Contingency Theory

Low LPC score indicates that

people who are task motivated will be effective in both very favorable and very unfavorable situations

task structure is

the degree to which the requirements of a task are clear and spelled out, tasks that are completely structured tend to give more control to the leader, whereas vague and unclear tasks lessen the leader's control and influence

reasoning for why leaders who are working in the "Wrong" (i.e, mismatched) situation are ineffective

a) a leader whose LPC style does not match a particular situation experiences stress and anxiety, b) under stress, the leader reverts to less mature ways of coping that were learned in early development; and, c) the leader's less mature coping styles results in poor decision making which results in negative work outcomes.

criticisms of the contingency theory

a) this theory has been criticized because it fails to explain fully why people with certain leaderships styles are more effective in certain situations than in others b) LPC scale has been questioned because it does not seem valid on the surface, it does not correlated well with other leadership measures, c) the instructions on the LPC scale are not clear; d) its cumbersome to use in real world settings e)it fails to explain adequately what organizations should do when there is a mismatch between the leader and the situation the workplace.

strengths of the contingency theory

a)first it is supported by a great deal of empirical research (valid and reliable), b) this has broadened our understanding of leadership by focusing us to consider the impact of situations on leaders, c) this theory is predictive and therefore provides useful info about the type of leadership that is most likely to be effective in certain contexts, d) this theory does not require that people be effective in all situations, e) provides data on leaders' styles that could be useful to organizations in developing leadership profiles

a task is considered structured when

a)the requirements of the task are clearly stated and known by the people required to perform them, b) the path to accomplishing the task has few alternatives, c) completion of the task can be clearly demonstrated, and d) only a limited number of correct solutions to the task exist

Contingency theory (Fiedler)

its a leader-match theory which means it tries to match leaders to appropriate situations, its called contingency because it suggests that a leader's effectiveness depends on how well the leader's style fits the context

contingency theory suggests that situations can be characterized in terms of three factors:

leader-members relations, task structure, and position power

High LPC score indicates that

people who are relationship motivated are effective in moderately favorable situations that is in situations there are degree of certainty but things are neither completely under or out of their control

situations are rated least favorable if they have

poor leader-follower relations, unstructured tasks, and weak leader-position power

relationship leaders are

these leaders are concerned with developing close interpersonal relationships

task motivated leaders are

these leaders are concerned with reaching a goal

in short, contingency is concerned with

this approach is concerned with styles and situations, it provides the framework for effectively matching the leader and the situation

leader member relations

this consist of the group atmosphere and the degree of confidence, loyalty, and attraction that the followers feel for their leader

position power is

this is the amount of authority a leader has to reward or to punish followers, it includes the legitimate power individuals acquire as a result of the position they hold in an organization, position power is strong if a person has the authority to hire and fire or give raises in rank or pay