Impact of Authentic and Entrepreneurial Leadership on the Success Of Projects in Pakistan

Abstract

Millions of the projects are underway at any given time around the world. Every project aims to end up being successful. However, there is no standard one-size-fit-all yardstick that can be applied to projects across all sectors to measure the success. Broadly speaking, the success is generally gauged through either harder, more tangible elements like budget, scope, time, etc., or through softer/human elements in terms of quality of personnel, their technical knowledge, motivation, etc. This piece of research is attempting to explore the softer/human angle towards the success of projects. This study examines the impact of the two leadership styles i.e. authentic and entrepreneurial leadership on project success in NGOs and other project-based organizations in Pakistan. The study also investigates the mediating effect of thriving at work between the project success the leadership styles chosen. Data has been collected from NGOs and other project-based entities with headquarters in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Data was collected through online questionnaire, and a total of 215 responses were received. Findings from regression analysis indicate that both leadership styles have a positive and significant relationship with project success. Also, thriving at work has been found to be a strong explanatory mechanism for the proposed relationship between leadership styles and project success. The findings from this piece of research will contribute strongly to the field of project management. The study is limited by a relatively smaller sample size, confined to only non-profit sector, and the collection of data at one point in time. Future researchers have been encouraged to work further on other leadership styles like charismatic, spiritual, ethical and situational leadership, besides picking the organizations outside the non-profit sector.