Leadership, Personality, and Behavioral Characteristics of Senior Managers in Turkish Construction Firms: An Integrated Analysis Across Different Firm Sizes

The leadership, personality, and behavioral characteristics of senior managers relate to organizational performance in construction firms, yet these dimensions have rarely been examined together in relation to firm size. This study investigates senior managers across Turkish construction firms of different sizes. Data came from 42 directors, coordinators, and project managers representing 42 firms (response rate: 23.3%). The 23-item Turkish questionnaire was developed through theory-informed item generation, qualitative expert review, and cognitive pre-testing. It included six leadership-style indicators, five personality-trait indicators based on the Five-Factor Model, and seven managerial-behavior frameworks: Likert’s System 4, Path–Goal Theory, the Vroom–Yetton Decision-Making Model, the Ohio State Leadership Studies, the Managerial Grid Model, McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, and Fiedler’s Contingency Model. Because most leadership and personality dimensions were measured using single-item indicators, analyses were conducted at the item level. Small- and medium-sized firms showed higher descriptive ratings for servant and democratic leadership and more frequent consultative and participative orientations. Large firms showed higher ratings for transformational and charismatic leadership and more frequent directive and achievement-oriented tendencies. Across both groups, concern for production exceeded concern for employees, and information gathering was the most frequent decision-making approach. Democratic leadership, agreeableness, and Likert’s System 4 produced the most notable unadjusted group differences, with medium-to-substantial effect sizes, but none remained significant after Bonferroni correction. Firm size therefore appears to provide relevant context, but not a standalone explanation of senior managerial profiles. The study offers an integrated, contextual, and hypothesis-generating framework for examining senior management in construction firms.