Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of project managers' leadership and management on the success of the projects in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in Nangarhar, Afghanistan. Data were gathered from 246 male staff (programmatic and administrative) using a structured questionnaire. The findings showed leadership practices had a positive and significant relationship with project success. A Spearman correlation coefficient value of 0.68, with the associated p value of < 0.01, showed a statistically significant relationship between enhanced leadership behaviors and project outcomes, suggesting that positive leadership behaviors (empowering employees, fostering trust, encouraging collaboration) are related to better project results. Further, this result was confirmed by regression analysis where the unstandardized coefficient of B = 0.083 and p value = 0.015 indicated that leadership practices have a significant prediction to project success. Model performance accounted for 42.2% of the variance in project performance (R² = 0.422), indicating the significant influence of leadership in practice on project performance. The ANOVA results were (F = 930.22, p = 0.023) which confirmed the robust and significant regression model. Moreover, the Cronbach's Alpha coefficients of the instruments (0.90 for leadership practices and 0.90 for project outcomes) indicated a very high internal consistency, implying high instrument reliability. The results support the alternative hypothesis (H₁) and reject the null (H₀) hypothesis, which means that effective leadership is a very important success factor for a project. The study reinforces existing literature that highlights the significance of supportive communication, empowerment of staff, participative management to improve performance in NGOs. The findings indicate that leadership capabilities need to be enhanced within the organizations of Nangarhar to achieve greater success with projects, higher employee engagement, and greater organizational effectiveness.

Keywords

Project Managers Project Success NGOs Nangarhar Afghanistan