Leadership in the Construction Industry (original) (raw)
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Leadership for future construction industry: Agenda for authentic leadership
International Journal of Project Management, 2008
Research in the construction industry is beginning to pay more attention to project leadership. Current perception of construction project leaders is largely built around power, authority, and task-orientation. This is due to the traditional focus of the construction industry on technical and managerial features of construction projects. However, greater challenges of modern times and increasingly different business environment necessitate a renewed vision for leadership research and call for a change in traditional perception and mindset about leadership in the construction industry. Globalization and fast changing nature of construction have necessitated a need for project managers to have and apply different leadership behaviors, competencies and styles. To highlight the need for a new breed of construction project leaders, this paper discusses the recent construct of ''authentic leadership'' in the context of construction projects. Authentic project leaders possess positive values, lead from the heart, set highest levels of ethics and morality, and go beyond their personal interests for well-being of their followers. They capitalize on the environment of trust and are able to motivate people and accomplish challenging tasks. Authentic leadership possesses high potential for development as well as veritable performance of construction project leaders. Proposal made in this paper highlights benefits of authentic leadership development in construction professionals and discusses the relevant practical and research implications. An agenda for research on authentic leadership in the construction industry is also discussed in detail.
A Theoretical Perspective on Leadership Development in the Construction Industry
Proceedings of the 2014 (5th) International Conference on Engineering, Project, and Production Management, 2014
The construction industry is one of the largest industries in the world and in order to stay competitive, construction firms must find a way to train their employees to become competent leaders in their specific disciplines. It is to this end that the study presents a theoretical framework relating to leadership development in the construction industry, with the specific aim of outlining the importance of good leadership skills. The study is conducted with reference to existing theoretical literature on leadership requirements for the construction industry. Findings show that it is essential to give low-level employees new experiences and responsibilities to engender appropriate leadership attributes in them. Findings also reveal that good leadership is essential to the success of the construction industry. Hence different leadership development strategies were also discussed. The study explores leadership and leadership development in the construction industry and it further highlight's the theoretical literature with regard to leadership. The study presents a robust background on the construction industry and the importance of construction leadership. Lastly, a great insight on how leaders can be development was outlined.
Changing the Framework for Leadership in the Construction Industry
2008
When you think about effective leadership you typically conceive of leadership in terms of inspiration and innovation; inspirational, because leadership is about influencing people to do things you want them to do, willingly and well; innovative, because leadership is about change and risk-taking. There seems little contention in such a conception of effective leadership. However, there is growing frustration in the management literature with such a conception of leadership, expressed in personal attribute and stylistic terms. This paper examines the root of that frustration and introduces an alternative framework conceived around leadership as an activity: adaptive leadership. Whilst adaptive leadership was originally developed as a response to the tough social and environmental problems we increasingly face, the nature of the construction industry is such that similar features now apply. A case is developed for a change, in the framework for leadership in the construction industry.
Leadership in construction industry : Learning from the past
2006
In construction industry there is often a continuous dynamic equilibrium of severeal ‘forces’, controlled by several stakeholders in this industry, e.g.: Contractors, clients, governments, consultants, banks, insurers, etc. This means there is a continuous need for review a company’s strategy to the existent world around it. Not just only on a local scale (which is often the basis for construction activities) but increasingly on a national and international scale. However, this need for ‘glocalizing’ thinking (often combined with acting locally) in general is no practice by a large part of construction industry’s stakeholders. This paper describes an analysis of an European situation, focussed on Dutch construction industry. In general here, leadership is considered as the ability to build up a strong construction business. Two case studies of entrepreneurs and the way they build their construction business are analysed. On the one hand it represents lessons learned for leadership, ...
Leadership and Construction Industry Development in Developing Countries
2012
Leadership is important in all fields of human endeavour. Features of the construction process and construction projects render leadership even more essential. Construction projects are expensive and technically demanding and the project teams are large and diverse. The process is long and involves a large number of discrete and interrelated tasks. Because constructed products influence long-term socioeconomic development in developing countries, poor performance on projects can have severe implications for the nation and its citizens. Thus, the need for effective leadership in construction is even more acute. It may be argued that "effective leadership" is one of the primary answers to the problems of the construction industry, including (and perhaps, especially) problems in developing countries. To this end, greater attention should be given to leadership development. The following questions are addressed in this study. What is leadership? How important is it in construc...
Challenges Affecting Leadership Development in the Construction Industry
Collaboration and Integration in Construction, Engineering, Management and Technology, 2020
The study adopts a data reduction method to examine the presence of any complex configuration among a set of variables on challenges affecting leadership development. A structured survey questionnaire was administered to 111 project managers and construction managers to extract the relevant data, and this produced a relatively high reply rate. After satisfying all the necessary tests of the reliability of the survey instrument, sample size suitability and population matrix, the data was subjected to principal component analysis, resulting in the classification of three new thematic leadership development challenges areas; and were explained in terms of leadership education and training; leadership succession challenge; political instability. These knowledge areas now form the basis for oblique leadership development training requirements in the context of the South African construction industry. The main contribution of the paper is manifested in the use of the principal component analysis, which has rigorously presented an understanding of the complex structure and the relationship between the various knowledge areas. The originality and value of the paper are embedded in the use of contextual-task and conceptual knowledge to expound the three uncorrelated empirical utility of leadership development challenges.
Developing Leadership Skills of Project and Construction Managers in the Construction Industry
Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction, 2016
The construction industry is one of the major industries in South Africa. Like any other industry, strong leadership is vital for its growth. Moreover in order to stay competitive, South African construction firms must find a way to train their project and construction managers to become competent leaders in their specific disciplines. It is to this end, that the study presents findings on how leaders can be developed in the South African construction industry. The data used in this research were derived from both primary and secondary sources. The secondary data was collected via a detailed review of related literature. The primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire aimed at 150 projects and construction managers in the South African construction industry. From the 150 distributed questions, only 110 questionnaires were received and subsequently data based on the received questionnaire which was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that, educa...
Qualitative Research Proposal on Different Leadership Styles' Influence on Construction Industry.
The Qualitative Study of the Influence of Different Leadership Styles as A Success Factor on Construction Projects., 2023
This proposed research aims to evaluate the influence of different leadership styles on the success of construction projects in the UK building industry. The study focuses on transformational, transactional, and situational leadership styles, using the Full Range Leadership Theory (FRLT) as the theoretical framework. The research objectives include assessing the impact of leadership styles on employee performance, determining the extent of their impact on project success, and developing a conceptual framework to understand the relationship between leadership quality and performance. A case study design will be used, involving interviews with 30 respondents from the construction industry, and thematic data analysis will be conducted. The research aims to provide insights into the necessary competencies and skills for effective leadership in construction, considering various projects and performance metrics, but limitations such as sample size and generalizability should be considered.
Procedia Economics and Finance, 2015
In construction-related education, leadership development is generally a scarce feature in education curricula. Yet, the critical need of "good" leadership at all levels of construction-related organisations is being increasingly highlighted in research and in practice. In this paper, we focus on how leadership competence at middle-manager level, e.g. site managers, may be enhanced and we examine how higher education may address this need. The overall aim is to suggest how leadership development may be introduced and/or improved in programs and courses. Rather than using a questionnaire or individual interviews, the data was collected in three focus groups. Each group addressed one level of higher education: vocational, bachelor and master, respectively, and included practitioner, teacher and student stakeholders. The focus groups were recorded. The field notes and the photographic documentation strengthened the reliability of our interpretations. The paper describes how focus groups were used, discusses the aggregated findings from the groups and suggests some ways in which education curricula can be improved to incorporate transferable leadership development and competence to contexts in which graduates will operate.
Journal of Technical education and training, 2016
Capable leaders are essential to unlock the potential of workforce, in terms of productivity, learning, continuous improvement, quality and customer service. This study was conducted to ascertain the Malaysian construction industry leaders’ conception of leadership capability. One of the mandates of Malaysia’s Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) is to serve as a gateway for construction industry players to get involved in the international construction ventures, with the aim of enabling them to hold leadership positions in the future; as well as maintaining an open exchange of information with construction leaders worldwide. However, for a better understanding of leadership concepts and leadership skills, construction industry in Malaysia must unleash its potential as a source of wealth creation and provide opportunity for the betterment of quality of life. In ensuring the quality of workmanship at construction sites, leadership skills especially supervisory skill for sit...