Performance consequences of psychological empowerment

The relationship between psychological empowerment and job performance, and whether three intermediate performance determinants; motivation, ability, and opportunity to perform hold the key to unlocking the empowerment-performance relationship dilemma are addressed. Using hierarchical linear modeling to analyse responses from 380 project management-level staff, the results show that psychological empowerment not only has direct and positive performance consequences, but also indirect effects, mediated by intrinsic motivation, opportunity to perform and ability to perform. The findings provide preliminary evidence in support of a comprehensive model of work performance that takes into consideration not only motivation and ability but opportunity to perform. Indeed, opportunity to perform actually emerged as a stronger mediator in the psychological empowerment-contextual performance behaviors relationship than ability to perform. The findings of both direct and indirect relationships however demonstrate that the relationship between empowerment and performance is more complex than previously thought. Yet, by demonstrating that empowered employees exhibit positive performance behaviors, psychological empowerment clearly emerges as a valuable path for organizations to pursue in their search for performance improvement in project settings

Empowerment in project teams: a multi-level examination of the job performance implications

An integrative multilevel model of empowerment and job performance behaviours is advanced, building on social cognitive theory (SCT). Empowerment climate is hypothesized as influencing individual and team performance behaviours directly and partially through individual and team (psychological) empowerment. Using survey responses from 380 individuals, nested in 115 project management teams, we tested the direct, indirect and cross-level relationships delineated in the multilevel model, using a combination of OLS regression models and hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). Empowerment climate positively related not only directly to both task and contextual performance behaviours but partially through both individual and team empowerment. At the team level, empowerment climate also positively related directly to taskwork and teamwork behaviours and partially through team empowerment. The results suggest that empowerment climate and psychological empowerment play complementary roles in engendering individual and team performance behaviours and are therefore not mutually exclusive. The findings are also evident of convergence in management practices across cultures as well as different work contexts and further provide concrete targets of manipulation by organisations and leaders desirous of empowering individuals and teams in the project context

An exploratory study of the contextual meaning and consequences of empowerment in project teams

Empowerment means different things to different individuals. The factors that engender feelings of empowerment and the consequences that ensue are thus multifarious. Using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) in semi-structured interviews with project participants in Hong Kong, the contextual meaning and consequences of empowerment are explored. Two broad categories of meanings were ascribed to the concept “empowerment” and related to “what individuals or teams feel or experience” and “what organisations or leaders do”, confirming the extant literature’s dichotomous conceptualisation of empowerment into the structural and psychological perspectives. Positive and negative consequences of empowerment and disempowerment were evident. The need to capture the different individual conceptualisations of empowerment in the implementation of empowerment initiatives is shown and that a contextual fit is essential for empowerment to take place

Impact of leadership style and team context on psychological empowerment in construction project teams

The empowerment process makes huge demands on organizations and its constituents. The team as the proximal work environment creates a social environment for interactions that can change individual behaviour, attitudes and perceptions. Leadership provides a direct channel through which individuals interpret organizational policies and practices. The impact of leadership style and team context on psychological empowerment in project teams was examined using data from a parallel questionnaire survey of construction client, consultant and contractor organizations in Hong Kong. It was posited that span of control and interdependence will positively and significantly influence psychological empowerment. Person orientated leadership style was expected to positively impact psychological empowerment while task orientated leadership style was expected to have a negative impact. No significant relationship was found between span of control and psychological empowerment while team interdependence had a positive and significant relationship with psychological 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. The distinct findings in relation to the leadership style-empowerment link are consistent with a systems perspective of the construction process. Client and consultant teams constitute a "managing sub-system" and rely on management of interrelationships (i.e. person orientated leadership) to succeed while contractor teams constitute the "operating/task sub-system" and rely on task performance (i.e. task orientated leadership). The findings add to the growing evidence of lack of support for the stereotypical views on how task and person orientated leadership styles manifest. In project settings where "getting the job done" and "teamwork" are inseparable both leadership styles can produce positive outcomes through "leadership adjustment"

Empowering project teams: toward an integrative conceptualization of empowerment

Despite its long history, empowerment still remains a diffuse concept; a characteristic that has retarded its development and appropriate use. The theoretical underpinnings of empowerment are explicated in order to provide a thorough understanding and the much needed clarity. Towards this, two distinct approaches to the empowerment concept, structural and psychological, are differentiated and their complementarities articulated. Integrating the managerial or organisational acts/practices supportive of empowerment (structural approach) and employee cognition of empowerment (psychological approach) presents a unifying perspective that facilitates better understanding of the dynamics of the empowerment process. A multilevel perspective that exposes a paradox of empowerment in project teams is also explored and the implications for research and practice of such an integrative-multilevel conceptualisation consequently outlined

Dynamics of control in construction project teams

Control is pervasive in construction project environments. The management of projects through various planning and control tools has therefore been described essentially as rebureaucratization which increases control over individuals, teams and organizations through ideologies of efficiency and performativity. Yet certain characteristics of the project setting make it an ideal climate for the empowerment of individuals and teams. The manifestations of control in five construction project management teams involved in two ongoing construction projects in Hong Kong are examined. The interpretive and exploratory focus of the study favoured the use of a qualitative research design and the case study approach in particular. Control is viewed as all devices and systems employed to ensure that acts, behaviours, outcomes and decisions of individuals, teams and organizations are consistent with meeting organizational or project goals, objectives and strategies. The findings indicate that a portfolio of control modes is implemented in project teams comprising both formal (i.e. behaviour- and outcome-based) and informal (i.e. clan- and self-based) control mechanisms which are not necessarily incompatible. While formal control remains the primary control mode, a portfolio of control appears necessary to augment the inadequacies of formal control due to the evolving nature of the project environment

A cultural perspective to stakeholder management in the Hong Kong construction industry

The Hong Kong construction industry is lauded for its “can-do” attitude and the apparently high levels of integration and cooperation that enables its high level of performance. An industry that can regularly complete four day floor cycles on high rise buildings over 40 storeys should be an innovative and relationship based industry. However, this is not the case. For example`, the predominant form of procurement in Hong Kong is still design-bidbuild (the “traditional” approach) and “partnering” has been introduced into the industry but in a piece-meal fashion and in a manner which is hardly effective. Still, the industry is characterised by hierarchy, tradition and procedures but the industry is also heavily influenced by the Chinese culture in which it was situated. Hence, values such as face, harmony and conflict avoidance are also embedded in the industry culture. In such a situation, the issue of stakeholders and their management has been paid scant regard; the government was used to making decisions on development rather than consulting widely and the other major players, the oligarchy of large property developers, adopted a simple, economic approach to their business plans and only over the past few years have issues such as corporate social responsibility reached their boardrooms

Control modes and mechanisms in construction project teams: drivers and consequences

Control is purposive or goal directed, hence, there are underlying drivers and consequences of the exercise of control modes and mechanisms. In response to recent empirical findings that cast doubts on the empowerment-control incompatibility thesis, the broader question of whether control is predominantly 'controlling' or rather supportive in work environments is addressed. Drivers and consequences of control modes and mechanisms in five project teams involved in two ongoing construction projects in Hong Kong are explored. As an interpretive and exploratory study, a qualitative research design and the case study approach in particular was appropriate. Framework, category formation and cross-case analysis techniques were employed to analyse data collected through documentary analysis, passive observations and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The exercise of control is driven by a range of factors emanating from the individual-, team-, organization- and project-level. Control modes and mechanisms also have performance-related consequences for individuals, teams and organizations and are predominantly attributable to self-based control mechanisms. Preliminary evidence of the important link between self-control/empowerment and performance is therefore provided which is instructive for the performance improvement agenda in the construction industry

Stakeholder management through relationship management

Stakeholder management through relationship managemen

Implementation of building information modeling (BIM) in construction: a comparative case study

Building Information Modeling (BIM) approach is increasingly adopted in coordination of construction projects, with a number of parties providing BIM services and software solutions. However, the empirical impact of BIM on construction industry has yet to be investigated. This paper explores the interaction between BIM and the construction industry during its implementation, with a specific focus on the empirical impacts of BIM on the design and construction processes and professional roles during the process. Two cases were selected from recent construction projects coordinated with BIM systems: the Venetian Casino project in Macau and the Cathy Pacific Cargo Terminal project in Hong Kong. The former case illustrates how the conflicts emerged during the design process and procurement were addressed by adopting a BIM approach. The latter demonstrates how the adoption of BIM altered the roles of architect, contractor, and sub‐contractors involved in the project. The impacts of BIM were critically reviewed and discussed