4.2 The Contingency Theories of Leadership.
Contingency theories of leadership evolved in response to the failure of ‘universalistic’ approaches to leadership and the realization that the situation in which leadership occurs also impacts leadership effectiveness (House 1996; Keller, 1973; Miner 2011) The basic premise of these theories is that each organisation is unique, and exists in a distinctive environment. Factors such as the organization’s size, scope of work, technology employed as well as the physical and cultural environment, together create ‘contingencies’ or situations that impact the leader’s leadership style. As a consequence, successful leadership must take into consideration interactions between all factors making up the general
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Unlike the Fielder model, the Path-Goal model considers leaders to have some flexibility in moderating their leadership styles in response to changing situations (University of Leicester 2011). Nevertheless, despite the identification of behaviours and contingency moderators that can improve leadership in a given situation, practicing that behavior ultimately depends upon the abilities and social skills of the leader. In terms of the Fielder contingency model (University of Leicester 2011), since it was not possible to have the MD retrospectively and remotely provide an LPC score at this time, it is assumed that, if he were he able to, the MD would have scored high on the LAC as not only was his style more relationship-oriented than task-oriented, but at this stage of his career, he was undoubtedly confident in his abilities . Given his personality, his leader member relationship was also likely to be generally advantageous as he had put a lot of effort into building trusting relationships across the bank. However, since the organizational goals were new and the management was new, the task structure would have been ambiguous and therefore disadvantageous. Further, while …show more content…
Likewise, no changes would have ensued to work-group characteristics or the authority system (except for any employees who shifted positions and consequently changed authority levels). The new leader however caused a positive shift in the expected behavioural norms as the bank had been under autocratic management with the previous MD. In all therefore, the model predicted that the high levels of supportive, participative and achievement-oriented leadership displayed by the MD, suited the interactions expected between the subordinate and environmental contingencies, especially at the A/B levels of
Wherever human beings are accumulated together in large numbers, they need leadership. Even a school needs a principle to mentor and escalate the school’s rank. Armies need generals to lead them to a courageous victory. Civilians need governments, captains of industry and intellectual leaders of thought as well. However, There are characteristics common to most great leaders that can be picked out.
Today, many historian has been thoroughly question on the subject of Gen Douglas Haig 's quality as a leader on the Western Front, especially his decision and conduct during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Haig 's skills and abilities as a leader have been both heavily renowned and criticised through different views and opinions. Much evidence supporting both arguments whether he has been viewed as both 'Butcher of the Somme ' and the 'Architect of Victory '. However, the majority of people seem to favour the idea of Haig being a merciless leader, which is completely understandable.
Case 6.1 Three Shifts, Three Supervisors 1. Based on the principles of path-goal theory, describe why Art and Bob appear to be less effective than Carol. Carol leadership style of Participative matches up well with the task characteristics of the followers on her team. Unfortunately, Art and Bob leadership skills are not matching well with the needs of their team. Art is currently being Directive but his team needs Supportive and Bob is Supportive but needs to be more Achievement Oriented.
They refer to Fielder’s contingency theory, path-goal theory, Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership theory, and Vroom and Yetton’s normative decision model. Each theory is distinctive and different from each other. In the case of McDonald’s, it practices each theory to a certain degree. Fieldler’s contingency theory states that in order to maximize work group performance, leaders must be matched to the right leadership situation (Williams, 2007).
Contingency theories put forth the idea that the success of a leader hinges on the specific situation at hand. A situation can be proven effective based on the leader or the leadership style attached. The factors that would determine this would include the task, the personality of the leader and the composition of the group that is meant to be led. Its basic assumption is that leadership-success or failure – is situational. There are a number of sub-theories that fall under the general contingency umbrella.
In spite of the fact that’ leadership analysis’ is the art of breaking down a leader into basic psychological components for study and use by academics and practitioners, a sound leadership analyses
Leadership has been defined in a variety of ways, there are multiple authors and theorists who have tried to define and understand leadership, all leading to varying theories and conclusions, but one thing that is universally understood is the importance of effective leadership and how someone with good leadership skills can impact so many people around them. (Kakabadse and Kakabadse, 1999; Yukl, 2002; Northouse,2013) The main components that have been identified to play a role in leadership are relations between leader and subordinates, interaction form between leader and followers, the influence that the leader has, the way in which the leader behaves and finally a leader’s traits. (Yukl, 2002) These elements that make up a leader, are then used as building blocks to identify the way in which each specific leader deals with its followers.
“The study of history has been a study of leaders – what they did and why they did it” (Bass, 2008: 4). New contemporary styles of leadership have emerged that arguably are more successful in the long term (Dawson & Andriopoulos, 2014). This report critically evaluates different styles of leadership to determine if a transformational style will have a more decisive effect on employee motivation and organisational culture culminating in long term prosperity of the business. Fresh perspectives to leadership are required if organisations are to be successful in times of change while at the same time increasing employee morale (Conger, 1999). Studies done by Burns (1978) differentiates between transactional leaders and transformational leaders.
Introduction Systems and Contingency theory recognizes that external factors as well as internal factors affect management. The Contingency theory is offered as an alternative to Open Systems theory as the foundation for improved organizational performance, since it can provide more precise conceptual variables. In addition, providing a way of distinguishing between organizations as well as situations faced by organizations (or the same organization over time) is an aspect systems and contingency theory focuses on. Systems theory and contingency theory therefore attempt at providing an understanding of how organizations ought to be structured. The following paper will discuss the systems theory and the contingency theory.
In this regard, leaders and managers can appear at any level of an organisation and are not exclusive of each other (Germano, 2010). Leadership theories identify leaders based upon traits as well as how their influence and power is used to achieve organizational goals and objectives (Germano, 2010). As such, trait based characteristics include leaders such as autocratic, democratic, bureaucratic and charismatic. On the other hand, leadership that is viewed from the perspective of the exchange of power and its utilisation to secure outcomes, are situational, transactional and transformational leaders (Germano, 2010). It is of paramount importance to consider the different types of theories of management and leadership and their potential impact on organizational strategy being that management and leadership plays a vital role in the success of businesses.
This paper will examine the three leadership theories, identify how they apply to my practice, and explore how these theories interact with each other. The Trait Leadership Theory is based on the belief that a person is born with special traits contributing to natural leadership abilities. Studies of famous historical leaders have been used to identify various traits for this theory. Although the list of traits differs from study to study, there are five major traits that are consistent throughout most studies.
This paper is going to encompass different leadership theories and their relevance to my own personal personality and method of leadership. There will be information on the advantages and disadvantages of the leadership theories and information on each including examples. The purpose of this paper is to view various kinds of leadership theories and apply them to a real-life scenario. Leadership Theories There are quite a few different leadership theories available for people to take information from and use in business settings and even personal settings.
If the behavior theory can identify the key determinants of leadership, people can actually train to become a leader. This is the premise of the management development plan. There are many different types of behavioural leadership styles. Each style suggests that the leadership role is based on the leaders’ concern for the people being led and the level of achievement that needs to be
‘Organizations provide its managers with legitimate authority to lead, but there is no assurance that they will be able to lead effectively’ (Lunenburg, 2011). Organizational success usually requires a combination of both management and leadership. In today’s dynamic work environment, leaders are expected to challenge the present state of affairs, and to motivate and convince organization members. Managers are needed to assist in creating and maintaining a positive and well-functioning workplace. ‘Leadership and management are often considered practically overlapping concepts’ (Bohoris and Vorria, 2007, p. 1).
Behavioral leadership theories are explaining distinctive styles that used by effective leaders. Contingency leadership theories are explaining the leadership style that appropriate based on the leader and followers situation. Integrative leadership theories are influencing successfully leaders and followers relationship through combining of the trait, behavioral, and contingency theories The management to the leadership theory paradigm is transform autocratic leadership to new style of leadership. Q3.