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Leadership and Strategy at China Communications Construction Co Ltd

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Leadership and Strategy at China Communications Construction Co Ltd

Introduction

A subsidiary of China Communications Construction Group Ltd., China Communications

Construction Co Ltd is an infrastructure construction company (Bank). It engages in heavy

machinery production, dredging, and transportation infrastructure development. Moreover, the

business offers services in the infrastructure building of tunnels, ports, bridges, roads, and

railroads (Bank). The company also provides large steel structure and road machinery

manufacture, import, and export services. It has access to cutting-edge machineries, such as a

fleet of vehicles specifically designed to transport port equipment, equipment for investigations,

contemporary dredging vessels, and design and research tools. Finally, the company operates in

several nations, including Australia, Malaysia, Macau, Hong Kong, and China. Beijing, China,

serves as the home base for the company(Bank). Therefore, the paper herein critically analyzes

the leadership and strategies at China Communications Construction Co Ltd. Moreover, this

paper will discuss how this will influence decision-making during this turbulent external

environment challenge.

Construction Industry in China

China has one of the world's most unique and active building industries. The sector has a

record of finishing projects on schedule and within the allotted budget. Despite having a more

significant proportion of Chinese citizens, the nation remains an essential link between western

and eastern cultures. This diversity of cultures has brought up an intriguing managerial problem

and a problem that affects construction managers (Wang, 2014). The leadership behavior type

has been the central problem the managers have had to cope with. It is also important to note that
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China's construction sector has experienced rapid expansion in recent years because of cheap

lending rates and rising government investment in infrastructure projects. On the other hand, the

rules intended to deleverage the nation's property developers and promote more sustainable

building activity are continuously exerting pressure on the construction industry.

The construction industry in China has presented the need for efficient leadership and

strategy in the past few years. Many arguments favoring this claim are evident in the types of

building projects, industries, and manufactured goods. First, large-scale, technically challenging

building projects require various specialized expertise. As a result, the teams are vast, multi-

disciplinary, and comprised of individuals from several organizations. Large-scale initiatives

today are multicultural as well. Second, the projects are frequently expensive, and the nation's

savings are primarily contained in its building stock. Third, the projects need many discrete tasks

and take a long time to complete, which raises some time-related risks and exacerbates issues

with coordination, communication, and the capacity to manage a variety of hazards. Finally, yet

importantly, the projects and the finished product significantly affect the health and safety of the

participating personnel and the public. Thus, exercising proper care, effort, and competence are

essential precautions.

Furthermore, there is a need for leadership and strategy in the Chinese construction

industry more than in any other industry in the economy. First, China reports more significant

challenges with project performance, such as cost and schedule overruns, subpar artistry,

technical flaws, low durability, and a lack of focus on environmental, safety, and health concerns

(Zhou et al., 2019). Second, project management in China needs to improve because of the

nature of the industries and the contexts in which they operate. In addition, the most clearly
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demonstrated is the significance of competent management for project stakeholders in

international projects, which are frequently large and complicated in the Chinese economy

(Wang, 2014). Teams on these projects are often multicultural, highlighting the requirement for

strong leadership and strategy abilities. Third, poor performance on building projects has much

more negative repercussions since the produced product is crucial to long-term national socio-

economic growth in china. Lastly, this nation's customers, final consumers, users, and other

construction players must be aware of some building elements. Hence, all these factors have

necessitated the integration of leadership and strategies by the construction industries in china,

with China Communications Construction Co Ltd not being an exemption.

Leadership and Strategy

Leadership is a complicated process through which an individual guides the organization

to strengthen its cohesion and coherence while influencing others to complete a goal, task, or aim

(Opoku & Fortune, 2011). Hence, vision, inspiration, planning, and action are the four pillars of

leadership. Self-analysis is a continuous process that good leaders engage in, and they use their

education, training, and experience to get better. Moreover, in the construction industry,

construction managers should always consider using their leadership qualities, including values;

ethics; character; knowledge; and abilities, must carry out this process. A construction manager's

primary responsibility as a leader is to complete tasks and produce outcomes in construction

projects (Opoku & Fortune, 2011). This subsequently results in the project's successful

conclusion. It is logical to appreciate that effective leadership and strategic planning rely on the

leader's inference, expertise, and instinct. Successful leaders in these industries always possess a

wide range of personal traits for the success of these projects. Finally, a successful construction
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manager as a leader must apply efficient leadership techniques throughout the project, including

the preconstruction stage.

Similarly to this, in the field of strategic leadership, it is always the responsibility of

senior management to develop a corporate vision that will enable the organization to adapt to or

remain competitive in a changing economic and technological environment (Ismail & Fathi,

2018). In order to achieve change inside the organization, strategic leaders utilize this vision to

inspire staff members and departments by encouraging unity and direction. In addition, the

primary goals of strategic leadership are to improve strategic productivity, foster creativity, and

create an atmosphere that motivates staff to work hard, act independently, and advance their

ideas. Strategic leaders occasionally use incentive or reward schemes to motivate their team

members and assist them in achieving their objectives.

Leadership Styles and Strategies That China Communications Construction Co Ltd Use

There are different leadership styles that China Communications Construction Co Ltd.

Has put to use in the recent past that have ensured its success. Democratic leadership is one to

mention. The executive level of the construction company depends on democratic leadership for

success (Jung et al., 2014). Before making important choices, leaders consider other people's

ideas and perspectives. Worth noting is how Democratic leaders acquire data from reliable

sources before making any decisions, especially when those decisions might have an

organization-wide impact. Democratic leaders rely on the supervisors within the organization and

next-level leaders who work on the front lines to provide them with the knowledge they need to

make the best decisions for the organization as a whole. For instance, executive leadership at

China Communications Construction Co Ltd. may change the company's emphasis from largely
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residential contracts to primarily commercial ones. However, if the leader does not speak with

the following leadership level beforehand, they will not know if their decision is the best.

Instead, a democratic leader seeks advice from the people in positions of authority below them to

weigh the pros and drawbacks of each significant choice. Hence, in the case mentioned above,

HR directors at China Communications Construction Co Ltd. usually consult their executive

coworkers on staffing and training needs for commercial instead of residential contracts.

Furthermore, the C-suite level of the construction sector has advanced, and servant

leadership is essential to increase efficiency and profitability. By taking care of the workforce,

servant leaders "serve" the requirements of China Communications Construction Co Ltd. Within

the organization, the departmental and team leadership levels are where this is most crucial

(Ismail & Fathi, 2018). Those who report to department heads, such as chief operational, finance,

human resource officers, and team leads, always listen and appreciate their subordinates'

perspectives. Only then can they effectively help their team members in their day-to-day

responsibilities and initiatives in the construction company.

For China Communications Construction Co Ltd., upskilling and development are

essential, especially considering the current skills deficit the construction sector is experiencing.

The Leading coaches at the firm have taken the initiative to create internal training for their

organizations. It is also logical to appreciate that coaching leaders are excellent communicators

who are skilled at transferring their knowledge and assisting others in learning through their

preferred methods, and this type of leader has proved essential for China Communications

Construction Co Ltd in its bid to provide adequate staff training (Opoku & Fortune, 2011).

Additionally, the in-house training provided this type of leadership helped increase the
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construction company's talent pool. China Communications Construction Co Ltd has supported

this type of leadership by often resorting to internal recruitments, even if they lack the essential

qualifications and experience, and filling up any skill gaps via internal training and development.

Therefore, the employment rate of China Communications Construction Co Ltd has significantly

improved because of this. Finally, China Communications Construction Co Ltd has enhanced

safety training via coaching leadership, which has helped reduce on-site accidents and injuries.

China Communications Construction Co Ltd has been practicing pacesetting leadership

for quite some time to be a leader and set an example for best practices in the construction

industry. Pacesetting leaders at the organization, such as supervisors, lead the workforce

efficiently in sprints of activity and are capable of keeping projects on track. They are adept at

planning their resources, particularly their time, to use them effectively. Further, they may

determine which employees are the most excellent fit for a specific project to avoid wasting time

or money. China Communications Construction Co Ltd has dramatically benefited from

pacesetting leadership since these types of leaders can make the best judgments to advance

initiatives and are focused on getting the task done, even when those decisions are difficult or

unpopular (Chinowsky & Meredith, 2000).

China Communications Construction Co Ltd has also employed autocratic leadership due

to its ability to take charge. China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. needs leaders who can

take command when things go wrong since on-site work may be pretty dangerous. An

authoritarian leader makes tough decisions with authority and wisdom, usually without

justification. Long explanations could be more practical on the job site in the construction sector.

The workplace is occasionally the wrong place to learn since it is stressful and dangerous. As a
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result, China Communications Construction Co Ltd has often resorted to this type of leadership

to safeguard employee safety due to their ability to act with power. Finally, it is worth noting that

autocratic leaders are essential in the workplace. Nevertheless, China Communications

Construction Co Ltd should remember that this management style works best when employees

have faith in the person making the decisions to safeguard everyone's safety and interests.

Finally, therefore it should be noted that having the appropriate leadership is crucial for

the growth of a construction company, a fact that China Communications Construction Co Ltd is

resistant to (Chinowsky & Meredith, 2000). The difficulty the company should bear is that there

are several leadership philosophies. The corporation needs to determine which types of

leadership are most effective at each level of its corporate culture. Without subtlety, China

Communications Construction Co Ltd runs the danger of placing capable leaders in positions

where their skills and management techniques will not be as effective. The organization should

give more attention to the leadership philosophies that may have the most significant influence at

each level of the corporation as it creates strategies to address the issues facing the construction

sector(Ismail & Fathi, 2018). The construction industry's future depends on how carefully you

handle leadership development.

Impact of Leadership and Strategies in Decision-Making in the Wake of the Covid-19

Pandemic

The COVID-19 epidemic has had varied degrees of effects on the participants of the

construction sector, including owners, developers, contractors, subcontractors, and supply chain

suppliers (Chivilo et al., 2020). The location of the individual enterprises and underlying

initiatives have significantly impacted the type of effects and scope of consequences. The
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immediate effects that China Communications Construction Co Ltd has endured have included a

slowdown in the supply of products and labor to the suspension and, in rare cases, cancellation of

parties or whole projects (McLennan, 2020). As a result, depending on whether construction is

an important business, construction activities have continued to change in different states and

localities. Due to the COVID-19 dilemma, industry participants like China Communications

Construction Co Ltd now face short- and long-term commercial problems and must develop

project-by-project solutions in light of a changing international and national environment.

The leadership at China Communications Construction Co Ltd has had to make various

strategies in the wake of covid-19 pandemic. China Communications Construction Co Ltd has

been forced to undergo resilience, contract structuring, and collaboration (McLennan, 2020).

Since the start of the epidemic, there has been significantly more cooperation in the construction

sector, especially with unions, vendors, and governmental organizations. Within the industry,

there has been a strong feeling of unity where everyone knows they each have a role to play in

completing projects and maintaining sites. Furthermore, working with strategic partners has also

been an important strategic decision that China Communications Construction Co Ltd has had to

make. Since the epidemic's inception, contractors have been increasingly interested in

collaborating with customers where there is a fairer distribution of risk, more significant

discussion of contract structuring and alignment with higher ideals. Hence, to accommodate the

interests of contractors, the leadership at China Communications Construction Co Ltd has been

forced to make strategic decisions on issues such as workplace diversity, well-being, and

innovation within the organization.

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China Communications Construction Co Ltd has been forced to decide on supply chain

management. The company had labor shortages and a lack of access to basic supplies during the

first few months of the epidemic, including sand, cement, and bricks (Chivilo et al., 2020). Thus,

early payment of suppliers has proven crucial for China Communications Construction Co Ltd.

Paying smaller subcontractors early has helped the company alleviate specific cash flow issues in

a changing climate where deploying rapidly is essential since subcontractors are frequently least

able to handle risk. The leadership at the company also has a future consideration of locating its

suppliers nearby. Building an adaptable supply chain that can swiftly engage substitute suppliers

will be crucial for China Communications Construction Co Ltd in the future.

Conclusion

The paper herein has critically analyzed the leadership and strategies at China Communications

Construction Co Ltd. Moreover, this paper has discussed how this will influence decision-

making during this turbulent external environment challenges posed by the covid-19 pandemic.

It is worth noting that the paper has considered the leadership styles and strategies that China

Communications Construction Co Ltd use, the construction industry in China, an in-depth

analysis of the concept of leadership and strategy, and the impact of leadership and strategies in

decision-making in the wake of covid-19 pandemic.

References
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