Exploring the critical nexus between authoritarian leadership, project team member's silence and multi-dimensional success in a state-owned mega construction project

Zaman, Umer; Florez-Perez, Laura; Khwaja, Muddasar Ghani; Abbasi, Saba; Gohar Qureshi, Madeeha

Abstract

State-owned mega construction projects are greatly driven by the top-down authoritarian leadership that ironically restricts two-way communication and free flow of ideas. Prominent studies have highlighted various critical success factors of project success; however, the effects of authoritarian leadership and project team member's silence have been completely overlooked, especially in mega construction projects. The present study makes a pioneering effort to address this critical research gap and investigate the effects of authoritarian leadership and project team member's silence on the multi-dimensional success (including project management success, project ownership success and project investment success) in a mega construction project. Drawing on data from 357 project professionals directly associated with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and covariance based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) with Mplus, the findings provide new empirical evidence that authoritarian leadership has a significant negative influence on the multi-dimensional success in the CPEC mega construction project. The findings also establish that project team member's silence negatively mediates the relationship between authoritarian leadership and the multi-dimensional mega construction project success. The study implications offer new strategic insights for managing mega construction projects, especially in transition economies that still have deep roots of authoritarian cultures.

Citation

Zaman, U., Florez-Perez, L., Khwaja, M. G., Abbasi, S., & Gohar Qureshi, M. (2021). Exploring the critical nexus between authoritarian leadership, project team member's silence and multi-dimensional success in a state-owned mega construction project. International Journal of Project Management, 39(8), 873-886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2021.10.007

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 31, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-11
• Deposit Date: Jan 13, 2025
• Journal: International Journal of Project Management
• Print ISSN: 0263-7863
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 873-886
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2021.10.007
• Keywords: Authoritarian leadership; Project team member's silence; Leader-member exchange theory; Spiral of silence theory; Mega construction project; Multi-dimensional project success
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1017998
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263786321001241?via%3Dihub