Assessing the Influence of Authoritative Leadership on Project Success through the Mediating Role of Goal Clarity in the Construction Industry

Abstract

A project management study emphasizes the significance of leadership styles in the accomplishment of projects. The fundamental processes of project leadership, particularly those related to authoritative leadership (AL) and project success (PS) linkages, have not, however, received research or analysis. To address this issue, we proposed that goal clarity (GC) plays a mediating role in explaining the relationship between authoritative leadership and project success. The data were gathered via a questionnaire. A total of 326 responses were considered for the research, which was 65.2 percent of the 500 data responses collected from employees of different construction industries in Pakistan. A probability sampling technique was used to gather the data. Analysis of variance-based structural equation modeling shows that GC partially mediates the association between authoritative leadership style and project success. Furthermore, GC and authoritative AL styles were positively associated with project success, whereas GC was positively associated with AL. This research contributes significantly to the area of the construction industry by revealing that AL influences PS while aim goal clarity mediates this connection. This is one of the first studies to look at the link between AL, PS, and goal clarity. Future research directions, discussions, and implications are also presented.