Leadership Theories

Professor: Sherrie Lu, PhD

AgendaAgenda

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The Nature of Leadership

Managing vs. Leadership

Trail Leadership

Behavioral Leadership

Contingency Theory of Leadership

House’s Path-Goal Theory

Transactional Leadership

Transformational Leadership

The Nature of LeadershipThe Nature of Leadership

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As a process, leadership is the use of noncoercive influence to direct and coordinate the activities of group members toward goal accomplishment.

As a property, leadership is the set of characteristics attributed to those who are perceived to use such influence successfully.

Leadership involves neither force nor coercion.

Viewing leadership as both a process and a property means that leadership may be a set of characteristics an individual possesses or is merely perceived to possess.

Managing vs. LeadershipManaging vs. Leadership

Managing

Engages in day-to-day caretaker activities: Maintains and allocates resources

Exhibits supervisory behavior: Acts to make others maintain standard job behavior

Administers subsystems within organizations

Asks how and when to engage in standard practice

Leadership

Formulates long-term objectives for reforming the system: Plans strategy and tactics

Exhibits leading behavior: Acts to bring about change in others congruent with long-term objectives

Innovates for the entire organization

Asks what and why to change standard practice

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Managing

Uses transactional influence: Induces compliance in manifest behavior Acts within established culture of the organization

using rewards, sanctions, and formal authority

Relies on control strategies to get things done by subordinates

Status quo supporter and stabilizer

Leadership

Creates vision and meaning for the organization

Uses transformational influence: Induces change in values, attitudes, and behavior using personal examples and expertise

Uses empowering strategies to make followers internalize values

Status quo challenger and change creator

Managing vs. LeadershipManaging vs. Leadership

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Trait LeadershipTrait Leadership

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Focused on attempts to identify important traits of leaders.

The trait approach could neither specify nor prove how presumed leadership traits were connected to leadership per se.

Recently a renewed interest in traits has focused on drive, motivation, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability, knowledge of the business, and charisma.

Gender and other cultural differences are also drawing more attention as potential factors in understanding leadership.

Behavioral LeadershipBehavioral Leadership

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Determine what behaviors are associated with effective leadership.

Researchers assumed that the behaviors of effective leaders differ from those of less effective leaders and that the behaviors of effective leaders would be the same across all situations.

Behavioral approaches to leadership included the Michigan studies, Ohio State studies, and the Leadership Grids.

Behavioral LeadershipBehavioral LeadershipTheThe Michigan StudiesMichigan Studies

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Conducted at the University of Michigan under Rensis Likert

Identified two basic forms of leader behavior:

job-centered leader behavior: the leader pays close attention to the work of subordinates, explains work procedures, and is concerned primarily with the efficient completion of the task.

Employee-centered leader behavior: the leader attempts to develop a cohesive work group and ensure that employees are basically satisfied with their jobs. The leader’s main concern is subordinates’ well-being.

Behavioral LeadershipBehavioral LeadershipTheThe Ohio StudiesOhio Studies

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Two major forms of leadership behavior were identified:

Consideration behavior: the leader expresses concern for subordinates’ feelings and respect for their ideas. The leader-subordinate relationship is characterized by

mutual trust, respect, and two-way communication.

Initiating-structure behavior: the leader defines the leader-subordinate roles so that subordinates know what is expected of them. The leader also establishes channels of communication

and determines the methods for accomplishing the group’s task.

A leader can exhibit high initiating structure and low consideration or low initiating structure and high consideration, as well as high or low levels of each behavior simultaneously.

Behavioral LeadershipBehavioral LeadershipTheThe Leadership GridsLeadership Grids

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Developed by Robert R. Blake and Jane Srygley Mouton

The grid consists of two dimensions:

Concern for production is parallel to the job-centered and initiating-structure behaviors. A leader’s concern for production is rated along a nine-point scale, where 9 represents high concern and 1 indicates low concern.

Concern for people is similar to employee-centered and consideration behaviors and also is rated along a nine-point scale (9 for high concern and 1 for low concern).

The most effective leader has a high concern for both people and production—the 9,9 position on the grid.

The Leadership GridThe Leadership Grid

5,5

1,9C

on

cern

fo

r P

eop

le9,9

9,11,1

Concern for Task

CountryClub

TeamManagement

Minimalist Management

Middle-of-theRoadManagement

TaskManagement

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Contingency Theory of LeadershipContingency Theory of Leadership

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Three important notions of contingency theory There is no a best way to lead The success of the leader is a function of various

contingencies in the form of subordinate, task, and/or group variables

Using different styles of leadership appropriate to the needs created by different organizational situations

Included Fiedler’s contingency theory, Hersey & Blanchard’s situational theory, and Vroom and Yetton’s decision participation contingency theory (the Normative decision theory).

Contingency Theory of LeadershipContingency Theory of Leadership Fiedler’s contingency theory

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Developed by Fred Fiedler in 1967, the contingency theory considers both the personality of the leader and the complexities of the situation.

The theory contends that a leader’s effectiveness depends on the situation; specifically that leadership effectiveness depends on the match between the leader’s personality and the situation.

Fiedler called the leader’s basic personality trait “task versus task versus relationship motivationrelationship motivation,” and described the situation in terms of favorablenessfavorableness for the leader, ranging from highly favorable to highly unfavorable.

Contingency Theory of LeadershipContingency Theory of Leadership Fiedler’s contingency theory

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Task Versus Relationship MotivationTask Versus Relationship Motivation. Task motivation parallels job-centered and initiating-structure leader behavior; relationship motivation is similar to employee-centered and consideration leader behavior.

The degree of task or relationship motivation is measured by the least preferred coworker scale (LPC).least preferred coworker scale (LPC). Respondents (leaders) are asked to describe their least preferred coworker by marking a series of sixteen scales anchored to each end by a positive or negative quality. Fiedler assumed that respondents’ descriptions say more about the respondent than about the LPC.

Respondents who describe their least preferred coworker in consistently positive terms receive a high LPC score and are presumed to be more concerned with interpersonal relations.

Respondents who describe their least preferred coworker in consistently negative terms receive a low LPC score and are presumed to be more concerned with task-relevant problems.

Contingency Theory of LeadershipContingency Theory of Leadership Fiedler’s contingency theory

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Situational FavorablenessSituational Favorableness. Fiedler defined three factors that determine a situation’s favorableness:

Leader-member relations concern the degree to which subordinates trust, respect, and have confidence in the leader, and vice versa. If these factors are high, leader-member relations are defined as good; if they are minimal, leader-member relations are considered poor.

Task structure has four components: goal-path multiplicity, decision verifiability, decision specificity, and goal clarity. Tasks that have low multiplicity and high verifiability, specificity, and clarity are considered structured and favorable, because the leader need not be closely involved in defining activities. Tasks with high multiplicity and low verifiability, specificity, and clarity are considered unstructured and unfavorable, because the leader must play a major role in directing subordinates’ activities.

Leader position power is the power inherent in the leader’s role itself. High position power is considered favorable and low position power unfavorable.

Contingency Theory of LeadershipContingency Theory of Leadership Fiedler’s contingency theory

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Situational FavorablenessSituational Favorableness Leader Motivation and Situational Favorableness. The various

combinations of position power, task structure, and leader-member relations result in eight types of situations, which vary in their degree of favorableness. Fiedler’s theory indicates that a task-oriented leader is appropriate for very favorable as well as very unfavorable situations. For situations of intermediate favorableness, a relationship-oriented leader would be most conducive to high group performance.

Leader-Situation Match. A mismatch occurs if a relationship-oriented leader encounters a very favorable or very unfavorable situation or a task-oriented leader faces a situation of intermediate favorableness. Fiedler argues that because leadership behavior is a personality trait, the leader cannot adapt to the situation and achieve group effectiveness as the model predicts; Fiedler contends the only alternative is to change the situation through “job engineering.”

Findings of the Fiedler ModelFindings of the Fiedler Model

Category

Leader-MemberRelations

Task Structure

Position Power

I II III IV V VI VII VIII

Good Good Good Good Poor Poor Poor Poor

High High Low Low High High Low Low

Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak

Favourable UnfavourableModerate

Good

Poor

Per

form

ance

RelationshipOriented

TaskOriented

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Contingency Theory of LeadershipContingency Theory of Leadership Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational theory

Based on Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid, Hersey and Blanchard conceived Situational theorySituational theory appropriate leadership style is contingent on the followers’

readiness readinessreadiness - extent to which people have the ability and

willingness to accomplish a specific task reflects the reality that it is followers who accept or reject the

leader based on two leadership dimensions

task behaviorstask behaviors relationship behaviorsrelationship behaviors

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Contingency Theory of LeadershipContingency Theory of Leadership Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational theory

Situational Leadership Theory Four leadership styles defined by the two dimensions

TellingTelling - leader defines roles and tells people how to do their jobs

SellingSelling - leader is both directive and supportive ParticipatingParticipating - leader and follower make decisions DelegatingDelegating - leader provides little direction or

support Tests of the theory have yielded disappointing results

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Hersey and Blanchard’s Situation LeadershipHersey and Blanchard’s Situation Leadership

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Vroom’s Decision Tree Approach to Vroom’s Decision Tree Approach to

LeadershipLeadership

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Proposed by Victor Vroom and Philip Yetton in 1973 Focuses on a single aspect of leader behavior: subordinate

participation in decision making. Assumes that the degree to which subordinates should be

encouraged to participate in decision making depends on the characteristics of the situation. The situational characteristics of interest are characteristics of

the problem or problem attributes. After evaluating each problem attribute, the leader can determine an appropriate decision style.

Takes the form of a decision tree. The decision maker begins at the left-hand side of the tree and

responds to the problem attributes. Answers to the problem attributes determine the path followed in the model. At the end of the path, the manager identifies an effective decision-making style for the situation.

The Path-Goal Theory of LeadershipThe Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

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Developed in the 1970s by Martin Evans and Robert House

focused on the situationthe situation and leader behaviorsleader behaviors

Allowed for the possibility of adapting leadership to the situation

Rooted in the expectancy theory of motivation

subordinates are motivated by the leader to the extent that leader behavior influences their expectancies.

the leader affects subordinates’ performance by clarifying the behaviors (paths) that lead to desired rewards (goals). When the rewards are contingent on effective performance, the cycle is completed.

House’s Path-Goal TheoryHouse’s Path-Goal Theory

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Two types of situational factors influence the relationship between leader behavior and subordinate satisfaction: subordinates’ subordinates’ personal characteristicspersonal characteristics and the environment’s characteristicsthe environment’s characteristics

Important personal characteristics of subordinates include locus of control and perceived ability.

Individuals who attribute outcomes to their own behavior may be more satisfied with a participative leader, whereas those who attribute outcomes to external causes may respond more favorably to a directive leader (locus of control).

Employees who rate their own ability relatively high are less likely to accept directive leadership (perceived ability).

The Path-Goal Theory of LeadershipThe Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

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Two types of situational factors influence the relationship between leader behavior and subordinate satisfaction: subordinates’ subordinates’ personal characteristicspersonal characteristics and the environment’s characteristicsthe environment’s characteristics

Important environmental characteristics are task structure, the formal authority system, and the primary work group.

The theory proposes that leader behavior will be motivational if it helps subordinates cope with the environmental uncertainty created by these factors.

The extent to which leader behavior matches personal and environmental characteristics is presumed to influence subordinates’ motivation to perform

The Path-Goal Theory of LeadershipThe Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

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Identifies four leader behaviors Directive leadership:Directive leadership: the leader lets subordinates know what is

expected of them, gives specific guidance about how to accomplish tasks, schedules work to be done, and maintains definitive standards of performance.

Supportive leadership:Supportive leadership: a leader who is friendly and shows concern for the status, well-being, and needs of subordinates.

Participative leadership:Participative leadership: the leader consults with subordinates about issues and considers their suggestions before making a decision.

Achievement-oriented leadership:Achievement-oriented leadership: the leader sets challenging goals, expects subordinates to perform at their highest level, and shows a high degree of confidence that subordinates will exert effort and accomplish the goals.

Path-Goal TheoryPath-Goal Theory

Environmental

Contingency Factors

• Task Structure• Formal Authority System• Work Group

Leader Behavior • Directive

• Supportive• Participative• Achievement oriented

Outcomes • Performance

• Satisfaction

SubordinateContingency Factors

• Locus of Control • Experience• Perceived Ability

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Transactional LeadershipTransactional Leadership

Developed in the 1980s by Burn Contingent reward: Contract exchange of rewards for

good performance, recognizes accomplishments Management by Exception (Active): Watches &

searches for deviations from rules, standards, takes corrective action

Management by Exception (Passive): Intervenes only if standards are not met

Laissez-Faire: Abdicates responsibilities, avoids making decisions

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Transformational LeadershipTransformational Leadership

Developed in the 1980s by Bass Idealized influence (charisma): Provides vision and

sense of mission, instills pride, gains respect and trust Inspirational motivation: Communicates high

expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts, expresses important purposes in simple ways

Intellectual stimulation: Promotes intelligence, rationality and careful problem-solving

Individualized consideration: Gives personal attention, treats each employee individually, coaches, advises

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References References

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Hellriegel, D., & Slocum, J. W, Jr. (2009). BUS520: Organizational

behavior: 2010 custom edition (12th ed.). Mason, OH: South-

Western Cengage Learning.

Griffin, R.W., & Moorhead, G. (2007). Organizational behavior:

Managing people and organizations (8th ed.). New York:

Houghton Mifflin/ Cengage Learning.