Abstract:
Project failure is a global phenomenon with a high project failure rate. Moreover, a high failure rate is observed in the telecom sector of projects. Due to the high level of competition in the telecommunications industry, the broad-spectrum business problem this study addresses is how project governance (PG), high-performance work practices (HPWPs), and transformational leadership (TFL) with team-building (TB) as mediators and organizational culture (OC) as moderators achieve project success in Pakistan. This study aims to analyze the impact of PG, HPWPs, and TFL on PS in developing countries like Pakistan and to investigate how project success can be achieved by applying TB as a mediator and OC as a moderator. For this study, the telecom sector was chosen as the population, and five telecom vendors were selected for investigation, as they are the actual project organizations and are responsible for the smooth execution of telecom services, which includes upgrading the telecom infrastructure and execution of projects. The study applied a moderated mediation theoretical framework approach. The study adopted the instrument items from the literature, and the questionnaire was prepared using Google Forms. The questionnaire was shared using electronic and social media within the five telecom vendors. Project members of these telecom vendors are spread nationwide, and physical access to these members was challenging. Therefore, considering these constraints, a multi-stage cluster sampling technique was applied for data collection. According to the literature, this sampling technique is most appropriate for the dispersed population. The sample size of the study is 463. There are 12 hypotheses: three on direct relationships, three on mediation (teambuilding) and moderation (organizational culture), and three on moderated mediation. The analysis revealed that ten hypotheses were accepted out of these 12 hypotheses, and twohypotheses were rejected. The rejected hypotheses include one moderation hypothesis and one moderated mediation hypothesis. The results showed that organizational culture, which is a moderator, has an insignificant impact on the relationship between transformational leadership and project success. Furthermore, the same moderator and team-building as a mediator, i.e., moderated mediation, have an insignificant impact on the relationship between transformational leadership and project success. Theoretically, the study highlights the potential interconnections between PG, HPWPs, and TFL in determining project success. In practical terms, organizations may leverage these results to enhance project success by prioritizing efficient PG structures, promoting HPWPs, and fostering TFL attributes while acknowledging the critical moderating role of OC and the mediating role of team-building.
