Effective Leadership in the Construction Industry

Abstract

Despite the fact that throughout the last three decades new approaches to the Leadership issue have been introduced and examined in different industries, relatively few researchers have applied it to the construction industry. For example, Woodward (1980) has deliberately ignored construction in her influential study of industrial organizations.As a result, advice to and training programs for construction practitioners are currently based on findings derived from circumstances found in settings other than construction. The objective of this article, which is based on empirical research conducted in a construction setting, is to help those who are responsible for recruitment and training of construction staff to select ‘horses for courses’.An important conclusion of this article’ is that it raises the question of “how applicable are models and approaches developed in settings other than construction when applied to the construction industry?”. It emphasizes the need for construction organizations to strengthen the position power and authority of site foremen, based on the findings of a study of Egyptian construction foremen where position power has emerged as the most dominant leadership situational control factor.