Organizational Behaviour
Social Behaviour
Leadership
Defining Leadership
• The use of influence to achieve goals
The trait perspective of leadership
–
The Great Man approach
• Traits = distinguishing personal characteristics that are
generally not mutable (changeable)
– Weak but consistent support for a variety of leadership
traits
Self-confidence
Honesty/Integrity
Energy
Need for
achievement
Intelligence
Dominance
Emotional stability
Motivation to lead
Ohio State studies of
leadership
• Two key dimensions were related to
leadership
– Consideration – the extent to which the leader
is approachable and shows personal concern
for subordinates
and
– Initiating structure – the extent to which the
leader is task oriented and directs the group
toward goal attainment
Situational approaches:
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
• Leader motivation
– Relationship oriented - high LPC
score
– Task oriented - low LPC score
Situational approaches:
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
• Situational conditions
– Leader-member relations – favourable when
there is support, trust, and cooperation
– Task structure – favourable when there is high
task structure: clear goals, procedures, and
objective measures of performance
– Position power – favourable when supported
by the organization hierarchy
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
Favourableness
Leader-member
relations
High
Low
Good
Poor
Task structure
Structured
Unstructured
Structured
Unstructured
Position power
Effective leader
orientation
Strong
Weak
Strong
Weak
Strong
Weak
Strong
Weak
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
Task
Relationship
Task
Situational approaches:
Path-Goal Theory
•
Leader behaviour types
1. Directive behaviour – schedules work,
sets performance standards, gives
direction
2. Supportive behaviour – friendly,
approachable, expresses concern
3. Participative behaviour – uses
consultative processes, shares work
problems, considers suggestions
4. Achievement oriented – demanding and
supportive, seeks continual improvement
Path-Goal Theory
• Subordinate characteristics
– Locus of control
– Self-confidence - subordinate perception of
their abilities – skills and experience
• Situational characteristics
– Task structure– clear and routine versus
challenging and ambiguous
– Team dynamics - work group norms and
influence
Situational approaches:
Participative Models
• Purpose:
– To motivate – increases enrichment and
autonomy
– To create quality – adds more information
into the problem solving
– To increase acceptance of the decision – in
issues of fairness or change
Participative Models
• Downsides
– Time and energy – involves a slower
process and less experienced participants
– Lack or receptivity or knowledge – not
everyone is interested or skilled enough
– Organizational climate or leader attributes
– the organization or leader may not be
predisposed to use participatory methods
Situational Leadership Theory
• Leader behaviour types
– Task behaviour – spells out responsibilities and tells
people what to do (like initiating structure)
– Relationship behaviour – listening, giving social
emotional support (like consideration)
• Follower maturity/ task readiness
– Job maturity – task relevant knowledge, experience, and
skill
– Psychological maturity – self-confidence, commitment,
and motivation
Situational Leadership Theory
•
Four leadership styles:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Telling – very directive, giving explicit direction (high task,
low relationship behaviour)
Selling – leader provides direction, uses persuasion to
reduce resistance, may seek input (high task, high
relationship behaviour)
Participating (consulting) – focus on growth and
improvement through guidance, communication, and
opportunities for subordinate decision making (low task,
high relationship behaviour)
Delegating (join) – little direction or support, subordinates
assume responsibility and are believed to be fully capable
(low task, low relationship behaviour)
Contingency approach: Situational Leadership Theory
Relationship behaviors
Participating
(Lo T; Hi R)
Delegating
(Lo T; Lo R)
Selling
(Hi T; Hi R)
Telling
(Hi T; Lo R)
Task behaviors
High follower M4 -Able
and willing
maturity
M3 - Able
M2 –
but unwilling Unable but
or insecure willing
M1 –Unable
and
unwilling or
insecure
Low follower
maturity
Situational Approaches:
Participative Leadership
• Three key considerations:
1. Quality requirement – can the decision turn out
badly; are all options equal in quality
2. Commitment/Acceptance decision - will
employees be committed enough to the decision
to implement it properly
3. Time availability – how efficiently must the
decision be made
leader participation contingency variables
• QR Quality Requirement–is the technical quality of
this decision important
• LI Leader information – does the leader have
sufficient information to create a high quality decision
• ST Problem Structure – is the problem well
structured
• CR (AR) Commitment/Acceptance Requirement- is
subordinate commitment to the decision important
• CP (AP)
Commitment/Acceptance Probability – if
you made the decision yourself, is it reasonably
certain that subordinates would be committed to the
decision information
leader participation contingency
variables
• GC Goal Congruence – Do subordinates share the
organizational goals to be attained by solving this
problem
• CO Subordinate Conflict – Is conflict among
subordinates likely in the preferred solution
• SI Subordinate Information – Do subordinates have
sufficient information to make a high quality decision
leader participation
contingency variables
• Added considerations:
TC
Time Constraint – Is there a time
constraint that limits your ability to involve
subordinates
MD Motivation Development – Is it
important to maximize the opportunities for
subordinate development
Participative Leadership
• Issues:
– Not all subordinates are equally skilled or
interested
– Not all managers are equally skilled or
interested
– Not all organizational cultures support flexible
decision styles
Transactional Leaders
• Power is derived through the ability to
reward and punish
• Clear and define the pathway so that
followers know what is expected
• Take into consideration followers needs
Transformational leaders
• Influence comes from follower
acceptance of values and vision which
guide all decisions and behaviours
• Transformational Leaders:
– Intellectually stimulate followers
– Give individualized consideration
– Are charismatic
Neutralizers of leadership
People oriented
leadership
-Knowledgeable, experienced subordinates
-Subordinates with high need for independence
-”Professional” subordinates
-Subordinates indifferent to organizational rewards
-Subordinates doing routine or standardized work
-Task has built in feedback
-Task is intrinsically satisfying
-Organization is highly formalized (written rules)
-Work group is cohesive
-Rewards cannot be affected by the supervisor
-Large distance between supervisor and subordinate
x
x
x
Task oriented
leadership
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Does leadership make a
difference
• Leader irrelevance
– Situational importance
– The “romance of leadership”
• Attributing leadership
• Stereotyping leadership
• Need for situational control