations associated with the project
are defined as the difference between the time when the particular tasks has to be completed
and the time that was actually invested to complete that task. In any form of civil or private
construction projects, it is expected in the beginning that the task will be completed within
the defined duration and allotted project budgets. However, this is not how things turnout
every time. The changes in the activities, resources, and other factors are always observed
(Guo and Shang, 2012). The projects that are of huge size, the changes can be observed easily
and their impacts are huge.
It is important that the variations in the construction projects are understood clearly to ensure
that the variations can be reduced or controlled, if not completely eliminated. The changes in
the construction projects occur due to various reasons. The variations in construction projects
have negative impact on the entire economy of the particular country along with the
individuals who are engaged in the construction projects such as consultants, contractors, and
the owners (Halwatura and Ranasinghe, 2013). The variation in the construction activities is
an issue. The occurrence of deviations, being a common phenomenon, is the indication that

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the entire construction sector is being challenged with certain causes that are to be identified
and appropriately managed.
In general, the works that are started by the engineers or the contractors for the particular
client, if faces any kind of changes in the schedule, resources, or other aspects, then such
alteration results into the unnecessary extension of the entire project duration and the budget
that has been spent on the project. This is very demotivating for all the stakeholders (Hobbs
and Besner, 2016). If the government is investing in particular civil construction project
considering that the project will be completed in certain time period and within the defined
budget, and if it does not happen, then it is likely that the credibility of the government in the
eyes of the pubic falls down. This situation is not only with the government projects. If the
private construction projects are considered, then it can be stated if the projects fail to be
completed within the certain duration and within the defined budget, then it is likely that the
parties will never meet again to work on other similar projects due to the lack of credibility or
faith in one another (Hwang and Ng, 2013). Therefore, it can be stated from here that the
completion of construction projects within the defined duration and given budget is necessary
to ensure that the credibility is built and better projects are developed.
The United Arab Emirates has witnessed numerous construction projects in past few decades
as it is clearly visible the way entire country has developed its infrastructure (Kang and Kim,
2015). Moreover, not only the government, but the private entities have largely invested in
the construction projects around the country. At present, there are hundreds of construction
projects that are on-going and there are many yet to come in existence. In such scenario, it is
important that the variations in construction projects are understood to ensure that the future
or existing projects progress successfully.

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Research Problem
The variations in the construction projects are a major challenge for all the construction
activities that are being conducted in the United Arab Emirates. The construction projects
face challenge in appropriately managing the construction projects and leading the project
activities towards successful completion. The variations in the construction projects have
been considered as the challenge that is being faced by the stakeholders. There are various
studies that have been conducted with reference to the variations in the construction projects
(Lee et al, 2015; Lindhard, 2015; Muhammad et al, 2015). The projects have resulted into
poor quality output, completion of the projects far from their intended duration, and the
excess expenditure of money on the project which is generally beyond the recommendation
of any of the associated stakeholders. In the United Arab Emirates, some of the projects are
still on hold because the duration of the project passed beyond thinking and now require
unprecedented amount of investment which is not acceptable to any of the stakeholders.
One of the major reasons behind the increased investment in the construction projects from
the one estimated is the continuously changing economic situation of the country and the
world (Taroun, 2014). It has been identified that in some cases, the construction projects are
of such a huge duration that the prices of raw materials are witnessed to varying much during
that duration. These fluctuations generally increase the overall cost of investment in the
project from what has been intended. There are multiple studies undertaken to ensure that
causes of variations are understood. However, it can be observed that many of the researches
have been generic and provide limited core understanding of the issue. The lack of specificity
in the causes that are resulting in the research project variations is likely impacting the
decisions that are made the stakeholders that are associated with the construction project
management.

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The client of any construction project is an integral part as it is the sole investor in the project
and for whom the other two major stakeholders – consultants and contractors – conduct the
various activities (Walker, 2007). Therefore, it becomes important that the requirements of
the clients are met while attempting to complete the construction project activities. It has
been identified that the effective coordination among these individuals or entities are
important to ensure that the project completes successfully and within the planned resources.
However, it has been witnessed that the challenge in the project variation occurs when there
is some input from the client when the project is progressing. This creates major challenge in
completing the project within the stipulated time and defined budget. Therefore, it becomes
an important aspect to understand the client causes of variation in construction projects. As
the focus of the current research project is the United Arab Emirates, therefore it is likely that
the client of causes of variations will be understood from this country’s point of view.
The variation challenges can occur from any side or anywhere, either it can occur due to the
changes in the external environment which might be related to the economic, political,
environmental, societal, technological, or others, or it can be internal to the construction
project that is from the stakeholders (Walker, 2007; Wambeke et al, 2017). The focus of the
current research project is to understand the client causes of variations, therefore limited
focus will be given on the other associated factors that are likely to cause the variations. The
reason is that it is important to understand one important reason for the project variations
appropriately then generalizing the entire research project objectives that is less likely to
yield any fruitful output.
Research Aim
The aim of this research to understand the client causes of variation in the construction
projects in the United Arab Emirates. Understanding the client causes of variation is

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important to understand as it is likely to give insight into areas that are leading to the
variation in the construction projects. The client of any construction projects is an integral
part and understanding this aspect is likely to help reduce the magnitude of variations
occurring from this aspect. In general, the clients are found to be suggesting changes when
the construction projects have taken off or the construction projects are about to complete
(Yan and Chen, 2013). Such changes create issue for the other stakeholders such as the
contractors or the consultants. The issue is associated with the various aspects of the projects
such as required changes in the human resources, extension of the budgets, extension of
timeline, and other such aspects. Therefore, it has been considered to pursue this aim through
this research project.
Research Objectives
Based on the research aim discussed above, there are certain research objectives that have
been considered for this research project. These research objectives are likely to act as guide
in completing this research paper. Given below are the research objectives devised for this
research paper:
1. The first research objective is to understand the main reasons or the causes that are leading
to the variations in the construction projects, with the particular focus on the client causes of
variations and the civil engineering projects.
2. The second research objective is to understand the factors that are mostly impacting or
prevalent in the occurrences of variations in the construction projects.
3. The third research objective is to understand the impact of the variation causes on the civil
construction projects in the United Arab Emirates.

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4. The fourth research objective is to identify the strategies that might be adopted so that the
variations in the civil construction projects can be reduced. The focus is on the reduction and
not on the complete the elimination as the client causes of variations is not the only factor
impacting the uncalled for changes.
Research Scope
The scope of the research in focused on understanding the premise that has been considered
while moving ahead with this research project. The aspects that are outside the defined
premise, despite their indirect relationship with this research paper, have not been
considering the available duration and budget of this project. The scope is oriented towards
keeping the research paper feasible enough for conduction. Given below are some of the
research scopes that have been developed for this research project:
1. The first scope is to understand past researches that have been conducted in association
with the research topic under consideration in this paper. This will be conducted to
understand what has been identified by the previous researchers and only those papers have
been picked that are likely to aide in the achievement of the research aims and objectives.
2. The second research scope is to understand the methodology that is to be adopted in
conduction of this research. There are multitudes of methodologies that can be adopted for
particular research and selection of suitable ones is important.
3. The third research scope is to understand the individuals who will be selected for the
conduction of this research. The respondents are likely to be from the United Arab Emirates
and further understanding of them will dealt with latter.
4. The fourth research scope is to understand the statistical tools that will be applicable on the
research data that are likely to be collected during the research process.

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5. The fifth research scope is to understand the way data will be analysed and suitable
conclusions will be reached that are likely to be of benefit to the individuals or entities that
are active in the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates.
6. The sixth research scope is to recommend strategies or ways that can be implemented to
improve the issues associated with the variations in the civil construction projects in the
United Arab Emirates.
Research Questions
The research questions that have been identified for this research paper is likely to keep the
researcher on track to achieve the research aim. The research questions are likely to be
answered by the end of this research through the processes to be discussed in the
methodology section. There is high possibility that some of the answers to some of the
research questions might be achieved during the conduction of detailed literature review.
Given below are the research questions that have been developed for this research paper
1. What are the main reasons or the causes that are leading to the variations in the
construction projects? What are the client causes of variations in the civil construction
projects in the United Arab Emirates?
2. What are the factors that are mostly impacting or prevalent in the occurrences of
variations in the construction projects?
3. What is the impact of the variation causes on the civil construction projects in the
United Arab Emirates?
4. What are the strategies or ways that might be adopted so that the variations in the civil
construction projects can be reduced?
These research questions will be the focus of this research paper. The research questions will
be answered by the end of this research in the conclusion section.

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Please in the introductory chapter I want to see a diagramme of the research dedisghed and
the link to each chapter. A thesis structure
And also please explain what each chapter will explain
For example
Chapter 1
Chapter one will focus on giving the reader an overview about ….
Summary
The consideration of client causes of variation in the construction projects in the United Arab
Emirates is important to understand as the variations in the construction projects have
become a challenging aspect within the construction projects to be managed. The
stakeholders associated with any kind of construction projects are finding it challenging to
ensure that the variations do not occur. The variations in the construction projects are
impacting the timeline of the projects and budgets that are predefined for the projects. The
unnecessary delays in the budget and timeline also lead to loss in credibility and bad
relationship among individuals and entities. The United Arab Emirates has numerous on-
going construction projects that require adequate understanding of the variations that take
place. These construction projects are either government financed or of private companies.

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Though the major focus of this paper is to understand the variations in terms of civil
construction projects, it is most likely that the private construction projects will be equally
benefitted from this research assessment.
The second chapter of this research paper is focused towards assessment of various research
papers and books developed by researchers and academicians that address the variations in
the construction projects. This chapter conducts the literature review of the past researches
that are directly or indirectly associated with the current research topic. The purpose of this
chapter would be to identify the variables of variations along with the development of
suitable framework. The third chapter of this research paper is focused towards understanding
the research methodology that has been considered for the conduction of this research. This
chapter is followed by the results and analysis chapter that details on the analysis of the data
collected from the respondents. The chapter on recommendation details on the ways or the
strategies that should be adopted to counter the client causes of variations identified in the
results and analysis section. The final chapter gives conclusive remarks on the entire research
study with the answers to the research questions identified earlier.

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Chapter 2
Literature Review
introduction
This chapterliterature review chapter reviews the previous makes an investigation of ……in
order to identify gaps in the literature …..research papers and other form of studies that have
been conducted in relation to the research topic. The purpose of this chapter is to come up
with the variables that are associated with the variations and the development of a suitable
framework that will guide the further research.
You need to separate the document in to subsections to do that please write the roadmap of
the literature topics that you want to discuss and put the data below. In addition please keep
the references while you write.
The researchers have identified that the construction project variations has become a
challenging aspect that requires proper attention before it worsens the situations further (El-
Sayegh, 2008). The variations are referred to as the difference that takes place among the
actual and decided durations of the project. The variations have been identified to be
occurring in various aspects of the construction projects such as schedule, budget, human
resources, risks, and others. The variations have been found to as the alteration in the
situation from what was intended. It has been identified that the challenges associated with
the variations is dire in the countries that are still developing and lacks enough proper system

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and procedure to handle and maintain the large sized construction projects. Some of the
researchers have showcased concern regarding the negative impact that is placed on the
construction projects. The presence of limited resources is sometime attributed as the reason
for the unnecessary variations (Faridi and El-Sayegh, 2006; Wang, 2000). If all the factors
are ideal, then it is expected that the project under consideration will finish as per the plan.
However, the countries like United Arab Emirates have witnessed construction projects that
run late in terms of cost and timeline.
There are various researches that have taken place in order to understand the causes behind
the variations in the construction activities. These studies have defined variations as the
change that is not in line to the intention of the stakeholders who are associated with the
particular project. The variations in the construction projects have become so common that
the stakeholders rarely get bothered by its occurrence. The stakeholders that are integral to
the construction projects are clients, consultants, and contractors (Abdul Rahman et al, 2012).
There are also other types of stakeholders, but these are the key ones. These stakeholders
have been found to be creating variations in the construction projects at various levels.
Though deep assessment has rarely been made on any of the particular stakeholders, the
generic understanding of the causes is available in few of the researches (Gamal et al, 2000).
It can be stated here that the better understanding of the variables impacting the variations
require deeper assessment of each aspects.
The variations in the construction projects have been found having adverse impacts on
carrying out the particular projects. This aspect is common to any project that is being
undertaken, whether smaller or bigger in size. The countries like United Arab Emirates are
hugely oriented towards development of strong infrastructure for the public which requires
substantial resources (Zaneldin, 2006; Halwatura and Ranasinghe, 2013). The development
of multi-stage infrastructures leads to the complex environments. Moreover, it has been

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identified that the large construction projects require requires resources that are substantial in
quantity and investment. Therefore, any likely changes due to potential variation causes,
heavily impact the on-going project on the financial aspect. The implementation of the
construction projects also requires better relationship among the project stakeholders. This is
important as it ensures that the each of the stakeholders understand and communicate the
project requirement carefully. The presence of limited communication mechanism within the
project has also been found as impacting the project progress.
The client has been considered as the most important entity in the construction project
activities. The clients are those for whom particular project is being developed or who is
making monetary contribution to the project development (Halloum and Bajracharya, 2012).
The projects, either it is associated with the civil construction or any other field, are required
to fulfil the requirements that have been laid down by the clients. In such scenario, it is
imperative to understand the client requirements carefully as it become the key reason behind
the variation in the project management. Apart from the successful development of the
project requirements, it is also important that these are successfully communicated to the
other important stakeholders such as consultants and the contractors (De Meyer et al, 2002).
The project contractors are the acting partner of any particular construction projects, and
therefore it is important that they understand the requirement carefully. It has been identified
that the failure of contractors to understand the requirements of the clients has also resulted
into major variations. Such variations are considered as huge as in some cases it requires
redevelopment (Kang and Kim, 2015). Therefore, the lack of proper communication of
requirements has been identified as one of the causes of variations in the construction
projects.
Some of the researchers have identified that if the schedules of project activities are changed
then it is likely to vary the project (Shuan, 2007). The reason is that the rescheduling requires

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reallocation of resources which in case of huge construction projects are time consuming. The
change of schedule can be initiated on any end, it can be either the client willing to change
the duration or the contractor is unable to complete the predefined project duration. It has
been identified that such changes require engagement of additional resources in most of the
cases and some of the resources have been found to be getting redundant. Another important
aspect that leads to the variations is the changes in the scope. Some of the researchers have
identified that the reframing the project scope has been significant reason behind the
variations in the construction project (Chan and Chan, 2004). The changes in the scope are
generally initiated by the client for whom the project is being developed. In most cases, the
contractors rarely engage in the scope changes as it most likely impacts the project cost. The
changes in scope occur mostly due to the failure of the concerned parties in developing
appropriate plan in the beginning of the project. It has been asserted by some of the
researchers that if the owner or the client of the project is not involved adequately when the
project is being designed, then it is likely that the scope will require changes in the later
stages.
Apart from the above, researchers have identified that in some cases, the owners’ financial
challenge lead to the variations in the project progress. If the owner is failing to fulfil the
financial requirement of the contractors that are required to procure the resources or to meet
the other need of the contractors, then it is most likely that the project will suffer with
variations. The financial challenges impact the work schedules and also the quality that is
expected from the particular construction project (Akintoye and MacLeod, 1997). It has been
also identified that if the concerned stakeholders of the project are unable to make decisions
as quickly as possible, then it is most likely to impact the project progress. The quick decision
making ability among the stakeholders ensure that the project does not suffer any form of
delay. The failure to do so is most likely to increase the duration of the projects and

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eventually the cost. The decision making delay can be from the client, consultant or
contractor side.
The researchers have also identified that the distribution of power among the stakeholders
directly engaged in the project development is important to ensure that project moves ahead
successfully (Lee et al, 2015). The development of construction project requires that the key
stakeholders such as client, consultant, and contractor work together in conjunction to
achieve the project output. However, it has been found that the clients hold more power than
the other stakeholders and unnecessary assertion of power leads to disruption in the
conduction of project activities which eventually convert to variations in the project activities
(Wang, 2000). Moreover, if the client or owner puts forth certain changes in the
specifications, then it is most likely to alter the project path and bring huge variations. The
alteration in the project specifications have been identified as being common in the
construction projects. Such specifications are generally the resultant of poor project
objectives. The attention to the new specifications certainly impact the project brings
variation.
On one hand, the role of client is crucial to variations in the construction projects, the actions
of consultants also result into the project variations (Oladapo, 2007). It has been identified
that the consultants bring changes in the construction designs as the factor of design
improvements. The changes in the project designs are considered mostly in the projects that
take off without clear consideration on the design aspects. Those are generally come in the
category of design and build construction projects with numerous alterations or variations
from the actual. Such changes heavily impact the project duration and budget. Moreover, the
conflicts that occur in the documentation of the contracts also sometime result in the
variations. It has been identified that the clients interpret particular statements in a contract
differently than what has been interpreted by the contractors. This leads to the conflict and

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the resultant settlements of conflict generally leads to variation in project. The lack of clarity
in the construction documents with less sufficient details also creates confusion among the
stakeholders.
It has been identified that the consultants engage in the changes of the project specifications.
This aspect has become a major concern as clients and consultants, both engage in some form
of changes in the specifications, and collectively it hugely varies the project. In some cases, it
has been found that the equipment that is required by the contractors is not available with the
concerned parties or not available in the market. This leads to unnecessary delay in the
project duration. Apart from that, the less number of human resources working on the project
is also the common challenge. The presence of unskilled labour is less challenging than the
presence of skilled man power (Keane et al, 2010). The United Arab Emirates have recently
witnessed influx of number of skilled and unskilled manpower from outside the country on
short term contract. The manpower is the key in the development of various construction
projects around the country. It has been identified in most of the cases, the lack of manpower
to adapt to the improved processes of constructions lead to the changes in the duration that is
taken to complete the projects.
In some cases it has been found that the contractors lack enough financial backing to
complete the project at hand. The construction projects, being labour intensive activities,
require that the contractors keep paying the hired labour even if they do not have projects in
hand. Moreover, in some cases, the contractors have been found paying the labours when the
project is stalled for certain period of time. These generally create financial challenges to
most of the contractors which in turn impact their ability to procure resources when they get
new project or when the stalled project take off (Thomas, 1995). Apart from this, if
workmanship displayed by the responsible party is not adequate and of quality, then it is
likely that the construction might have to be demolished for redevelopment. Also, it has been

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identified that the resources that are to be procured from the suppliers should be of high
quality and must reach the construction venue on stipulated time to ensure that it does not
lead to the delay in the project development. However, if there is fault in the procurement
activity, then it is mostly likely that the variation in the construction project is occurring.
The position of project planning in the construction project is very high. If the project is not
strategically planned, then it is most likely that the project will suffer delay or budget
challenges. The strategic planning refers to the adequate allocation of resources and actions
considering various challenges that are likely to impact the construction project progress. The
strategic planning should be done considering the various stakeholders that are directly or
indirectly associated with the project and likely to have adverse or positive impact on the
project progress (Guo and Shang, 2012). It has been identified that the adequate designing of
the construction project is important as it directly impacts the variation in the project. The
designs that are not adequately designed, that is, the design that has not covered all project
requirements are likely to attract attention from the clients which might lead to variations.
[To continue…]
for the research methodology chapter please use Saunders and the research onion
in this chapter you need to explain the available research strategies and how you selected
yours
????????

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You need to please see if you going to use questionnaires or interviews
If you do questionnaires then you have to have a class with SPSS
If you have interviews you have to have a class with Nvivo
References