McCaa, B M (2021) Leadership style needed within small construction companies to optimize a safety climate. PhD thesis, Adler University, USA.
Abstract
The construction industry has one of the highest accidents and occupational injury rates, making it among the most dangerous industries. It is well established that leaders of the construction industry play an essential role in the safety climate and culture within the industry. This study aims to determine the relationship between leadership commitment to safety and the overall safety of small construction companies with less than 10 employees in the United States. To test the hypothesis that there is a relationship between leadership commitment to safety and overall safety, an online survey through LinkedIn was distributed to 120 owners and managers of small construction companies in the United States. The respondents were asked to respond to 33 Safety Climate Assessment Tool (S-CATSC) questions for Small Contractors, six demographic questions, and 45 Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) survey questions. A reliability test using Cronbach’s alpha was carried out to determine the internal consistency of SCAT and MLQ. The ordinal regression efficiency showed the relationship between the transformational and transactional leadership styles and an insignificant relationship for the laissez-faire leadership style and a statistically significant positive relationship between transformational leadership style and provides training at all levels, rs(39) = .371, p = .020; and encourages client involvement rs(39) = .343, p = .033. An ordinal regression efficiency pointed to a strong association between transformational and transactional leadership styles. A significant positive coefficient for transformational (p = .018) and transactional (p = .029) leadership styles were apparent. However, there was an insignificant coefficient for (p = .617) laissez-faire leadership style. These results suggest that transformational leadership styles contributed more than transactional and Laissez-fair leadership styles to promoting safety climate in small constructional companies. On this basis, transformational leadership should be emphasized more when developing a safety climate in small construction companies.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Hogg, K |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | climate; injury; leadership; safety; training; client; employee; owner; culture; efficiency; United States |
| Index terms: | manager, United States, safety climate, injury, commitment, survey, construction company, leadership style, questionnaire, client involvement, efficiency, owner, construction industry, transformational leadership |
| Subjects: | client relations, organization, practitioner, psychology, health safety and environment, Geography, leadership, data collection methods, management, performance management, health conditions and diseases, sociology, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Geographical Context, Health and Safety, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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