Exploring the communication breakdown in global virtual teams

Virtual matrix-managed teams with geographically dispersed members are becoming increasingly common in the high-tech sector. These teams, referred to as global virtual teams (GVTs), are generally described as culturally diverse, geographically dispersed, electronically-communicating workgroups. They rapidly form, change, and dissolve due to dynamic changes in the market. In addition, most GVTs today have team members spread among several projects with competing priorities. Communication breakdown can wreak havoc on a project as team members struggle to effectively communicate and work with one another. As a result, project delivery risks with distributed teams tend to be greater when compared to co-located teams. To address this critical issue, this study investigates the types of factors that significantly contribute to communication breakdown by identifying five distinct areas through a series of interviews with project team members in high-tech companies. These areas are trust, interpersonal relations, cultural differences, leadership and technology. These criteria are analyzed using mathematical Decision Models taking expert opinions from professionals who worked in GVTs.     

The challenge of transactional and transformational leadership in projects

Projects as a form of temporary organizing are different from standard organizational processes. Due to their temporary and unique nature, projects are characterized by discontinuous personal constellations and work contents. Although leadership research has called for a consideration of context factors and their effects on leadership, leadership in a temporary setting has hardly been investigated. We therefore extend transactional and transformational leadership theory by looking at it from the perspective of the temporary organization. We develop a research model with testable propositions on the effects of the temporary organizations' characteristics on leadership and on followers' commitment in projects.     

The effects of organizational culture and environmental pressures on IT project performance: A moderation perspective

In this study we examine the impact of culture and environmental pressures on IT project performance. Specifically, the current study examines four dimensions of organizational culture (i.e., institutional collectivism, results orientation, positive work environment, leadership risk tolerance) and environmental pressures that are competitive and regulatory in nature. Within the context of these variables this study examines the moderating effect of environmental pressures (i.e., levels of competitive and regulatory pressure) on the relationship between organizational culture and IT project performance. The model was empirically tested with data from the United States and China. These two countries were chosen due to their very distinctive characteristics related to organizational resources and environmental factors.     

Editorial

The construction industry provides an interesting research alternative to other sectors because of its unique characteristics. For this reason, this paper aims to explore and compare the leadership styles of managerial personnel in the construction industry. The study focuses on the empirical evaluations of the similarities and differences in leadership styles of construction professionals. A managerial‐style questionnaire is developed based on the review of relevant literature. Questionnaire data obtained from 43 respondents show that the authoritative style is more frequently performed than all other styles. Results also indicate differences in terms of gender and managerial hierarchy. Implications of the results are discussed.     

The moderating effect of program context on the relationship between program managers' leadership competences and program success

We investigated the moderating effect of program context on the relationship between leadership competences of program managers and program success. Leadership competence was measured as the combination of intellectual competence (IQ), managerial competence (MQ) and emotional competence (EQ). A worldwide cross-sectional survey using the Leadership Dimensions Questionnaire (LDQ) and a program context and success questionnaire yielded 79 responses. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses (MHRA) were used to test the moderating effect of program context, which is characterized by organizational fit, program flexibility, organizational stability and resource availability. Results showed that program context positively moderates the relationships between program managers' IQ respective MQ with program success. However, the relationship between EQ and program success is lowered to insignificance in the presence of context. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.     

The mediation role of leadership styles in integrated project collaboration: An emotional intelligence perspective

Research on integrated project delivery (IPD) has considered collaboration satisfaction as an important factor for improving project outcomes. Yet, the potential mechanism influencing it remains unexplored in construction project management, especially in the aspects of human skills. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether leadership styles mediate the link between the emotional intelligence (EI) of authorized leader and four collaboration satisfaction outcomes perceived by other participants in an integrated team: performance contribution satisfaction (PCS), efficiency satisfaction (ES), relationship satisfaction (RS), and interests satisfaction (IS). Data was collected from 365 samples including project leaders and scholars who possess experience of IPD in China. The results show that transformational and active-transactional leadership fully mediate the relationships of EI with PCS, ES, and IS, and were partial mediators between EI and RS. In addition, the partial mediation role of passive-transactional leadership in the relationships of EI with RS and IS were identified, but its mediating effects between PCS and ES were not found. Similarly, owing to the non-significant effects of laissez-faire leadership on dimensions of collaboration satisfaction, this leadership style does not play mediating role in the relationships of EI with four dimensions of collaboration satisfaction. This paper makes contribution to the mediating mechanism research of revised full range leadership model by proposing collaboration satisfaction criteria and EI model in IPD project.     

Shared leadership in project teams: An integrative multi-level conceptual model and research agenda

Shared leadership has rarely been studied in the project management context, despite its proven performance-enhancing benefits in other management domains. Based on a systematic review of the salient literature from multiple disciplines, this paper develops a new multi-level conceptual model to advance a holistic understanding of how shared leadership develops and how it may impact individual, team, project and wider organisational performance. The conceptual model draws upon the input-mediator-output-input perspective of systems theory, which is well-established in the general team literature. The new integrative model identifies the potential multi-level antecedents, proximal team functioning outcomes, and the more distal multi-level outcomes of shared leadership based on findings from the shared leadership literature drawn largely from other domains. Potential boundary conditions of the model are identified. A future research agenda is recommended for empirically testing the new multi-level shared leadership model and its different elements in a diverse range of project contexts.     

Experiential Learning in Engineering Practice

The American Society of Civil Engineers is asserting an increasingly broad and deep body of knowledge (BOK) that reflects contemporary expectations for professional leadership. The BOK is to be fulfilled with a combination of formal education and practical experience. The formal education part includes renewed emphasis on an integrated base of liberal learning, greater technical breadth, specific professional preparation, and mastery of a specialization. Important elements of cognitive development are “assigned” to prelicensure experience. Among these are several learning outcomes critical to realizing the announced vision of the professional for the current century. The current system of prelicensure experience is inadequate and will not perform without structural change. The shortfall lies in the arrangements for fulfilling and validating specific learning outcomes beyond the university. The status quo in engineering is reviewed and compared with other professions. A model program is sketched in terms of specifications and some suggested actions.     

Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Behavior in Construction Executives

The study documented in this paper builds upon the concept of multiple intelligences by examining the need for a greater concept of intelligence within the construction profession. Specifically, the paper documents the study of 130 construction executives for their emotional intelligence (EI) as measured by their emotional quotient. In this study, the writers analyze the relationship between EI and leadership behaviors, specifically examining the relationship between EI and transformational leadership behaviors. The paper outlines the strengths and weaknesses found in executives in relation to developing transformational leadership behaviors. Through the use of established testing procedures, the researchers identify five specific components of EI that are related to transformational leadership behavior at a convincing level of statistical significance. Of particular importance is the identification of interpersonal skills and empathy as key EI behaviors that need additional attention during the development of construction industry executives. The writers contend that these traits are as important as classical traits of intelligence and experience in developing the leaders of tomorrow’s construction organizations.     

Exhibiting Leadership and Facilitation Behaviors in NPD Project-Based Work: Does Team Personal Style Composition Matter?

Abstract:

Teams are increasingly becoming primary in the way employees in organizations conduct work. Understanding what makes teams effective is especially important for new product development (NPD) teams, whose members often have diverse backgrounds and competencies. The effects of similarities and differences among team members in NPD project-based work influence every aspect of that work. We explored the relationship between project team composition attributes and project team members' team leadership and facilitation behaviors, drawing from the literature on similarity-attraction effect.

Data from two time points that were 12-weeks apart were collected from 144 professional employees working in 48 project teams to test the study's hypotheses. Using HLM 6.0 (Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002), findings show that when it comes to project team composition, members of a team, who are similar on affective personal style traits, demonstrate greater team leadership and facilitation behaviors. We identify implications for generating productive team leadership and facilitation behaviors in NPD project-based work.