Leader orientation of construction site managers

This article briefly reviews the ways in which leadership is conceptualized and taken into consideration in the context of construction projects. Data are presented that derive from a study of 43 site managers in England and Wales and that take Fiedler’s Contingency Model as the point of departure. The results indicate that variations in leader orientation have an impact on project effectiveness and that this relationship is contingent upon a number of factors, including project length, value, and the extent of reliance on sub-contract labor. In particular, the results indicate that an emphasis on relationships in site managers' leader orientations is more likely to enhance project performance than an emphasis on tasks. The implications of these findings for the study of construction management are examined.