100
80
Where?
How? When?
What?
Why?
2015
60
40
20
0
Who?
Management
Stefan Markowski
Leadership
Seeking competitive advantage
East
West
North
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
Detailed course schedule
The following table provides a list of lecture topics for each day of the course
Day no
Topic
Textbook ch.
1 (24 Nov; 2
hrs)
1. The nature and role of organisational
management. Roles and tasks of
organisational managers
Chs. 1-2
2 (25 Nov; 2
hrs)
2. Organisation and its environment
Chs. 3-5
3 (26 Nov; 2
hrs)
3. The process of organisational decision
making
Chs. 7, 9-10
4 (27 Nov; 2
hrs)
4. Organisational planning
Chs. 7-8
5 (28 Nov; 2
hrs)
5. Organising
Chs. 14-16
6 (1 Dec; 2
hrs)
6. Leadership
Chs. 17-20
7 (2 Dec; 2
hrs)
7. Monitoring and control
Chs. 11-13
8 (3 Dec; 1 hr)
8. Revision
9 (8 Dec; 2
hrs)
Examination
Topic 6: Leadership
Topic Contents
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Traits theory of leadership
6.3 Situational theory of leadership
6.4 Functional theory of leadership
6.5 Leadership styles
6.6 Leadership power and influence
6.7 Further reading
6.1 Introduction
• Leadership is often defined as a person’s ability
to influence others to behave in a way intended by
him/her (a leader) to achieve aims and objectives
set by the leader for its followers or for the
cumminity/organisation he/she is leading (after
Combe, 2014: 150)
• The ability to influence is critical: effective
leadership implies a following
• To be able to influence people and make them
follow, a leader must have a mix of persuasive,
motivational and inspirational traits of personality
• Leadership has long been studied and described
(re: from Alexander the Great, Julius Cesar, Attila
the Hun to Lady Thatcher – sometime described by
satirists as Attila the Hen – and Nelson Mandela)
6.1 Introduction
• There is a great diversity of traits of character
that make leaders, think of Genghis Khan vs
Henry Ford vs Martin Luther vs Napoleon
• Not all leadership is good for those led (re:
Hitler’s leadership of Germany or Stalin’s of the
Soviet Union)
• Leadership is also different from management –
it emphasizes the ability to project sense of
vision and mission (catholic Popes) or to
command (Napoleon) rather than ability to
administer
• But, leadership qualities in managers could
make it easier (e.g., charisma) or more difficult
to manage (e.g., big ego no ability to listen)
6.2 Traits theory of leadership
• This approach emphasizes a particular aspect
of personality that influences a person’s
behaviour in particular way (a trait), e.g.,
intelligence, willpower, charisma, courage
• Often these are believed to be innate qualities,
that one is born with, or qualities learned early
in life (the Jesuits’ “give me a child below the
age of seven and I shall give you the man”) or
acquired through superior, elite education (the
“sport fields of Eton” college, the French
ecoles, or universities such as the US Ivy
League or Oxbridge)
6.2 Traits theory of leadership
• Academics have been probing traits of
character such as intelligence, initiative, selfassurance, judgment, sensitivity to identify
combinations of characteristics that are best
predictors of people’s leadership roles (e.g.,
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: MBTI)
• Some business organisations have used MBTI to
identify candidates for fast tracking into
promotion (e.g., young leaders, high fliers, tall
poppies rather than hard working plodders)
• For example, introverted, highly intelligent
thinkers make good visionaries but extroverts
are more likely to succeed as leaders
6.2 Traits theory of leadership
• Five Factors Model has also been used to
classify peoples’ personalities
Personality type
Qualities
Extraversion
Gregarious, assertive, sociable
Agreeableness
Good-natured, cooperative, trusting
Conscientiousness
Responsible, dependable, persistent,
organised
Emotional stability
Positive: Calm, secure, self-confident
Negative: Nervous, depressed, insecure
Openness to new
experience
Imaginative, sensitive, curious
Source: Combe (2014), Table 5.1: 154
6.3 Situational theory of
leadership
• This approach (e.g., Hersey and Blanchard)
argues that circumstances and situations make
leaders as the innate or acquired traits of
character are only significant if the
circumstances are right
• In particular, the type of follower may influence
the type of leader required (e.g., followers could
be able and willing to be led or unable and
unwilling)
• The leadership style must match the type or
level of followership: “Leaders for followers” as
a variant of “horses for courses”
6.3 Situational theory of
leadership
• A variant of situational approach is the
contingency theory of leadership (Fred Fiedler)
• Leadership style is determined by the leader’s
innate qualities but his/her leadership behaviour
may change depending on circumstances
• The effectiveness of the organisation/group
depends on the degree of fit (the
favourableness of the situation) between the
leader’s style and the nature of circumstances
that may or may not make the leader effective
• Position power (seniority) makes the situation
more favourable (a general has more power)
6.3 Situational theory of
leadership
• Task structure is more favourable when tasks
assigned to the followers can be clearly defined
• Leader-follower relations are more favourable
when leader is liked and respected so there is
no need to project power or apply coercion
• Fiedler ranked the latter as the most important
factor and the position power as the least
important
• The effectiveness of transformational
leadership which champions radical change
depends to a large extend on the leaderfollower relationship
6.4 Functional theory of
leadership
• This approach emphasizes the facilitation
aspect of leadership
• Five functions of leadership:
– environmental monitoring
– organising subordinate activities
– teaching and coaching subordinates
– motivating
– intervening actively in the organisational business
• This interpretation of leadership is more
management style
6.5 Leadership styles
• Leadership styles in organisational settings
Style
Followership
Bureaucratic
Weberian bureaucracy (see topics 1 and 2)
Charismatic
Motivated by force or charm of personality
Autocratic
Responds to projected power and authority
Democratic
Needs to be consulted and to influence
decisions
Laissez-faire
Needs little direction or guidance
People-focused
Requires attention and top-down support
Task-driven
Needs to be goal-driven and motivated into
specific actions/campaigns
Servant leader
Requires facilitator and agent
Transactional
Needs to be negotiated with and responds to
negotiated deals
Transformational Needs to be inspired and mobilized
6.5 Leadership styles
• Example: Impact of leadership style
Style
Leader
Impact on followers
Authoritarian
drives decisionmaking top down
Productivity could be
high but output quality
low
Hostility, aggression,
discontent and fear
Democratic
consults and engages
the followers in
decision making
Productivity lower but
output quality high
Friendliness and group
orientation
Laissez-faire
(layback)
leaves the followers
to fend for
themselves
Productive and output
quality low
Anarchic
6.5 Leadership styles
• Likert’s system of management style (after
Combe, 2014, Table 5.4: 163)
System: Exploitative and Authoritarian
Management applies fear and threats
Communications top down
Centralised decision making
Managers distant and remote
System: Benevolent-authoratative
Management applies rewards
Communications mostly top down and some bottom-up
Centralised decision making
Managers distant and treated with subservience
6.5 Leadership styles
System: Consultative
Management applies rewards and occasional punishment
Communications bottom up and down
Partially devolved decision making
Managers largely responsive to employee influence
System: Participative organisational management
Management applies rewards but is close to employees, largely
egalitarian
Communications are open
Mostly devolved decision making
Managers highly responsive to employee influence
6.6 Leadership power
and influence
• Sources of organisational power of leaders
Source of power
Nature of power
Coercion
Projection of force and fear
Reward system
Ability to dispense rewards
Legitimacy
Based on organisational status
Expertise
Possession of knowledge/experience which
others wish to emulate
Referential
Possession of wealth or personal traits that
others value
Source: Combe (2014) Table 5.5: 170
6.6 Leadership power
and influence
• Charismatic leadership does not require power
of coercion or bribing people by rewards – it is
derived from personal traits of the leader
• Transactional leadership largely depends on the
system of rewards and the leader’s ability to
negotiate deals (transactions)
• Transformational leaders need legitimacy and
expertise, they have to inspire people to radical
change and convince them that it is feasible
• Who is who? Bill Gates, Walesa, Mandela,
Obama, Putin?
6.7 Further reading
Griffin (2013): chs. 17-20
Combe (2014): ch. 5