Abstract
Purpose:
This paper aims to examine the impact of leadership style and team context on structural and psychological empowerment perceptions in project teams.
Design/methodology/approach:
It was posited that span of control and within team interdependence will positively and significantly influence both structural and psychological empowerment. Person-orientated leadership style was also expected to positively impact both structural and psychological empowerment while task orientated leadership style was expected to have a negative impact. These hypothesized relationships were examined using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) with data obtained through a parallel quantitative questionnaire survey of construction client, consultant and contractor organizations in Hong Kong.
Findings:
No significant relationship was found between span of control and any facet of empowerment while team interdependence had a positive and significant relationship with psychological empowerment but not structural empowerment. Task-orientated leadership was positively and significantly related to psychological empowerment in the full sample and contractor teams but not in consultant and client teams. Person-orientated leadership was positively and significantly related to psychological empowerment in the full sample, consultant and client teams but not in contractor teams.
Originality/value:
The link between leadership style, team context and three facets of empowerment are examined compared with previous studies often focusing on one facet. Sub-sample analysis enabled more subtle differences of the impact of leadership style in different context to be revealed, an indication that samples may not be homogeneous.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 149-175 |
Number of pages | 27 |
Journal | Team Performance Management |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 3/4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 8 Jun 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |