Developing a Conceptual and Measurement Framework of Organizational Socialization, Authentic Leadership, and Affective Commitment for Construction Professionals

Abstract

The critical success factors in construction project are no more confined to technical skills, rather people management skills and leadership skills are more important. Researchers in the past have assessed various human resources (HR) and organizational behavior–related factors responsible for project success in the construction sector. However, not much has been done in assessing the role of socialization and leadership towards commitment among construction professionals. Therefore, this study aims to explore the constructs of socialization, leadership, and commitment in the construction industry. The article outlines the conceptual relationship between the domains of: organizational socialization (OS)—training (TR), understanding (UN), coworker support (CS), and future prospects (FP); authentic leadership (AL); and affective commitment (AC). The study further outlines the factor structure of the constructs through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Conceptually, there exists a positive relationship between the domains of socialization and AC. Also, the article proposes a moderating role of AL in the above relationships. The present study is the first of its kind in the Indian construction industry context to propose a framework that can be further used to determine the critical organizational factors responsible for maintaining the commitment of professionals working in the construction industry.