A strategic framework for transformational leadership development in megaprojects

Abstract

Project managers’ leadership has a direct and an indirect effect on project success. Extant literature has established that transformational leadership style positively affects project success in a major way. The main aim of this research is to understand the variables that positively affects transformational leadership development and their interrelationships in megaprojects. The Total Interpretive Structural Model (TISM) methodology is adopted to propose a framework, and Impact Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) approach is used to examine the strategic nature of the enablers. The research shows that there exists a group of enablers having a high driving power and low dependence, requiring maximum attention and of strategic importance, while another group consists of those variables that have high dependence and are resultant actions. Furthermore, the model explains the relationships among each pair of variables. Organisations dealing in megaprojects would be the major beneficiaries of this study. Policy makers in these organisations would explicitly understand the variables and their interrelationships that needs attention for transformational leadership development. This would help them to prioritize their efforts and implement suitable strategies to focus on the most important variables for developing transformational leaders ultimately leading to project success.