Impact of Leadership Style on Employee Performance and Motivation: An Empirical Study of Infrastructure Projects in UK

Overview of Infrastructure projects of UK

Transpennine Route Upgrade-Leeds, Yorkshire

This is basically an innovation in the railway network of the UK. The railway lines are upgraded from Manchester to York so that maximum facilities can be provided to the railway passengers of UK. This innovation in the railway network is expected to decrease the travel time for the passengers and more facilities will be provided to the passengers (Network Rail UK, 2017). The infrastructure work that is included in building this railway Network has been handed over to Arup and Amey Group of Infrastructure Consultancy and is further focused on the electrification of the train making it efficient with as much less cost as possible. The estimated value that this infrastructure project is expected to complete is around 2,250,000,000 Pounds which itself is huge. This huge cost will basically be used for making innovations in the seating capacity of the train and for other facilities within the travel time. 

Moreover, this project is covered for around 76 miles i.e. it will run for 76 miles from one place to another and then back to that place. Around 25 stations and stops along the route are also to be designed and it will also include 13 tunnels so that safe and smooth train ride is provided to the passengers. This project has already begun in 2019 and according to the meetings of developers and the British government, it is expected that this project will be completed by the end of 2028 bringing a revolutionary change in the railway industry of UK. 

Figure 1 Proposed Railway Upgrade

Source: BBC, 2019.

According to the BBC Report (2019), it was said that the tracks from Huddersfield to Dewsbury was to be doubled from two-track to four tracks. The above figure shows the route upgrade of this plan. The up-gradation of this route will separate two sections of the track which would mean that passengers who want to travel to either route will have separate trains for their destination, automatically decreasing the travel time. Hence it is an effective plan focused on making railway network strong in the UK. 

Construction of Google Headquarter, London

This construction project is a significant project not only for the UK’s construction industry but also for the UK’s technological industry as Google’s headquarter in the UK will provide an opportunity for more technological advancement. According to the reports of King Cross Cooperation UK (2017), this project started in 2018 and the building will consist of 11 floors with Google covering almost 650, 000 square foot of place within this building. Google already has an office in the UK in 6 Pancrease square and with this addition, they can accommodate around 700 employees in their offices throughout. 

According to the reports of Gillespie Cooperation (2017), this building will be designed and developed by Heatherwick Studio and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and the natural theme will be followed by them. The most interesting thing throughout this construction project is that it will have a rooftop garden as well along with the running track for the employees. This will cost Billions of Pounds to Google but this innovation and construction project will boost up the economy of the UK and might provide opportunities for people to get employed.  

Theoretical Framework

The theory namely, Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) has been given by Graen&Uhl-Bien, in the year 1995 (Iqbal, Anwar and Haider, 2015). This theory is also identified by the name of vertical dyad linkage theory. The theorist has proposed the idea of the quality of the relationship among the leader and the subordinates that tends to influence the outcomes which are related to the performance of both the leader and the subordinate (Erdogan and Bauer, 2014). There are different leadership theories discussed which are based on the group-level focus that is, every leader aims to treat all of his subordinates in the similar manner. As mentioned above, the transformational leadership style is commonly assumed to be based on the group-level. 

Though, LMX theory is highly focused on the linkage among the leader and each and every subordinating individual. This theory is highly suitable in understanding that how a leader tries to manage a group of individuals (Volmer, Spurk and Niessen, 2012). As a leader has interaction with his or her group members or team, the leader tends to categorize the individuals as part of the in group and out group. Suchcategorizations, if established, then tend to continuejustlywith stability all over the time. 

The plus point of LMX theory is thefocus on the character of both of the leader and the subordinate as well asthegratitude of leadership as a process of the self-motivation and interaction. Nevertheless, even if there is comprehensive support for the LMX theory, there is at this timea bitconsideration of the broaderbackgroundin which the bilateral relationships take place (Lunenburg, 2010). As the theory of LMX stresseson each individual role, the theory does not take into consideration the effect of the group and the context of theorganisation.

Conceptual framework

A conceptual framework has been designed on the basis of the core indicators that have been discussed in this chapter. Different styles of leadership bring about various consequences which have a direct or indirect influence on behaviours and attitudes of the employees. It is mentioned in the chapter that there is a significant connection among the leadership style of the leaders i.e. transformational and transactional, and the level of satisfaction of the employee. It let them exert additional efforts at their jobs and in perceiving their managers as effective. The transformational leadership style of the managers is clearly related to the variables of the outcome, while on the contrary, the transactional leadership style is generally related to the long term performance in a negative manner. 

The transformational style of leadership has a positive impact on the self-efficacy, inspiration, creativeness of the employees as well as on the performance of the organisation (Hamstra et al., 2014). On the contrary, the transactional style of leadership is on the enhancement of the work satisfaction and the identification and recognition of the organisation in comparison to the transformational style of leadership (Hamstra et al., 2011). The transformational leaders help the individuals in adopting the change in the organisation. Therefore, both of the leadership styles that are transformational and transactional help in governing the behaviour of the workers towards their leaders, performance of their job and the productivity of the organisation. 

Chapter Summary

Project Managers pave way for any project to be completed on time along with ensuring the quality of the product. They further ensure that the assigned duties fro, the leader is fulfilled and all the projects are completed on time hence they are an important part of any organisation.  As such, their influence within the organisation is thoroughly reviewed in this chapter. Moreover, different leadership styles such as Transformational Leadership and Transactional leadership is also critically reviewed and their role in providing motivation the employees are also discussed after reviewing different articles and journal which included the details about these styles. 

Employee performance plays a crucial role in organising, developing and growing of any organisation. They are the backbone of any organisation as such their performance is properly evaluated throughout the chapter keeping in view their commitment and motivation level for the organisation. Apart from this, the construction industry of the UK and different infrastructure project that is happening in the UK are discussed using reports of different website as it provides details about those projects. Two projects which are expected to help people of the UK as well their economy are thoroughly discussed and evaluated. Different theories are also discussed in regards to employee performance and motivation level. These theories pave the way for the researcher as well the readers to have a clear idea of how an employee is motivated and how employee’s performance plays a vital role in developing an organisation. Hence, this whole chapter has provided a complete review of the employees’ performance specifically in regards to the construction industry of the UK for which different research articles, reports and websites have been accessed and their stats, facts and figures are included throughout this chapter. 

CHAPTER 03: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

The underlying chapter of the study covers the in-depth discussion over different prospects related to the research methodology. This chapter intends to present the comprehensive view over the methodology, tools and techniques that have been adopted by the researcher to accumulate the valuable data for the research and draw the relevant conclusions (Flick, 2015). In this regard, details pertaining to research design, reliability, data collection method, sample size, sampling technique, data analysis technique has been incorporated by the researcher to properly comprehend the way underpinned research has been conducted and results are concluded.

Research Design

Research design plays a significant role in conducting certain research because allows integrating the different elements of research together (Mackey and Gass, 2015). The selection of appropriate research design solely depends on the scope of the study and the type of data required addressing the objectives of the study (Flick, 2015; McCusker and Gunaydin, 2015). For this purpose, there are three imperative research designs such as qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method. In the underlying research quantitative research design has been adopted by the researcher because it permits to investigate the research problem and draw conclusions on the basis of the quantity of information that is numeric data. The quantitative research design was chosen over qualitative because it permits to logically justify the human opinions and behaviour with the help statistical calculation it results always remain same rather than the perception of people that can change and cannot be justified.

Similarly, according to the study conducted by Walter and Andersen (2013) implied that quantitative research design allows to gather the information on the basis of variables of the study and transform it into statistical data. Since the nature of the study was causal, this the reason that quantitative assessment was suitable for this study because it helped to statistically measure the impact of leadership styles of project managers over employee performance in infrastructure industry of UK. The formulation of opinions of participants into numeric data permits to unveil the hidden constructs related to the research topic and fuels further exploration unlike qualitative design formulation of detailed perspective and quality of information into final results is difficult due to huge differences in perspectives.

Research Validity and Reliability

The study accumulated by Arghode (2012) asserted that validity and reliability test to permits the researcher to ensure the credibility and authenticity of instruments and techniques used to collect data. Furthermore, it allows anticipating that whether the data gathered from different sources are relevant to the objectives of the study or not (Choy, 2014). In this regard, the researcher has conducted a brief pilot study to anticipate the direction of the results and assure that data gathered through interviews possess the potential to draw an accurate and valid conclusion. 

It is essential to conduct the reliability and validity test because if gathered data is not closely relevant to the scope of the study or unable to address the research problem it would lead to the invalid results (Connelly, 2011). Furthermore, to ensure the credibility questionnaire survey and 5-point Likert scale used to gather the opinions of participants. To ensure further credibility of the research instrument, the researcher has used Cronbach’s Alpha technique for the purpose of measuring the internal consistency of the Likert scale. It indicates that the Likert scale ranging from strongly agrees to strongly disagree is suitable and valid to gather the data from participants through survey questionnaires. Tavakol and Dennick (2011) asserted that most imperative advantage of using Cronbach alpha technique is that it provides accurate estimates about the reliability of the measurement scale.

Data Collection Method

Gray (2019) advocated that the data collection method provides the way for the researcher to accumulate the data from reliable sources systematically. For this purpose, primary and secondary are two types of data collection methods that are used extensively used by the researcher to collect valuable information. In the underpinned research, primary data collection method has been used by the researcher because it permitted to gather the data closely relevant to the leadership styles of project managers and its influence on employee performance (Tuohy et al, 2013). Primary data collection method has been selected over secondary method because through secondary resource it is quite difficult to extract the exact data according to the variables of the study and specifically related to on-going infrastructure projects in the UK. 

In this regards, the questionnaire survey has been used to gather the primary information that has been designed according to the independent and dependent variables of the study. Kumar (2019) advocated primary data permits the researcher to accumulate the first-hand information that has not been used before and it offers greater flexibility to gather the data relevant to the research problem. In this study, primary data collection method has been used to assemble the information related to leadership styles used by project managers, satisfaction level of employees and its impact on their performance.

Sample Technique and Size

Probability and non-probability are essential types of sampling technique that permits to choose the sample population of research systematically (Sharma, 2017). In this particular researcher, non-probability sampling technique has been used by the researcher that further falls into multiple sets of techniques such as convenience sampling, purposive sampling and snowball sampling (Acharya et al, 2013). In this regard, the convenience sampling technique has been adopted by the researcher due to the limitations associated regarding accessibility and reachability to the participants. Furthermore, individuals working in infrastructure projects in the UK were eligible to provide the data relevant data for the study, therefore, probability sampling techniques have not been used because all people in population do not hold the equal number of chance to be selected as the participant. 

Convenience sampling technique was suitable for this study because the survey was conducted with all participants that are easily reachable by the researcher (Etikan et al, 2016; Suen et al, 2014). In addition to this sample size of 100 participants has been selected by the researcher and questionnaire survey were conducted by the employees working in infrastructure industry of UK to gather their opinions regarding the way leadership style of their project managers influences their performance at the workplace. Large sample size has been taken by the researcher to incorporate the multiple constructs and opinions that can add credibility and validity to the final results.High sample size has been taken to gather the opinions of larger population and keep the margin of discarding some data that is inaccurate. Expected return rate is 90% due to eleimation of 10% incomplete responses.

Data Analysis Technique

Data analysis techniques permit to investigate, analyse and examine the accumulated data in order to the reach towards the accurate result and final outcome of the study. The underlying research is based on the quantitative assessment and intends to measure the relationship between leadership styles of project manager and employee performance. Therefore, correlation and regression data analysis technique have been used by the researcher. Correlation analysis technique was suitable for this study because it provides the statistical estimate in the form of the p-value that helps to measure the level of significance between both independent and dependent variable of the research (Kleinbaum et al, 2013; Hox et al, 2017). Moreover, regression analysis has been used to statistically examine the level of the impact leadership style of project manager possess over the employee performance working in the infrastructure industry of UK. For this purpose, IBM SPSS Software will be used to run the correlation and regression analysis test and gather the final results. To compare the demographics information T-test has been conducted with the help of SPSS. The utilisation of SPSS software helped to minimise the chances of inaccuracies and errors in calculating the results.

Ethical considerations

It is highly essential and imperative to observe ethical consideration while conducting the research in order to prevent any sort of violation related to ethical and moral values. In this study, the consent form was filled by all participants to familiarise them with the purpose of the study and grant their permission to conduct a brief survey with them. Participants were made assured that all data gathered from them has been used for the academic purpose only. Furthermore, their personal information regarding identity and contact details were kept confidential in order to ensure their privacy. Furthermore, researcher assured that all respondents of the study have participated in the research voluntarily without any external pressure and employees were allowed to leave the survey anytime in between if they do not convenient in participating.For this purpose, proper consent form was filled by the participants to familiarise them with the details pertaining to research procedure. Moreover, data gathered from existing journal articles and books have been highlighted with proper reference and citations to give credit to the authentic authors of the study and refrain from engaging in Literature violation.  

Chapter Summary

The chapter summarises the detail discussion over different components of research methodology such as research, validity, data collection and sampling techniques. The research methodology is considered as the integral prospect of research that provides the researchers with a set of approaches and techniques to carry out the study in most reliable, authentic and systematic manner. Adoption of Inappropriate or incompatible research paradigm can divert the results of the study from the intended outcome and might not contribute to drawing new findings. Therefore, in this research detailed section for research methodology has been incorporated to highlight the way underpinned research has been conducted. This research follows the quantitative assessment along with primary data collected through questionnaire survey from 100 employees following the correlation and regression analysis technique.

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Introduction

This section of the study includes the findings and analysis of the study which has been conducted on the effect of project manager’s leadership style on the performance of employees, which is an empirical study of infrastructure projects in the UK. In this manner, the analysis of responses which have been gathered from the respondents has been carried out in this section of the study. The analysis has been carried out with the help of correlation analysis for the purpose of identifying the relationship among the variables of the study. In addition to this, the regression analysis has also been carried out for the purpose of identifying the impact of leadership style of project manager possess over the employee performance working in the infrastructure industry of UK. Moreover, the response of the questionnaire has also been analysed based on the percentage distribution of each of the question. 

On the other hand, interpretation and discussion have also been carried out in this section of the study. This includes the descriptive statistics for all the variables of this study. In this manner, the mean and standard deviation of the variables is identified. In addition to this, this chapter also includes the hypothesis testing which includes the analysis of each hypothesis of the study based on the relation and impact of independent variables on the dependent variables of the study. Moreover, the reliability of scales has also been included in this section of the study. This depicts the reliability of the items based on the value of Cronbach’s alpha. Lastly, the implication of results has also been included in this section of the study which shows the implication of findings on the infrastructure projects in the UK. Furthermore, the conclusion is provided at the end of this section which summarises the findings and analysis in this section of the study. 

Analysis of Responses

In the process of data collection, the researcher has conducted a survey questionnaire from individuals working in an infrastructure project in the UK. The questionnaire was designed to comprehend the impact of leadership styles on employee performance. The first part of the questionnaire was designed to measure demographics of the participants, which covers different aspects including participant’s age, gender, marital status, level of education, job position, seniority, yearly gross salary, and last promoted. This section presents the cross-tabulation data about different demographic characteristics of respondents. 

The above-mentioned table presents the results of the participant’s age cross-tabulated with gender. In the first section of the survey questionnaire, the data related to the demographic characteristics of participants were collected. Respondent was provided with the options of 5 different age categories and was asked to highlight their age category. As per the results presented in Table 4.1, the total number of participants that fall under the age group of 18-24 was 12, out of which 10 were females and only 2 were males. On the other hand, the total numbers of respondents that fall in the age category of 25-30 were 27, and all of them were males (Table 4.1). In another age category of 31-36, there were total of 36 respondents, out of which 30 were females and 6 were males. 

The fourth age category was 37-42, in which total of 21 respondents were involved including 20 males and 1 female. The last age category was 43 and above, which comprised of 4 participants and all of them were males. As anticipated, the number of male’s participant has been higher in comparison with females, as infrastructure sector of UK is mainly dominated by the male representation (Zanni et al., 2017). Moreover, the results shows that only two males were fall under the age group of 18-24, which contradicts with the earliest projections as more representation of young male employees was expected.  

In the survey questionnaire, participants were asked about their marital status by giving them four options, which includes single, married, widowed, and divorced. Following the results presented in Table 4.2, a total number of single participants was 28, out of which 16 were males and 12 were females. On the other hand, the total number of participants that were married was 34, which involves 17 males and 17 females; whereas total numbers of widowed were 24 which include 17 males and 7 females. Lastly, the total number of respondents that were divorced was 14 including 9 males and 5 females. As expected, the marital status of majority of the both males and females participants in this study was married.

The aforementioned table presents the results about the level of education and gender. According to Shahhosseini, Silongand Ismaill(2013), the level of education is one of the most important determinantss that reflects the personality of any individual. Since the main aim of this study was associated with analysing the effectiveness of leadership style, therefore it was important to examine the education level of participants. As mentioned in Table 4.3, the total numbers of undergraduates that have taken part in the survey questionnaire were 20, which involves 13 males and 7 females. Moreover, the total number of graduates participated in a survey was 52 including 25 males and 27 females. Lastly, the total postgraduates were 28, out of which 21 were males and only 7 were females. This contradicts with the earliest anticipations, as more females participants was expected with having the education level of postgraduates. However, the sufficient numbers of both males and females with having graduation level of education level was expected, as it is considered to be a minimum education requirement to get employed in infrastructure sector. 

The table presented above outlines the results related to job positions and gender. In order to collect the information about job position, respondents were provided with three job positions including operations, management, and technical. The figures highlighted in Table 4.4, shows that total participants that holds operational job position was 18 in numbers, involving 13 males and 5 females. In contrast, respondents that holds managerial level position was total 53 in numbers, which includes 24 males and 29 females. Lastly, the number of participants that carries out technical job position was 29 involving 22 males and 7 females. The more representation of females in managerial position as compared to male participants was unexpected, as this job position is mainly dominated by male employees (Han et al., 2019). On the other hand, the high representation of males in technical job position as compared to females was expected.

The table 4.5 highlights the proportion distribution by gross salary and gender. To collect the information regarding the yearly gross salary, the participants were provided with two options and asked to tick one of them, which involves Less than $100,000 and More than $100,000. In accordance with the figures presented in Table 4.5, the number of respondents whose yearly gross salary were less than $100,000 was 43, involving 27 males and 16 females. In contrast, the participants with having yearly gross salary of more than $100,000 were 57 in numbers, out of which 32 were males and 25 of them were females. As per the results, more males are found out to have an yearly gross salary of more than $100,000 as compared to females, which was also anticipated before the study. 

The above-mentioned table outlines the participants data related to their yearly gross salary and seniority. This helps in identifying the relationship between respondent’s level of seniority and their yearly gross salary. As mentioned in Table 4.6, the total number of respondents who have less than 1 year of experiences and are getting less than $100,000 of yearly gross salary was 9, whereas respondents with 1-3 years of experiences and having yearly gross salary of $100,000 was 20. Lastly, the respondents with 2-6 years of experience and who are getting less than $100,000 of yearly gross salary was 8.

On the other hand, there was no respondents were found who are getting more than $100,000 yearly gross salary and had less than 1 year of experience. Moreover, the respondents that were receiving more than $100,000 yearly gross salary and had 1-3 years of experience was 26 in numbers. Lastly, the number of respondents with having 4-6 years of experience and were getting more than $100,000 was 13. As per the general view, the high yearly gross salary is subjected to the level of seniority. However, as per the results the employees with having a work experience of 1-3 years are found to be more in numbers then employees with 4-6 years experience who receive more than $100,000 yearly gross salary

The table 4.6 outlines the number of participants with having the seniority level of more than 6 years in comparison with their level of yearly gross salary. As per the findings, the participants that have less than $100,000 of yearly salary and have more than 6 years of experience were total 6 in numbers; whereas, the respondents with similar level of seniority but having more than $100,000 of yearly gross salary were 8 in numbers. Similar to the previous table, the less number of employees who had more experience and are getting paid more than $100,000 yearly gross salary was not expected. 

The above table represents the results of last year promoted cross tabulated with the gender of the respondents. The data for this was obtained by asking the respondents regarding the last time they received their promotion for which they were provided different close-ended options. The first option was the ones who were promoted this years, where there were equal numbers of male and females that is 12. The next option was the employees who were promoted last year among which 14 were female while 17 were male. This indicates that in the previous year more males were promoted as compared to the females. The next option provided was two years back, when 10 females were promoted, contrary to which 22 males were promoted. The last option was more than two years back where 5 females and 8 males were promoted. Overall, the results of this cross tabulation shows that each year more males are promoted as compared to the females. However, it needs to be considered that the total number of respondents included more males as compared to the females. As per the general observations, in each category more males were promoted relative to females which show gender imparity.

The table indicates the cross tabulation of yearly gross salary with the level of education of the employees and managers who participated in the research. For the purpose of simplification, the yearly gross salary was divided into two options the first one being less than $100,000 and the second one being more than $100,000. Majority of the respondents who participated in this research had yearly salary more than $100,000 out of which 39 were graduates, 15 were post graduates and the remaining 3 were under graduate. There were total 43 respondents who had gross salary less than $100,000 among which 13 were graduate, 13 were post graduate, and the remaining 17 were under graduate. Overall, the cross tabulation of gross salary and level of education indicates that higher post-graduates and graduates are more likely to have a higher gross salary as compared to the lower level of education which was anticipated as higher level of education is attributed to higher salary.

In order to assess the gender wise response of the questions, some of the questions were also cross tabulated against gender. The above table indicates the gender wise response for the statement: transformational leaders emphasize the vision of the organization. It is clear from the table that most of the participants either chose the option of strongly agree or agree. In aggregation, 33 females were in agreement to the statement and 42 males were in agreement. There were only 10 respondents who remained neutral regarded the above stated notion among which 7 were male and 3 were females. In totality, 10 males disagreed and 5 females disagreed. The overall results indicated that regardless of the gender, the respondents were generally in favour of the statement. In the light of the existing literature, it was anticipated that most of the participants regardless of their gender will be in favour of transformational leaders as they have a long-term vision for organisation as well as employees (Mittal and Dhar, 2015).

The above table indicates the gender wise response for the statement: project managers should possess transformational leadership qualities in order to succeed. It is clear from the table that most of the participants either chose the option of strongly agree or agree. In aggregation, 32 females were in agreement to the statement and 44 males were in agreement. There were only 11 respondents who remained neutral regarded the above stated notion among which 7 were male and 4 were females. In totality, 8 males disagreed and 5 females disagreed. The overall results indicated that regardless of the gender, the respondents were generally in favour of the statement. Also, the overall results are in accordance to the expectations as a large body of literature has pointed out that transformational leaders are successful comparative to other leaders (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo, and Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, 2012).

The above table indicates the gender wise response for the statement: transactional leaders help the employees in enhancing the motivation as well as performance. It is clear from the table that most of the participants either chose the option of strongly agree or agree. In aggregation, 33 females were in agreement to the statement and 42 males were in agreement. There were only 9 respondents who remained neutral regarded the above stated notion among which 6 were male and 3 were females. In totality, 11 males disagreed and 5 females disagreed. The overall results indicated that regardless of the gender, the respondents were generally in favour of the statement. It was expected that people would disagree to this statement as transactional leaders are only able to keep the employees motivated for a short period because they use both rewards and punishments (Hoyt and Blascovich, 2003).

The above table indicates the gender wise response for the statement: transactional leaders are known as evolutionary leaders. It is clear from the table that most of the participants either chose the option of strongly agree or agree. In aggregation, 30 females were in agreement to the statement and 39 males were in agreement. There were only 18 respondents who remained neutral regarded the above stated notion among which 12 were male and 6 were females. In totality, 8 males disagreed and 5 females disagreed. The overall results indicated that regardless of the gender, the respondents were generally in favour of the statement. There are certain researches which have been conducted by taking into consideration the factor of gender when perceiving the role of leadership however, given the popular consensus pertaining to transactional leaders, it was expected that people would not be largely in favour of this statement. However, there are a few researches which shows transactional leaders are beneficial for organisations and employee performance (Kark, Van Dijk, and Vashdi, 2018).

Interpretation and Discussion

The descriptive statistics for the dependent and independent variables of the study were conducted in the SPSS and can be identified from the table below. For the purpose of analysing the data, the transformational leadership which was adopted from (Hoch, et al. 2018) had 6 questions. In this manner, the descriptive statistics of this variable identified that the statement ‘Transformational leaders emphasise the vision of the organisation’ had the mean value of 1.28. This shows that the average responses for this statement range from agree to neutral. In addition to this, the standard deviation of this statement was computed to be 0.965 which shows that the responses can deviate from 0.965. Meanwhile the mean value of ‘Transformational leaders have inspirational personalities and play inspiring roles’ had the mean value of 1.63. This depicts that the average responses provided were between agree and neutral. The standard deviation of this statement was computed to be 1.098 which shows that the responses will deviate from 1.098. 

On the other hand, the mean value of ‘Transformational leadership needs to be considered in every projects’ was 1.26 which also shows that the average responses lie between agree and neutral. The standard deviation was calculated to be 1.169 which depicts that the responses can deviate from 1.169. The mean value of ‘Project managers should possess transformational leadership qualities in order to get succeed’ was computed to be 1.13 which shows that average responses were inclined towards agree. Moreover, the standard deviation was found to be 0.928 which depicts that the responses can vary from 0.928. 

On the other hand, the mean value of ‘There is a positive impact of transformational leadership over the motivation of employees’ was computed to be 1.18 which shows that the average responses are inclined towards agree. While, the standard deviation was computed to be 0.936 which h shows that the responses can deviate from 0.936. The mean value of ‘By adopting transformational leadership qualities, the managers are able to become more influential” was 1.13 which shows that the average responses were inclined towards agree. The standard deviation was computed to be 1.051 which depicts that the responses will deviate from 1.051. 

The second variable was transactional leadership (Jensen, et al. 2019), under which the 7 questions were asked from the respondents. The mean value of “Transactional leaderships are considered to be more efficient in some of the fields as compared to the transformational leadership” was computed to be 1.20 which shows the average responses are inclined more towards agree while the standard deviation was computed to be 1.206 which shows that the responses will deviate from 1.206. Additionally, the mean value of “Transactional leaders are known as evolutionary leaders” was computed to be 1.13 which also depicts the average responses were inclined more towards agree. 

The standard deviation was calculated to be 1.002 which depicts variation of 1.002 in responses. The mean value for ‘Transactional leaders are more concerned about standard process for operations or functions” was calculated to be 1.14 which also shows the average responses are inclined towards agree. The standard deviation was calculated to be 0.985 depicting variation of 0.985 in the responses. The mean value of ‘Transactional leaders helps the employees in enhancing the motivation as well as performance” was 1.09 which shows that the average responses were inclined more towards agree while the standard deviation was found to be 1.083. This depicts that the responses will deviate from 1.083. 

Moreover, the mean value for ‘Most of the managers in my organisation follows transactional leadership style’ was computed to be 1.12 which shows that the average responses are inclined towards agree. The standard deviation was also calculated to be 0.988 depicting that the responses will deviate from 0.988. The mean calculated for ‘The employees in my organisation prefers leaders practicing transactional leadership style more’ was found to be 1.01 which shows that most of the respondents agreed to the statement. On the other hand, the standard deviation was calculated to be 0.969 which shows that the responses can deviate from 0.969. The mean value for ‘There is positive impact of the transactional leadership over the motivation of the employees” was calculated to be 0.84 and depicts the respondent agreed the fact that there is a positive impact of transactional leadership over the motivation of employees. The standard deviation was calculated to be 0.907 which shows deviation of 0.907 in the responses. 

The last variable of the study was employee performance (Bradler, et al. 2016) which included 7 questions. The descriptive analysis was also carried out for this variable which can be identified from the table below where the items of employee performance are provided. The mean value for “The style of leadership has a direct impact over the employee performance” is 1.13 that depicts that the average responses are inclined more towards the agreement of respondents. Moreover, the standard deviation was computed to be 0.928 which depicts the deviation of 0.928 in the responses. 

The mean value for ‘The performance of the employees affects the productivity and operations in the organisation’ was computed to be 1.18 which shows that most of the respondents agreed to the statement that the productivity and operations of the company are affected by the performance of employees. The standard deviation was calculated to be 0.936 which depicts the variation of 0.936 in the responses. The mean for ‘Employee performance is considered as a critical element for the business leaders’ was 1.13 which shows most of the responses were inclined towards agree. The standard deviation was computed to be 1.051 while showing the deviation of 1.051 in responses. 

The mean value for “Positive work environment affects the employee performance’ was 1.20 shows that most of the responses were inclined towards agree while the standard deviation was calculated to be 1.206 shows the deviation of 1.206 in responses. The mean value for ‘Employee performance can be analysed by measuring the employee growth in the organisation’ was 1.13 depicting that most of the responses inclined towards agree while standard deviation depicting deviation of 1.002 in the responses. The mean value for ‘Employee performance also impacts the company culture’ is 1.14 which shows that the average responses were inclined towards agree. The standard deviation was computed to be 0.985 which shows the deviation of 0.985 in responses. Lastly, the mean for ‘Negative employee performance can hurt the business at every level’ was 1.18 which also shows that most of the responses were inclined towards agree. The standard deviation was computed to be 0.936 which shows the deviation of 0.936 in responses. 

Hypothesis Testing

This research has been manly conducted for the purpose of assessing that whether or not there is an impact of project leadership on the performance of employees in the case of infrastructure projects. There are two major hypothesis that has been tested by this research, the first one being impact of transformational leadership on employee performance and the second one is the impact of transactional leadership on employee performance. For the purpose of evaluating the role transformational leadership, this research has taken into consideration the questionnaire from Hoch et al. (2018). On the other hand, for the purpose of evaluating the role transactional leadership, this research has taken into consideration the questionnaire from Jensen et al. (2019). The questions related to employee performance have been adapted from Bradler et al. (2016).

Correlation Analysis

Firstly, relationship has been determined between both the kinds of leadership with the performance of employees working for infrastructure project with the help of correlation analysis. According to Hinton, McMurray, and Brownhow (2014), coefficient of correlation can be interpreted for the purpose of assessing the extent of relationship as well as the direction of relationship among two or more variables in the study. The following table has been extracted from SPSS which depicts the significance values and values of Pearson correlation regarding the variables of the study:

In the above table, it is first significant to evaluate that whether or not there is existence of relationship among the two construct with the help of sig value. In the case of transformational leadership and employee performance, the sig value is 0.000 which lies within the acceptable range indicating that there relationship is considered statistically significant. Further, the value of Pearson correlation for transformational leadership with employee performance is 0.973 which depicts the strength or intensity of relationship between them. Considering that if the value of the coefficient is near to 1, strong relationship can be determined, it can be concluded that there is 97.3% strong relationship between two constructs. 

For transactional leadership and employee performance, the sig value is 0.000 which lies within the acceptable range indicating that there relationship is considered statistically significant. Further, the value of Pearson correlation for transactional leadership with employee performance is 0.951 which depicts the strength or intensity of relationship between them. Considering that if the value of the coefficient is near to 1, strong relationship can be determined, it can be concluded that there is 95.1% strong relationship between two constructs. Regardless of the fact that for both transformational leadership and transactional leadership the relationship with employee performance is strong, however, relatively it is stronger with transformational leadership. 

The results of this research are in alignment with the secondary studies which have also shown that leadership influences employee performance (McDermott et al., 2013). However, the added factor that has been determined through this correlation matrix is that transformational leadership tends to correlate higher as compared with the transactional leadership. Although, this has also been predicted as per the research conducted by Singer and Singer (1990) and Paracha et al. (2012).

Regression Analysis

The relationship determined from correlation analysis does not indicate the impact of the predicting variable on the dependent or criterion variable. Hence, in order to test the main hypothesis of the research, regression analysis has been utilized. According to Liu et al. (2003), regression analysis correctly determined the existence of linear relationship among the two variables. The following tables are extracted from carrying out regression analysis in this research.

Model summary table includes some important values that can summarise the relationship between the constructs in the model that is being tested. The value of R denotes the relationship among both the predictors with employee performance that is the dependent variable. As the value in the table is near to one, precisely, 0.992, it can be indicated that both transformational and transactional leadership are strongly correlated with employee performance. Moreover, the value of R-square otherwise known as coefficient of determination denotes the amount of fluctuations explained by predictor caused in dependent variable. In the current model, transformational and transactional leadership can explain about 0.984 or 98.4% fluctuations in employee performance. After the adjustment of model against unnecessary factors and variables, transformational and transactional leadership can explain about 0.983 or 98.3% fluctuations in employee performance as shown by the value of adjusted R square.

The table of ANOVA is of great significance for assessing the significance of impact of the variable being tested in the model. The important values in the table are F-statistic and sig value. There is no determined benchmark for F-statistic, however, it needs to be higher in order to show that the predicting variables have impact over the dependent variable. As the F-statistic in this model has a higher value hence the significance can be proven. Moreover, the sig value is responsible for determining the existence of relationship. In the above table it can be seen that the sig value lies within the acceptable range thus concluding a statistically significant impact of project leadership on employee performance.

In order to view transformational leadership and transactional leadership separately and to test their hypothesis, the coefficient table has a great importance. The table of coefficient with the help of separate sig values for both the predicting variables show that whether they impact the employee performance or not. Transformational leadership has a statistically viable sig value indicating rejection of null hypothesis. The respective coefficient value shows a 0.592 units change in employee performance if transformational leadership is varied by a unit. Transactional leadership has a statistically viable sig value indicating rejection of null hypothesis. The respective coefficient value shows a 0.402 units change in employee performance if transactional leadership is varied by a unit. 

In a nutshell, the results of regression analysis are as per the expectation as previous researches have also shown similar results. According to the study of Nawoseing and Roussel (2017), the effectiveness of leadership style with the performance of employees was measured through data collected from questionnaires. They investigated that most of their leaders encouraged them to make decisions themselves and implement in the organisation. According to the study conducted by Yahaya and Ebrahim (2016), around 63% of the respondents also said that their leaders have given them the freedom of doing work in their own ways.

Reliability Analysis

Validity and reliability are considered to be important aspects that help in determining that the variables and the scales used to measure the authenticity. As per the research conducted Vaske, Beaman, and Sponarski (2017), reliability shows the internal consistency of the scale that is used to measure the variable and the value of Cronbach’s alpha is generally used to depict the reliability. The following table shows the reliability analysis conducted for three variables. For each variables, their respective questions have been considered: 

The above table shows the reliability test that was conducted for the first independent variable that is transformational leadership. Considering that the benchmark of Cronbach’s alpha is 0.70, the value is above the benchmark hence the scale used for the questions for transformational leadership is consistent and reliable. 

The above table shows the reliability test that was conducted for the first independent variable that is transactional leadership. Considering that the benchmark of Cronbach’s alpha is 0.70, the value is above the benchmark hence the scale used for the questions for transactional leadership is consistent and reliable

The above table shows the reliability test that was conducted for the dependent variable that is employee performance. Considering that the benchmark of Cronbach’s alpha is 0.70, the value is above the benchmark hence the scale used for the questions for employee performance is consistent and reliable. 

Overall, all the reliability statistic table for the variables are statistically reliable which indicates that if these instruments are used in other setting they will yield the same results. Had the reliability statistic of the variables not significant then it would reflect that the scale used for the questions will not yield similar results in different settings. 

Implications of Result

This study has been conducted for the purpose of identifying the effect of project manager’s leadership style on performance of employees, which is an empirical study of infrastructure projects in UK. In this manner, it can be identified from Table 19, 20 and 21 that the study was considered reliable as the Cronbach’s alpha for the transformational leadership was 0.970, 0.978 for transactional leadership and 0.972 for employee performance. The results of this study are implacable to the infrastructure projects in UK as the leadership of these projects can gain benefits in terms of increasing the performance of employees by adopting different leadership styles. 

The results of this study can also provide the opportunity for the future researchers to focus on more leadership styles while identifying their relations and effect on the performance of employees. This will help to identify other styles of leadership which have adverse effect on the performance of employees and is able to increase it. In this manner, the results of this study are presented below:

The analysis identified that there is a high and significant relationship between the transformational leadership and employee performance (see Table 15). This depicts that the transformational leadership will help the employees in term of increasing their performance which will eventually benefit the company. This has also been argued in the study of Hamstra et al. (2014) that the transformational style of leadership has a positive impact on the self-efficacy, inspiration, creativeness of the employees as well as on the performance of the organisation. On the other hand, it has also been identified that there is a significant and positive impact of transformational leadership on the performance of employees. 

In this manner, the results of this study are applicable for the infrastructure projects and make them necessary to ensure the transformational style of leadership for the purpose of increasing the performance of employees. The study of Buil et al. (2019) also stated that transformational leadership is considered effective in terms of increasing the performance of employees. This is due to the reason that transformational leadership ensures the involvement of employees in the process of decision making along with the operations of the company. In this manner, it is necessary for the companies dealing with the infrastructure projects are recommended to ensure the transformational leadership at the top level of company. 

The analysis also identified that there is a strong and positive relations among the transactional leadership and performance of employees (see Table 15). The relationship was found to be positive which depicts the use of transactional leadership will result in the increased performance of the employees. This is due to the reason that provision of rewards from leaders motivates the employees which results in their increased performance. It has been argued by Riaz and Haider (2010) that the transactional leader firstly validates the correlation between the performance and reward and then, exchanges it for an appropriate response which motivates the subordinates for refining the performance. 

On the other hand, it has also been identified that there is a positive and significant impact of transactional leadership on the performance of employees (see Table 15). In this manner, the companies operating in the infrastructure projects needs to ensure that the employees are provided with the rewards for their efforts. Overall, the results of this study implies that the leadership has significant and positive impact on the performance of employees. The study of Buil et al (2019) argued that the transformation leadership encourages employees to work better as it increases the coordination of employees with the leader.

Conclusion

This section of the study focused on the analysis of data which has been gathered through the questionnaire. It has been identified based on the analysis that both the hypothesis were accepted as the transformational and transactional leadership was found to have a positive association with the performance of employees. On the other hand, the constructs of the study were reliable as the value for Cronbach’s alpha for transformational leadership, transactional leadership and employee performance was found to be above 0.7. This depicts that the instrument was reliable in terms of identifying the impact. In addition to this, the analysis identified that most of the respondents belong to the age group of 31-36. Most of the respondents had a postgraduate degree and were working on the management level. Moreover, most of the respondents were earning more than $100,000. 

Pertaining to the relationship among the variables, it has been identified that there is a significant and positive relationship of transformational leadership on the performance of employees. On the other hand, the impact of transformational leadership on the performance of employee was also found to be positive and significant. In this manner, it is necessary for the companies dealing with infrastructure projects to focus more on the transformational leadership for increasing the performance of employees. Moreover, the relation of transactional leadership with the employee performance was also found to be positive. In addition to this, the positive association among both the variables was identified which shows the positive impact of transactional leadership on the performance of employees. Therefore, it is necessary for the companies to focus on these two styles of leadership for the purpose of increasing the performance of employees while increasing the overall performance of the company

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION

Introduction

The preceding section presents the overall outcomes of the study and conduct comprehensive discussion over the research findings. This section is concerned with highlighting the results relative to original hypothesis statements, and the summary of the key points from data analysis. For that purpose, this chapter is divided into number of sub-sections; first section provides the detailed conclusion of this study, whereas the second section of this chapter offers recommendations to the large consultant firms, contractors, and managers about the effective leadership styles, and how leaders with their different approaches can positively influence the performance of their employees. Lastly, this chapter also explains the future implications of this study by presenting recommendations for future researchers, pertaining to how this study can be carried out in future to make a useful contribution in the literature.

Conclusion

The main purpose of this study has been to examine the impact of leadership styles of project manager’s on the performance of employees working. The study has been particularly carried out in the context of infrastructure project in the UK. To accomplish the key aim of this study, the extensive review of previous literature has been conducted to comprehend the different styles of leadership, employee performance, role of project manager in infrastructure projects, trends in the infrastructure project of UK, and the effectiveness of leadership styles on influencing employee performance. Based on the comprehensive review of previous literature, the formation of conceptual framework has been made, which highlighted transformational and transactional leadership as independent variables, whereas employee performance has been outlined as dependent variable. In this manner, the two key hypothesis of this study have emerged, which are later tested through primary research. The first hypothesis of this study assumes the positive influence of transformational leadership on employee performance; whereas the second hypothesis projected positive influence of transactional leadership on employee performance. 

To accomplish the main aim of the study, the use of most appropriate research methodology has been made to produce quality results and make a valuable contribution in the existing body of literature. In this regard, researcher in this study has followed primary source for data collection, so that new and useful information can be collected to answer the main research question. With regards to the research design, researcher has opted to follow quantitative research design to provide more precise and factual information pertaining to the impact of leadership styles on employee performance in the context of infrastructure project in UK. To analyse the collected data from survey questionnaire, researcher has carried out regression analysis, correlation analysis, and T-test through SPSS software. 

The overall outcomes of this study highlights transformational and transactional as two of the most common styles of leadership that are practice in infrastructure project management in the UK. The findings also reveal the positive and significant association between leadership styles and employee performance in infrastructure project of the UK. As per the results of regression analysis, both transformational and transactional styles of leadership found to have a positive and significant impact on the performance of employees. This implies that the outcomes related to employee performance are highly subjected to the style of leadership that leaders posses in the context of infrastructure projects of the UK. Similarly, the results of correlation analysis also highlighted the positive association between independent variables (Transformational leadership, Transactional leadership) and dependent variable (Employee performance). Moreover, the findings of this study are also found out to be consistent with the outcomes of most of the previous studies. As mentioned in the study of Buil et al (2019), transactional and transformational styles of leadership plays a decisive role in enhancing employee satisfaction and motivation, which eventually makes the positive influence on the outcomes related to employee performance. Similarly, the study conducted by Hamstra et al. (2011), founds that transformational style of leadership plays an important role in encouraging employees to perform better, whereas transactional leaders by emphasising more on organisational innovation and employee motivation are also tends to positively influence the employee performance. 

The results of coefficient table in previous chapter reveals that a unit change in transformational leadership can bring 0.592 units of changes in employee performance, thus reflecting the significant association between transformational leadership and employee performance. On the other hand, as per the results if transactional leadership is varied by a unit then it bring change in the variable of employee performance by 0.402 units.The results from most of the previous studies that are presented in chapter two also validates the findings of this study. As mentioned in the study of Yahaya and Ebrahim (2016), the transformational style of leadership is found to be effective in enhancing the performance of employees, which eventually increases the quality of work in the organisation. On the other hand, the study of Riaz and Haider (2010),reveals that transactional leadership positively influences the level of employee motivation, which as a result improves the employee performance. Conclusively, on the basis of the overall findings of this study, both hypothesis are accepted which have assumed the positive impact of transformational and transactional leadership on employee performance. 

Recommendations

As per the overall outcomes and analysis of the study, the following recommendations are proposed to managers, consultant firms, and contractors who are associated with infrastructure projects in the UK. 

Considering the high complexities and challenges of infrastructure projects, it is vital for project leaders to must address the need of every member of the team by following transformational leadership style. The emphasis on individual considerations by improving the interaction with each team member can positively influence the workers performance, and eventually leads towards the project success. 

The leaders should be able to adopt different styles of leadership by considering the different aspects of the project, including complexity of the project, phase of the project, and talent or skills set of team members. In this regard, if leader finds lack of skills and talent amongst its team members, then it is important for a leader to work closely with its team members by following transformational leadership style. On the other hand, if the project is on final phases, then it is important to follow more task oriented approach which is also similar to transactional leadership style. 

 As the review of previous literature and outcomes of this study outlines the effectiveness of transformational and transactional leadership style in different situations and organisational context; thus, it is important for leaders to first understand the situation and nature of employees, and then choose the most suitable style of leadership to influence employee performance. 

Study Limitations and Further Research

The major limitation that has been associated with this study was its limited focus on infrastructure project management. Thus, it has limit the scope of this study, as the findings of this research cannot be applied in other context. Another study limitation is associated with geographical limitation, as this study is particularly carried out in the context of UK. Based on this it has been recommended for future researchers to conduct the same study in different context, by examining the impact of leadership styles on different types of projects and in the context of different countries. In this manner, the future researcher will be able to make a valuable contribution in the existing body of literature.