Servant Leadership in Project-Based Organizations of Pakistan: The Role of Affective Commitment and Perceived Organizational Support

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of affective commitment in the relationship between servant leadership and project success among Pakistan's IT sector employees. This study also investigates the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between servant leadership and employees' affective commitment.  The present study uses a deductive approach. Data was collected from 250 employees who were working at managerial levels in project-based organizations (specifically the IT sector) of twin cities (i.e., Rawalpindi and Islamabad) of Pakistan. The data was analyzed through structural equation modeling using SPSS and Smart PLS. The findings suggest that servant leadership and affective commitment have a positive significant impact on project success. Hence, the study contributes to the existing literature in a way that improves the project performance in the IT sector of Pakistan. Exploring the relationship among key study variables has important managerial significance. Recommendations were made to project managers to adopt servant leadership to get better results from the team members for the sake of achieving the project's success. Thus, this study has useful implications for managers in the IT industry.

Key words. Servant Leadership, Project Success, Affective Commitment, Perceived Organizational Support, IT industry.