MGT 340 Chapter 18
Results of Ohio State Studies
High consideration/high structure leaders generally, but not always, achieved high scores on group task performance and satisfaction. Evidence indicated that situational factors appeared to strongly influence leadership effectiveness.
University of Iowa Studies
Identified three leadership styles to find which was the most effective. Autocratic Democratic Laissez-faire
(Fred) Fiedler contingency model
- a leadership theory proposing that effective group performance depends on the proper match between a leader's style and the degree to which the situation allows the leader to control and influence The model was based on the premise that a certain leadership style would be most effective in different types of situations. The keys were to (1) define those leadership styles and the different types of situations, and then (2) identify the appropriate combinations of style and situation.
The Fiedler Model Least-preferred coworker (LPC) questionnaire
- a questionnaire that measures whether a leader is task or relationship oriented Fiedler proposed that a key factor in leadership success was an individual's basic leadership style, either task oriented or relationship oriented. To measure a leader's style, Fiedler developed the least-preferred coworker (LPC) questionnaire. This questionnaire contained 18 pairs of contrasting adjectives—for example, pleasant- unpleasant, cold-warm, boring-interesting, or friendly-unfriendly. Respondents were asked to think of all the coworkers they had ever had and to describe that one person they least enjoyed working with by rating him or her on a scale of 1 to 8 for each of the 18 sets of adjectives (the 8 always described the positive adjective out of the pair and the 1 always described the negative adjective out of the pair). After an individual's leadership style had been assessed through the LPC, it was time to evaluate the situation in order to be able to match the leader with the situation. Fiedler's research uncovered three contingency dimensions that defined the key situational factors in leader effectiveness.
Leading Across Cultures
Effective leaders do not use a single style. They adjust their style to the situation. National culture is certainly an important situational variable in determining which leadership style will be most effective What works in China isn't likely to be effective in France or Canada. For instance, one study of Asian leadership styles revealed that Asian managers preferred leaders who were competent decision makers, effective communicators, and supportive of employees. National culture affects leadership style because it influences how followers will respond. Leaders can't (and shouldn't) just choose their styles randomly. They're constrained by the cultural conditions their followers have come to expect
Managerial grid
- a two-dimensional grid for appraising leadership styles Places managerial styles in five categories: Impoverished management: (1,1 or low concern for production, low concern for people) Task management (9,1 or high concern for production, low concern for people) Middle-of-the-road management (5,5 or medium concern for production, medium concern for people) Country club management 1,9 or low concern for production, high concern for people), Team management (9,9 or high concern for production, high concern for people) The behavioral dimensions from these early leadership studies provided the basis for its development This managerial grid used the behavioral dimensions "concern for people" (the vertical part of the grid) and "concern for production" (the horizontal part of the grid) and evaluated a leader's use of these behaviors, ranking them on a scale from 1 (low) to 9 (high). Although the grid had 81 potential categories into which a leader's behavioral style might fall, only five styles were named. Of these five styles, the researchers concluded that managers performed best when using a 9,9 style.
Managing Power Expert power
- the influence a leader can exert as a result of his or her expertise, skills, or knowledge If an employee has skills, knowledge, or expertise that's critical to a work group, that person's expert power is enhanced. .
Managing Power Legitimate power
- the power a leader has as a result of his or her position. Legitimate power and authority are the same . Although people in positions of authority are also likely to have reward and coercive power, legitimate power is broader than the power to coerce and reward.
University of Iowa Studies leadership style Autocratic style -
A leader who dictates work methods, makes unilateral decisions, and limits employee participation
University of Iowa Studies leadership style Democratic style -
A leader who involves employees in decision making, delegates authority, and uses feedback as an opportunity for coaching employees The researchers' results seemed to indicate that the democratic style contributed to both good quantity and quality of work.
University of Iowa Studies leadership style Laissez-faire style -
A leader who lets the group make decisions and complete the work in whatever way it sees fit
Four team leader roles:
Coach Liaison with External Constituencies Conflict Manager Troubleshooter
Path-Goal Model Four leadership behaviors Participative leader:
Consults with group members and uses their suggestions before making a decision.
University of Michigan Studies Identified two dimensions of leader behavior:
Employee oriented: emphasizing personal relationships Production oriented: emphasizing task accomplishment Leadership studies conducted at the University of Michigan at about the same time as those done at Ohio State also hoped to identify behavioral characteristics of leaders that were related to performance effectiveness.
The Ohio State Studies Identified two dimensions of leader behavior:
Initiating structure: the role of the leader in defining his or her role and the roles of group members. It included behaviors that involved attempts to organize work, work relationships, and goals Consideration: the leader's mutual trust and respect for group members' ideas and feelings. A leader who was high in consideration helped group members with personal problems, was friendly and approachable, and treated all group members as equals. He or she showed concern for (was considerate of) his or her followers' comfort, well-being, status, and satisfaction.
Five dimensions of trust
Integrity: honesty and truthfulness Competence: technical and interpersonal knowledge and skills Consistency: reliability, predictability, and good judgment in handling situations Loyalty: willingness to protect a person, physically and emotionally Openness: willingness to share ideas and information freely Of these five dimensions, integrity seems to be the most critical when someone assesses another's trustworthiness.
University of Michigan Studies Research findings:
Leaders who are employee oriented are strongly associated with high group productivity and high job satisfaction
Path-Goal Model Four leadership behaviors Directive leader:
Lets subordinates know what's expected of them, schedules work to be done, and gives specific guidance on how to accomplish tasks.
A team leader's job is to focus on two priorities:
Managing the team's external boundary Facilitating the team process One study looking at organizations that reorganized themselves around employee teams found certain common responsibilities of all leaders. These leader responsibilities included coaching, facilitating, handling disciplinary problems, reviewing team and individual performance, training, and communication.45 However, a more meaningful way to describe the team leader's job is to focus on two priorities: These priorities entail four specific leadership roles
Trait Theories (1920s -1930s)
Research focused on identifying personal characteristics that differentiated leaders from non-leaders was unsuccessful. focused on isolating leader traits. It proved impossible to identify a set of traits that would always differentiate a leader (the person) from a nonleader. Some of the traits studied included physical stature, appearance, social class, emotional stability, fluency of speech, and sociability.
Path-Goal Model Four leadership behaviors Achievement oriented leader:
Sets challenging goals and expects followers to perform at their highest level.
Path-Goal Model Four leadership behaviors Supportive leader:.
Shows concern for the needs of followers and is friendly
Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory (SLT)
a leadership contingency theory that focuses on followers' readiness Regardless of what the leader does, the group's effectiveness depends on the actions of the followers. This important dimension has been overlooked or underemphasized in most leadership theories.
Path-goal theory -
a leadership theory that says the leader's job is to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide direction or support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the goals of the group or organization. Developed by Robert House, path-goal theory takes key elements from the expectancy theory of motivation. The term path-goal is derived from the belief that effective leaders remove the roadblocks and pitfalls so that followers have a clearer path to help them get from where they are to the achievement of their work goals. In contrast to Fiedler's view that a leader couldn't change his or her behavior, House assumed that leaders are flexible and can display any or all of these leadership styles depending on the situation.
Charismatic leader -
an enthusiastic, self-confident leader whose personality and actions influence people to behave in certain ways. Several authors have attempted to identify personal characteristics of the charismatic leader. The most comprehensive analysis identified five such characteristics: they have a vision, the ability to articulate that vision, a willingness to take risks to achieve that vision, a sensitivity to both environmental constraints and follower needs, and behaviors that are out of the ordinary.
The Fiedler Model Each leadership situation was evaluated in terms of these three contingency variables, which when combined produced
eight possible situations that were either favorable or unfavorable for the leader. Packet*** Situations I, II, and III were classified as highly favorable for the leader. Situations IV, V, and VI were moderately favorable for the leader. And situations VII and VIII were described as highly unfavorable for the leader.
Empowering Employees Empowerment -
increasing the decision-making discretion of workers such that teams can make key operating decisions in developing budgets, scheduling workloads, controlling inventories, and solving quality problems. Millions of individual employees and employee teams are making the key operating decisions that directly affect their work. They're developing budgets, scheduling workloads, controlling inventories, solving quality problems, and engaging in similar activities that until very recently were viewed exclusively as part of the manager's job.
Transactional leaders -
leaders who lead primarily by using social exchanges (or transactions) Many early leadership theories viewed leaders as transactional leaders Transactional leaders guide or motivate followers to work toward established goals by exchanging rewards for their productivity.
Transformational leaders -
leaders who stimulate and inspire (transform) followers to achieve extraordinary outcomes
Behavioral theories -
leadership theories that identify behaviors that differentiated effective leaders from ineffective leaders. Researchers hoped that the behavioral theories approach would provide more definitive answers about the nature of leadership than did the trait theories.
Where do leaders get their power—that is, their right and capacity to influence work actions or decisions? Five sources of leader power have been identified:
legitimate, coercive, reward, expert, and referent.
Team Leadership -
many leaders are not equipped to handle the change to employee teams Because leadership is increasingly taking place within a team context and more organizations are using work teams, the role of the leader in guiding team members has become increasingly important. The role of team leader is different from the traditional leadership role. Many leaders are not equipped to handle the change to employee teams. As one consultant noted, "Even the most capable managers have trouble making the transition because all the command-and-control type things they were encouraged to do before are no longer appropriate.
Managing Power Reward power -
the power to give positive benefits or rewards. . A reward can be anything a person values such as money, favorable performance appraisals, promotions, interesting work assignments, friendly colleagues, and preferred work shifts or sales territories.
leader
someone who can influence others and who has managerial authority. Ideally, all managers should be leaders.
Managing Power Referent power -
the power of a leader that arises because of a person's desirable resources or admired personal traits If I admire you and want to be associated with you, you can exercise power over me because I want to please you. Referent power develops out of admiration of another and a desire to be like that person.
Visionary leadership -
the ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, and attractive vision of the future that improves upon the present situation. Although the term vision is often linked with charismatic leadership, visionary leadership is different This vision, if properly selected and implemented, is so energizing that it "in effect jump-starts the future by calling forth the skills, talents, and resources to make it happen."
Developing Trust Trust -
the belief in the integrity, character, and ability of a leader Trust is closely entwined with the concept of credibility, and, in fact, the terms are often used interchangeably. Followers who trust a leader are willing to be vulnerable to the leader's actions because they are confident that their rights and interests will not be abused.
The Fiedler Model Leader-member relations:
the degree of confidence, trust, and respect employees had for their leader; rated as either good or poor. After an individual's leadership style had been assessed through the LPC, it was time to evaluate the situation in order to be able to match the leader with the situation. Fiedler's research uncovered three contingency dimensions that defined the key situational factors in leader effectiveness.
The Fiedler Model Position power:
the degree of influence a leader had over activities such as hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases; rated as either strong or weak. After an individual's leadership style had been assessed through the LPC, it was time to evaluate the situation in order to be able to match the leader with the situation. Fiedler's research uncovered three contingency dimensions that defined the key situational factors in leader effectiveness.
Developing Trust Credibility -
the degree to which followers perceive someone as honest, competent, and able to inspire "Honesty is absolutely essential to leadership. If people are going to follow someone willingly, whether it be into battle or into the boardroom, they first want to assure themselves that the person is worthy of their trust." In addition to being honest, credible leaders are competent and inspiring. They are personally able to effectively communicate their confidence and enthusiasm.
The Fiedler Model Task structure:
the degree to which job assignments were formalized and structured; rated as either high or low. After an individual's leadership style had been assessed through the LPC, it was time to evaluate the situation in order to be able to match the leader with the situation. Fiedler's research uncovered three contingency dimensions that defined the key situational factors in leader effectiveness.
Readiness:
the extent to which followers have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task
Leader-member exchange theory (LMX) -
the leadership theory that says leaders create in-groups and out-groups and those in the in-group will have higher performance ratings, less turnover, and greater job satisfaction LMX theory suggests that early on in the relationship between a leader and a given follower, a leader will implicitly categorize a follower as an "in" or as an "out." That relationship tends to remain fairly stable over time. Leaders also encourage LMX by rewarding those employees with whom they want a closer linkage and punishing those with whom they do not.
Managing Power Coercive power -
the power a leader has to punish or control. Followers react to this power out of fear of the negative results that might occur if they don't comply. Managers typically have some coercive power, such as being able to suspend or demote employees or to assign them work they find unpleasant or undesirable.
path-goal theory proposes two situational or contingency variables that moderate the leadership behavior-outcome relationship: .
those in the environment that are outside the control of the follower (factors including task structure, formal authority system, and the work group) and those that are part of the personal characteristics of the follower (including locus of control, experience, and perceived ability)
leadership
what leaders do; the process of influencing a group to achieve goals.
