LEADERSHIP IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Leadership in Project
management:
A core capability required of project
managers
Name:
Name of the Author
Student ID:
Course:
Tutor:
Institute:
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LEADERSHIP IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Date:
September 15, 2015
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LEADERSHIP IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Abstract
This research work examined the leadership in project management as regards to skills
and styles required of a project manager/ leader. A total of eighty (80) randomly selected
project managers and team members in construction industry (residential projects) in
Dubai, UAE served as the subject of this study. Both multiple -case study, semi
structured interviews and questionnaires method was adopted for the research strategy.
Data were gathered with the research instruments which included questionnaires
administered to the selected team members and project managers on project leadership
skills and styles via emails, face to face and semi structured interview via, face to face
telephone calls for in depth analysis. Data was analyzed using content analysis.
The outcome of the findings from the study includes the following:
1. The relationship between leadership and project management is positive and
significant
2. The leadership skills and styles for project managers and project effectiveness is
positive and significant
3. The leadership role as a core capability for project managers in project
management is positive and significant
Keywords: Leadership, Project manager, Leadership skills, styles, project management.
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TableofContents
Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Background To the study .................................................................................................... 1 Research objectives ......................................................................................................... 2 Research question ........................................................................................................... 3 Required Resources ........................................................................................................ 4 Purpose............................................................................................................................ 4 Research Hypothesis ....................................................................................................... 5 Significance..................................................................................................................... 6 Statement of Problems .................................................................................................... 7 Scope and limitation of the study.................................................................................... 8 Operational definition of terms ....................................................................................... 9 Literature review ............................................................................................................... 10 Leadership ..................................................................................................................... 10 Leadership skills ........................................................................................................... 17 Managerial Skills .......................................................................................................... 22 Order your custom paper now via WhatsApp +1 (484)-598-3053
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Leadership style ............................................................................................................ 25 Leadership in Project Management .............................................................................. 33 Job content .................................................................................................................... 37 Job content definition and its related constructs ....................................................... 37 Job context .................................................................................................................... 46 Job context definition and its related constructs ....................................................... 47 Employee Dissatisfaction.............................................................................................. 54 Summary of the Literature Review ............................................................................... 58 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 60 Qualitative vs. Quantitative research ............................................................................ 61 Research strategy .......................................................................................................... 66 Population ..................................................................................................................... 67 Sample and Sampling technique ................................................................................... 68 Research instrument ...................................................................................................... 69 Data collection procedure ............................................................................................. 71 Construction project in Dubai (Residential projects).................................................... 73 Company’s Background................................................................................................ 75 Order your custom paper now via WhatsApp +1 (484)-598-3053
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Data Measurement ........................................................................................................ 76 Data Analysis and Result .............................................................................................. 77 Responses to questionnaire ....................................................................................... 80 Other results .............................................................................................................. 82 SPSS tests.................................................................................................................. 86 The summary of research outcome ............................................................................... 88 Cultural differences ....................................................................................................... 88 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 90 Implications for project managers ................................................................................ 91 Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 93 Limitations of Study ......................................................................................................... 94 Area for Further Study ...................................................................................................... 95 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 96 Appendix ........................................................................................................................... 98 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 101 Order your custom paper now via WhatsApp +1 (484)-598-3053
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TableofFigures
Figure 1: Leadership (worksystems, 2007)....................................................................... 17 Figure 2: Quantum leadership (wordpress, 2009)............................................................. 21 Figure 3: Situational leader styles (University of Northern Iowa, 2005) ......................... 27 Figure 4: Transformational leadership (amnavigator, 2005) ............................................ 29 Figure 5: Efficacy of leadership styles (softwarecreation, 2007) ..................................... 30 Figure 6: Herzberg's two factor theory (examstutor, 2006) .............................................. 39 Figure 7: Simple Feedback Loop (tutor2u, 2006) ............................................................. 43 Figure 8: Research process ............................................................................................... 64 Figure 9: Age distribution of respondents ........................................................................ 79 Figure 10: Responses for the question .............................................................................. 82 Figure 11: Response to question ....................................................................................... 84 Figure 12: Data analysis on leadership styles ................................................................... 85 Figure 13: Results of t-test (Hypothesis 1) ....................................................................... 86 Figure 14: Results of t-test (Hypothesis 2) ....................................................................... 87 TableofTables
Table 1: Responses to questions (%age) ........................................................................... 81 Table 2: Response Rate ..................................................................................................... 84 Order your custom paper now via WhatsApp +1 (484)-598-3053
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Introduction
This chapter is the background of the area of research. It looks at the objectives of
carrying out this research, puts forward a research question and also highlight the
resources needed and limitation in carrying out this research.
Background To the study
In the highly competitive world of today there has been increased demand on leadership
skills and styles in project management for effective delivery. According to Dulwicz &
Higgs (2005), leadership is a major key to project success with the right kind of
leadership skills by the project manager. Thus the effectiveness of project management in
terms of leadership is becoming a great concern to professionals, organizations, and
people of concerned minds.
Also the emergence of matrix organization structure and the fact that ninety percent of
organizations and individuals are in involved in one project or the other is no longer news
which requires right leadership skills and styles for effective management. More over the
project managers in construction industry in Dubai was an area of focus due to the fact
that there are large numbers of construction projects (residential projects) going on in the
region and easy access to project managers by the researcher. Recent studies have shown
there is a great impact of leadership skills and styles in project management. From the
research by Turner and Muller, (2005) it showed that there is a relationship between
leadership style and project success. But according to Zwikael & Bar-Yaseph (2004), PM
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has its origin in technical disciplines which has made the PM literature to focus more on
the hard skills such as ability to create the Work Break down Structure to mention a few
often laying little emphasis on the soft skills such as leadership. But how can these hard
skills be put to work when project managers exhibit poor leadership skills and styles?
Clarke (2009), “there is need to raise an awareness to understand the differences between
leadership and management within the project environment.”
According to Briner et al., (2004), those asides technical skills, it is the people skills
which are the key to successful project management.
Considering the importance of leadership in project management, it is essential to focus
on leadership skills and styles to bring about the desired improvement in project
management effectiveness.
Thus a project manager is expected to possess a good leadership skills and styles.
Research objectives
The study intends to assess the appropriate leadership skills and styles required of project
managers; specifically the objective of the study is to analyze the importance of
leadership in project management as a core capability required of project managers. The
research objectives can be outlined as follows
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
To analyze the importance of leadership in project management as a core
capability required of project managers

To demonstrate distinct leadership skills and styles required of project managers
in project management

To obtain the estimate of the expertise level of project managers for effective
project management

To determine the relationship between project managers’ leadership styles and
project management effectiveness.

To determine the impact of leadership skills on employee satisfaction
Research question
In line with the purpose of the study, the below research questions was addressed
How do project leadership skills and styles influence project management effectiveness?
What type of leadership skills and styles are important in project management?
The research questions are outlined as below

How do project leadership skills and styles influence project management
effectiveness?

What type of leadership skills and styles are important in project management?
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
What leadership style is common in a typical construction project management?

What is the relationship between project managers’ leadership skills and styles
and project management effectiveness?

How employee satisfaction is related to the leadership skills of the project
manager?
Required Resources
In carrying out this research an understanding of what leadership is and the identification
of projects in the construction industry in Dubai. Some funds will also be necessary to
transport from one destination to the other. Also there will be a need to identify a list of
project managers to interview in the construction industry (residential projects) in Dubai
for a better understanding of issues faced by project managers. Lastly, literature on
leadership skills and styles and project management will be required
Purpose
To demonstrate distinct leadership skills and styles required of project managers in
project management.
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Research Hypothesis
The belief that certain personal characteristics and skills contribute to leadership
effectiveness in many situations is the universal theory of leadership (Dubrin and
Dalglish, 2003). However the trait school of taught on leadership perspective are Drive
and Ambition, Desire to lead and influence others honesty and integrity Self Confidence
and intelligence Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991).Similarly Turner (2009) stated the traits of
successful project managers as Problem solving, Results orientation , Energy and
initiative, Self-confidence, Perspective, Communication and Negotiating ability.
Based on the above theories below hypothesis were tested to guide the study

Project managers only need the technical skills for successful project
management. H01(Null hypothesis)

Leadership skills by project managers in project management is strictly
connected to project effectiveness H1(Alternative hypothesis)

There will be no merit in project manager leadership style and project
management effectiveness.H02( Null hypothesis)

There will be merit in project manager’s style and project management
effectiveness.H2 (Alternative hypothesis)
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Significance
Empirical literature has shown that leadership skills and styles is positively associated
with project effectiveness hence this research will provide the information on the most
common type of leadership styles and skills used by project managers in a construction
residential project management.
This study is useful because it will also provides an in depth, awareness and clearer
picture and understanding of leadership role as core capability required of project
managers in terms of skills and styles in managing projects such as restructuring process
or construction
This study is valuable because it will create awareness on the increased need of
leadership skills and styles in project management and will show why project
management is effective when the project managers have the right leadership skills and
styles.
Overall, this study is beneficial because it will provide the relationship between
leadership and project management, this information is of utmost importance to project
managers because it enables them to assess and adjust their leadership skills and styles in
project management so that no team members are marginalized.
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Statement of Problems
John Adair, (1989) stated that there is a clear difference between leadership and
management and that leadership is earned in the eyes of the follower but leadership goes
along with change that the “best leaders will possess good management skills” .No doubt,
the success of any project (change) is directly or indirectly affected by leadership; a core
capability required of project managers and little attention has been made to leadership
skills and styles for project managers. Over the years the problem of project failure keeps
recurring as compared to the success criteria of project (Time, cost and quality). Most of
the existing literature review on leadership qualities, traits, and management style were
conducted at the time of relative stability within the traditional organization setting (Kelly
2001). Similarly the literature related to the intersection of the fields of leadership and
project management is generally lacking and more research is needed concerning the
intersection between the two domains (Jagues, Garger, and Thomas, 2008), in order
words no research has focused extensively on the leadership and project manager.
According to Lockwood (2006), as at the year 2000 corporations were spending $50
billion dollars a year on leadership development which was aimed at developing
individual competences.
Some literatures on skills required of project managers generally discuss on hard skills
and soft skills laying little emphasis on leadership as the “core” capability, more so
according to NASA (2007) Most of the project success literature The project success
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literature diligently pay no attention to the project to leadership skills or styles as possible
success factors, where application of tools and techniques is viewed as a success factor..
There has being an increased need for the “right” leadership skills and styles in managing
projects because in project management there are different types of projects which
requires specific leadership skills and styles for effective management and also most
project run over budget, time and even not achieving the stated objectives and the project
leader response and decisions in terms of skills and styles will determine the way
forward.
Also some projects are outsourced bringing different teams, consultant, project managers
from diverse cultural background which requires effective leadership skills and styles to
manage. Thus this justifies the relevance and timeliness of this study
Scope and limitation of the study
Although leadership skills and styles is needed across industries, organizations, business
endeavors, strategic change management, projects in every facet of life but for the
purpose of this study the investigation was restricted to projects, team members and
project managers from Management, Architectural and Engineering Background in
construction companies (residential projects) in Dubai, UAE . Thus the sample size is
small to make generalization but it is valid, reliable, and replicable. Another major
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challenge is the gaining access to the project managers. A time constraint is another
major challenge. Hence this research is subject to review for further investigation.
Operational definition of terms
To avoid ambiguity, the following terms are defined as they are used in this study.
1. Leadership: This is the ability to lead with tremendously wide range of roles to
play.
2. Project: This is a non routine activity, specific in nature as regards to time, quality
and cost
3. Project Leadership: This is the ability to lead project either successfully or
unsuccessfully
4. Leadership styles: These are ways of leading distinctively.
5. Leadership skills: This is the ability of a leader to do something well either
through experience or training.
6. Project management: This is the process of managing, planning, and organizing
resources for successful implementation of project.
7. Project manager: This is an individual professional in the field of project
management.
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Literature review
A review of related literature is undertaken to provide vital information on what
researchers have done on the problem under study .The review of related literature for
this study is therefore presented under the following subheadings

Leadership

Leadership skills

Leadership styles

Leadership in project Management

Job Context vs. Job Content

Summary of the Review
Leadership
Increasingly, organizations are recognizing the strategic importance of quality
management practices. There have been numerous researches in the past which study the
inter relationship between leadership quality, organization culture and quality of
management practices in an organization. This research study borrows from such
researches to posit a new model in this field which correlates the effect of leadership
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styles (independent variable) under various organizational cultures (moderator variable)
on the quality of management practices (dependent variable) being followed in an
organization.
Bass’ (1985 & 1990) Transformational theory of leadership states that although some
people are born with leadership qualities, people can also choose to become leaders and
can learn leadership qualities with time and experience. Bass identifies the following
types of leadership qualities that people display
1. Transactional Leadership: Such leaders assume that people are motivated by
incentives. They create clear structures in the organization which explicitly tell
their subordinates exactly what is expected of them and implicitly tell what is not.
2. Laissez faire Leadership: Such leaders assume that employees are experienced
enough to solve all their problems mutually and his intervention is not required in
such matters. This can also be viewed as shying away from decision making.
3. Transformational Leadership: These leaders believe that inspiring the employees
to achieve greater things will bring good results for them and the organization as a
whole. They are very passionate and put a lot of energy into motivating their
employees.
Working for a transformational leader can be an uplifting and wonderful experience for
the employees and can result in their putting in an extra effort for their organization thus
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achieving exceptional performance (Berson & Linton, 2005; Sousa & Voss, 2002).
Waldman (1994) suggested that such leadership qualities can result in quality
management practices in the organization. However, there is very little research done on
this subject to verify this assumption. This provides us the reason and the foundation for
our research study. The basic aim of this research will be to test the hypothesis that “there
is a direct correlation between leadership quality and the quality of management practices
being adopted at the organization”.
Rad (2006) studied the impact of cultural values on the success of TQM implementation
in Isfahan University Hospitals (IUHs), Iran, 2004. Rad found out the barriers to
successful implementation of TQM in an organization and how it relates to the
organizational culture. The success of TQM in hospitals with organic organizational
structure and medium organizational culture was found to be higher than mechanistic and
bureaucratic hospitals with weak organizational culture (Rad, 2006). Thus organizational
culture should be attuned to the basic values and principle of TQM if it has to be
successfully implemented. Moreover, support and commitment of top management is
essential for successful implementation of TQM. However, the study didn’t include
various leadership styles in the organizational culture to determine the success of TQM
implementation. Our research study aims to build on these results to develop our model.
Anderson et al. (1994) traced the development of Deming’s management method
(containing its fourteen point principle), positioned it within the context of management
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theory and then described their theory formulation which stated that “The effectiveness of
the Deming management method arises from leadership efforts toward the simultaneous
creation of a cooperative and learning organization to facilitate the implementation of
process , management practices, which, when implemented, support customer satisfaction
and organizational survival through sustained employee fulfillment and continuous
improvement of process, products, and services” (Anderson, Rungtusanatham, &
Schroeder, 1994).
Similar to Bass’ (1985) leadership theory, Anderson et al.’s model argued that a
motivational leader or a visionary can affect the quality of management practices in an
organization e.g. continuous improvement and customer focus. Although it may be
argued that their study focuses on organizations looking to implement TQM and the
model may not be valid for all organizations. However, the basic premise of Deming’s
management method is that the creation of an organizational system that fosters
implementation of quality management practices i.e. teamwork, continuous improvement
and customer focus must have an effective leadership (Anderson et al., 1994). Thus it can
be argued that the model is applicable to all the organizations.
In simple terms, leadership is the process used by an individual to influence group
members towards the achievement of groups where the group members view the
influence as legitimate (Howell and Costley, 2000).Although leadership has been widely
discussed in many areas with different focus but still remains as elusive and hazy
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concept (Doh, 2003; Rosenbach, 2003).Howell and Costley (2000) in addition defined
the leadership with core characteristics of systematic and continuous series of actions on
influencing behavior which is viewed by follower as reasonable and justifiable where a
single individual usually fulfills the role for a group directed towards achieving group
goals. In their book they refer to management as a mechanical and administrative activity
while leadership involves changing and developing more effective organizations where
leadership is been viewed as “living enterprise” and managers as “organization
engineers” .They concluded that leadership and management are closely related where
the same individuals perform both activities. Similarly Dubrin and Dalglish (2003)
differentiated leadership and management while the former deals with change,
inspiration, motivation and influence the latter deals more with maintaining equilibrium
and the status quo. However the managers most often have to take leadership role which
require specific skills to be able to manage project effectively.
Rausch and Washbush, (2000) developed the management / Leadership model which is
called the 3Cs model. The 3Cs control, competence, and climate model provide
guidelines for decisions and action regarding leadership aspect of management with set of
questions as a guide. They suggested that it is not necessarily to be highly knowledgeable
to be competent manager / leader that sound judgment with experience will go a long
way using the basic guidelines. Similarly John Adair, (1989) was the first to exhibit that
leadership is trainable, transferable expertise. However for a different point of view, one
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should refer to Dubrin and Daglish, (2003) “traits ,motives and characteristics for
leadership effectiveness are a combination of hereditary and environment” .Adair (1989)
developed a simple Action – center model for leadership and management he emphasized
that a good manager must have full command of the three main elements of the action
centered which is achieving the task, building the team or group and developing
individuals which are dependent with functions such as planning, controlling, informing,
supporting, and evaluating. Leadership role in project management cannot be over
emphasized; placing a major requirement on the project mangers as regards to leadership
skills and styles. Regardless Kakabadse and Kakabadse (2008) suggested that skillful
influencing requires appropriateness of style, which is one of the key roles of a project
manager by taking into perspectives of team members for positive result or performance.
From research by Mohan Thite (1999) on the importance of leadership in technical
projects arguing that there is need to develop a leadership model incorporating the
distinguishing personality and occupational characteristics of technical professionals
which was been tested using the Bass and Avolio’s transformational leadership model.
The outcome of the research showed that a combination of transformational and technical
leadership behaviours add to the effectiveness of transactional leadership leading to high
project success. Although it was accepted that there is no particular leadership style for
all project situations but suggested flexible style for effective leadership.
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A research done by Weinkauf and Hoel (2002), on product development project in the
European automobile industry, showed that the team members and leaders are not
motivated and equipped to perform leadership activities competently and recommended
that there is need to build leadership skills and leadership motivation in a team base
project organization alongside the technical expertise.
A research by Clarke (2009) on the leadership beyond project management which aimed
at differentiating between the leadership and management within the project
environment, the premise is emphasis needs to be on project leadership to achieve a
successful project. Longman and Mullins (2004), highlighted seven essentials for project
success, two out of it leadership and human capabilities. In their work, it was stated that
human capabilities involves right people with right skills for project effectiveness.
Imagine project manager or leader without the right leadership skills which will
eventually lead to project ineffectiveness. Pheng and Lee (1997) carried survey within the
building professionals to examine the applicability of the Art of Management and
Managerial Grid for project managers as well as project management team, the findings
are leadership, Planning and ability to work as a team are the three most important
criteria that a project manager must possess where as for effective project management
team; management by objectives, resolving conflicts and open communication are the
most important criteria. They concluded that there is need for leadership development in
the construction project management. Thus the underlying issue is that developing
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individual leader competencies focused on traits and situational attributes does not equate
to better leadership as today’s leaders must operate in a marketplace that is both volatile
and virtual (Cohen and Prusak, 2001).
Figure 1: Leadership (worksystems, 2007)
Leadership skills
Leadership skills are the expertise knowledge of the leader in order to manage project
effectively. Thus managing people from these different specialties and professions
requires superior interpersonal skills (Jagues, Garger, and Thomas 2008).The changes in
the business environment have aided the increased need for leadership skills. Moreover
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Thite and Simmons (1997) stated that the key element to effective project management is
good people management and leadership skills Thus to be an effective leader, manager
should be able develop and coach subordinates, communicate clearly, resolve conflicts,
make sound decisions, response to work challenges should be positive, use time
effectively and delegate work (Davies et al; 1996).Similarly Bourne and Walker (2004)
stated successful project manager must demonstrate flexibility and competency in many
areas like hard and “soft” skills, introverted and reflective, extroverted and social
behaviors. According to Kumpusalo et al., (1991) and Hyppola et al., (1996) there is
frequent urged by physicians that special attention should be paid to improving the way
management skills are handled in medical faculties. A research on Managerial skills of
principal physicians by Kumpusalo et al; (2003) one of the findings is that the principal
doctors were rated the poorest in providing feedback, follow-up and evaluating,
motivating and delegating which are the core skills in organizational management. Also
Katz (1974) suggested that to be an effective manager there is need of technical,
conceptual and human skills which are interdependent. Effective leadership is the result
of the application of communication, team building, and decision-making skills. Effective
implementation of leadership requires integration of these skills into a consistent and
coherent pattern of behavior (Donnelly, 1994). Likewise Jagues, Garger and Thomas
(2008) argued that the leadership skills and behaviors that are necessary for successful
project management are different from those necessary for other leadership situations.
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Thus if the leadership skills are lagging there will not be effective implementation of
leadership role in project management. According to Pierce and Kleiner (2000) the
challenge for leadership requires proactive way, use good leadership skills, and have the
ability to drive an organization to what is important .Pierce and Klein further highlight
the leadership skills loyalty, motivation and enthusiasm, developing and coaching team
members or staffs, delegation of responsibilities, mediate for conflict management and
resolving problem, an open and honest communication for change, feedback on
performance ,forming relationship with members and developing self leadership
behaviour and consistency. Similarly the ability of an effective leader includes cognitive
skill, interpersonal skill, and technical skill (Yukl, 1994; Gibson et al., 2003).Regardless
Elmuti et al., (2005) provided a multi stage leadership education model which builds on
the fundamental knowledge and skills to develop more relevant leadership skills such as
conceptual, interpersonal, and practical skills and also emphasized that successful
leadership education should include both practical business skills and in depth training on
interpersonal and conceptual training. Correspondingly, McCallum, and Connell (2009),
although there is primary focus on human capital capabilities (individual competences)
such as work experience, education ,knowledge, skills and abilities; suggested that social
capital skills (relational competences) such as social awareness, self management ,forging
commitments , fostering cooperation, giving feedback, establishing trust, goodwill and
reciprocity should be included as components of leadership skills in order for
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organizations to fully develop leadership capabilities, the social capital. Shelton and
Darling (2001) developed the quantum skills model in order to provide new skill sets that
can have appreciable impact on effectiveness in managerial leadership in the twenty first
century. The quantum skill model is as follows,

Quantum seeing : The ability to see intuitively

Quantum thinking : The ability to think paradoxically

Quantum feeling: Ability to feel vitally alive

Quantum knowing : The ability to know intuitively

Quantum acting :The ability to act responsibly

Quantum trusting :The ability to trust life process

Quantum being :The ability to be in relationship
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Figure 2: Quantum leadership (wordpress, 2009)
The skills are called quantum because they are premised on the assumption that the
quantum realm of energy is of primary importance and thereby casual to everything else
in the universe (Shelton & Darling 2001). A research study has shown that managers,
after receiving feedback from subordinates, demonstrated increased skills and those who
were rated with greater skills were more likely to advance in their organizations
(Waldman and Atwater, 1998).
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In quantum leadership paradigm, leadership is considered to be an interaction between
leader and followers. According to Shelton and Darling, “Leadership should be perceived
as a fact within the integrity of leader-followers which lead us a leader-followers
dilemma. Thinking “I am the leader not because of me, but also because of my followers’
perceptions about me” would be the first step to prove it. Therefore, both leaders and
followers contribute to and participate in leadership” (2001).
It is important to study managerial skills as well to differentiate between leadership and
managerial skills. A literature review on managerial skills is covered in the following
section.
Managerial Skills
Flexibility or adaptability is identified as an important managerial skill in project
management. Peterson & Fleet (2004) define flexibility as the ability to adapt to changing
conditions and work in uncertain and difficult environment. In a fast changing world,
project managers are required to effectively manage multiple assignments, prioritize and
reprioritize multiple concurrent projects. Similarly, a diverse workforce in an MNC
presents a challenge to human resource professionals. HR managers have to be flexible
and adapt to the cultural needs of the clients while dealing with overseas clients
(Bhattacharya, Gibson, & Doty, 2005). For example, while arranging a meeting with an
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Asian client, the schedules need to be flexible. Bhattacharya et al. also observed that
modern managers have to be aware of different employee needs so as to make
appropriate policies to retain the best talents. For example, IBM has been able to
successfully attract talented women employees, who had quit the job after marriage or
childbirth, by giving them a choice of flexible working hours.
While it is important to be flexible, the guiding principles of the organization pertaining
to the ethics and morality need to be maintained. These basic principles give the
organizations the reason to exist and help in forming an image in the minds of its loyal
customers. Changing these may confuse its customers and it may give away the
advantage to its rivals. Too much change may also prove to be very costly in terms of
resource requirement. E.g. Pepsi changed its tagline too many in the last ten years in the
Indian market from Dil Maange More (my heart wants more), Pyaas hai badi (the thirst
is too big) to Youngistaan (a land of young people) (PepsiCo, 2009) which confused its
loyal customers and as a result lost its market share to Sprite. So, chopping and changing
too much may prove detrimental too.
A successful project manager must also possess sound decision making skills i.e. the
ability to choose among various alternative solutions. As we discussed, a flexible
manager can adapt changing environment and his decision making must reflect the
changes. It is not sufficient to just evaluate the root of the problem and suggest various
solutions. Making a firm decision is just as important. A manager who shies away from
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taking a decision shows his lack of confidence in his managerial abilities (Peterson &
Fleet, 2004). Such a manager does his organization more harm as the inaction on his part
can cost the organization a lot. For example, sometimes the manager has to take a
difficult decision of firing an underperforming employee. But not taking the difficult
decision to look good may send that worker the wrong signal and it may prove even more
detrimental to the organization at a later stage. Thus taking prompt decision and
responding to the changes in the market place is an essential skill in an era where
globalization is the buzzword.
It may be possible that the project manager may deem that taking no action is the best
way to tackle a problem. But rather than being indecisive about the problem, the manager
has to take a decision that no action is necessary. This will end the confusion among the
employees under him. It is also possible, that the decision may prove a wrong one at a
later stage. But inaction to avoid making mistakes can prove to be as bad as taking a
wrong decision.
It is not just about taking the right decision, but also about communicating the decision to
the employees which matters. A project manager with good communication skills is able
to communicate his decisions effectively so that the entire content and intent behind the
decision is known to the employees. As de Bono (1992) observed that there is no right or
wrong opinion and the success of the manager depends on his skill to influence the others
in seeing his viewpoint. This makes the decision easier to implement as the manager can
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get the support of his subordinates. Good communication skills are also necessary to
motivate the employees, resolve conflicts at the workplace (more prominent in a diverse
workforce), or conveying a bad decision (e.g. announcing layoffs due to recession). For
example, employees look forward to working with a transformational leader who has to
ability to lift the spirits of the whole team with a motivational speech (Bass, 1990). This
was the case in the turnaround of Apple Inc. under the leadership of Steve Jobs. Modern
manager also carries the image of the organization with himself and in these times of
constant media glare, the manager should be able to think quickly and communicate those
thoughts effectively to project a positive image of the organization.
It was observed that the modern project managers have to be able to respond to
constantly changing circumstances, make decisions to reflect these changes and
communicate those decisions to their subordinates effectively to get their support in
implementing those decisions. This can help him in staying ahead of the competition and
contribute more effectively to his organization.
Leadership style
Leadership style is the approach a leader applied in managing a project over a period of
time. However the contingency leadership was written by Fred Fiedler in 1960 which
altered the center of attention of leadership theory away from traits to an investigation of
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leadership behavior. Fred Feidler believed that an effective leadership approach is an
assessment of the situation and the use of appropriate style to match the situational
characteristics. That is to say in every situation of project management such as managing
relocation process, restructuring, construction etc there is need for appropriate style for
management. Also Hersey and Blanchard (1980) group the leadership styles into four
behavioral types namely directive, supportive, and participative and achievement oriented
which laid emphasis on adapting leadership style to match follower’s level of ability and
willingness. According Howell and Costley (2000) the leadership behaviors are always
combined together often result in several typical leadership styles found in many
organizations which will be explained below
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Figure 3: Situational leader styles (University of Northern Iowa, 2005)

The Coach: The leader places utmost importance on developing followers
potential to perform. Coaches are directive, supportive, show appreciation through
compliments and recognition and with little contingent punishment behavior on
performance.

The human relations specialist: The leader lays emphasis on keeping followers
happy and comfortable apparently assuming they will respond with effective
performance. They are supportive, highly participative, good interpersonal skills,
solicitude, and equal treatment of members and modification of situation to make
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followers work more comfortable and pleasing to them. This leadership style is
good for managing downsizing.

The controlling autocrat: This is the obsession of controlling the actions of people
around by the leader. The leader is highly directive, authoritative ,give detailed
instruction to followers, extensive use of contingent and non contingent
punishment often lacks participation ,supportive, interpersonal skills and
dogmatic.

The transformational visionary: The leader uses charismatic behaviors
extensively, giving inspirational speeches using metaphorical language, highly
supportive, having follower’s leadership skills, often not participative with
followers, self confident, excellent communication skills, and impression
management skills such as team management, highly intelligent and creative.

Transactional exchange style: This leadership is based on exchanges of leaders
and followers. The leader is directive, extensive use of contingent
reward/punishment behavior, build close ,social exchanges, single minded ,good
interpersonal and communication skills

The servant leader: This means servant first and the leader second. They are
extremely open and willing to share their frustrations with followers, supportive,
participative, charismatic, and striving for moral excellence.
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Figure 4: Transformational leadership (amnavigator, 2005)
Research findings by Thite and Simmons (1997) on leadership style in information
systems environment indicated leadership style influence project outcome and that there
are different leadership styles; most successful managers exhibit the transformational
leadership style.
Research findings by Strang (2005) showed project leaders from then multiple
international industries examined (mostly insurance, construction, and public sector) do
consistently practice more of the transformational leadership principles, as compared
with the laissez-faire style approaches, but not necessarily to an observable extent in all
situations which seem conducive to their application, respectively and also project
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leadership does not always require strong transformational leader behaviors to produce
effective organizational outcomes.
Figure 5: Efficacy of leadership styles (softwarecreation, 2007)
Another research by Trinidad and Normore (2004), found that transformational
leadership is preferred leadership style used by women and women adopt democratic and
participative leadership style in corporate organization and in education. Similarly Burke
and Collins (2001), research on gender differences in leadership styles and management
skills, findings show that self reported leadership styles of female accountant differs from
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the male accountant, that the female are more likely than the male to indicate that use
interactive management style called the transformational leadership which was found to
correlate with several management skills (coaching, developing and communicating)
associated with success and effectiveness. Their findings also suggest that female
accountants receive more developmental than do their male colleague. Furthermore
Powell (1990; 1993) and Bass (1981) supported the belief that no gender differences in
leadership styles. Similarly Rosener (1990) concluded that no gender differences in
leadership styles which were later called into question in latter research by (Rosener et
al., 1990 and Bass et al., 1996). According to Blake and Mouton (1964), there are five
grid styles in which project manager may adopt as his leadership styles which include
indifferent style, accommodating style, dictorial style, status quo style and sound style
and later updated with two other namely opportunistic style and the paternalistic style
Jagues, Garger and Thomas ( 2008), suggested, the leadership styles of individuals
attracted to project management and individuals interested in other
Management areas differ significantly. Their study suggested that individuals attracted to
project management have a higher concern for people leadership style than individuals
attracted to other management areas and that those interested in project management have
a balance between concern for people and concern for task leadership styles
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Nevertheless the relationship between gender role and leadership style is the association
of masculinity with task-oriented leadership styles and femininity with relationshiporiented ones (Oshagbemi and Gill, 2003; Rigg and Sparrow, 1994).
Although the differences in men’s and women’s leadership styles are important
considering the trends towards flatter organizations, team based management and
globalization (Evans, 2001; Helgesen, 1990; Rigg and Sparrow, 1994; Rosener, 1990).
Gabrielsson et al., (2009) developed a key paradigm leadership styles on the basis of two
major dimensions; responsiveness and assertiveness. The leadership styles are analyzer,
director, creator, and connector which can be used as a reference point in the process of
transformational team building across cultural boundaries providing a linkage between
the two. In their research, comparison of responsive leadership style between Asian
leaders and American leaders was analyzed and suggested that when the leadership style
and the cultural values coincide, the careful and skillful management orientation to
leadership styles becomes paramount. However Barber and Warn (2005), describe two
different leadership styles for project managers, the fire fighter (reactive) –firelighter
(proactive, complex) analogy to problem solving, that the latter finds a way of
overcoming the inertia of reactive leadership which requires ability to align daily problem
solving with planned strategies and project progress or outcomes. Likewise Briner, et al
(2004) “leadership are reactive they revel in firefighter and crisis management, instead of
balancing these skills with the productive, strategic approach
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Another research by Kelly (2001), on exploring project mangers style and control in
managing changing project boundaries and permeable interfaces using a survey of
clinical research project, some of the findings are no single leadership style that is
appropriate for all project situations and leaders perception of managing successfully is
that the cross functional communications and negotiations is not significant.
Leadership in Project Management
Project management is designed to focus attention on delivery of specific outputs: the
creation of deliverables or products against the agreed time, quality and cost targets
(APM 2007). Whereas project is a generic discipline that can be applied to all areas of the
organization, it incorporates activities that makes use of cross functional teams and has a
set life span (time factor) in which the objectives are secondary to the organization
objectives because it is a type of production systems which is complex with multiple set
of objectives and can operate internally and externally. Although the literature on project
management success factors has largely ignored the impact of project managers on
project success (Turner and Muller, 2005) Nevertheless leadership in project
management is a core capability required of project managers has a great impact on
effective project management. Geoghegan and Dulewicz (2008) stated the correlations
between usability and project delivery and project leadership. The authors found eight
separate leadership dimensions (IQ dimensions: critical analysis, EQ dimensions: self-
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awareness, sensitivity, influencing, motivation, MQ dimensions: manage resources,
empowering, developing) were statistically related to project performance, it showed that
there is a relationship between project manager’s competencies such as leadership and
project success. On the contrary Baker et al. (1988) and Pinto and Slevin (1988b) did not
lay emphasis on project manager leadership as success factors. Similarly Cook Davies
(2001) did not emphasize on project leadership rather focus on the three success criteria
cost, quality and time. But Thite and Simmons (1997) considers leadership behavior of IS
project managers as a critical success factors. Although the success criteria are always
measurable while the success factors do not necessarily mean the success of the projects,
it simply means factors that can aid the project success. For example a project manager
with the right leadership skills and styles but maybe due to bad weather condition or
financial constraints by the client, project was being delayed adding up to cost which can
be viewed as project ineffectiveness when compared to the success criteria.
A research conducted by Heinz, et al (2006) on relationship between leadership and
project success on R&D projects on electronic platforms laid emphasis on
communication, personal contact, team spirit, clarification of task ,responsibilities for
project success which are some of the leadership skills.
A case study cited in Abraham et al., (2001) which was established within the internet
service provider of a large Australian company to execute a project which was viewed
easy an inexperienced junior staff project manager was assigned due to this there was
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stakeholder issues, project overtime, over budget and the experience was extremely
stressful.
Another case study is that of Hong Kong airport construction project. It was to be
delivered by a set of joint ventures and strategic alliances comprising partners
representing many countries and cultures. This project was to be completed in six months
and appeared to be a straightforward construction project. However the Australian project
manager had never worked on a project in Asia before. He was competent in managing
the “hard” criteria of time, cost, quality, and scope, but had never needed to develop
skills and experience in managing relationships in a multicultural environment (Hofstede,
1991; Trompenaars, 1993)
Similarly, a case study, in which the project manager was allocated to the multifaceted,
many vendors, highly visibility project that was exhibiting lack of consistency, lack of
leadership and schedule and budget overruns. However the project was a demanding
experience for the project manager, who had a reputation for successfully carrying
projects such as these to order. Progress on the project had been delayed, with conflicts
arising from cultural mix-up between the major delivery groups – one group of “staff”
business analysts, one group of technical contractors and one group from a high-tech
company with clear visions and methods (Cusumano and Selby, 1995).
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The above cases were analyzed by Abraham et al., (2001) and suggested that there is
need to focus on relationship building skills ,understand the importance of defining and
maintaining clear project vision to avoid conflict ,stakeholders impact on outcomes and
that the project manager’s knowledge ,experience ,personal style and preference to
management has an impact in project success. In order words there is need of leadership
skills and styles for project success.
Research by Gottschalk and Karlsen (2005) applied the contingent approach to leadership
role using six managerial roles such as personnel leader, resource allocator, spokes men,
entrepreneur, liaison, and monitoring to compare internal IT projects versus outsourcing
projects. It was assumed that the internal IT projects would emphasize internal leadership
roles (personnel) and resource allocator whereas IT outsourcing projects would
emphasize external leadership role .However this research did not take into account
culture, structure dimension, and specific IT industry projects.
Paulson et al., (2009), research outcome showed the importance of managers using the
charismatic style of leadership to encourage and promote innovation team by supporting
a sense of team identity and commitment so as to persuade team members to corporate
through the expression of ideas and participation in decisions.
Likewise Keller (1992) found that charismatic behaviors and intellectual stimulation
influence R&D project effectiveness.
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The question rises what impact the leadership and managerial skills has on the employee
behavior. According to the literature, the impact of leadership styles can be gauged from
the employee satisfaction and stress. The two factor theory proposed by Herzberg will be
used to analyze the motivators and the hygiene factors among employees.
Job content
Job content refers to the actual skills which are required to perform a job which are
usually under the control of the employee itself. Job content assumes importance in the
nursing environment as the skills required are highly technical and this makes the project
managers feel confident about their role in the organization. The various definitions of
job content in the literature and its related constructs which are important to the field of
nursing are discussed in the following sections.
Job content definition and its related constructs
In simple terms, job content refers to the breakdown of the competencies required to
perform a certain job. It refers to the actual skills that are required to perform a job. These
factors are usually under control by the individual himself (Dunham, Pierce, &
Newstrom, 1983) e.g. performance, recognition, autonomy and role clarity etc. Since
project managers perform a variety of roles, the job content varies according to the actual
role performed. For example, the civil project managers are required to work under tight
deadlines conditions and require skills such time management and employee relations etc.
These skills are imparted to the project managers during their training programs and thus
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the project managers are able to determine their level of performance and recognition in
their roles. Thus, job content can be said to be under the control of the individual himself.
Job content constructs are the motivational factors required at a workplace to get better
performance from the employees. According to Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory
(1968), job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are caused by entirely different sets of
factors. Job content is the intrinsic condition of the job itself like recognition and personal
growth which gives the motivation to an employee to give higher performance at his
current job. Herzberg identified various factors such as achievement, recognition, the
actual work, responsibility, advancement and growth as the primary motivators of an
employee. In the highly stressful environment in which the project managers operate,
variety and significance of the task becomes very important to keep them motivated.
Greater autonomy (administer nursing without the physician’s supervision) and role
clarity can improve the performance of the project managers at the workplace.
The related constructs of Job content in Project Management are discussed in the
following sections.
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Figure 6: Herzberg's two factor theory (examstutor, 2006)
Skill Variety
A repetitive work can cause physical and mental fatigue after a period of time. Studies
have shown that if the job requires the use of limited set of skills, boredom can creep in
the employee and the productivity may suffer (Encyclopedia of Business, 2007). The
employee may consider his job to be of lesser meaning and of low value. This may cause
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job insecurity as the employee may consider himself to be easily replaceable. For
example, the typist’s job is considered to be easily replaceable as it requires utilization of
just typing skills. To assuage the boredom associated with the job and cultivate greater
meaning in the job, skill variety is essential. Thus skill variety has been associated with
greater perceived meaningfulness of work (Hackman & Oldham, 1975) which leads to
higher performance by the employee.
A requirement of higher skill variety in the work can empower the employees by giving
them a chance to learn new skills. Employees who learn new skills are more adept at
utilizing those skills under various circumstances (O'brien, 1983). This gives them the
confidence and motivation to learn newer skills. For example, in nursing, the project
managers are required to perform a variety of roles like patient care, rehabilitation,
administering injections etc. These skills are not easily replaceable and this makes the
project managers an indispensable part of the hospital. This gives the project managers a
security to work with more freedom. Studies have shown that greater freedom allows the
motivated employees to explore other facets of the job and this result in a higher
contribution towards the organization. Thus the requirement of skill variety in the job
content can empower the employees which can foster a culture of innovation and
creativity in the organization.
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Task significance
An important part of employee motivation is his knowledge that others in the
organization and outside the organization are dependent on the task he is performing. In
simple terms, task significance may be defined as extent to which an identifiable piece of
work affects others (both inside and outside the organization). Studies have shown that a
feeling of insignificance can negatively impact the employee performance (Grant, 2008).
If the employee feels that the task he is performing is not essential, he may lose the
motivation to perform better. For example, the role of project management is very
important for timely completion of important projects. This knowledge makes the project
managers feel wanted in the organization. This motivates them to perform better as they
know that their organizations require their services.
Task significance is closely associated with the employee’s identity and his role in the
organization. According to Lin and Hsieh (2002), task significance, organizational
commitment and career stage are linked to each other. If the task that the employee is
performing is significant, the emloyee creates his unique identity in the organization
which is linked to the task. For example, the Human Resource (HR) manager is often
referred to as ‘hirer and firer’ because one of the roles performed by the HR manager in
the organization is the recruitment of the employees and evaluating their performance.
This makes the HR manager feel relevant in the organization. This improves the
commitment of the employee towards the organization which is beneficial to the
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organization. Thus, task significance is an important part of job content which gives an
individual identity to the employee which makes his role clear in the organization. This
motivates the employee to perform at a higher level.
Feedback
Feedback can be defined as the process in which part of the output of a system is returned
to its input in order to regulate its further output. The simple feedback loop is shown
below (Figure 7). In the organizational context, the peers or the seniors can review the
performance of the employee and provide appropriate feedback. Feedback can be divided
into: Constructive Feedback and Negative Feedback (criticism). Constructive feedback
focuses on the progress of the employee and highlights the areas that need improvement.
Research has shown that constructive feedback can stimulate the job performance of an
employee (Williams, 2010). For it to effective, the feedback must foster a two way
communication between the employee and manager. For example, an employee must
discuss with his manager to set achievable goals and complete work related tasks so that
his job performance improves.
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Figure 7: Simple Feedback Loop (tutor2u, 2006)
The choice of evaluation standards or feedback has an important role to play in the
motivation of the employees. Praising too much without focussing on weaknesses can
result in overconfidence in the employee or may be viewed as flattery. Criticising too
much may affect an employee’s morale. The need is to balance the two approaches so
that a constructive feedback can be provided to the employee. According to Bobko
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(1994), the feedback must be associated with a reward for it to be effective. Moreover,
the feedback must be done face to face and the employee must be a part of the review
process. For example, many modern organizations employ 360 degree feedback system
in which the employee appraises himself before feedback is provided to the employee.
This helps the employee in gauging his role in the organization and what improvements
are expected of him to achieve his goals. This assessment motivates the employees to
work harder to achieve his goals and contribute more efficiently to the cause of the
organization.
Autonomy
In simple terms, autonomy can be defined as the degree or level of freedom allowed to
the employee in his job. The concept of autonomy in a job embraces the concept of
judgment, self-interest and a critical evaluation of performance. Various studies done in
the organizational context have found little correlation between the level of autonomy in
a job and the job satisfaction (Morgeson, Delaney-Klinger, & Hemingway, 2005). Some
employees prefer the higher responsibility that the greater autonomy entails, while others
are comfortable in their own space where they perform what they are told by the
manager. So, there are no conclusive studies which link the autonomy in a job with the
motivation of an employee. Still, the concept of autonomy is relevant in the project
management field as working independently may give rise to corruption, but greater
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autonomy can motivate the project managers to express themselves in a better way in the
organization.
Autonomy in project management field is a subject of debate. According to Spicer
(2005), this requires an ethics code that needs to be followed by the project managers so
that there is no conflict of interests between the suppliers and the project managers. For
example, too much autonomy in the hands of project managers may give rise to nepotism
and corruption. But too less autonomy can prevent a project manager to complete the
important projects within tight deadlines. More research is required in the field of impact
of autonomy on the job performance of the project managers.
Role clarity
Role clarity is the process that the organizations use to operationalize their strategies. It
means every member in the team is clear about what role is everyone expected to play at
what time. For example, questions such as “Who is going to get us out of this situation or
clear this mess” should not arise. Role Clarity identifies the measurable matrices of
business deliverables inherent in one's role as well as clarifying the more
elusive demands of human inter-relations (Bray & Brawley, 2002). This helps in fixing
the accountability when something goes wrong and usually results in a more focused and
effective team environment. Role clarity can act as a strong motivator for the employees
in an organization.
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Role clarity is a key driver of organizational performance. A recent study on “Job Design
and Role Clarity” showed that about 64% of the performance-related issues in an
organization stem from the employees lack of understanding of their role in the
organization (Strategy Performance, 2006). The study recommended using written
performance appraisal for the employees to help them understand their responsibilities in
the organization. For example, in construction of a building, where co-ordination between
the suppliers and project managers is critical to safety of workers and timely completion
of project, there should be no confusion about the role of each person. An analogy can be
that in the hospitals, physicians are entrusted with the medicine part of the health care,
while the nurses use nursing practices to treat the patients. While both have the common
goal of administering health care, there is difference between the roles of the two which
has to be understood and appreciated by the each other. This will result in better coordination between them and fixing the accountability of the health care team members
for any lapse. This makes for a more focused and effective team in the hospital which is
beneficial to the patients and the hospital.
Job context
Job context refers to the factors at workplace which are controlled by an organization and
the employee has no control over it. This includes working condition, base salary, HR
policies etc. Job context assumes importance in the nursing environment as nursing is a
very stressful job and the right working conditions can help the project managers reduce
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their stress and improve the productivity of the organization. The various definitions of
job context in the literature and its related constructs which are important to the field of
nursing are discussed in the following sections.
Job context definition and its related constructs
Work context can be understood at many levels. As Dey, Salver, and Abowd (2001)
have emphasized, the first step is to ground the notion in directly observable or readily
discoverable elements of the work environment. These elements include the location
and identity of people and objects, their activity status (tired, hot, noisy), the general
activity they are involved in, such as reading, attending a meeting, and the time period
they are in a location, and engaged in an activity. Working from these, and using
background knowledge and the history of environmental changes, it is possible to infer
more complex descriptions of context. This is very important. Job context is a highly
structured amalgam of informational, physical, and conceptual resources that go
beyond the simple facts of who or what is where, when, to include the state of digital
resources, people’s concepts and mental state, task state, social relations and the local
work culture, to name a few ingredients. How these interact is not yet known.
Job context constructs are the hygiene factors required at a workplace to reduce the
dissatisfaction of the employees working at the organization. According to Herzberg’s
motivation-hygiene theory (1968), job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are caused by
entirely different sets of factors. Job context is the extrinsic condition of the job like
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company policies, supervisory practices, compensation etc. which not necessarily
motivates the employee to perform better, but is essential to avoid causing dissatisfaction
to them. For example, even if an employee is getting success at work, he may be
dissatisfied if the compensation is too low to meet his expenses. Herzberg identified
various factors such as leadership practices, wages/ salary, company policies, supervisory
practices as the primary hygiene factors for an employee. In the highly stressful
environment in which the project managers operate, these factors assume importance so
that they are not dissatisfied with their job and concentrate on the work in hand (Baba &
Jamal, 2006). Better supervisory practices and compensation can take their mind off their
personal issues like paying the bills and help them concentrate on the nursing job.
The related constructs of Job context in Nursing are discussed in the following sections.
Leadership
In simple terms, leadership is a critical management skill which is defined as the ability
of a person to motivate a group of people towards a common objective or goal. Chemers
(2001) defined leadership as the "process of social influence in which one person can
enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Definitions
more inclusive of followers have also emerged. Alan Keith of Genentech stated that,
"Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making
something extraordinary happen” (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). These scholars assert that
leadership needs to be distinguished from posturing.
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Leadership remains one of the most relevant aspects of the organizational context.
However, defining leadership has been challenging and definitions can vary depending
on the situation. According to Ann Marie E. McSwain, Assistant Professor at Lincoln
University, "leadership is about capacity: the capacity of leaders to listen and observe, to
use their expertise as a starting point to encourage dialogue between all levels of
decision-making, to establish processes and transparency in decision-making, to
articulate their own value and visions clearly but not impose them. Leadership is about
setting and not just reacting to agendas, identifying problems, and initiating change that
makes for substantial improvement rather than managing change."
There are several theories of leadership which have been proposed by the researchers
during the last century. Among these, Bass’s theory of leadership (1990) has found wide
acceptance. Bass analysed two leadership styles: transactional and transformational
leadership and their efficacy in the organization. The transactional uses incentives and
disincentives to get the best of the employees. The transformational leader motivates its
team to be effective and efficient and relies on strong communication with the team
members. Transactional leadership is effective only if there is role clarity among the
employees and everyone knows the significance of the work he/ she is doing in the
organization. Research has shown that working under a transformational leader, on the
other hand, can be an enlightening experience for an employee (Judge & Piccolo, 2004).
Thus, transformational leadership is an asset for an organization.
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Workload
Workload forms an integral part of the job context as it affects the work-life balance and
increased workload can cause extreme stress among the employees. Despite its
importance in the organizational context, there is no precise definition of workload in the
literature. In simple terms, workload can be defined as the amount of work that is
assigned to an employee which has to be performed within a stipulated time period. It can
be considered to be a hypothetical relationship between the individual human operator
and task demands. An increased workload is caused by limited staff size and human
resource department has a challenge to assess the staffing requirements accurately (Hurst
et al., 2008). Research has shown that increased workload causes employee burnout
which increases their mistakes at the workplace (Medical News Today, 2010). Many
employees take to addictive habits like alcohol and cigarette smoking to reduce the stress
related to the increased workload at the workplace which can negatively impact their
relationships. Thus, managing the workload is important for the organizations to reduce
the dissatisfaction it causes among the employees. Project managers have irregular
working hours unlike other professions which have fixed working hours. Thus, workload
management and maintaining a work-life balance for the project managers assumes even
more importance in the project managers’ working environment (Business Source
Premier, 2007).
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The research shows that workload has a close relationship with the work-life balance of
an employee. Workload can also be defined as the psychological and mental demands
that are placed before an individual while performing a task or a combination of tasks.
Thus, determining a workload becomes a subject of on-going discussions and
negotiations between workers, unions, employers, professional associations and
regulatory bodies (Hurst et al., 2008). An ideal workload should mean than an employee
has enough time to do his job well, while at the same time is able to balance work and
personal life so that he is not constantly feeling stressed out or burned out. Thus, an ideal
workload facilitates a high-quality work-life balance in the employees.
Salary/ Reward
Employee compensation (salary) and benefit packages (reward) play an important role in
attracting the best talent to the organization. However, a study done by Pitcher (2006)
found that the project managers are among the lowest paid workers in the public sector.
Pitcher attributed it to the sex discrimination. This can be demoralizing for a project
manager in the workplace and cause job dissatisfaction among the project managers.
Thus, salary and rewards assumes importance in nursing context.
In general terms, salary refers to the financial compensation that a worker receives as part
of his contract with the organization when he fulfils or exceeds his obligations. This
includes fixed component like monthly wages and variable component which is linked to
the performance. The variable components or reward can be given in the form of benefits,
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insurance, stock options etc. The financial compensation is intended to bring a
professional culture in the organization in which the worker is rewarded for achievement
of targets. This is done to make sure that the high performance employees are adequately
rewarded and other employees are motivated to perform even better. However, according
to two-factor theory, compensation forms only a hygiene factor (qualifying factor) for
most of the employees (Herzberg, 1968). This means that it does not necessarily motivate
an employee but the lack of it can cause dissatisfaction which can impact the
performance of the employee.
Employee compensation is not an easy thing to decide upon. Managers delve upon this
issue for countless hours so as to retain their best employees. While the fixed component
like monthly wages is limited by the financial prowess of the organization, the
organization can utilize various rewards scheme like insurance for family, stock options
to keep the workers happy at the workplace. In PM context, the project managers in the
public sector can be given free health insurance, better overtime pay and other benefits so
that they remain satisfied with the compensation. Thus, giving a whole package rather
than the cash compensation can be a better option for the organizations to retain their best
talent.
Job security
Job security is defined as the probability that an individual will keep his or her job. A job
with a high level of job security means that the person with the job would have a small
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chance of becoming unemployed. Job security is dependent on economy, prevailing
business conditions, and the individual's personal skills. Research has found that people
have more job security in times of economic expansion and less in times of a recession
(Galbraith, 1998). Also, some laws (such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964) bolster job
security by making it illegal to fire employees for certain reasons. Unemployment rate is
a good indicator of job security and the state of the economy and is tracked by
economists, government officials, and banks. Typically, government jobs and jobs in
education, healthcare and law enforcement are considered very secure while private
sector jobs are generally believed to offer lower job security and it usually varies by
industry, location, occupation and other factors.
Personal factors such as education, work experience, job functional area, work industry,
work location, etc., play an important role in determining the need for an individual's
services, and impacts their personal job security. Since job security depends on having
the necessary skills and experience that are in demand by employers, which in turn
depend on the prevailing economic condition and business environment, individuals
whose services are in needed by employers tend will enjoy higher job security.
To some extent, job security also varies by employment laws of each country. A worker
in Continental Europe, if asked about his job security, would reply by naming the type of
statutory employment contract he has, ranging from temporary (no job security) to
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indefinite (virtually equivalent to 'tenure' in US universities but across the whole
economy). However, people's job security eventually depends on whether they are
employable or not, and if businesses have a need for their skills or not, so although
employment laws can offer some relief and hedge from unemployment risk, they only
have a marginal contribution to job security of individuals. Thus, job security is directly
related to the skill set that the employee possesses.
Despite appropriate leadership skills, some employees tend to be perennially dissatisfied.
For a thorough analysis, these employees have to be excluded from the study. A blueprint
for recognizing such employees has been discussed below.
Employee Dissatisfaction
Literature suggests that there are many reasons for an employee being unhappy with their
present jobs e.g. work culture, behavior of boss, scope of work, own motivation.
However, these are the cases where the fault lies at both the sides i.e. employer side and
employee side. In these cases, the employee is quick to realize it and quits at the first
opportunity (Watt, 2010). However, there are a few studies which find the reason for
permanent dissatisfaction of the employees.
Research suggests that many employees are unhappy about their long term goals and thus
indulge in satisficing behaviour in their jobs (Schwartz et al. 2002). This behavior makes
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them unhappy at work and even switching jobs doesn’t help them as they are unclear
about what they really want.
Watson and Clark (1984) introduced the concept of negative affectivity (NA) which they
defined as a mood-dispositional dimension that reflects pervasive individual differences
in negative emotionality and self-concept. It is characterized by distress, anger and
nervousness among the people having high NA. According to Watson and Clark, these
people tend to be unhappy with and negative about everything around their lives.
Hochwarter et al. (2006) explored the relationship between NA and job satisfaction
among employees. They found that people with high NA tended to be more dissatisfied
with their work due to perceived limited job scope.
Jager (2005) explored the consequence of attitude at the workplace. He theorized that
people with bad attitude tend to be always unhappy with their jobs. The bad attitude can
be characterized by terms such as ‘not a team player’, ‘does the minimum’, ‘clock
watcher’, ‘disrespectful’, ‘confrontational’ etc. People with such bad attitude can’t be
motivated more than their basic motivation. The author goes on to suggest that such
people don’t fit with any work culture and whereever they go they bring a negative
influence to their workplace.
Allin (2007) theorizes that western society is not set up to foster intelligent children or
adults. Highly intelligent people have their social development slowed down due to high
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expectatitions and other stresses in life. Such people tend to be perenially unhappy in
their lives and they bring this unhappiness to their jobs when they become part of the
workforce (Allin, 2007, p. 2). As Nobel Laureate, Ernest Hemingway, puts it succintly
“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know”
The binding theme across the literature for perennial dissatisfaction of some employees is
that the majority of fault lies with the employees. They are the people who are unhappy
with everything that goes on in their lives and bring this dissatisfaction in their jobs. On
the other hand, some people always seem to want more from their life and any workplace
or work culture is unable to satisfy their sky-high demands. Both these kinds of people
tend to be perennially unhappy with their jobs.
These employees are unclear about their long term goals. They are working in their
present organization only for money. This presents a problem of differing goals between
the employer and employee and causes the condition of cognitive dissonance among the
employees. Such an employee is not a good fit in the organization culture and a better
hiring process can help filter out such person during the hiring stage itself.
Employees with bad attitude usually have low motivation to work. As negative affectivity
and bad attitude is highly correlated with life satisfaction (Watson & Clark, 1984), the
motivation of such employees can’t be increased unless their personal problems are
sorted out. Thus, such employees are always dissatisfied with their jobs. At best, the
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employers can fire such employees to prevent them from disrupting the work
environment.
In case of highly intelligent employees, the society is at fault to some extent. The society
assumes that highly intelligent people can find out the ways to cope with stresses in their
life and generally doesn’t offer much support to them (Allin, 2007). This stunts the social
development of such people and they are unable to get along with people around them
and are generally unhappy with their lives. Such people bring this unhappiness to their
workplace and the organizations are usually reluctant to fire these employees as they are
among the brightest. This leads to a permanent dissatisfaction with their jobs. Even if
they quit, they are unlikely to be happy with their new jobs due to their stunted social
development.
Our study of psychology of employees suggested that there are some kinds of people who
are “destined” to always be dissatisfied with their jobs. These people have no long term
goals, low self-esteem, bad attitude or a high NA in general. On the other hand, people
with very high aspirations and high Intelligence Quotient (IQ) fail on the interpersonal
skills and emotional quotient (EQ) and tend to be unhappy with their jobs and life in
general. These people may not display their dissatisfaction due to lack of appropriate
channel. But, they bring a negative influence and disruptive energy in the rest of the
workforce due to their attitude. This study has an implication for all the organizations and
methods to identify such employees by the organization can form the scope of future
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research. Lyubomirsky (2001) identified hedonic adaptation to constructive experience
as a significant hurdle to raise organizational happiness. She suggested that dealing with
such employees in a strict manner should not be procrastinated as this will lower the
motivation of rest of the employees. If done appropriately, it will result in a happier work
environment for the rest of the employees and an increased productivity in general. This
has to be taken into account when studying the impact of leadership skills in the project
management discipline.
Summary of the Literature Review
The literature review shows that efforts has been made by scholars in the past and even in
recent times to improve on project managers leadership skills and styles .It showed that
the quality of project managers and his or her ability to adopt the right leadership skills
and styles that suits the team members determines to great extent the project management
effectiveness. The literature lays emphasis on expertise, sound management abilities,
leadership skills, and styles. The impact of leadership and managerial skills on the
employee satisfaction is also studied. It was found that there are two completely different
sets of factors which result in employee satisfaction and employee dissatisfaction. Thus it
can be inferred that the leadership skills and styles exhibited by the project manager plays
a major role in bringing his team together which contributes to successful implementation
of project management.
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The literature on impact of job context and job content at work is both ambiguous and
equivocal when its impact on quality of performance is considered. The classical
management literature suggests that positive job context (e.g. high job security, moderate
workload) has a positive influence on individual performance by its direct impact on the
quality of working life resulting from the overall prosperity generated. However, more
recent literature on job characteristics and job design argues that better job context has a
negative impact on individual performance as it suppresses creative expression on the
job. Further research has shown that these mixed findings are due to an inadequate
theoretical grasp of the concept of job context. Various studies have presented empirical
evidence which attempts to clarify the ambiguity. This presents the scope for study for
future researchers.
Our study of psychology of employees suggested that there are some kinds of people who
are “destined” to always be dissatisfied with their jobs. These people have no long term
goals, low self-esteem, bad attitude or a high NA in general. On the other hand, people
with very high aspirations and high Intelligence Quotient (IQ) fail on the interpersonal
skills and emotional quotient (EQ) and tend to be unhappy with their jobs and life in
general. These people may not display their dissatisfaction due to lack of appropriate
channel. But, they bring a negative influence and disruptive energy in the rest of the
workforce due to their attitude. This study has an implication for all the organizations and
methods to identify such employees by the organization can form the scope of future
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59
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research. Lyubomirsky (2001) identified hedonic adaptation to constructive experience
as a significant hurdle to raise organizational happiness. She suggested that dealing with
such employees in a strict manner should not be procrastinated as this will lower the
motivation of rest of the employees. If done appropriately, it will result in a happier work
environment for the rest of the employees and an increased productivity in general.
Methodology
According to Cavana, Delahaye and Sekaran (2001), the research design consists of the
methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information. This is
covered in the following sections. This chapter explains the methods used in collecting
and analyzing data. According to Bryan and Bell (2007) combination of two
methodologies (qualitative and quantitative) brings about more confidence in the
findings. A quantitative research strategy emphasizes quantification in the collection and
analysis of data while qualitative research strategy usually emphasizes words, although
both constitute different approaches to social investigation and carry with the important
epistemology and ontology considerations (Bryman and Bell, 2007).
Research design is determining how to conduct the research and the methods used. Here
issues like why to collect certain data, what data to collect, and how to collect it are
addressed. This leads to development of the theoretical framework. When a problem has
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not been clearly defined, exploratory research can be conducted as it provides insights
into and an issue or situation (Cooper & Schindler, 2003). Exploratory study serves the
purpose of the research and it has been used in this study.
Exploratory research often relies on secondary research such as reviewing available
literature and/or data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions with
consumers, employees or management. As the correlation of different variables
(leadership style on management practices) has to be incorporated in the model, it is best
to choose a technique which is descriptive and focuses on a mathematical based approach
(Cooper & Schindler, 2003). Moreover, a quantitative approach is primarily deductive
and is best placed to prove or disprove a hypothesis, so a quantitative approach is used in
the present study.
For design of research, a comparison of quantitative and qualitative research is made in
the following section.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative research
Quantitative research uses statistical methods to arrive at a conclusion about a marketing
question. It tries to quantify the data in hand to prove or disprove a hypothesis. But as
Sidhu famously said “Statistics are like bikinis, what they reveal is suggestive, what they
hide is essential” (2003). It means that interpretation of statistics is very subjective and
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can be manipulated to show entirely different results. For example, during consumer
buyer behavior research, an important piece of information may be neglected in the
analysis for being ‘statistically insignificant’ (Creswell, 1994).
Capturing the information from the respondents is a tricky task as the respondents are
usually in unnatural environments and can give responses which may not reflect the way
they will behave when put in similar situation. Moreover, there may be many important
factors which are not covered in the questionnaire itself. For example, a buying process
contains many factors which are unquantifiable and yet can affect the buying process
significantly. Human behavior and emotion are two such unquantifiable factors but these
play important role in a buying process (Gerdes, Stringam and Brookshire, 2008).
Moreover, it is also possible that the researchers themselves don’t know the limitations of
methodology and the assumptions behind the statistical techniques. This can lead to
incorrect analysis and wrong decisions being taken.
Quantitative research is also unable to provide significant insight into a breakthrough
product. For example, how well a revolutionary product like I Pod will do in the market
and what prices can it command in the market (Reppel, Szmigin and Gruber, 2006). As
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc, observed most corporate decisions are taken by the gut
instinct of the leader rather than marketing research (2002). These marketing decisions
are taken by the CEO on the basis of years of experience and gut instinct which may or
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may not be backed by quantitative data. So, quantitative data fails to predict the customer
needs in case of breakthrough products.
Qualitative research, on the other hand, can give valuable insights into complex
marketing problems like entering a new market or research about an innovative product
(Reppel et al. 2006). The methodology usually involves focus group interview or
projective techniques like observation. This is usually done in the natural settings of the
respondents and can lead to more natural responses. For example, a buyer behavior is
observed in a super market or actual buying setting. It gives a deeper understanding of the
problem in hand and it forms valuable information in the hands of experienced marketing
professionals.
However, qualitative research also suffers from drawbacks as an exploratory research can
prove to be counter-intuitive and the whole research may end up with no new findings at
all. Drawing conclusions only on the basis of qualitative research can be disastrous as
Wal-Mart found out during its failed stay in Germany. Wal-Mart relied on exploratory
research to find the differences in behavior of consumer buying behavior but failed to
take into account cultural differences (Knorr and Arndt, 2003). Wal-Mart never realized
that cultural difference can be such a big influence in German market and was the main
reason behind its failure in Germany. This means qualitative research can only build on
what is already known and it requires intuition and strong analytical skills to open new
frontiers. The situation could have been avoided had the research been followed up with a
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quantitative research to measure the importance of cultural difference in buyer behavior.
It was observed that both quantitative and qualitative research can provide valuable data
on a problem but are unable to stand on their own. Research is a back and forth process
as shown in the figure.
Qualititave
Quantitative
Qualitative
• Define the problem
• Test hypothesis
• Explore the results in depth
Figure 8: Research process
Most of the current researches tend to be labeled qualitative or quantitative research and
they hope to explain all the ‘truths’ by their own methodology (Roller, 1988). There is
little or no collaboration between the qualitative and quantitative researchers and both are
guilty of neglecting one for the other. But research is not an either-or proposition and is
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an ongoing exercise in which the results serve to facilitate future research. So, it is
important to understand the role of both quantitative and qualitative marketing research to
fully understand the problem and come up with appropriate solutions. For example,
quantitative researchers tend to ignore the implications of a number if it is found to be
statistically insignificant (Roller, 1988). However, a better collaboration with quantitative
researchers can help them in including them in their analysis which leads to more
optimum results.
It is also important to understand the limitations of the market research during the
decision making process. For example, a new product may be rejected for launch due to
negative results in quantitative research. But it is possible that an unquantifiable need
may make the product a success. This understanding of the market motivated people like
Steve Jobs to make innovative products which proved to be the best sellers which no
market research could predict.
Both qualitative and quantitative research has an important role to play in solving
research problems. For example, a well designed qualitative research can find about the
possible factors responsible in buying a new product. It has to be backed by a quantitative
research to find out the influence of each factor in the ultimate buying decision. There is
need for designing the quantitative research to capture the responses which are closer to
reality. Moreover, there is need for better cooperation between the researchers to
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understand the unquantifiable implications of each of the factors, however statistically
insignificant it may be.
This analysis helps us to design our research. This chapter includes the following

Research Strategy

Population

Sample and sample technique

Research instrument

Validity of the instrument

Data collection

Analysis of data collected
Research strategy
According to Robson (2003) there are three main types of research strategies in
conducting social research which are experiment, case study, and survey. For the purpose
of this research study, the procedure will be a case study of project leaders / managers
and a simple survey (questionnaires) back up with semi structured interview using the
content analysis (coding). The coding core element are designing a coding schedule and
designing a coding manual (Bryman and Bell, 2007) this is due to be able to know the
variables that will be considered for data analysis and following the set of instruction and
information as a guide for categorization. According to Yin (2003), surveys have limited
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ability to extremely investigate context but can try to deal with phenomenon and context
because the research designer constantly struggles to limit the number of variables to be
analyzed so as to get a manageable size for this reasons, looking at different companies in
the construction companies (residential projects) in Dubai UAE will be of help to the data
analysis. Case study as a research strategy comprises an all encompassing method
covering the logic of design, data collection techniques, and specific approaches to data
analysis Yin (2003). Similarly Pope and May (1995), states that qualitative method gives
necessary emphasis to the meanings, experiences and views of the participants.
Population
Cluster sampling is a sampling technique which is used when “natural” groupings are
evident in a statistical population spread over a very large area (Gay & Diehl, 1992). As
this study is based on project managers in United Arab Emirates (UAE), the employees
working in the project management firms will form part of the sample. Cluster sampling
has been chosen over random sampling and a group will be randomly selected for this
study. To arrive at the sample, Gay and Diehl (1992) steps have been followed
1. The research sample size in a quantitative approach should be reasonably large so
as to form a sub set of larger population. In this study, the desired sample size is
80 (Sekaran, 2003).
2. Clusters consist of geographical area whose residents exhibit the same
characteristics. In the present case, different regions are designated as clusters.
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3. The number of clusters required will be the desired sample size divided by
average size of a cluster (avg. 7830 employees per region) i.e. 80 divided by 7830
≈1.
The study was directed at the population of construction industry (residential projects) to
project managers and team members in Dubai, UAE. The construction industry includes
different people from diverse and cultural background. Thus, one region has to be
randomly selected to form the cluster. By using a table of random numbers, Dubai region
was arrived at to form the cluster. Random employees from project management firms
and their team members in this region formed the part of the population sample for the
purpose of the study.
Sample and Sampling technique
According to Patton, (1990) a purposeful sampling seeks information-rich cases which
can be studied in depth thus the sample study was limited to construction industry
(residential projects) in Dubai .According to Bryman and Bell (2007) random sampling
keeps the sample error minimal. Thus a total of eighty (80) project managers and team
members from the management, engineering, and architectural background because they
are majorly involved in construction projects were selected from the residential projects
using the simple random sampling technique. Sampling has for a long time been central
in discussions of sociological research methods (Berk, 1983).The sampling can be used to
gather data that is needed for the analysis.
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As the sample size is significantly big, it is not possible to conduct focus group
interviews or personal interviews with each and every employee. So, questionnaire
method is used to get the secondary research data. Considering the time and resource
limitations, the sample is restricted to employees who were selected randomly from
Emaar Group in Dubai region. Questionnaires were distributed to these project managers
to get their responses. Use of personal interviews and focus group interviews was very
limited.
Research instrument
For the purpose of data collection, the instruments used in the course of this study are
questionnaires and semi structured interview for in depth analysis. The questionnaire on
leadership skills, styles of project managers was developed on a five point likert scale
The five responses used in the Likert Scale include :
Strongly Agree
SA
Agree
A
Undecided
U
Disagree
D
Strongly Disagree
SD
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The questionnaire was designed to determine the leadership skills, styles of project
managers. The questionnaire was divided into two (2) sections A and B. Section A aimed
at collecting the bio data of the respondents while section B comprised items that assess
leadership skills and leadership styles exhibited by the project managers in relation to
their achievement in project management..
Finally the second instrument which is the semi structured interview was designed to
collect in depth information about leadership skills and styles in project management.
According to Bryan and Bell (2003), in a semi-structured interview, the interviewer has a
set of questions on rationally precise topics to be covered, and the interviewee has a large
degree of flexibility in how to reply the set questions. It consists of five questions below:
1. Leadership is important for project management effectiveness?
2.
In your opinion what leadership style distinguishes superior performing project
managers from others?
3. What are the leadership skills that a project should have to in order to make the
project effective and efficient?
4. Could you please give some suggestion to obtain leadership skills?
5. Do you have control or get to choose your teams or project?
As the questionnaire requires deep thinking from the managers, it is possible that many
participants don’t fill it completely to the requirements and a factor analysis might not be
possible. According to Sorra and Nieva (2004), one in two participants will fill the
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questionnaire completely to the requirements. Taking into consideration the time in hand
and the cost of printing, a total of 160 questionnaires are required to be distributed among
the 80 project managers.
Data collection procedure
This is the stage where data will be collected for the study. The data is collected to
provide information about a specific topic. However, before the actual collection of data,
it is important to do a pre collection activity as described below.
By its very fundamental nature, exploratory research often concludes that a perceived
problem does not actually exist. So, it is very important to understand the mindset of the
participants to gauge the responses which can be expected at the end of the study. Hence,
the actual research started with one on one interaction with a limited number of
participants.
After the initial phase, the questionnaires in English and Arabic were distributed in the
selected company’s project managers. The questionnaire included a cover letter to assure
the participants of the authenticity of the survey (approval of Project Research Ethical
Committee, PREC) and the confidentiality clause about their details. This survey was to
be conducted during early 2010 and it lasted for a period of two months. The time was
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chosen as it doesn’t contain many holidays and most of the employees will be available
for the purpose of our study.
Moreover, to improve the participants’ response, posters and signs were displayed in
departments informing them about the survey and importance of their role in the survey.
A contact person was assigned in each firm whose responsibility included collecting the
filled questionnaire from the employees or the drop box and submitting it to the research
team and communicating the research team about the need for more questionnaires, in
case the response is better than expected.
The questionnaires were administered to the respondents by the researcher in the sampled
construction industry (residential projects) and were collected. Also the visits to the sites
allowed the author to take field notes and revealed that there are different team members,
professionals, specialists from various/ diverse culture from various parts of the world,
conflict issues, authoritative leadership style, and ineffective communication skills by the
leader as well as poor project management .A random sampling technique was applied in
the construction industry (residential projects) in order to get a reasonable and
manageable size.
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Construction project in Dubai (Residential projects)
According to Yin (2003), stated that survey can be used within a case study or a case
study within a survey and that an individual person is case (multiple-case study) to be
studied which will serve as the primary unit of analysis in this study.
As at twenty years ago Dubai was a desert but the rates of construction projects in Dubai
has brought a transformational change to the region making it a major place for tourism.
One example of some of the massive construction project that has brought a landmark is
the recently launched Burj Khalifa. An example of residential project is the Pentominium
residential building project in Dubai marina which is still under construction and involves
deals with different contractors and sub contractors. The Nakheel tower which was aimed
to be the centerpiece in Palm Jumeirah 2003 was put on hold in December 2009.
Recently there has been approval by the Emirates Government for 1000 villas intended to
be finished in eighteen months. More so there has been a delay in some of the residential
projects like the Claren One and Burj 29 Boulevard developments were originally
scheduled for completion in February 2010, Index tower project, Al.Furjan and Jumeirah
Park
A report by Bloomberg (March 27), on Emaar properties that the two Dubai apartment
towers of its 29 Boulevard project (forty five storey building) has been rescheduled for
February 2012 .Some other ongoing/ awarded project are the $4bn Dubai Pearl
development for residential apartment, arts and leisure, construction work of four towers
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(eco residential building) at Dubai international Media Production zone on lakeside and
corner project in Dubai Business Bay by Gulf Technical Construction Co., Marina
residences (apartment and penthouses) at Palm Jumeirah by Nakheel and also some
residential projects at international city , meadows and so on.. Majority of this projects
are being handled by the famous developers such as Emaar, Nakheel, Dubai Properties,
Deyaar.
In carrying out this research an understanding of what leadership is and the identification
of projects in the construction industry in Dubai. Some funds will also be necessary to
transport from one destination to the other. Also there will be a need to identify a list of
project managers to interview in the construction industry (residential projects) in Dubai
for a better understanding of issues faced by project managers. The company covered for
the purpose of our study will be Emaar Properties which is the largest real estate
developer in the Gulf region and which is based in United Arab Emirates.
From the case study on Emaar Properties, it will be very vital to note the leadership skills
and styles in the process of managing the projects. The variables to be investigated are
listed below for the data analysis.
Leadership effectiveness is dependent on the following Variables

Leader characteristics and traits

Leader behavior and style
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
Gender

Group member characteristics
The Project variables are as follows

Project objectives

Team size/choice

Frequency of team changes

Choice of project

Project duration
Company’s Background
The company chosen for our study is Emaar Properties which is based in Dubai, UAE
and is listed on Dubai Financial market. Established in 1997, Emaar Properties has
quickly developed into the largest land and real estate developer in the Gulf region. With
over 60 companies, Emaar's activities include property investment and development,
property management services, education, healthcare, retail and hospitality sectors, as
well as investing in financial service providers. The Government of Dubai holds a 32%
stake in Emaar through the Investment Corporation of Dubai (2007).
The company’s major activities are located in UAE. With more than 14,000 homes,
Emaar has several major real estate projects under various stages of development in
Dubai. The company also owns and manages the Gold and Diamond Park. Emaar started
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construction on its most ambitious project to date on 1998, the AED 730 billion (US$20
billion) Burj Khalifa Downtown development, which comprises the Burj Khalifa - the
tallest tower in the world when completed in 2009, the Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa Business
Hub, The Lofts, The Old Town, The Old Town Island, Burj Khalifa Boulevard, The
Residences, Burj Views, man-made lakes, landscaped parks and gardens.
Apart from UAE, the company has operations in countries like Saudi Arabia, Morocco,
Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and India. This gives their employees wide crosscultural experiences of working with project managers in different countries. Thus, the
project managers in Emaar Properties were chosen for the purpose of our study.
Data Measurement
Avolio and Bass (1995) integrated a level-of-analysis framework into the development
and extension of transformational leadership theory proposed by Bass (1985). The
primary focus of the study is on examining individualized consideration, a key
component of transformational leadership, at three different levels of analysis including
the individual, team, and organization culture (Avolio & Bass, 1995). They also
developed Multi-factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) whose latest version (Form-5xshort) will be used in our study to measure leadership styles.
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The latest version is an improvement over the original version (MLQ Form-5R) as it
accommodates the suggestions and criticism of several scholars. This form has been used
in research studies in cultures as diverse as Asian and European.
The questionnaire used in this study will cover twelve items relating to three scales. The
scales have been developed to cover the entire range of leadership (transformational at
one end to highly avoidant at the other end). All the leadership styles have four items,
each rated on a five point scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (frequently, if not always). The
items include inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation (transformational
leadership) to contingent rewards (transactional leadership).
The above scale is the one of the best instrument available to gauge leadership styles and
its internal consistency, validity and reliability of the scale have been empirically tested
e.g. the reliability for the total items and for each leadership factor scale ranged from .74
to .94 (Avolio & Bass, 1995) and exceeded the standard reliability cut-off of .70
recommended by Fornell and Larcker (1981).
Data Analysis and Result
The data analysis and result are presented in this chapter with special reference to the
research questions and hypothesis in the study.
Based on the purpose of the study, the analysis was started by establishing if there is any
significant relationship between leadership and project management or not.
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
Project managers only need the technical skills for successful project
management. H01(Null hypothesis)

Leadership skills by project managers in project management is strictly
connected to project effectiveness H1(Alternative hypothesis)

There will be no merit in project manager leadership style and project
management effectiveness.H02( Null hypothesis)

There will be merit in project manager’s style and project management
effectiveness.H2 (Alternative hypothesis).
The data was collected , reduce and analyzed from the interview conducted while the
survey responses were also reduced from the data collected .The cases in the residential
projects in Dubai was used to test the applicability of the theory , since it is a genuine
world evidence, this will be analyzed using the content analysis. Find below the
responses, out of 200 survey questionnaires, 120 that is 60% response rate was gotten
back which is acceptable according to Sheehan (2001). 55% were male, while 45% were
female. All of them held at least a Bachelors and Masters degree. The age and experience
of the respondents is shown in Figure 9
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79
Age of respondents (years)
20‐29
30‐39
40‐49
50‐65
Figure 9: Age distribution of respondents
Using the SPSS software (Statistical Package for Social Science), the data analysis was
performed with special reference to the research question and hypotheses in the study.
The following measures were found to be statistically significant in this study

Simple Percentage

Mean

Standard Deviation

Simple regression analysis

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
These measures have been used in the data analysis as presented below.
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80
Responses to questionnaire
The responses are tabulated as below. The order of question numbers is according to the
questionnaire attached to appendix 1.
Statement
SA
A
U
D
SD
NA
68
21
7
3
0
1
15
11
11
28
35
0
44
31
8
8
9
0
51
31
6
4
6
2
74
11
6
6
1
2
62
31
3
3
0
1
Leadership is necessary in completing
projects successfully
It is important for a leader to have formal
leadership training to be successful
I feel that successful project managers have
high level leadership skills
I feel extremely satisfied with my job when
working for a project manager
Everyone should participate in the decision
making process
I feel that project manager should ask
employees for their vision of where they see
their jobs going and then use their vision
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81
where appropriate
Leadership style by project managers affect
85
9
3
1
0
2
40
24
10
12
13
1
27
19
14
26
12
2
37
29
10
14
8
2
project effectiveness
Leadership style depend on project situation
Transformational leadership style is the
mostly used by project managers
Female leadership style differs from male
project manager leadership style
Table 1: Responses to questions (%age)
The questionnaire throws up some interesting results which are highlighted as below
1. Transformational leadership results in high employee satisfaction: Employees
are happy if their vision and views are taken into consideration during decision
making process. A transformational leader is able to achieve this which results in
high employee satisfaction.
2. Leadership style depends on project situation: Almost two thirds of the
respondents believe that project managers must change their leadership according
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LEADERSHIP IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
82
to the needs of the project. This shows that they are focused on team objectives
and believe their leaders should show them the way towards these objectives.
3. Difference in leadership styles of females: Two thirds of the respondents agree
that female project managers have different leadership styles than male project
managers. This may be attributed to a bias against women or a recognition of their
stronger softer skills which results in better man-management skills.
Other results
Leadership is important for project management effectiveness?
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
Series1
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Agree
Partial Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Figure 10: Responses for the question
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83
Eighty eight percent accepted that leadership is important from interview and survey for
project management effectiveness.
What are the leadership skills that a project should have to in order to make the
project effective and efficient?
Leadership skills according to
Response Rate (120)
Rank
Communication
100
1
Planning
95
2
Efficient use of resources and
68
3
56
4
Effective coaching
54
5
Team/group representing
52
6
Sharing leadership
52
6
51
7
Ranking
understanding needs
Be in command of team/group
performance
Evaluating
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Counseling
Lead by example
84
35
8
30
9
Table 2: Response Rate
Leadership Skills
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Counseling
Sharing
leadership
Effective
coaching
Efficient use of
resources and
understanding
Communication
Series1
Figure 11: Response to question
From the above, Project managers, contributors, or executives and team do recognize the
importance of leadership skills for effective project management
In your opinion what leadership style distinguishes superior performing project
managers from others?
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85
Servant leader
Transactional style
Transformational Visionary
Series2
Series1
Controlling Autocrat
Human relation specialist
The Coach
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Figure 12: Data analysis on leadership styles
20% picked transformational leadership style, this also answer the fifth question on
choosing teams it can be concluded that leadership styles depend on the project situation,
teams hence no particular leadership style by project managers for project management
success.
Could you please give some suggestion to obtain leadership skills?
From the interview, practicing, formal training, risk taking and learning from past
mistakes being responsible and the idea of role model will go along way in improving
leadership skills.
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SPSS tests
The probability value (p-value) of a statistical hypothesis test is the probability of getting
a value of the test statistic as extreme as or more extreme than that observed by chance
alone, if the null hypothesis H0, is true. It is the probability of wrongly rejecting the null
hypothesis if it is in fact true.
It is equal to the significance level of the test for which we would only just reject the null
hypothesis. The p-value is compared with the actual significance level of our test and, if
it is smaller, the result is significant. That is, if the null hypothesis were to be rejected at
the 5% significance level, this would be reported as "p < 0.05".
Figure 13: Results of t-test (Hypothesis 1)
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Figure 14: Results of t-test (Hypothesis 2)
In the quantitative tests, two-tailed t-tests were performed on the data collected using
SPSS. The value of p in both the tests comes out to be less than 0.05. Thus, in both cases
null hypotheses are rejected at 5% significance level. This led to the following
conclusions
1. Technical skills alone are not enough for project effectiveness
2. There is a relation between Project Manager’s style and Project Management
effectiveness
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The summary of research outcome
From the above analysis, it was observed that
1. The relationship between leadership and project management is positive and
significant
2. The leadership skills for project managers and project effectiveness is positive
and significant
3. The leadership role as a core capability for project managers in project
management is positive and significant
4. Leadership styles depend on the project situation, hence no particular leadership
style by project managers for project management success.
During our SPSS tests for p-value, p < 0.05 in both cases, which led us to the conclusion
that technical skills alone are not enough for project effectiveness and there is a relation
between style of project manager and project effectiveness.
Cultural differences
To understand the cultural differences in leadership styles, the above results have been
compared with the leadership style in Julius Berger Nigeria plc, Nigeria. A secondary
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research has been conducted on the company through scholarly articles and Internet to
understand the leadership practices in Nigeria.
Nigeria is the most populous African nation. It consists of 250 ethnic groups and is
fraught with continuous ethnic tensions. The fact that there are two religions
(Christianity: 50% and Islam: 40%) fighting for dominance means that there are religious
tensions as well. How the cultural background of the country has affected the leadership
practices in the country is to be analyzed in this section. The Hofstede’s model of
Cultural Dimension has been used as a theoretical framework for comparison of
leadership practices in Julius Berger Nigeria plc and Emaar Properties. There is a
moderate cultural distance between Nigeria and UAE which gives rise to the following
cultural differences
1. The power distance in Nigeria is more than that of UAE (Hofstede, 1973). This is
reflected in the leadership styles in Julius Berger Nigeria. The leadership was
observed to be more transactional in nature as managers depend upon incentives
and disincentives to motivate their employees.
2. The uncertainty avoidance in Nigeria is moderate which lends it a more feminine
character than UAE. The leadership style reflects this as there is more emphasis
on technical skills rather than leadership skills when an employee is considered
for promotion in Julius Berger. This shows that the leadership prefers a
“technical” person in charge of important projects.
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3. The line between leadership and managerial skills is more blurred in the Nigerian
company. This means that there is less recognition of leadership skills and they
are considered to be part of the managerial skills. This is corroborated by the HR
practices (promotion, incentives etc.) in Julius Berger as compared to Emaar
Properties.
4. The managers in Julius Berger have less understanding of the requirements of
different leadership skills for different situations. This means that the leadership
style adopted by the project managers at Julius Berger Nigeria is more uniform
(more transactional) as compared to the styles adopted by project managers in
Emaar Properties.
5. The link between leadership styles and project effectiveness is not clear in the
case of Julius Berger, Nigeria.
More research is needed to understand the link between cultural background and
leadership styles in Julius Berger Nigeria plc. This will provide for a better comparison of
cultural differences in the two companies.
Conclusion
The chapter deals with the discussion of the research outcomes, recommendations, and
conclusion in accordance with the purpose of the study.
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The study has dealt extensively with the leadership skills, styles of project managers and
the project management effectiveness. The study was able to identify and assess the
various leadership styles and skills possessed by project managers in the construction
industry (residential projects) in Dubai for project management effectiveness.
The study was also able to analyze the importance of leadership in project management.
The study shows that project manager leadership skills and styles are very crucial in
project management and to a large extent have an impact on project success. Although
researchers have made great efforts to identify factors responsible for poor project
management which include lack of leadership skills , the use of ineffective leadership
styles and project manger inability to understand the team. It is therefore necessary for
project managers to understand and adopt positive measures based on the understanding
of their team and adjust their leadership skills and styles to suit their team members and
project situation
Implications for project managers
Projects management is a generic discipline that is applied to all areas, no doubt projects
plays a major role in achieving competitive advantage .This study has great implications
for the enhancement of organizations in the construction industry which will go along
way in improving ways the residential projects are being managed by project managers in
Dubai. The implications of the outcome to project managers are as follows
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
The problem of project failure as compared to the critical success factors (Time ,
cost and quality) will continue to re- occur if the project manager leadership style
does not suit the project situation and team members. This shows that there is a
great need for the project manager to modify his or her leadership styles to the
particular project situation with effective communication. Even if the project was
successful compared to critical success factors and the project manager did not
motivate or inspire the team members, which shows lack of leadership skills.

It is highly necessary and expected that project managers to possess a high level
of expertise, leadership and management skills and to identify and manage
conflicts because if all the technical skills are in place in the absence of right
leadership skills and styles all the technical skills might be rendered redundant or
ineffective.

As reflected by Gardiner (2005) states that soft interpersonal competences such
as leadership are required for project managers to manage project successfully,
this study recommends the incorporation of certain leadership courses by
organizations. Such courses should aim at enhancing the project manager’s
leadership skills. In service training, workshops and seminars should also be
organized occasionally to update project managers of the current happenings and
recent innovation in the project management .This will go a long way in
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improving their leadership efficiency and effectiveness which will in turn
enhance their project management effectiveness.

No two humans, project or situation are totally equal hence the justification of
different leadership styles. This study has highlighted the various leadership
styles adopted by different project managers. Hence it has made it easier for
project managers to understand themselves better based on the leadership styles
they possess. This will in turn enlighten them on the appropriate styles to adopt
which will enhance their project management effectiveness.
Recommendations
Based on the results of this study, the following recommendations were made by the
researcher

Observation tests, interviews and questionnaires should be administered to project
managers to assist determine their project management styles for project
effectiveness.

Organizations should constantly organize seminars, workshops, conference, and
symposium to improve project manager’s leadership skills, they should be
updated on required measures to take in order to facilitate and improve their
leadership skills in project management.
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
Project managers should also be made to undergo retraining so that their level of
leadership skills in project management is increased and they are able to perform
their duties with great ease.
The author believes that if these recommendations are adopted, the level of performance
of the employees in the project management firms will improve.
Limitations of Study
There were several limitations which could have an impact on the conclusions drawn
from the study
1. The sample size was limited (120) and the respondents were chosen from a single
company. Thus, the sample cannot be said to be completely random. This reduces
the mathematical significance of the results.
2. As respondents were busy professionals, the questionnaire length was kept small
for ease in collection of data. Thus, the various aspects of the leadership were not
completely covered in the questionnaire. It allowed only for simplistic
conclusions
3. The cultural aspect in leadership was not considered as all the respondents were
from same country. Thus, the results cannot be generalized to different cultural
scenarios.
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4. The use of structured interviews was limited due to lack of time. This limited the
scope of research.
Area for Further Study
Some of the limitations can be addressed by further research on this topic by future
researchers. Some areas for further study are
1. Is the importance of leadership skills in project management consistent across
various cultures? Similar studies need to be carried out under different settings for
this purpose.
2. Are the results consistent across all the areas of project management? Is there a
field (e.g. ship building) where technical skills are more important than leadership
skills? For this purpose, similar studies have to be carried out in different studies.
3. Should the project managers be promoted on the basis of technical skills alone?
What should be the weight of technical skills when deciding on promotions for
project managers? This represents a challenge for HR managers.
4. Is there any leadership style which works better in most situations than other
styles? Does a formal training of managers in leadership skills help the project
managers in adapting to the situation?
These were some questions which were left unanswered at the end of the study and can
be taken up by future researchers.
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Conclusion
From the result of the study, the following conclusions were drawn
There is a significant relationship between the leadership and project management. In
other words, project manager with high level of leadership skills would be able to present
the subject matter in a comprehensive format to the team member’s. This will no doubt
enhance the project management effectiveness.
Finally, the research shows that adequate knowledge of leadership styles possessed by
individual project managers or project managers with appropriate leadership styles and
skills will be able to modify or adapt to the project situation.
Thus, the research shows that good leaders can motivate employees towards better
performance. Even in a highly technical field like Project Management, the technical
skills of an employee can help an employee only up to a certain extent. After that, his
progress in the workplace depends on his leadership skills. A formal training can help the
managers to understand the pros and cons of different leadership styles and the need to
constantly change their styles according to the situation. This is especially important in a
highly dynamic field such as Project Management. It will motivate the employees
working under him which will improve the performance of the whole organization.
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98
Appendix
QUESTIONNAIRE
Section A
Sex
□ Male
□ Female
Age
□ 20-29
□ 30-39
□ 40-49
□ 50-65
Experience
□ 1 -2 years
□ 2-5 years
□ 5-7 years
□>7 years
Education level
□ High School
□ Bachelor’s Degree □ Master Degree
□ Doctorate
Section B
1. Leadership is necessary in completing projects successfully.
Agree_
Partial Agree_
Disagree_
Undecided_
2. It is important for a leader to have formal leadership training to be successful.
Agree_
Partial Agree_
Disagree_
Undecided_
3. I feel that successful project managers have high level leadership skills.
Agree_
Partial Agree_
Disagree_
Undecided_
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LEADERSHIP IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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4. I feel extremely satisfied with my job when working for a project manager.
Agree_
Partial Agree_
Disagree_
Undecided_
5. I feel that it is best to create an environment where the team members take Ownership
of the project. Everyone should participate in the decision making process.
Agree_
Partial Agree_
Disagree_
Undecided_
7. I feel that project manager should ask employees for their vision of where they see
their jobs going and then use their vision where appropriate.
Agree_
Partial Agree_
Disagree_
Undecided_
8. Please choose five most important skills you think a leader should obtain below.
□ Understanding the needs and characteristics of the post
□ Communicating
□ Knowing and using the resources of the group
□ Planning
□ Controlling team/group performance
□ Lead by example
□ Sharing leadership
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□ Counseling
□ Evaluating
□ Effective teaching
□ Representing the team/ group
9. Leadership style by project managers affect project effectiveness
Agree_
Partial Agree_
Disagree_
Undecided_
10. Leadership style depend on project situation
Agree_
Partial Agree_
Disagree_
Undecided_
11. Transformational leadership style is the mostly used by project managers
Agree_
Partial Agree_
Disagree_
Undecided_
12. Female leadership style differs from male project manager leadership style
Agree_
Partial Agree_
Disagree_
Undecided_
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LEADERSHIP IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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