APPLICATION OF SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN THE IMPLEMENTATION

OF GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

INTRODUCTION

Leadership plays a vital role in achieving quality infrastructure projects both in the

public and private construction industry. Leaders can be defined as persons who

recognize the need for and implement change, establish direction, align people,

motivate and inspire, communicate a vision of where the organization is headed, build

teams and share decision making, mentor and coach subordinates, and demonstrate a

high degree of integrity in their professional interactions. Leaders guide behaviors by

setting the vision, direction, and key processes; in other words, leadership has a large

influence on the whole project process, including the actions of others. The construction

process includes planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, also known as the four

basic management functions. Project managers and construction managers should

possess these functions to successfully manage construction projects. Moreover,

researchers in construction management have reiterated the fact that project and

construction management is one of the most important factors of good successful

projects. Furthermore, the success of a construction project depends on several factors,

one of which is the competencies of the project leaders, their personalities,

characteristics, skills, and leadership styles, amongst others also the impact on

construction project outcomes. Despite this fact, little attention has been given to

leadership in the construction industry. However, some researchers have stressed on

characteristics, attributes, and skills that can be effective in the construction industry.

Many theories evolved in leadership and one of these is Situational Leadership

which is developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. Situational Leadership Theory

states that for the leader to be successful, he/she has to be task-oriented and

relationship-oriented. It suggests that leaders should adapt their leadership styles based

on the readiness, current skills, and developmental level of team members. It provides

the leader with the flexibility to assess the situation and adopt a leadership style that

best fits the needs of the follower. It focuses on the ability and willingness of individual

employees. Unlike other leadership theories, the Hersey-Blanchard theory disregards

the idea that corporations require a single approach to leadership. Instead, the theory

proposes a leadership style that adapts to the unique circumstances of each workplace.

By evaluating each employee’s ability and experience, leaders can adapt their

leadership methods to encourage professional development in their employees. It

results in a progression of leadership methods that continuously adapt alongside an

employee’s professional development.

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

Infrastructure plays an important role in economic development. However,

insufficient infrastructure has been a major constraint to economic growth and poverty

reduction in the Philippines. Moreover, low quality of infrastructure services has

significantly undermined the Philippines’ global competitiveness. Lack of quality control,

contractor experience were one of the main factors that severely influenced the quality

of infrastructure projects.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Does application of Situational Leadership Theory in the implementation of

government infrastructure projects improve quality performance?

2. Does application of Situational Leadership Theory expedite government project

implementation?

3. Does application of Situational Leadership Theory in the implementation of

government infrastructure projects support employees’ professional

development?

THESIS STATEMENT/ARGUMENT

Among the several available leadership theories, situational leadership suggests

that there is no best leadership style. Instead of that, the best suitable leadership style is

utilized by the leaders to manage their team towards achieving a goal.

Further, despite the recognition that leadership is important at all levels of the

construction industry, emphasis is placed only on the technical aspects and leadership

receive inadequate attention.

Figure 1. Situational Leadership Model

This model is based on the amount of direction (task behavior) and the amount of

socio-emotional support (relationship behavior) a leader must provide given the

situation and the level of “readiness” of the follower or group. Situational Leadership

defines readiness as the ability and willingness of a person to take responsibility for

directing their own behavior. These variables of readiness should be considered only in

relation to a specific task to be performed.

Thus, Situational Leadership contends that in working with people who are low in

readiness (R1) in terms of accomplishing a specific task, a high-task/low-relationship

to moderate readiness (R2), a moderate structure and socioemotional style (S2)

appears to be most appropriate. In working with people who are of moderate to high

readiness (R3), a high-relationship/low-task style (S3) has the highest probability of

success; and finally, a low-relationship/low-task style (S4) has the highest probability of

success in working with people of high task-relevant readiness (R4).

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Identify the specific task

Determine readiness level of

Determine appropriate
leadership style using the
Situational Leadership Model
 To determine what leadership style is appropriate to use during implementation

of the government infrastructure project, one must first identify the specific task that the

project leader is attempting to accomplish using Construction Schedule, it outlines

project timeframes/milestones and tracks project progress to keep everything on time

and on budget. The project leader will then determine the readiness level of the person

in charge in relation to the identified specific task in order to determine the appropriate

leadership style using the Situational Leadership Model.

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