Project Managers’ Leadership Behaviour and Success of Completed Public Infrastructural Mega Projects in Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t5379Abstract
Leadership is central to project management and greatly contributes to whether a project succeeds or fails. A lack of effective leadership capabilities is often associated with project failure. Even with the progress made in project management practices, many projects still fall short, with only about one in ten being delivered on time and within the allocated budget. Thus, this study examined the relationship between project managers' leadership behaviour and the success of completed public infrastructure megaprojects in Kenya. The study was anchored on three theoretical frameworks: Transformational, Situational, and contingency leadership theories. A descriptive research design was employed, targeting a population of 44 project team members from key ministries involved in overseeing major projects implemented between 2014 and 2024. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires, and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results revealed that in the absence of all leadership variables, namely adaptive, predictive, hybrid, and motivational, the baseline success rate of public infrastructural mega projects in Kenya stood at 21.502. Statistical analysis revealed that a unit increase in adaptive leadership led to a 0.689 rise in project success, with significance confirmed by a p-value below 0.05. Similarly, each one-unit increase in predictive leadership resulted in a 0.711 rise in project success, a statistically significant relationship supported by a p-value of 0.001. Additionally, enhancing hybrid leadership by one unit led to a 0.633 improvement in project success, with the statistical significance confirmed by a p-value less than 0.05. Finally, a one-unit increment in motivational leadership led to a 0.618 rise in project success, supported by a p-value of 0.008. These outcomes indicate that all four leadership styles significantly affect the success of public infrastructural mega-projects in Kenya at a 95% confidence level. Predictive leadership emerged as the most influential, followed by adaptive, then hybrid, with motivational leadership having the least impact. The study also noted uncertainty regarding whether leaders demonstrated flexibility in decision-making. It was found that while leaders did provide experiences that helped others acquire new skills and were capable of analysing complex issues to foresee outcomes, they often lacked effective communication support and a deep understanding of organisational objectives. The study recommends that project leaders strengthen their adaptability to more effectively manage the dynamic and changing demands of mega projects. It further suggests the implementation of leadership development programmes and training focused on improving decision-making agility and problem-solving capabilities. The study calls upon the government and other stakeholders to invest in ongoing leadership training tailored to the distinctive challenges of managing infrastructure projects. Such training should encompass project management, stakeholder coordination, and strategic leadership competencies.
Keywords: Leadership Behaviour, Success, Public, Infrastructural Mega Projects, Kenya
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