Challenges Affecting Leadership Development in the Construction Industry

The study adopts a data reduction method to examine the presence of any complex configuration among a set of variables on challenges affecting leadership development. A structured survey questionnaire was administered to 111 project managers and construction managers to extract the relevant data, and this produced a relatively high reply rate. After satisfying all the necessary tests of the reliability of the survey instrument, sample size suitability and population matrix, the data was subjected to principal component analysis, resulting in the classification of three new thematic leadership development challenges areas; and were explained in terms of leadership education and training; leadership succession challenge; political instability. These knowledge areas now form the basis for oblique leadership development training requirements in the context of the South African construction industry. The main contribution of the paper is manifested in the use of the principal component analysis, which has rigorously presented an understanding of the complex structure and the relationship between the various knowledge areas. The originality and value of the paper are embedded in the use of contextual task and conceptual knowledge to expound the three uncorrelated empirical utility of leadership development challenges.