Asee peer logo

Differences in the Human Dimensions of Specialty Field Leaders and General Contractor Project Managers

Download Paper |

Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Construction Engineering Division (CONST) Technical Session 5

Tagged Division

Construction Engineering Division (CONST)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

10

DOI

10.18260/1-2--43175

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/43175

Download Count

156

Request a correction

Paper Authors

author page

Tolulope Ibilola Ogundare

biography

Rebecca Kassa University of Kansas Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-9573-8547

visit author page

PhD Student in the department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas. Specializing in Construction Engineering and Management.

visit author page

biography

Omar Maali City of Lawrence, Kansas Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-2946-2025

visit author page

Omar Maali, Ph.D., PE., PMP., is a Senior Project Engineer at the City of Lawrence, Kansas. He has a PhD in the Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering department from the School of Engineering at The University of Kansas. He specializes in construction engineering and management. He is a certified project manager professional (PMP) by PMI. His research uses an interdisciplinary approach in the following areas; organizational change management, workforce development, and alternative procurement and project delivery methods. Dr. Maali has extensive experience in assisting organizations in implementing alternative project delivery methods, including IPD, CMAR, and PPP. Also, he has international construction experience in oil & gas projects and vertical construction projects.

visit author page

author page

Brian Lines The University of Kansas Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-7998-1053

biography

Jake Smithwick University of North Carolina, Charlotte Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-6260-3670

visit author page

Dr. Jake Smithwick is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. His research focuses on organizational performance benchmarking within facility management, construction, and business services. His industry experience include

visit author page

author page

Kenneth Timothy Sullivan Arizona State University

Download Paper |

Abstract

The shortage of workforce in the construction industry has placed a demand on engineering and construction firms to attract and retain even more workers. The competition for qualified skilled workers within the construction sector and from other industries has impacted the labor turnover in the industry. The repeated cycle of training new hires due to labor turnover may affect organizational and project performance. Construction firms need to attract new hires and develop and retain talent in their workforce to mitigate this challenge. This study investigates the differences in human dimensions of individuals engaged on construction job sites. The aim of this paper is to identify distinctive human dimensions of skilled trades workers, essentially required for job transition within the construction industry. For this study, HEXACO personality inventory, Emotional Intelligence, and Q-DiSC behavioral diagnostics were adopted to determine personality trait differences and peculiarities between 133 General Contractor project managers and 88 Specialty field leaders (Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning). A field leader in this study functions as liaison personnel between a construction project manager and a construction crew to ensure the assigned tasks are executed. Such a person may be a foreman, superintendent, or field executive. The data collected from the 221 construction professionals were analyzed using the independent t-test to evaluate the statistically significant differences in the means of personality traits between the groups. Sincerity, Fairness, Greed-Avoidance, Fearfulness, Prudence, Inquisitiveness, and Social Awareness, among other measures, were significantly different between the groups. The differences recognized between the groups in this study can afford employees a better perspective of the traits common to the new jobs for smooth job role transition within the construction sector.

Ogundare, T. I., & Kassa, R., & Maali, O., & Lines, B., & Smithwick, J., & Sullivan, K. T. (2023, June), Differences in the Human Dimensions of Specialty Field Leaders and General Contractor Project Managers Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43175

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2023 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015