Project Managers’ Personality and Project Success: Moderating Role of External Environmental Factors

Amjad Hussain, Mohsin Jamil, Muhammad Umar Farooq, Muhammad Asim, Muhammad Zeeshan Rafique and Catalin I. Pruncu
Additional contact information
Amjad Hussain: Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 54890, Pakistan
Mohsin Jamil: Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 54890, Pakistan
Muhammad Umar Farooq: Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 54890, Pakistan
Muhammad Asim: Department of City and Regional Planning, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 54890, Pakistan
Muhammad Zeeshan Rafique: Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Lahore, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
Catalin I. Pruncu: Design, Manufacturing & Engineering Management, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XJ, UK

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-22

Abstract: Successful project completion is a challenging phenomenon for project managers. Various factors play an indispensable role in the success of a project. The objective of this study is to examine the role of project managers’ personalities in project success with the moderating role of external environmental factors i.e., political, economic, social. The study includes 145 project managers from 36 large-scale construction projects, from both the public and private sectors. The big five personality model was used to evaluate the personality traits of project managers and triple constraint criteria (cost, time, and quality) was used to gauge project success. Data has been collected through a well-structured questionnaire. The analysis of data indicated that personality traits like extraversion and openness are positive predictors of project success, whereas conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism did not have any direct relationship with project success. Importantly, the findings of this study concluded that external environmental factors—like political, economic, and social—moderately influence the link of specific project managers’ personality traits to project success. The role of external environmental factors as moderators has been discussed. The findings indicate the essential personality traits, as well as the role of external factors for achieving project success. The research contributions have relevance to both theory and practice and provide a deeper insight that is useful for individuals, organizations, researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers.

Keywords: project management; project success; personality traits; external factors; construction; moderators (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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