Leadership in project managed environments: Employee perceptions of leadership styles within infrastructure development in Dubai

Dubai is a regional leader in infrastructure development. Rapid growth has led to project management gaining tremendous importance in the construction sector. Employees are an important part of any industry and their job satisfaction and organisational commitment affects the turnover rate and productivity of a company (Benkhoff, 1997; Randeree and Chaudhry, pending). Leadership has a strong influence on employees’ job satisfaction and organisational commitment (Lok & Crawford, 1999). Thus, it is vital to examine leadership styles in a rapidly growing industry in what is also such a cosmopolitan city. Hence, the research undertaken aims to study leadership styles in construction project management in Dubai. The findings show that employees feel that Consensus and Team Management leadership styles are predominant in the industry and employees have shown preference for working under these leadership styles.