Chaudhry, Abdul Ghaffar Abdul Haq2013-07-172013-07-172002-0220040045http://bspace.buid.ac.ae/handle/1234/294DISSERTATION WITH DISTINCTIONDubai is one of the United Arab Emirates leading emirate in terms of infrastructure development and other industries such as tourism, and real estate. The novelty of the industry and it’s rapid progression persuades one to assess the factors influencing the construction industry. Due to the competitive market, project management area has gained undisputable importance in the construction projects. Construction firms are now seeking professionals with better management and leadership skills rather than technical skills (Dulaimi, 2005). Employees are an important part of any industry and their job satisfaction and organisational commitment affects the turnover rate and productivity of a company (Benkhoff, 1997; Randeree and Chaudhry, pending). Leadership has a strong influence on employees’ job satisfaction and organisational commitment (Lok and Crawford, 1999). Thus, it is vital to examine leadership styles in a rapidly growing industry in a cosmopolitan city. Hence, the research undertaken aims to study leadership styles and its influence on the employees’ job satisfaction and organisational commitment in the construction industry of Dubai. Earlier research has contented that leadership behaviour is determined culturally and hence varies markedly from culture to culture (e.g. Aram and Piriano, 1978; Burger and Bass, 1979; Wright, 1981; Adler, 1991; Muna, 1980; Al-Jafary and Hollingsworth, 1983; Ali, 1993; Ali et al., 1997). Yousef (2000) has examined the relationship between organisational commitment, job satisfaction and performance in the UAE and found significant results. To attain the research aim, different theories on Leadership styles, job satisfaction and organisational commitment have been explored. The limitations of the study are that it focuses on office employees because of time constraints and the level of education of the workforce on site. A qualitative survey investigates existing leadership styles, preferred leadership styles by the employees, and the influence of leadership styles on employees’ job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The study also evaluates the extent of various other factors influencing the job satisfaction and organisational commitment of employees. The findings show that employees feel that Consensus and Team Management leadership styles are predominantly prevalent in the industry and employees have shown preference of working under these leadership styles. Furthermore, a strong influence is found between leadership style, employees’ job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Some of factors strongly affecting job satisfaction and organisational commitment of employees in the industry are nature of work, salary received, job flexibility, job security, direct manager’s behaviour, company leadership, and company culture. Major conclusions are job satisfaction and organisational commitment are influenced with respect to culture, age, and work groups.enleadership stylejob satisfactionorganisational commitmentconstruction industryUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)Dubaiinfrastructure developmentproject managementDissertation