THE EFFECT OF POWER DISTANCE IN SHAPING PROJECT PERFORMANCE: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJMTSS.935002Keywords:
Collaboration, DEWA, Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, Moderated Regression, Power Distance, Project PerformanceAbstract
This paper has explored the direct effect of power distance on the performance of projects and has hypothesized that collaboration moderates the relationship between power distance and project team performance in Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). Based on the Hofstede cultural dimensions framework and the Social Exchange Theory, a cross-sectional quantitative survey with 368 respondents (response rate = 79.1%) that were employed in multicultural infrastructure projects, stratified random sampling was conducted on the basis of the department and nationality groups. Validated five-point Likert scales were used to measure power distance, collaboration and project performance (time, cost and quality), with all three indicating high internal consistency (Cronbachs 0 = .910 power distance, 0.950 collaboration and 0.918-0.991 across the three sub-dimensions of project performance). The analysis of the data was performed with the help of hierarchical moderated regression (Hayes PROCESS Model 1) in SPSS. The overall model was statistically significant, F (3, 364) = 13.53, p < .001, explaining 10.0% of the variance in project performance (R² = .1004). The direct impact of power distance on project performance was not statistically significant ( = -0.1294, p = .1344) and the interaction between the power distance and collaboration was not significant ( = -0.0662, p = .4386, = 0.0015) but the interaction between collaboration and project performance was significant ( = 0.2743, p = .001). This evidence indicates that formal governance, standardized processes, codified relation of authority in a highly institutionalized utility organization like DEWA may preclude behavioral manifestation of hierarchical cultural orientation, and limit its ability to independently influence, or buffer its influence on project outcomes. The paper leads to a better understanding of the different ways structural cultural dimensions act in contrast to interactional dimensions in strictly controlled project settings.
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