Raunak Chawla
BOH4M0: BUSINESS LEADERSHIP - MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS
FINAL EVALUATION
This final evaluation component of this course is to be completed in class during remaining BOH4M
classes.
Due Date. NO LATER THAN END OF SCHOOL DAY Wed. Jan. 25, 2023
Working alone, after reading the “MacGregor” case and using your in-depth knowledge and application of
Business Leadership and Management theory, your analysis of all available facts and information provided
in the case, as well as any inferences that you may have drawn, please answer the questions posed in the
three tasks below.
All responses should be in essay form using complete sentences and paragraph structure (no point form is
acceptable). Furthermore, all responses need to be in your own words (no copying and pasting directly
from course notes).
TASK #1 (25 marks)
Analyze MacGregor’s effectiveness as a leader in terms of Fiedler’s Contingency Leadership Theory.
(Found in Unit 4 Chapter 11 note)
Is he the right leader in place at this refinery given his preferred leadership style and the situational
variables presented in this case?
In your response, be sure to prove your thorough knowledge of key case facts and understanding of
Fiedler’s Contingency Leadership Theory, and to provide adequately detailed justification for your
determination.
It will be extremely helpful to apply Fiedler's theory of contingency leadership in order to determine
whether or not MacGregor is the sort of manager who is suitable for his role. The Fiedler contingency
theory was developed by a well-known psychologist by the name of Fred Fiedler. Based on his study, Fred
Fiedler produced a number of theories, including "A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness," and he is credited
as the theory's originator. According to his contingency theory, which is presented in his book, in order for a
manager to be successful in their work, they need to exhibit the proper leadership style in addition to the
necessary degree of situational control. The Least Preferred Coworker measure (LPC), which analyzes
whether a leader shows behaviour that is task or relationship oriented, this may be used to judge a leader's
leadership style, in accordance with the notion put forward by Fiedler. If the subject has a high score, then it
is relationship-based motivation, but if the subject has a low score, then it is task-oriented motivation.
According to Fiedler, the personality of a leader determines whether they are relationship-oriented or
task-oriented.
How much control a potential leader would have over a problem is the single most essential factor in
determining the kind of leader that would be required to handle the issue. The amount of situational control
that the leadership will have throughout the scenario may be predicted based on three factors: the quality of
interactions between the leader and the members of the group, the degree of task organization, and the
power of the position. Indicators of a leader's capacity to reward or punish followers include the degree of
job structure, the clarity with which tasks and instructions are presented, and the amount of position power
that is available. The degree to which the members of the group back the leader may be gauged by the
quality of their interactions with the leader.
The chart is broken down into three distinct situations, each of which has nine tiers. Each level on the chart
represents a different degree of power, task organization, and interaction between leaders and members of
the group. A leader who is driven by connections is the best person to manage a scenario with moderate
control. This may be the case, for example, if there is a strong leader-member relationship, a low task
structure, and a weaker position power in the scenario to be managed. According to Fiedler's theory,
relationship-oriented leaders do better than task-oriented leaders in settings with intermediate control, but
task-oriented leaders perform better in circumstances with high control or low control.
The topic of MacGregor's management style was first brought up by Mr. Carlisle in his initial conversation
with MacGregor. Throughout the course of this interview, we come to understand that the only time
MacGregor engages with or has any kind of influence over his employees is at a weekly meeting that lasts
for two hours on Thursdays. When Mr. Carlisle starts his interview with the oil plant managers, we get an
even greater understanding of how MacGregor really treats his people and how his leadership style delivers
the results. Johnson and Peterson were the topic of Mr. Carlisle's interviews, and we also learned that the
staff members believe MacGregor is extremely unique in terms of both his demeanour and his management
style. Both of these pieces of information are new to us. In addition to this, Mr. Carlisle finds out that a lot
of individuals apply for any open employment at the oil refinery owned by Mr. MacGregor.
In order to make effective use of Fiedler's contingency model, it is necessary for us to determine where
MacGregor stands on the scale of least-preferred colleagues. MacGregor's colleagues claim that he was an
exceptionally lenient supervisor who gave his staff the freedom to make their own decisions and do
anything they pleased on the job. There was nothing about MacGregor or his managerial style that was
especially encouraging or discouraging, and as a result, none of the employees felt very strongly about the
situation. In light of these descriptions, MacGregor is shown as a task-motivated manager who is devoid of
any positive or negative management characteristics, and this is in accordance with his viewpoint on the
organizational structure.
It is also vital to assess the management environment in which MacGregor now finds himself in order to
determine what kind of leader would be the best fit for the role he currently holds. Consider first the degree
of closeness that exists between the group's leader and its members. Because the managers are required to
support the leader's final decision no matter what the circumstances are, the leader and the managers have a
good working relationship. Since the manager in this function is responsible for establishing and supervising
the goals, policies, and guidelines for their subordinates but is not immediately given with any form of clear
framework, the level of task orientation would therefore be scored as low, resulting in a poor rating. As a
consequence of this, the person who serves as the leader in this context is the head manager. This individual
is accountable for monitoring all of the developments and problems that the company's deputy managers are
facing, as well as ensuring that these individuals meet all of their goals and deadlines. The three control
variables point to the fact that this problem is in category three, which is a high-control situation that is best
managed by a task-motivated leader like MacGregor, who has demonstrated himself to be.
By using Fiedler's theory, we have shown that MacGregor has the appropriate leadership style for the role he
now occupies. It was determined through the use of the Best Fit Manager chart and the determination of the
three factors in the amount of authority given to the leader in this situation that MacGregor is the best fit
leader for this high control situation. The least preferred coworker scale indicated that MacGregor is a
task-oriented leader because of his neutrality toward his subordinates. Additionally, it was discovered that
MacGregor is the best fit leader for this high control situation.
TASK #2 & TASK #3 (55 marks)
Analyze MacGregor’s use of motivation in his leadership efforts in terms of:
TASK #2 - Vroom’s Expectancy Theory (25 marks), and
TASK #3 - Skinner’s Operant Conditioning Theory (30 marks)
(Both found in in Unit 4 Chapter 14 note)
Is there or is there not a motivation issue amongst his subordinates?
In both your responses, be sure to prove your thorough knowledge of key case facts and understanding of
Vroom’s Expectancy Theory as well as Skinner’s Operant Conditioning Theory, and to provide
adequately detailed justification for your determination.
When Mr. Carlisle first meets MacGregor, he finds his management style to be peculiar since it is so unique.
However, based on the extra two interviews Mr. Carlisle did with two of MacGregor's workers, the
management team seems to be driven despite his unique management style. It will be necessary to precisely
demonstrate and pinpoint if there is a motivation problem among MacGregor and his subordinates using the
Expectancy theory and operant training. The expectation theory was created by Yale's business school
professor Victor Vroom. According to Vroom's expectancy theory, valence, instrumentality, and anticipation
are the three key factors that affect motivation. Expectancy is the belief of the employee that their dedicated
efforts will ultimately result in excellent performance. The belief that labour will be valued and rewarded
correctly is the notion of instrumentality. Value is the weight that a person gives to the advantages and
outcomes of their labour. Using these three motivational components, Vroom created a technique to
determine how motivated workers are: Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence = motivation. Because he
believed that if any of these three factors were compromised, the motivation as a whole would suffer,
Vroom created techniques and behaviours to maximise each of these three factors. In order to increase
Expectancy, managers must ensure that workers have enough faith in their abilities to be capable of giving
their best effort. To accomplish this, the manager must ensure that whenever they assign tasks to the staff,
they lean toward their own ability to complete them, that they train the staff to have the necessary skills to
complete their tasks, that they ensure the staff feels properly appreciated and recognised for their efforts,
and that the goal assigned to the staff is in fact very evident about what level of accomplishment they must
achieve. To ensure that the workers have a clear understanding of what rewards and results will be given to
them based on their performance accomplishments, the manager must communicate with the staff, inform
them clearly about what outcomes and rewards are given based on their performance, and clearly state
which performance outcomes result in which rewards and outcomes. The manager must first determine
Valence's specific requirements in order to determine what Valence could be most attracted to as a reward
and what Valence is most shocked by as a terrible consequence. This is done to ensure that Valence thinks
that the rewards and implications have worth. The manager must then modify Valence's incentives and
results to reflect her requirements and desires. Because of MacGregor's unique management style, his
employees encounter a unique environment and state of mind that inspires them to work harder and generate
the best outcomes. The expectations of MacGregor's subordinates are pretty high given how they see the
results of their work. By letting the managers experience the whole range of success and failure in their
decision-making and problem-solving abilities, MacGregor provides the managers with the flexibility to
make their own decisions in this work environment. The managers have come to understand that their own
hard effort produces the greatest outcomes as a consequence. On Thursdays, someone occupies the position
of the managers' instrument. They have a meeting every Thursday from 10 am to 12 pm, and the "Thursday
person," who is picked by MacGregor, runs it. The possibility to get the knowledge they need to be ready to
manage and run their own refinery draws the managers to the position of the "Thursday person." Employees
place a substantial amount of significance on being recognised for being the "Thursday person." It is
revealed during an interview between Mr. Carlisle and one of MacGregor's subordinates named Johnson that
the title of "Thursday person" is highly desired by the subordinates, and they all work extremely hard to try
to complete their own work to the best of their abilities as well as to help the other supervisors in order to
earn it. Based on MacGregor's management style, the three criteria have already been satisfied, and he has
done a remarkable job of ensuring that these three variables are maximised to ensure that the staff are driven
to the greatest degree possible. In order to maximise this variable, according to expectancy Vroom, you
must ensure that employees are selected for specific tasks based on skill, that they receive training to have
the best aptitude for those tasks, that the manager supports the employees' efforts, and that the manager is
clear about all performance expectations. MacGregor satisfies these requirements by appointing the
managers to their positions, leaving them to their own devices, and mandating that they consult one another
for help with any and all of their issues in order to properly allow the managers to develop on their own and
promote cooperation between one another. Peterson and Mr. Carlisle's conversation makes it plain that
MacGregor supports their efforts as a "Thursday person," which is another way in which he aids their job.
Valence MacGregor fulfils her responsibility to make sure that the managers find value in the incentive
presented to them by taking advantage of the opportunity that the "Thursday person" job provides. The
"Thursday person" is in charge of stepping into the job of top manager when MacGregor is out of the office
or unavailable for the weekly Thursday meeting. The managers have left and obtained their own roles as
managers in charge at other oil refineries, giving the "Thursday guy" the opportunity to test out the job and
acquire experience as a head manager. Vroom's theory is that MacGregor doesn't seem to be having any
motivational problems in his job. Another theory that might be utilised to determine the amount of
motivation that MacGregor's subordinates feel is the Operant Conditioning Theory by B.F. Skinner.
According to psychologist Skinner, adopting operant conditioning to modify behaviour via the use of reward
and punishment may result in the maximum degree of motivation. Punishment, extinction, positive and
negative reinforcement are the four fundamental forms of reinforcement, according to the operant
conditioning theory. Positive reinforcement seeks to increase the frequency of a desirable behaviour by
employing rewards and punishments when it occurs. Negative reinforcement is the process of increasing the
frequency of positive behaviour by removing a negative consequence. Punishment lowers the frequency of
undesirable behaviour by imposing an unpleasant outcome. Extinction is the decline in undesired behaviour
brought on by the loss of a favourable consequence. Using positive reinforcement should be a manager's
go-to strategy, according to Skinner. Skinner also created four guidelines for how operant conditioning
should be used. The law of contingent reinforcement, which states that a reward must only be given in
response to the intended behaviour, is in fact the first rule. The second rule is referred to as the rule of
immediate reinforcement, which indicates that the quicker a reward is given out, the more confidence it will
provide. The timing of praise and encouragement is the third principle, and there are two ways to put it into
practise: either by using an intermittent reinforcement schedule, in which rewards are only given
occasionally, or by using a continuous reinforcement schedule, in which rewards are given whenever the
desired behaviour is displayed, thereby increasing the frequency of that behaviour. The fourth and final
principle in dealing with successive approximations is shaping, which is the use of positive reinforcement to
the formation of new behaviour. In order for positive thinking to be successful, according to Skinner, the
manager must: make sure that the desired work behaviours are clearly defined; make sure that rewards are
distributed in a variety of ways; provide explicit guidance on what must be done in order for benefits to be
given; and make sure that rewards are tailored to the recipient in order to make a more lasting impression. In
order to reinforce behaviour, Skinner also set guidelines for punishing offenders. These guidelines include
punishing the offender in secret, abiding by the norms of temporary reinforcement, and making sure the
offender understands why their behaviour is inappropriate and if any of it is suitable. MacGregor uses the
"Thursday person" position most often while using the praise and encouragement reinforcement strategies
out of the four. In order to increase the amount of desired behaviour, MacGregor employs the "Thursday
person" role for his subordinates as an example of positive reinforcement, which is the act of showing a
reward to encourage staff to try to earn the bonus. The "Thursday person" position provided the attainer
with refinery management expertise, which they subsequently used to start running their own refinery.
MacGregor never mentions using negative reinforcement in the case study. The goal of employing
derogatory language is to break through any barriers that the subordinates may be facing or feeling
discouraged by. By leaving his team to solve any problems on their own, either using their own judgement
or with the help of another manager, MacGregor does not lower this barrier for them. MacGregor uses a
punishing strategy to deal with his personnel when a problem arises. The case study's interview with
Johnson reveals that when Johnson first began working for the firm and asked MacGregor for assistance
with an issue he was facing, MacGregor at first declined and was visibly angered by Johnson's request.
Later, Johnson requested MacGregor to help him fix the problem. When MacGregor agreed, he cautioned
Johnson not to seek help again since doing so would result in a punishment from his employer. MacGregor
employs the function of the "Thursday person" in order to carry out the extinction plan. By removing a
reward, the extinction technique works to decrease the frequency of undesirable behaviour. The person who
assists their own the most with problems they are unable to manage on their own is described in the case
study as the "Thursday person." Anyone who needed assistance in making a choice must thank all the
people who aided them in order to be eligible for the title. Therefore, the "Thursday person" role might vary
based on what MacGregor learns from his staff and if the current "Thursday person" is still displaying the
desired behaviour of being ready to assist others with their problems. The person who lost this position will
thus be more motivated to help others as a consequence of having it moved to someone else, which will
lessen their negative behaviour. MacGregor follows the rules of both immediate and intermittent
reinforcement since he designed an incentive that can only be given to those who exhibit a considerable
amount of the desired behaviour. He also has a weekly schedule to ensure that rewards are distributed
correctly. MacGregor meets with the managers of his subordinates every Thursday at noon, showing that he
gets weekly briefings on whether or not to give his staff rewards. MacGregor demonstrates that he uses the
timing style of an intermittent reinforcement plan by scheduling weekly meetings. He achieves this by
delaying the decision to promote a subordinate based on evidence of the required behaviour until the
Thursday meetings rather than immediately rewarding them. When hiring new managers, MacGregor uses
the shaping technique by being clear about his stance on not helping them with their problems and
recommending them to seek assistance from their peers. Since MacGregor is very direct from the beginning
of the manager's job working there, he abides by the rules for positive reinforcement. He wants to see that
they are able to manage their own work and are able to help others if they are facing a challenge. The
reward itself is fairly varied because it gives the "Thursday person" the opportunity to observe the
unpredictable nature of having to be the head manager of an oil refinery. He also lets the subordinates know
in advance about the incentive. Since Skinner's operant conditioning was trivially applied to MacGregor, I
believe he has created a work environment that encourages his managers to collaborate in the hopes of
obtaining the chance to advance their careers, which is viewed as a very valuable reward by his
subordinates. As a result, he has no motivational issues with his staff.
COMMUNICATION OF RESPONSES (20 marks)
Marks will also be awarded for the level of communication of your responses, specifically, for writing
ability and effectiveness, clarity, and the use of proper writing conventions (sentence and paragraph
structure, punctuation, spelling, grammar etc.).
Rubric follows
BOH4M0: BUSINESS LEADERSHIP - MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS
FINAL EVALUATION RUBRIC
/100 MARKS
NAME OF STUDENT: Raunak Chawla
Knowledge/Understanding of Business Leadership Concepts (25 Marks)
Product
Level of knowledge and understanding of Fiedler’s Contingency Leadership theory, and Vroom’s
Expectancy/Skinner’s Operant Conditioning theories of motivation
(Level 0) 0-49%
0-12.4
(Level 1) 50-59%
12.5-14.9
(Level 2) 60-69%
15-17.4
Lacks the ability
to demonstrate
knowledge and
understanding of
theories
Demonstrates
limited knowledge
and understanding
of theories
Demonstrates
satisfactory
knowledge and
understanding of
theories
(Level 3)
70-79%
17.5-19.9
Demonstrates
good to very
good knowledge
and
understanding of
theories
(Level 4)
80-100%
20-25
Demonstrates
excellent to
masterful
understanding and
knowledge of
theories
Application of Business Leadership Concepts (30 Marks)
Observation
Level of application of Fiedler’s Contingency Leadership theory, and Vroom’s Expectancy/Skinner’s
Operant Conditioning theories of motivation to the case study
(Level 0) 0-49%
0-14.9
(Level 1) 50-59%
15-17.9
(Level 2) 60-69%
18-20.9
Lacks the ability
to transfer
knowledge to new
contexts and make
connections
within and
between various
contexts
Transfers
knowledge to new
contexts and makes
connections within
and between
various contexts
with limited
effectiveness
Transfers knowledge
to new contexts and
makes connections
within and between
various contexts
with some
effectiveness
(Level 3)
70-79%
21-23.9
Transfers
knowledge to
new contexts and
makes
connections
within and
between various
contexts with
considerable
effectiveness
(Level 4)
80-100%
24-30
Transfers
knowledge to new
contexts and
makes
connections
within and
between various
contexts with a
high degree of
effectiveness
Thinking of Business Leadership Concepts (25 Marks)
Observation
Level of thinking applied when discerning key case facts, making inferences, and linking Fiedler’s Contingency
Leadership theory, and Vroom’s Expectancy/Skinner’s Operant Conditioning theories of motivation to case study
(Level 0) 0-49%
0-12.4
(Level 1) 50-59%
12.5-14.9
(Level 2) 60-69%
15-17.4
Lacks the ability
to demonstrate
the use planning
skills, processing
skills, and
critical/creative
thinking processes
Uses planning skills,
processing skills,
and critical/creative
thinking processes
with limited
effectiveness
Satisfactory level of
planning skills,
processing skills, and
critical/creative
thinking processes
demonstrated
(Level 3)
70-79%
17.5-19.9
Good to very
good level of
planning skills,
processing skills,
and
critical/creative
thinking
processes
demonstrated
(Level 4)
80-100%
20-25
Excellent to
masterful level of
planning skills,
processing skills,
and
critical/creative
thinking processes
demonstrated
Communication of Business Leadership Concepts (20 Marks)
Product
Level of communication of Fiedler’s Contingency Leadership theory, and Vroom’s Expectancy/Skinner’s Operant
Conditioning theories of motivation to the case study
(Level 0) 0-49%
0-9.9
(Level 1) 50-59%
10-11.9
(Level 2) 60-69%
12-13.9
Lacks the ability
to communicate
information and
ideas with
effectiveness and
clarity
Communicates
information and
ideas with limited
effectiveness and
clarity
Communicates
information and
ideas with some
effectiveness and
clarity
(Level 3)
70-79%
14-15.9
Communicates
information and
ideas with
considerable
effectiveness and
clarity
(Level 4)
80-100%
16-20
Communicates
information and ideas
with a high degree of
effectiveness and
clarity