Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2026-4
The efficacy of cultural intelligence and project governance determinants on the successful delivery of complex UAE construction projects: An integrated multicultural framework approach
The construction sector is an essential part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) economy and contributes significantly to the gross domestic product. The sector has experienced remarkable growth in complex construction projects that involve diverse multicultural contractors, technical diversity, regulatory oversight and integration across multiple systems. Consequently, this study examined how project governance and cultural intelligence (CQ) influence the successful delivery of complex construction projects. The study was guided by the following question: What are the key variables for project governance and CQ that can be used to enhance the successful delivery of complex construction projects in the UAE? A total of 404 respondents were included in the study. The study employed non-probability and snowball sampling strategies, and the data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics. Validity and reliability were established by evaluating the plausibility of existing knowledge regarding the relationship between project governance and CQ, and their impact on the successful delivery of complex construction projects in multicultural settings. This research contributes to the existing literature on cross-cultural management in the complex construction project delivery. First, it develops and tests a construction-specific CQ–team-performance framework, showing that CQ predicts how well cross-cultural management works and how well projects perform in multicultural complex construction teams. Second, the study delineates essential boundary conditions by demonstrating that the impacts of CQ are dependent on project governance attributes, including the intensity of cultural diversity and the procurement pathway.
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