The Impact of Leadership Styles on Project Success
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The aim of this study is to examine the impact of leadership style, trait and competences that an effective leader must have, when and how to apply them towards achieving project success. The study adopted the conceptual literature review (synthesis) of related literature on leadership styles, traits, competences and how these influence project successes was conducted. Resources were identified through electronic databases provided by the University of Dundee. Data bases utilized includes Google scholar and web of science. The search was entirely constraint to only reviewing articles published in English language which were further analyzed critically. The study disclosed that leadership style has a positive impact on project success and that the style adopted by a project manager is influenced by various factors such as personal traits. It was also discovered that there are numerous leadership styles (transactional, charismatic, democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire), but are only applicable either base on circumstance, team or project type. It was concluded that Personal traits lead to competences which in turn influence the choice of leadership style and project success. To achieve project success, a project leader must be adaptive to range of styles and can identify which one suits a situation. The combination of technical, emotional and conceptual competence is necessary for the project leader to be effective and often leads to project success.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Anantatmula, V.S. (2010). Project manager leadership role in improving project performance. Engineering Management Journal, Vol. 22(1), pp. 13-22.
Bartol, K., Tein, M. Mathew, G. & Martin, D., (2003). Management: A Pacific Rim Focus enhanced edn. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.
Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 18(3), pp. 19-31.
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. (1995). The multifactor leadership questionnaire. Palo Alto, CA: Mind Garden.
Bass, B.M. (2010). Bass and Stogdil’s Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research and Managerial Applications, 3rd Edition. New York: Free Press.
Belout, A., & Gauvreau, C. (2004). Factors affecting project success: The impact of human resource management. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 22(1), pp. 1-12.
Boonyachai, Y., (2011). An investigation of the leadership styles of middle managers in the Thai hotel industry using the MLQ (5X-Short Form) and Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, DBA thesis, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW.
Boseman, G. (2008). Effective leadership in a changing world. Journal of Financial Service
Professionals, Vol. 62(3), pp. 36-38.
Cherry, K. (2017). What Is Transformational Leadership? How Transformational Leadership Inspires . Retrieved from Verywell.com: https://www.verywell.com/what-is-transformational-leadership-2795313
Chinowsky, P., Molenaar, K., Realph, A. (2007). Learning organizations in construction. Journal of Management in Engineering, Vol. 23 (1), pp. 27–34.
Cobb, A.T. (2012). Leading Project Team. The Basics of Project Management and Team Leadership (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
Dickerson, D. (2010). The Power of Organized Leaders. Retrieved from http://dougsmanagementmoment.blogspot.com/2010/10/power-of-organized-leaders.html
Dulewizcz, V., & Higgs, M. J. (2004). Leadership dimensions questionnaire: Organisation context, leader performance & follower commitment. Henley Working Paper Research Note. Henley-on-Thames, UK: Henley Management College.
Evans, V. S., & Evans A. L., (2002). Leadership workshop, Education journal, Vol. 123. (1.).
Feger, A. L., & Thomas, G.A. (2012). A framework of exploring the relationship between project manager leadership style and project success. The International Journal of Management, Vol. 1(1), pp. 1–19.
Fiedler, F. E. (1974). How do you make leaders more effective? Organizational Dynamics.
Fiol, C.M., Harris, D., House, R.J., (1999). Charismatic leadership: strategies for effecting social change. Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 10 (3), pp. 449–482.
Gallagher, E.C., Mazur, A.K., & Ashkanasy, N.M. (2015). Rallying the troops or beating the horses? How project-related demands can lead to either high-performance or abusive supervision. Project Management Journal, Vol. 46(3), pp. 10–24.
Garfield, J., & Stanton, K. (2009). Building effective teams in real time. Harvard Management Update, Vol. 10 (11), pp. 1-3.
Gibson, J. et al. (1992) Human Behaviour. New York: Prentice Hall.
Giritli, H., Civan, I., (2008). Personality study of construction professionals in the Turkish construction industry. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 134 (8), pp. 630–634.
Görög, M. (2013a). A Strategic Oriented Implementation of Projects. Newton Square, Pennsylvania: PMI Publications.
Hossein, A., Bakhsheshi, F., & Rashidi Nejad, S. (2011). Impact of project managers’ personalities on project success in four types of project. In 2nd International Conference on Construction and Project Management IPEDR, Vol. 15, pp. 181-186.
House, R. J. (1971). A path-goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, September, pp. 321-338.
Jiang J. (2014). The Study of the relationship between Leadership Style and Project Success American Journal of Trade and Policy, Vol. 1, pp. 51-55.
Keegan, A. E., & Den Hartog, D. N. (2004). Transformational leadership in a project-based environment: A comparative study of the leadership styles of project managers and line managers. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 22(8), pp. 609-618.
Keller, R.T., (1992). Transformational leadership and the performance of R&D project groups. Journal of Management, Vol. 18 (3), pp. 489–501.
Kendra, K., & Taplin, L. J. (2004). Project success: A cultural framework. Project Management Journal, Vol. 35(1), pp. 30-45.
Lamb, R. (2013). How can Managers Use Participative Leadership Effectively? Available at: http://www.task.fm/participative-leadership. (Accessed: 17.03.2019).
Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2014). Project management: The managerial process (6th ed.). New York,NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Liphadzi, M., Aigbavboa, C. & Thwala, W. (2015). Relationship between leadership styles and project success in the South Africa construction industry. Procedia Engineering, Vol. 123, pp. 284 – 290.
Lowe, K.B., Kroek, G.K., Sivasubramaniam, N., (1996). Effectiveness correlates of transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analytic review of the MLQ literature. Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 7 (3), pp. 385–425.
Madter, N., Bower, D.A., & Artua, B. (2012). Projects and personalities: A framework for individualising project management career development in the construction industry. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 30(3), pp. 273-281.
Maqbool, R., Sudong, Y., Manzoor, N., & Rashid, Y. (2017). The impact of emotional intelligence, project managers’ competencies, and transformational leadership on project success: An empirical perspective. Project Management Journal, Vol. 48(3), pp. 58–75.
Meredith, J., & Mantel, S. (2012). Project management: A managerial approach (8th ed.). Wiley & Sons.
Muller, R., & Turner, J. (2007). Matching the project manager’s leadership style to project type. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 25(1), pp. 21-32.
Muller, R., & Turner, J.R., (2010). Leadership competency profiles of successful project managers, International Journal Project Management, Vol. 28, pp. 437–448.
Muller, R., Geraldi, J., & Turner, J. R. (2012). Relationships between leadership and success in different types of project complexities. Transactions of Engineering management, Vol. 59(1), pp. 77-88.
Munns A. K., & Bjeirmi B.F., (1996). The role of project management in achieving project success. International Project Management, Vol. 14 (2), pp. 81-89.
Northouse, P. G., (2000). Leadership theory and practice. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage
Novo, B., Landis, E. A. & Haley, M. L. (2017). Leadership and Its Role in the Success of Project Management. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, Vol. 14(1), pp. 73-78.
Ogunlana, S. (2011). Factors and procedures in large construction projects in Vietnam, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 11 (6).
Ogunlana, S., (2008). Performance and leadership outcome correlates of leadership styles and subordinate commitment' Engineering Construction and Architectural Management, Vol.15 (2), pp. 87-99.
Ozorovskaja, R., Voordijk, J.T., Wilderom, C.P.M. (2007). Leadership and cultures of Lithuanian and Dutch construction firms. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 133 (11), pp. 900–911.
Pandya, K. D. (2014). The Key Competencies of Project Leader Beyond the Essential Technical Capabilities. IUP Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 12(4), pp. 39-48.
Prabhakar, G.P. (2005). Switch leadership in projects: An empirical study reflecting the importance of transformational leadership on project success across twenty-eight nations. Project Management Journal, Vol. 36(4), pp. 53-60.
Price, J. J., (2009). The Conception and Operationalization of leadership in construction companies, master’s degrees Thesis, UNISA.
Russell, J. S., & Stouffer, B. (2003). Leadership: Is it time for an educational change? Editor‟s letter, Leadership and Management in Engineering, Vol. 3, pp. 2-3.
Schmid, B., & Adams, J. (2008). Motivation in project management: The project manager’s
perspective. Project Management Journal, Vol. 39(2), pp. 60-71.
Standish Group, (2009). The chaos report; accessed at http://www.Standishgroup.com retrieved on 21st May, 2022.
Toor, S.-u.-R., Ofori, G., (2008). Leadership for future construction industry agenda for authentic leadership. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 26 (6), pp. 620–630.
Trivellas, P., & Drimoussis, C. (2013). Investigating Leadership Styles, Behavioural and Managerial Competency Profiles of Successful Project Managers in Greece. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 73, pp. 692-700.
Turner, J. (2005). The project manager’s leadership style as a success factor on projects: A literature review. Project management journal, Vol. 36(2), pp. 49-61.
Van Soest, R. (2013). Team Leadership in Virtual Team. Tilburg University, 21.
Yang, L., Huang, C., & Wu, K. (2011). The association among project manager's leadership style, teamwork and project success. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 29 (3), pp. 258‐267.
Young, M., & Dulewicz, V., (2009). A study into leadership and management competencies predicting superior performance in the British Royal Navy. J. Management Development, Vol. 28, (9), pp. 794-820.
Zhang, X. & Bartol, K. M. (2010). Limiting Empowering Leadership & Employee Creativity: The influence of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation and creative process engagement. Academy of Management Journal. Vol. 53 (1), pp. 107-129.
Zhang, Z., (2009). Beyond genetic explanations for leadership: The moderating role of the social environment. Available from. Journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 110, pp. 118–128.