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1 – 10 of over 4000Junwei Zheng, Yu Gu, Zhenduo Zhang, Hongtao Xie, Peikai Li and Hongyang Li
While existing literature emphasizes the importance of empowerment in construction projects, the working mechanisms of empowering leadership in the project context are unclear…
Abstract
Purpose
While existing literature emphasizes the importance of empowerment in construction projects, the working mechanisms of empowering leadership in the project context are unclear. Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aimed to examine the relationship between empowering leadership and project performance, highlighting the mediation roles of creative self-efficacy and leadermember exchange and the moderation role of perceived overqualification.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data from 287 project members in different projects and tested the integrated conceptual model through moderated mediation analysis with bootstrapping strategy.
Findings
The results revealed that empowering leadership was positively related to project performance through creative self-efficacy and leader–member exchange. Perceived overqualification served as significant moderator.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to the understanding of empowering leadership in projects by verifying and extending the resource acquisition and investment process in the project context. The results of this study also demonstrated that creative belief and social exchange facilitate the effectiveness of project members' task efforts and outcomes and that perceived overqualification might not exert a detrimental effect on project performance.
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Choiwai Maggie Chak, Lara Carminati and Celeste P.M. Wilderom
Combining the goal-setting and job demands-resources (JD-R) theories, we examine how two project resources, collaborative project leadership and financial project resources…
Abstract
Purpose
Combining the goal-setting and job demands-resources (JD-R) theories, we examine how two project resources, collaborative project leadership and financial project resources, enhance high project performance in community-academic health partnerships.
Design/methodology/approach
With a sequential explanatory mixed-method research design, data were collected through a survey (N = 318) and semi-structured interviews (N = 21). A hypothesised three-path mediation model was tested using structural equation modelling with bootstrapping. Qualitative data were examined using thematic analysis.
Findings
Project workers’ hope, goal-commitment and -stress: (1) fully mediate the hypothesised relationship between highly collaborative project leadership and high project performance; and (2) partially mediate the relationship between financial project resources and high project performance. The qualitative data corroborate and deepen these findings, revealing the crucial role of hope as a cognitive-motivational facilitator in project workers’ ability to cope with challenges.
Practical implications
Project leaders should promote project workers’ goal commitment, reduce their goal stress and boost project performance by securing financial project resources or reinforcing workers’ hope, e.g. by fostering collaborative project leadership.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to the project management and JD-R literature by considering the joint effects of project workers’ hope and two commonly studied project resources (collaborative project leadership and financial project resources) on high project performance. Moreover, we demonstrate the importance of the goal-setting and JD-R theories for understanding complex health-promotion projects connecting academic to community work.
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Toan Khanh Tran Pham and To Quyen Hoang Thuy Nguyen Le
This study aims to explore how ethical leadership and innovative climate impact project success through employees innovative behavior. In addition, based on the conservation of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how ethical leadership and innovative climate impact project success through employees innovative behavior. In addition, based on the conservation of resources theory, this study also examines whether time pressure moderates the innovative work behavior and project success nexus.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 403 employees working in Vietnam's information technology (IT) companies. The partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to investigate the impact of ethical leadership and innovative climate on project success, the mediating effect of innovative behavior and the moderating role of time pressure.
Findings
Empirical findings indicate that ethical leadership and innovative climate positively impact on project success. Moreover, employees' innovative behavior has a complementary effect on these relationships. In addition, time pressure moderates the nexus between innovative work behavior and project success.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that IT companies can promote innovative work behavior among employees by building ethical leadership and enhancing an innovative climate. Moreover, when designing and implementing a project, project managers should take care to allow enough time for innovative behavior within the team.
Originality/value
This inquiry is probably the first attempt to explore the mechanism linking ethical leadership and innovative climate to project success, with the mediating role of employees' innovative behavior. Additionally, time pressure is an increasingly relevant factor in contemporary business, but so far little explored in research. This study extends the current knowledge by considering the moderating role of time pressure in the innovative behavior and project success nexus.
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Jin Lu, Mohammad Falahat and Phaik Kin Cheah
This study aimed to develop an in-depth understanding of the outcomes of servant leadership at the team and organizational levels. It reviews the relationship between servant…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to develop an in-depth understanding of the outcomes of servant leadership at the team and organizational levels. It reviews the relationship between servant leadership and its team- and organizational-level outcomes, and examines the mediation and moderation effect of the relationship. It further identifies the mechanism by which servant leadership is beneficial to the organization.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review is conducted, focused on 52 articles published between 2012 and 2022. Content analysis and descriptive analysis were used to respond to the research questions.
Findings
A new conceptual model was developed to better understand the outcomes, mediators and moderators of servant leadership at team and organization level.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should further explore outcomes of servant leadership at team and organizational levels and test how mediators affect the relationship between servant leadership and associated outcomes.
Practical implications
This study provides a framework for leaders on how servant leadership contributes to teams and organizations, and how a leader applies servant leadership.
Originality/value
This systematic review presents a new model that builds on existing research into servant leadership and its impact on team and organizational levels completed in the past decade. To date, there have been no reviews of servant leadership that focus only on outcomes at the team and organizational levels using a widely recognized database.
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Roberto Godoy Fernandes, Luciano Ferreira da Silva and Leonardo Vils
The purpose of this paper is to verify how distributed cognition enhances collaborative problem-solving in the context of projects.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to verify how distributed cognition enhances collaborative problem-solving in the context of projects.
Design/methodology/approach
Using qualitative research and in-depth interviews, a sample of 32 project managers with experience in traditional and agile methods acting in Brazil and internationally participated in the research process. The analysis process, utilising coding techniques, involved stages: open, axial, coding and selective coding. These stages encompassed the evaluation of categories based on a hierarchy, in order to determine an appropriate level of abstraction that properly explains theoretical findings.
Findings
The results indicate that distributed team cognition is significant for collaborative problem-solving. The data from the interviews allowed the proposal of a model of cognition, and the identification of the elements that support it.
Practical implications
Understand how aspects of distributed team cognition can impact the behaviours of the project professional and contribute to problem-solving in the project environment.
Originality/value
The elements observed affects the collaborative problem-solving by presenting a model of distributed cognition, which is composed by directed communication, collective interaction, trust building and collaborative behaviour.
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Aparna Gonibeed, Sally Kah and Roseline Wanjiru
Using Gibson and Tarrant's (2010) resilience triangle model, this study explores how small northwest Himalayan organisations respond to contextual challenges and opportunities and…
Abstract
Purpose
Using Gibson and Tarrant's (2010) resilience triangle model, this study explores how small northwest Himalayan organisations respond to contextual challenges and opportunities and embed sustainability strategies in the organisations' operational values.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative exploratory design through individual and group interviews with owner-managers and employees was held in five small northwest Himalayan organisations.
Findings
The findings reveal multiple contextual challenges facing small organisations in northwest Himalayas, including ecological conditions, remoteness, underdeveloped infrastructure and human competencies. The investigated organisations respond to these challenges through reactive and innovation-based services like eco-tourism, conservation and educational initiatives. The organisations engage communities through participatory and educational activities. Owner-managers adjust the respective vision and mission statements, train employees on sustainability values and lobby the government on policy changes to embed sustainability strategies. Some organisations invest in resources and capabilities and others in process capabilities.
Practical implications
Small organisations can improve how the organisations predict contextual issues by developing the organisations' process capabilities, specifically by creating practical tools with parameters relevant to ecological conditions. These organisations can set the tools through participatory actions with the broader communities to ensure the (un)intended consequences of environmental issues are considered. Furthermore, improvements in process and human capabilities will provide new approaches to raising business opportunities, especially in post-pandemic business environments.
Originality/value
This study develops a framework that enhances the understanding of how process capabilities, leadership, people and knowledge capabilities are critical to developing and embedding sustainability strategies in small organisations.
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Rafedzah Mohd Som, Ismi Arif Ismail, Zoharah Omar, Siti Noormi Alias and Soaib Asimiran
This study aims to test a public–private partnership (PPP) success model by examining the direct effects of two input factors (facilitative leadership and communication quality…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to test a public–private partnership (PPP) success model by examining the direct effects of two input factors (facilitative leadership and communication quality) on an outcome factor, namely, PPP success (PPP project success and PPP relational success), as well as the mediating effect of trust as a process factor on these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The present research uses the sociotechnical systems theory as the guiding framework. This is a quantitative study that uses a questionnaire survey and purposive sampling. The respondents comprise 266 public and private sector employees who have been involved in various PPP projects. The data gathered from the survey are analysed using SPSS and structural equation modelling (AMOS version 23.0).
Findings
The findings of this study indicate that facilitative leadership, communication quality and trust are positively correlated with PPP success, that is, PPP relational and PPP project success. Trust is found to mediate the relationship between facilitative leadership and communication quality with PPP success.
Practical implications
This paper upholds the importance of facilitative leadership, communication quality and trust in a PPP setting.
Originality/value
This study enriches the knowledge of PPP projects regarding facilitative leadership, communication quality and trust. It also discusses the vital role of these variables in ensuring PPP success.
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Masoud Zavari and Mohammad Reza Afshar
In the construction industry, site managers are responsible for the day-to-day on-site running of a project. Site managers are required not only to ensure that work is done…
Abstract
Purpose
In the construction industry, site managers are responsible for the day-to-day on-site running of a project. Site managers are required not only to ensure that work is done safely, on time, within budget and to the right quality standards, but also to manage any delays or problems encountered on-site during a construction project. Thus, a site manager has a significant position in the success of a construction project. However, there is a lack of studies considering the role of the leadership style of a site manager in construction project success. In this study, not only the effect of the transformational leadership (TL) style of site managers on the success of construction projects is assessed, but also the mediating role of team-building (TB) and team innovation between TL and project success is studied.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed hypotheses are tested by comparing the performance criteria of construction projects with the TL style of site managers. The success criteria of the projects are examined using project documents and client opinions, and the TL of site managers, TB aspects and team innovation in projects are assessed by asking from their subordinates. The Pearson correlation coefficient is employed to investigate the relation between every two variables.
Findings
The results illustrate that the TL of a site manager is directly related to project success; thus, the findings would confirm the importance of selecting appropriate site managers for construction projects. Moreover, while there is a mediating role of TB between TL and construction project success, team innovation does not have a mediating impact in design-bid-build (DBB) construction projects.
Originality/value
As there is a lack of studies assessing the TL effects on the success of construction projects and the significant role of site managers, this study is one of the first researches that tested these impacts and evaluated the mediating role of TB and team innovation between TL and project performance.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of humble leadership on project success. In addition, we examine the mediating effect of organisational learning on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of humble leadership on project success. In addition, we examine the mediating effect of organisational learning on the relationship between humble leadership and the success of international development projects.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a quantitative research methodology based on questionnaire data collected from 80 international development project managers from different sectors in Senegal (West Africa). The variance-based structural equation method, following the partial least squares approach, was used to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
The results showed that humble leadership is positively related to project success. Furthermore, organizational learning mediates the relationship between humble leadership and project success.
Research limitations/implications
This research has several limitations. The authors did not examine the role of organizational culture as a moderating variable. However, the authors believe that the cultural variable can have an impact on project success and team building, and future studies should consider this aspect as well. In the African context, each country has its own culture, which may affect the behaviour of the project manager. Also, the authors admit that the sample size is relatively small, which greatly reduces the generalizability of the results.
Practical implications
These findings have important implications. First, because a project leader’s humility enhances project success, it is critical for development projects to select leaders who demonstrate modest conduct in the workplace. The perfect selection of a humble leader depends heavily on judgements about the characteristics of a humble leader from new project manager candidates.
Originality/value
Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study found that humble leadership is important for project success, thus extending the utility of the concept of humble leadership to the project literature.
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Katarzyna Piwowar-Sulej and Qaisar Iqbal
Based on the social exchange theory, the aim of the present study is to examine the effects, both direct and indirect (through sustainability-oriented innovative behaviors…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the social exchange theory, the aim of the present study is to examine the effects, both direct and indirect (through sustainability-oriented innovative behaviors [SIBs]), of sustainable project leadership (SPL) on sustainable project performance (SPP). Project management approaches (PMAs) (traditional, hybrid and agile) were examined as conditional factors in the “SPL–SIBs” relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs structural equation modeling based on data collected from 197 software engineering project team members working in the financial industry in Poland.
Findings
The study revealed that SPL significantly, positively affected SPP. It also provided evidence for the significant mediating impact of SIBs in the relationship between SPL and SPP and the conditional effect of agile and hybrid PMAs on the “SPL–SIBs” relationship.
Originality/value
The novelty of this work lies in introducing sustainable leadership into project management research, proposing and testing a unique and complex research framework, designing valid scales for measuring SPL and SPP, and suggesting many theoretical and empirical implications.
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