Previous studies have linked public-sector employees’ motivation to desired results such as higher performance and improved quality of public services. However, questions about the impact of employee motivation on public projects have received less attention. This article uses work motivation theory to explore the fundamental processes by which transformational leadership (TL) and public service motivation (PSM) engender public project success (PS). Analysis of 296 public servants’ data working on Pakistan public projects showed a positive correlation between TL, PSM, and PS. It also showed that PSM partially mediates the relationship between TL and PS.
AndersenL. B.BjørnholtB.BroL. L.Holm-PetersenC. (2018). Leadership and motivation: A qualitative study of transformational leadership and public service motivation. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 84, 675–691.
2.
AndersenL. B.PallesenT. (2008). Not just for the money? How financial incentives affect the number of publications at Danish research institutions. International Public Management Journal, 11(1), 28–47.
3.
AndersenL. B.HeinesenE.PedersenL. H. (2014). How does public service motivation among teachers affect student performance in schools?Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 24, 651–671.
4.
AndersonJ.GerbingD. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103 (3), 411–423.
5.
AndrianiS.KesumawatiN.KristiawanM. (2018). The influence of the transformational leadership and work motivation on teachers performance. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 7(7), 19–29.
6.
AntonakisJ.AvolioB. J.SivasubramaniamN. (2003). Context and leadership: An examination of the nine-factor full-range leadership theory using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The Leadership Quarterly, 14, 261–295.
7.
ArnoldJ.SchoonmanW. (2002). Maintaining and enhancing motivation as a contribution to organizational effectiveness. In RobertsonI. T.CallinanM.BartramD.Organizational effectiveness: The role of psychology (pp. 159–180). John Wiley.
8.
Association for Project Management. (2006). APM Body of Knowledge (5th ed.). Bedfordshire, UK: Association for Project Management
AtkinsonR. (1999). Project management: Cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, its time to accept other success criteria. International Journal of Project Management, 17, 337–342.
11.
AvolioB. J.ReichardR. J.HannahS. T.WalumbwaF. O.ChanA. (2009). A meta-analytic review of leadership impact research: Experimental and quasi-experimental studies. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(5), 764–784.
12.
AyatM.ImranM.UllahA.KangC. W. (2021). Current trends analysis and prioritization of success factors: A systematic literature review of ICT projects. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 14(3), 652–679.
13.
BaronR.KennyD. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51 (6), 1173.
14.
BassB. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. Free Press.
15.
BassB. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, 18, 19–31.
16.
BassB. M. (1999). Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership. European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 8(1), 9–32.
17.
BassB. M.RiggioR. E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum.
18.
BassB. M.AvolioB. (2000). MLQ multifactor leadership questionnaire (2nd ed.). Redwood City, CA: Mind Garden Inc.
19.
BelléN. (2012). Experimental evidence on the relationship between public service motivation and job performance. Public Administration Review, 73(1), 143–153.
20.
BrewerG. A. (2008). Employee and organizational performance. In PerryJ. L.HondeghemA. (Eds.), Motivation in public management: The call of public service (pp. 136–156). Oxford University Press.
21.
BrewerG. A.SeldenS. (2000). Why Elephants Gallop: Assessing and Predicting organizational performance in federal agencies. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 10(4), 685–711.
22.
BrightL. (2008). Does public service motivation really make a difference on the job satisfaction and turnover intentions of public employees?The American Review of Public Administration, 38(2), 149–166.
23.
CameronJ.PierceW. (2002). Rewards and intrinsic motivation: Resolving the controversy. Bergin & Garvey.
24.
CamilleriE. (2007). Antecedents affecting public service motivation. Personnel Review, 36(3), 356–377.
25.
CartonA. M.MurphyC.ClarkJ. R. (2014). A (blurry) vision of the future: How leader rhetoric about ultimate goals influences performance. Academy of Management Journal, 57(6), 1544–1570.
26.
ClarkeN. (2010). Emotional intelligence and its relationship with transformational leadership and key project manager competences. Project Management Journal, 41(2), 5–20.
27.
CorsonJ. J.PaulR. S. (1966). Men near the top: filling key posts in the federal service. Johns Hopkins University Press.
28.
DeciE.RyanR. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum Press.
29.
DvirT.EdenD.AvolioB. J.ShamirB. (2002). Impact of transformational leadership on follower development and performance: A field experiment. The Academy of Management Journal, 45(4), 735–744.
30.
DwivedulaR.BredilletC. N. (2010). Profiling work motivation of project workers. International Journal of Project Management, 28(2), 158–165.
31.
FjendboT. H. (2020). Leading employees of different genders: the importance of gender for the leadership‒motivation relationship. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 1–23.
32.
FlyvbjergB. (2014). What you should know about megaprojects and why: An overview. Project Management Journal, 45(2), 6–19.
33.
FornellC.LarckerD. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, 39–50.
34.
GagnéM.DeciE. L. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 331–362.
35.
GallstedtM. (2003). Working conditions in projects: Perceptions of stress and motivation among project team members and project managers. International Journal of Project Management, 21, 449–455.
36.
HackmanJ. R.OldhamG. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250–279.
37.
HairJ. F.Jr.AndersonR. E.BlackW. (1995). Multivariate data analysis with reading. Prentice-Hall.
38.
HairJ. F.Jr.BlackW. C.BabinB. J.AndersonR. E.TathamR. L. (2006). Multivariate data analysis. Pearson International Edition.
39.
HayesA. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach. Guilford Press.
40.
HayesA.PreacherK. (2014). Statistical mediation analysis with a multicategorical independent variable. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 67(3), 451–470.
41.
HerzbergF. (1966). Work and the nature of man. World Publishing.
42.
HondeghemA.PerryJ. (2009). EGPA symposium on public service motivation and performance: Introduction. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 75(1), 5–9.
43.
HoustonD. J. (2000). Public service motivation: A multivariate test. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 10, 713–728.
44.
HughesR. L.GinettR. C.CurphyG. J. (2009). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
45.
IkaL. (2009). Project success as a topic in project management journals. Project Management Journal, 40, 6–19.
46.
IsmailF.RazaliR. (2015). A qualitative empirical investigation of contributing success factors for software testing outsourcing projects. Jurnal Teknologi, 77, 97–114.
47.
JacobsenC. B.AndersenL. B. (2015). Is leadership in the eye of the beholder? A study of intended and perceived leadership practices and organizational performance. Administration Review, 75(6), 829–841.
48.
JensenU. T. (2018). Does perceived societal impact moderate the effect of transformational leadership on value congruence? Evidence from a field experiment. Public Administration Review, 78(1), 48–57.
JensenU. T.AndersenL. B.JacobsenC. B. (2019). Only when we agree! how value congruence moderates the impact of goal-oriented leadership on public service motivation. Public Administration Review, 79(1), 12–24.
51.
JensenU. T.BroL. L. (2017). How transformational leadership supports intrinsic motivation and public service motivation: The mediating role of basic need satisfaction. American Review of Public Administration, 48(6), 1–15.
52.
JensenU. T.MoynihanD. P.SalomonsenH. H. (2018). Communicating the vision: How face-to-face dialogue facilitates transformational leadership. Public Administration Review, 78(3), 350–361.
53.
JoslinR.MullerR. (2015). Relationships between a project management methodology and project success in different project governance contexts. International Journal of Project Management, 33, 1377–1392.
54.
JoslinR.MüllerR. (2016). The relationship between project governance and project success. International Journal of Project Management, 34(4), 613–626.
55.
JudgeT. A.PiccoloR. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 755–768.
56.
JugdevK.MüllerR. (2005). A retrospective look at our evolving understanding of project success. Project Management Journal, 36(4), 19–31.
57.
JungD. I.AvolioB. J. (2000). Opening the black box: An experimental investigation of the mediating effects of trust and value congruence on transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21(8), 949–964.
58.
KhanA.KhanS. (2013). Critical success factors for offshore software outsourcing contract management from vendors’ perspective: An exploratory study using a systematic literature review. IET Software, 7, 327–338.
59.
KimS. (2005). Individual-level factors and organizational performance in government organizations. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 15(2), 245–261.
60.
KissiJ. D.TuuliM. (2013). Examining the role of transformational leadership of portfolio managers in project performance. International Journal of Project Management, 31(4), 485–497.
61.
KjeldsenA. M.AndersenL. B. (2013). How pro-social motivation affects job satisfaction: An international analysis of countries with different welfare state regimes. Scandinavian Political Studies, 36(2), 153–176.
62.
KleinbeckU.WeggeJ.SchmidtK.-H. (2001). Work motivation and performance in groups. In ErezM.KleinbeckU.ThierryH. (Eds.), Work motivation in the context of a globalizing economy (pp. 181–195). Lawrence Erlbaum.
63.
KoopsL.ComanaL.Bosch-RekveldtaM.HertoghaM.BakkerH. (2015). Public perspectives on project success—Influenced by national culture?Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences, 194, 115–124.
64.
KoopsL.LoenhoutC.v Bosch-RekveldtM.HertoghM.BakkerH. (2017). Different perspectives of public project managers on project success. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 24(6), 1294–1318.
65.
KoumentaM. (2015). Public service motivation and organizational citizenship. Public Money & Management, 35(5), 341–348.
66.
KPMG. (2020). Project Management Survey.
67.
KrogsgaardJ. A.ThomsenP.AndersenL. B. (2014). Only if we agree? How value conflicts moderate the relationship between transformational leadership and public service motivation. International Journal of Public Administration, 37, 895–907.
68.
KwekC. L.LauT. C.TanH. P. (2010). Education quality process model and its influence on students’ perceived service quality. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(8), 154–165.
69.
LathamG.YuklG. (1975). A review of research on the application of goal setting in organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 18(4), 824–845.
70.
LauritzenH. H.GrønC. H.KjeldsenA. M. (2021). Leadership matters, but so do co-workers: A study of the relative importance of transformational leadership and team relations for employee outcomes and user satisfaction. Review of Public Personnel Administration. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X211011618.
71.
LockeE.LathamG. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717.
72.
MalhotraN. K. (2008). Marketing research: An applied orientation. Pearson Education.
73.
MaqboolR.SudongY.ManzoorN.RashidY. (2017). The impact of emotional intelligence, project managers’ competencies, and transformational leadership on project success: An empirical perspective. Project Management Journal, 48(3), 58–75.
74.
MeierK. J.O’TooleL. J.Jr. (2013). I think (I am doing well), therefore I am: Assessing the validity of administrators’ self-assessments of performance. International Public Management Journal, 16(1), 1–27.
75.
MiaoQ.EvaN.NewmanA.SchwarzG. (2019). Public service motivation and performance: The role of organizational identification. Public Money & Management, 39(2), 77–85.
76.
MintzbergH. (1998). Covert leadership: Notes on managing professionals. Harvard Business Review, 76(6), 140–147.
77.
MoynihanD. P. (2007). The normative model in decline? In PerryJ.HondeghemA. (Eds.), Public service motivation in the age of governance motivation in public management: The call of public service (pp. 248–267). Oxford University Press.
78.
MoynihanD. P.PandeyS. K.WrightB. E. (2012). Setting the table: How transformational leadership fosters performance information use. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 22, 143–164.
79.
MüllerR.TurnerR. (2010). Leadership competency profile of successful project managers. International Journal of Project Management, 28(5), 437–448.
80.
MunyekiN.WereD. (2017). Influence of transformational leadership on the performance of project based organizations. International Journal of Project Management, 1(3), 41–60.
81.
NaeemS.KhanzadaB. (2017). Impact of transformational leadership in attainment of project success: The mediating role of job satisfaction. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 8(9), 168–177.
82.
NaffK. C.CrumJ. (1999). Working for America: Does public service motivation make a difference?Review of Public Personnel Administration, 19(4), 5–16.
83.
National Audit Office. (2011). Initiating successful projects.
84.
OberfieldZ. W. (2014). Public management in time: A longitudinal examination of the full range of leadership theory. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 24(2), 407–429.
85.
PaarlbergL. E.LavignaB. (2010). Transformational leadership and public service motivation: Driving individual and organizational performance. Public Administration Review, 70(5), 710–718.
86.
PaarlbergL. E.PerryJ. L. (2007). Values management: Aligning employee values and organization goals. The American Review of Public Administration, 37, 387–408.
87.
PaarlbergL. E.PerryJ. L.HondeghemA. (2008). From theory to practice: Strategies for applying public service motivation. In PerryJ.HondeghemA. (Eds.), Motivation in public management: The call of public service (pp. 268–293). Oxford University Press.
ParkS. M.RaineyH. G. (2008). Leadership and public service motivation in U.S. Federal Agencies. International Public Management Journal, 11, 109–142.
90.
PerryJ.L.HondeghemA. (Eds.). (2008). Motivation in Public Management: The Call of Public Service (pp. 1–14). Oxford UniversityPress.
91.
PerryJ. L.WiseL. R. (1990). The motivational bases of public service. Public Administration Review, 50(3), 367–373.
92.
PetrovskyN.RitzA. (2010). Do motivated elephants gallop faster? An assessment of the effect of public service motivation on government performance at the individual and organizational levels. Public Management Research Conference: Research Directions for a Globalised Public Management, University of Hong Kong, October 15, 2010.
93.
PiccoliG.IvesB. (2003). Trust and the unintended effects of behavior control in virtual teams. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 365–395.
Project Management Institute. (2008). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (4th ed.).
96.
Project Management Institute. (2013). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) (5th ed.).
97.
Project Management Institute. (2018). Success in disruptive times. Expanding the value delivery landscape to address the high cost of low performance, Pulse of the Profession®.
98.
PodsakoffP. M.MacKenzieS. B.BommerW. H. (1996). Transformational leader behaviors and substitutes for leadership as determinants of employee satisfaction, commitment, trust, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Management, 22, 259–298.
99.
PodsakoffP. M.MacKenzieS. B.MoormanR. H.FetterR. (1990). Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers’ trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors. The Leadership Quarterly, 1, 107–142.
100.
PodsakoffP. M.MacKenzieS. B.PodsakoffN. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63(1), 539–569.
101.
RaineyH. G. (1982). Reward preferences among public and private managers: In search of the service ethic. The American Review of Public Administration, 16, 288–302.
102.
RaineyH. G. (2014). Understanding and managing public organizations (5th ed.). Jossey-Bass & Pfeiffer Imprints.
103.
RaziqM.BoriniF.MalikO.AhmadM.ShabazM. (2018). Leadership styles, goal clarity, and project success: Evidence from project-based organizations in Pakistan. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 39(2), 309–323.
104.
RitzA. (2009). Public service motivation and organizational performance in Swiss federal government. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 75(1), 53–78.
105.
RitzA.BrewerG. A.NeumannO. (2016). Public service motivation: A systematic literature review and outlook. Public Administration Review, 76(3), 414–426.
106.
RiazA.NoorA. B. (2014). Performance of projects in public sector of Pakistan: Developing a framework for future challenges. Serbian Project Management Journal, 41(1), 3–12.
107.
RyanR. M.ConnellJ. (1989). Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(5), 749–761.
108.
RyanR. M.DeciE. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78.
109.
SelznickP. (1957). Leadership in administration: A sociological interpretation. Row Peterson.
110.
ShamirB. (1991). Meaning, self and motivation in organizations. Organization Studies, 12(3), 405–424.
111.
SirotaD.MischkindL. A.MeltzerM. I. (2005). The enthusiastic employee: How companies profit by giving workers what they want. Wharton School Publishing.
112.
SöderlundJ. (2011). Pluralism in project management: Navigating the crossroads of specialization and fragmentation. International Journal of Management Review, 13(2), 153–176.
113.
SrićaV. (2008). Social intelligence and project leadership. The Business Review, 9(2), 189–200.
114.
StoneD. C. (1945). Notes on the government executive: His role and his methods. Public Administration Review, 3(3), 210–225.
115.
StoneD. C. (1981). Innovative organizations require innovative managers. Public Administration Review, 41(5), 507–513.
116.
SyT.CoteS.SaavedraR. (2005). The contagious leader: Impact of the leader’s mood on the mood of group members, group affective tone, and group processes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 902(2), 295–305.
117.
TrottierT.Van WartM.WangX. H. (2008). Examining the nature and significance of leadership in government organizations. Public Administration Review, 68, 319–333.
118.
TurnerR.MüllerR. (2005). The project manager’s leadership style as a success factor on projects: A literature review. Project Management Journal, 36(2), 49–61.
119.
TyssenA.WaldA.HeidenreichS. (2013). Leadership in the context of temporary organizations: A study on the effects of transactional and transformational leadership on followers’ commitment in projects. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 21, 376–393.
120.
Ul MusawirA.SerraC.ZwikaelO.AliI. (2017). Project governance, benefit management, and project success: Towards a framework for supporting organizational strategy implementation. International Journal of Project Management, 35(8), 1658–1672.
121.
VandenabeeleW. (2009). The mediating effect of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on self-reported performance: More robust evidence of the PSM–performance relation. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 75(1), 11–34.
122.
VandenabeeleW. (2014). Explaining public service motivation: The role of leadership and basic needs satisfaction. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 34, 153–173.
123.
Van KnippenbergD.SitkinS. B. (2013). A critical assessment of charismatic—Transformational leadership research: Back to the drawing board?The Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 1–60.
124.
Van WartM. (2013). Administrative leadership theory: A reassessment after 10 years. Public Administration, 91, 521–543.
125.
VogelR.MasalD. (2015). Public leadership: A review of the literature and framework for future research. Public Management Review, 17, 1165–1189.
126.
VoldenG. H. (2018). Public project success as seen in a broad perspective. Lessons from a meta-evaluation of 20 infrastructure projects in Norway. Evaluation and Program Planning, 69, 109–117.
127.
WoffordJ. C.WhittingtonJ. L.GoodwinV. L. (2001). Follower motive patterns as situational moderators for transformational leadership effectiveness. Journal of Managerial Issues, 13, 196–211.
128.
WrightB. E. (2004). The role of work context in work motivation: A public sector application of goal and social cognitive theories. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 14(1), 59–78.
129.
WrightB. E. (2007). Public service and motivation: Does mission matter?Public Administration Review, 67(1), 54–64.
130.
WrightB. E.GrantA. M. (2010). Unanswered questions about public service motivation: Designing research to address key issues of emergence and effects. Public Administration Review, 70(5), 691–700.
131.
WrightB. E.MoynihanD. P.PandeyS. K. (2012). Pulling the levers: Transformational leadership, public service motivation, and mission valence. Public Administration Review, 72(2), 206–215.
132.
WrightB. E.PandeyS. K. (2010). Transformational leadership in the public sector: Does structure matter?Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 20, 75–89.
133.
YaminM.SimA. K. (2016). Critical success factors for international development projects in Maldives. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 9(3), 481–504.
134.
ZamanU.NawazS.TariqS.HumayounA. A. (2019). Linking transformational leadership and “multi-dimensions” of project success; Moderating effects of project flexibility and project visibility using PLS-SEM. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 13(1), 103–127.
