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LEADERSHIP IN PROJECT MANAMENT (CASE STUDY: Skanska Construction

Company in USA)

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Rodrick Sakamba
Chreso University
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PROGRAM: MSC MANAGEMENT BY RESEARCH

COURSE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

STUDENT NUMBER: Rodrick@bml

STUDENT NAME: RODRICK SAKAMBA

STUDENT CORDINATOR: KAUSHIKA. V

DUE DATE: 30th January, 2015

CONTACT ADDRESS:

RODRICK SAKAMBA (BUSINESS DEAN)

CHRESO UNIVERSITY

P.O BOX 37178

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LUSAKA.ZAMBIA

EMAIL ADDRESS: sakambarodrick@gmail.com

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LEADERSHIP IN PROJECT MANAMENT (CASE STUDY: Skanska Construction Company in USA)

REVIEWER: Rodrick Sakamba (Bsc Epi.PGDip.HCM. PGDip. Ed. Msc.M. MPH. PhD Ed. & PhD B-Adm)

Author: RiyueXiong (College of Architecture, Georgia Technology)

Affiliations: Professor Kathy O. Roper (Advisor; College of Architecture, Georgia Technology)

Dr. Linda Thomas – Moble (Advisor; College of Architecture, Georgia Technology)

D R. BaabakAshuri (Advisor; College of Architecture, Georgia Technology)

Xiong:

https//smarttech.edu/bitstream/handle/1853/26596/xiong-mast.

Download:

The fulltext of this document was downloaded on 16th, January, 2015.

Citation:

Xionget. al (2008). Leadership in Project Management; College of Architecture, Georgia

Technology, USA

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ABSTRACT:

Purpose;

The intention of this article is to reassess the literature on the effectiveness and efficiency of
the project leadership skills in the most successful construction companies. This article will
make available a comprehensible thoughtful on how effective leadership skills can be
integrated into the project management, predominantly in the construction sectors. It will
endow with revelation why a lucid hypothetical groundwork of effective leadership skills is
lacking in the project management. Project management fosters on planning, organizing and
leading.

Leading includes co-ordinating, directing and motivating in order to finish a particular one –
time task. Furthermore, the article will review the connection between project management
and project leadership. It will set the paradigm of the successful projects and spell out the
leadership styles of good project leaders. It will provide guide; why leadership is dynamic
and not static. Why leadership is narrower than management? Why leadership focuses on
change and not policy. Additionally, the article will review why constructions leaders should
be innovative and see what other managers cannot see. Although, leaders are born; this
article will explain clearly how to train project managers into leadership. Thus, this article
will concentrate on subsequent text and widen an understanding of the key role of
leadership in project management.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

This article was based on statistical analyses and qualitative analyses. The author used a
Skanska construction firms as a case study and selected questionnaire survey as a tool for
gathering data suitable for statistical analysis, while other data were collected by
interviewing Skanska’s workers within a case study and were qualitatively analysed. Skanska
is known to be one of the most successful construction companies in USA. Additionally,
literature review was also used as a tool for collecting secondary data which were also
qualitatively analysed. The author also used a non- randomly technique also known as
purposive technique during the data collection.

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In this article the author targeted the sample size population of 200 in survey, although, the
main total number of response for survey were 69 out of 200. Thus, the response rates were
34.5% which is acceptable as far as Sheehan (2001) was concerned. Thus, the authors
selected the mixed research methodology although, the separation of the number of people
interviewed within the case study were not cleared stated. However, the author would have
used a focus group as a tool, since most of the data were confined in the Skanska and the
author used a purposive technique in the collection of empirical data. Thus, one of the most
effective tools in the case study design is focus group as far as qualitative analysis is
concerned.

FINDINGS

The findings suggested that the companies that embrace leadership skills are globally
successive and attain cost benefits in various projects while project management which
does not integrate its project managers into the leadership skills, they bare high risk of
failures and accumulate a lot of losses within their specific projects particularly
constructions field.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Leadership skills must exist at every level of management or department in order to

enhance project corporate governance and strategy. Turning the construction company into
the learning organizational enhances leadership skills and styles. Project managers are able
to acquire new skills and specializations. They will definitely become effective leaders and
become more efficient in the day to today project operations. They will be able to out fight
competitors and reinvent new services and products. Depending on the project situations
project leaders will be able to apply contingency approach in order to attain organizational
goals. Thus, they will automatically become entrepreneurs or innovative, team prayers, risk
takers, motivators and focus on change. They will be able to perceive what other executive
directors cannot perceive. Good project leaders are able to set accurate paradigms in an
organization such as Skanska construction as one the most successful construction
companies in USA.

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 Skanska for many years has been successful because of the lay emphasis on leadership
development such as formal training, coaching, and career advancement and enhances
team work. The findings suggested that leaders gain authority mainly from their personality
strengths. Thus, personal traits in leadership skills themselves cannot be acquired by
training, but they can only be modified by training and experience. However, the author
could not effectively outline the importance of good governance in project management
and furthermore could not justify the importance of the main features of good governance
such as equity/fairness, accountability, rule of raw, social responsibility and transparency in
the project management. Governance is the course of action of decisions making and
implementation (Sakamba ,2013). Projects managers must identify the factors that affect
project management and make quick decisions. Decision making includes non programmed
decisions making and management decision making.

Thus, if project managers possess leadership skills will effectively apply personal decision
making or non- programmed decisions making without difficulties in their endeavours
projects activities. Some of these tools of non- programmed decision making are decision
tree and force field models. However, management decisions making have less implication
in the executing of project activities because they are applied in accordance with the laid
down policies of an organization.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

The value of this article was shed light on the importance and key role of project
management based on analyses of data from a case study design and survey of Skanska
international construction company.

KEYWORDS: Project Leadership Skills (PLS), Project Management (PM)

TYPE: Research paper

PUBLISHER: Georgia Institute of Technology, November 13th 2008.

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