Managerial Grid Model
The Ohio studies led to two dimensions of leadership behavior-concern for tasks and
concern for relations. Almost in the same style, the Michigan University studies made
the distinction between job-centered and production- centered leaders. Blake and
Mouton rated these concepts in a framework called the Managerial Grid. They
interpreted the concepts in a broad way. Blake and Mouton have used “Concern for
Production” and “Concern for People’” in their Managerial Grid on horizontal and
vertical axes respectively. Managers may be concerned for their people and they also
must also have some concern for the work to be done. The question is, how much
attention do they pay to one or the other? This is a model defined by Blake and
Mouton in the early 1960s.It included
Impoverished management
Authority-compliance
Country Club management
Middle of the road management
Team management
Leadership Grid
The Managerial Grid was the original name; the modifications were made by Robert
R Blake and Anne Adams McCanse. After the modifications it was named as
Leadership Grid.
1. The impoverished style (1, 1). The indifferent Leader (Evade & Elude)
In this style, managers have low concern for both people and production. Managers
use this style to avoid getting into trouble. The main concern for the manager is not to
be held responsible for any mistakes, which results in less innovative decisions. A
leader uses a “delegate and disappear” management style. Since they are not
committed to either task accomplishment or maintenance; they essentially allow their
team to do whatever it wishes and prefer to detach themselves from the team process
by allowing the team to suffer from a series of power struggles.
2. The country club style (1, 9). The accommodating Leader (Yield & Comply)
This style has a high concern for people and a low concern for production. Managers
using this style pay much attention to the security and comfort of the employees, in
hopes that this would increase performance. The resulting atmosphere is usually
friendly, but not necessarily that productive.
This person uses predominantly reward power to maintain discipline and to encourage
the team to accomplish its goals. Conversely, they are almost incapable of employing
the more punitive coercive and legitimate powers. This inability results from fear that
using such powers could jeopardize relationships with the other team members.
3. The produce or perish style (9, 1). The Controlling Leader (Direct &
Dominate)
This believes in the authority-obedience. With a high concern for production, and a
low concern for people, managers using this style find employee needs unimportant;
they provide their employees with money and expect performance back. Managers
using this style also pressure their employees through rules and punishments to
achieve the company goals. This dictatorial style is based on Theory X of Douglas
McGregor, and is commonly applied by companies on the edge of real or perceived
failure. This is used in case of crisis management.
People who get this rating are very much task-oriented and are hard on their workers
(autocratic). There is little or no allowance for co-operation or collaboration. Heavily
task-oriented people display these characteristics: they are very strong on schedules;
they expect people to do what they are told without question or debate; when
something goes wrong they tend to focus on who is to blame rather than concentrate
on exactly what is wrong and how to prevent it; they are intolerant of what they see as
dissent (it may just be someone’s creativity), so it is difficult for their subordinates to
contribute or develop.
4. The middle-of-the-road style (5, 5). The Status – Quo Leader. (Balance &
Compromise)
It is Organization – Man management approach, which believes that the adequate
organization performance is possible through balancing the necessity to get out work
with maintaining morale of people at satisfactory level. Managers using this style try
to balance between company goals and workers’ needs. By giving some concern to
both people and production, managers who use this style hope to achieve acceptable
performance.
5. The team style (9, 9). The Sound / Team Leader (Contribute & Commit)
This is based on the aspect that work accomplishment is from committed people;
interdependence through a common stake in the organization purpose leads to
relationships of trust and respect. In this style, high concern is paid both to people and
production. As suggested by the propositions of Theory Y, managers choosing to use
this style encourage teamwork and commitment among employees. This method
relies heavily on making employees feel as a constructive part of the company.
This type of person leads by positive example and endeavours to foster a team
environment in which all team members can reach their highest potential, both as
team members and as people. They encourage the team to reach team goals as
effectively as possible, while also working tirelessly to strengthen the bonds among
the various members. They normally form and lead some of the most productive
teams.
Credit: Management Principles-MGU MBA