Leader Orientation of Construction Site Managers
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 112, Issue 3
Abstract
This article briefly reviews the ways in which leadership is conceptualized and taken into consideration in the context of construction projects. Data are presented that derive from a study of 43 site managers in England and Wales and that take Fiedler's Contingency Model as the point of departure. The results indicate that variations in leader orientation have an impact on project effectiveness and that this relationship is contingent upon a number of factors, including project length, value, and the extent of reliance on sub-contract labor. In particular, the results indicate that an emphasis on relationships in site managers' leader orientations is more likely to enhance project performance than an emphasis on tasks. The implications of these findings for the study of construction management are examined.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Borcherding, J. D., “Improving Productivity in Industrial Construction,” Journal of the Construction Division, ASCE, Vol. 102, No. CO4, Paper 12595, Dec., 1976, pp. 599–614.
2.
Borcherding, J. D., “What is the Construction Foreman Really Like?,” Journal of the Construction Division, ASCE, Vol. 103, No. CO1, Paper 123783, Mar., 1977, pp. 71–85.
3.
Borcherding, J. D., and Garner, D. F., “Work Force Motivation and Productivity on Large Jobs,” Journal of the Construction Division, ASCE, Vol. 107, No. CO3, Paper 16508, Sept., 1981, pp. 443–453.
4.
Borcherding, J. D., Sebastian, S. J., and Samuelson, N. M., “Improving Motivation and Productivity on Large Projects,” Journal of the Construction Division, ASCE, Vol. 106, No. CO1, Paper 15272, Mar., 1980, pp. 73–89.
5.
Bresnen, M. J., Bryman, A. E., Ford, J. R., Keil, E. T., Beardsworth, A. D., Jepson, M. A., and Wray, K., “Effective Construction Site Management: A Review,” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE, Vol. 110, No. 4, Paper 19324, 1984, pp. 420–436.
6.
Bresnen, M. J., Wray, K., Bryman, A. E., Beardsworth, A. D., Ford, J. R., and Keil, E. T., “The Flexibility of Recruitment in the Construction Industry: Formalisation or Recasualisation?,” Sociology, Vol. 19, No. 1, 1985, pp. 108–124.
7.
Bryman, A., Leadership and Organizations, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, U.K., 1986.
8.
Bryman, A. E., Bresnen, M. J., Ford, J. R., Beardsworth, A. K., and Keil, E. T., “Leader Orientation and Organizational Transcience: An Investigation of Fiedler's LPC Scale,” (currently unpublished paper).
9.
Fiedler, F. E., A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, McGraw-Hill, New York, N.Y., 1967.
10.
Fiedler, F. E., “Personality, Motivational Systems, and Behaviour of High and Low LPC Persons,” Human Relations, Vol. 35, 1972, pp. 391–412.
11.
Fiedler, F. E., “The Contingency Model and the Dynamics of the Leadership Process,” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 11, 1978, pp. 59–112.
12.
Fiedler, F. E., and Chemers, M. M., Improving Leadership Effectiveness: The Leader Match Concept, 2nd ed., Wiley, New York, N.Y., 1984.
13.
Foa, U. G., Mitchell, T. R., and Fiedler, F. E., “Differentiation Matching,” Behavioural Science, Vol. 16, 1971, pp. 130–142.
14.
Fleishman, E. A., “Twenty Years of Consideration and Initiating Structure,” in E. A. Fleishman and J. G. Hund (Eds.), Current Developments in the Study of Leadership, Southern Illinois U.P., Carbondale, Ill., 1973.
15.
Freeman, I. L., and Bentley, M. J. C., “Quality Control in Construction on Site—Some Observations of Current UK Practice,” Building Research Establishment, Department of the Environment, U.K., PD 8/80, Jan., 1980.
16.
Hinze, J., and Gordon, F., “Supervisor-Worker Relationships Affects Injury Rates,” Journal of the Construction Division, ASCE, Vol. 105, No. CO3, Paper 14848, Sept., 1979, pp. 253–262.
17.
Hinze, J., and Keuchenmeister, K., “Productive Foreman Characteristics,” Journal of the Construction Division, ASCE, Vol. 107, No. CO4, Paper 16720, Dec., 1981, pp. 627–639.
18.
House, R. J., and Mitchell, T. R., “Path-Goal Theory of Leadership,” Journal of Contemporary Business, Vol. 5, 1974, pp. 81–94.
19.
Kellog, J. C., Howell, G. E., and Taylor, D. C., “A Hierarchy Model of Construction Productivity,” Journal of the Construction Division, ASCE, Vol. 107, No. CO1, Paper 16138, Mar., 1981, pp. 137–152.
20.
Kerr, S., Schriesheim, C. A., Murphy, C. J., and Stogdill, R. M., “Toward a Contingency Theory of Leadership Based Upon the Consideration and Initiating Structure Literature,” Organisational Behaviour and Human Perfortnance, Vol. 12, 1974, pp. 62–82.
21.
Lawrence, P., and Lorsch, J., Organisation and Environment, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1967.
22.
Leopold, E., and Leonard, S., “Reorganized Labor,” Building, U.K., Vol. 264, July, 1983, pp. 24–25.
23.
Logcher, R. D., and Collins, W. W., “Management Impacts on Labor Productivity,” Journal of the Construction Division, ASCE, Vol. 104, Paper 14235, Dec., 1978, pp. 447–463
24.
Lowin, A., and Craig, J. R., “The Influence of Level of Performance on Managerial Style: An Experimental Object-Lesson in the Ambiguity of Correlation Data,” Organisational Behaviour and Human Performance, Vol. 3, 1968, pp. 440–458.
25.
Nie, N. H., Hull, C. H., Jenkins, J. G., Steinbrenner, K., Bent, D. H., Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, N.Y., 1975.
26.
Samuelson, N. M., and Borcherding, J. D., “Motivating Foreman on Large Construction Projects,” Journal of the Construction Division, ASCE, Vol. 106, No. CO1, Paper 15276, Mar., 1980, pp. 29–36.
27.
Schreisheim, C. A., and Kerr, S., “Theories and Measures of Leadership: A Critical Appraisal of Current and Future Directions,” in J. G. Hunt and L. L. Larson (Eds.), Leadership: The Cutting Edge, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, Ill., 1977.
28.
Strube, M. J., and Garcia, J. E., “A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Fiedler's Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness,” Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 90, No. 2, 1981, pp. 307–321.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 ASCE.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1986
Published in print: Sep 1986
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.