AUTHENTICITY OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGERS : PERSPECTIVE OF FOLLOWERS

Abstract

An effective project manager forms one of the most important success factors in the construction industry. As identified by Toor and Ofori (2009), there is a high potential for the development of authentic leadership in this industry due to its fast changing nature and globalisation. However, on top of existing research relating to authentic leadership development in the construction industry, this dissertation aims to provide an insight to the perspective of followers on the importance of identified theoretical behaviours to influence positive work behaviours. It also aims to investigate the correlation of the respective importance ratings of behavioural traits to the frequency on which each behaviour had been applied by project managers and the resulting impact on followers.

Literature review conducted identified four core behaviours of authentic leadership namely balanced processing, relational transparency, internal moral perspective and self awareness which was used to develop the survey to achieve the objectives of the research.

Findings revealed that the importance of the respective behaviours towards positively influencing followers may vary. Project managers may cast a greater positive impact onto their followers by equating the frequency of demonstrating these behaviours to how important it is perceived by the follower. It was also found that impacts of such perceived behaviours are interrelated and are the consequential effect of meeting the perceived needs from the identified behaviours.