A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Nexus between Critical Delay Factors, Leadership Self-Efficacy, and Transnational Mega Construction Project Success

Delay factors are frequent in the construction industry globally, resulting in significant overruns in project cost and time. In context, megaprojects can be more prone to critical delays, hence, demanding a high degree of self-confident leadership. Despite the continuous scholarly attempts to examine mega construction project success, the underlying role of critical delay factors and leadership self-efficacy has been largely overlooked. Hence, to address these rarely examined linkages, the present study empirically explored the effects of critical delay factors (CDFs) on transnational mega construction project (TMCP) success with the moderating influence of leadership self-efficacy (LSE). Based on a study sample (N = 211) extracted from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the hypothesized relationships were tested through partial least squares-structural equation modeling. The study included nine critical delay factors and three subdimensions of TMCP success, derived from previous research. The findings revealed a negative relationship between CDFs and TMCP success, as a 1% increase in CDFs triggered a 28.8% negative change in TMCP success. A positive moderating effect of LSE on the relationship between CDFs and TMCP success was also empirically supported, as 1% increase in LSE resulted in 18.4% positive change in TMCP success. The present study bridges the fragmented literature on critical delay factors in the global construction industry, megaproject success, and project leadership, by providing the first empirical evidence linking these potential relationships. Moreover, the present study also provides an extension to existing studies to identify the role of CDFs and LSE in impacting multi-faceted success (i.e., management success, ownership success, and investment success) in mega construction projects.