Effective communication is an indispensable element to the successful completion of
construction projects. However, maintaining a smooth and effective communication
process is a challenge to construction practitioners. Many studies have been carried
out on the communication in construction. Nevertheless, there is still lack of studies
focusing exclusively on the identification of limited causes and effects of poor
communication in the construction projects. Hence, this study is not only intended to
entirely identify and assess the causes and effects of poor communication but also to
establish the relationships between them. The study was conducted using mix
method approaches where the qualitative approach was carried out using exploratory
interviews with ten selected construction experts to gain insights on the issues of
poor communication in Malaysian construction. The information gathered from
interviews were analysed using thematic content analysis. In the quantitative
approach, a questionnaire survey was used to collect data from 262 respondents to
assess the cause and effect factors. The questionnaire was designed based on the
causes and effects identified from the literature and the exploratory interview which
simultaneously resulted in identifying 43 causes and 23 effects. The collected data
were analysed using statistical univariate and multivariate approaches. The univariate
analysis adopted average index score to rank the significance level of the factors and
found five most significant causal factors which are lack of communication system
and platform, improper communication channel, lack of appropriate communication
medium, poor project information management, and lack of formal execution of
communication. While the five most severe effects of poor communication are
information overlapping, time overrun, cost overrun, dispute, and high stress in the
workplace. The collected data were further used to develop a structural relationship
model for the causes and effects using Smart-PLS. The model was assessed and
validated for both measurement and structural components. The model addressed the
relationships between causes and effects which then verified by construction experts.
The structural equation model with the outcome from exploratory interviews were
combined to produce a framework of poor communication causes and effects. The
framework also introduced the mitigation measures of poor communication. The
findings of this research are helpful to accommodate the need for construction
practitioners and stakeholders to understand the most significant causes, most severe
effects, and offered mitigation measures of poor communication
