Leadership is contingent upon the interplay of all three aspects of our model Four well-known contingency theories of leadership ◦ Supported by research ◦ Assume that leaders are able to diagnose or assess key aspects of the followers and leadership situations ◦ Leaders assumed to be flexible ◦ Correct match between situational, follower, and leader characteristics will have a positive effect on group or organizational outcomes Theories maintain that leadership effectiveness is maximized when leaders correctly make their behaviors contingent on certain situational and follower characteristics.
Divide into groups Review the information in Chapter 12 regarding your specific contingency theory Prepare a summary of the information to brief the class on your model ◦ Purpose ◦ Description, example, & how to use it ◦ Issues to consider Present your theory to the class
Designed to determine the optimal participation followers should have in any given decision process Limited to decision making Level of participation by subordinates is directly affected by various factors in the situation ◦ Time available ◦ Complexity of issue ◦ Expertise of followers
Decision quality and acceptance ◦ Decision quality considers whether the decision is the “best” alternative, so the decision has to have an objectively measurable outcome ◦ Decision acceptance is if the followers accept the decision as if it was their own versus merely complying with the decision Decision Tree ◦ Going through the tree will lead to a set of alternatives that meet the criteria needed ◦ The leader can take in other considerations such as time or need for development when making the decision
This model maintains that leaders who correctly adjust their approach to their followers’ readiness will be more effective ◦ Gives guidance on how to work with different types of followers Two leadership behavior categories ◦ Task behaviors ◦ Relationship behaviors
Suggests that leader effectiveness is primarily determined by selecting the right leader for a certain situation or changing the situation to fit the leader’s style This model is about picking the right leader for the right job Recognizes that leaders have general behavioral tendencies and specifies situations where certain leaders may be more effective than others
Least-preferred-co-worker (LPC) scale ◦ In order to find a leader’s tendencies, a question is asked about the type of person they would have the most difficulty working with Low LPC High LPC
Situational favorability ◦ Leader-member relations Involves the extent to which relationships between the leader and followers are generally cooperative or difficult ◦ Task structure Determine task structure by assessing whether there were detailed descriptions of work products, standard operating procedures, or objective indicators of how well the task is being accomplished ◦ Position power Authority with legitimate power
This theory uses baseline assumptions to make calculations on performance expectancies Based on people calculating the effort-to- performance probabilities, performance-to- outcome probabilities, and assigned values to outcome Calculations made on rational basis and can be used to predict what tasks people will put their energies into (given a finite number of options)
Leader behaviors ◦ Directive leadership ◦ Supportive leadership ◦ Participative leadership ◦ Achievement-oriented leadership Followers ◦ Satisfaction of followers ◦ Perception of their own abilities Situation ◦ Task ◦ Formal authority system ◦ Primary work group
The four contingency theories of leadership: ◦ Normative decision model ◦ Situational leadership model ◦ Contingency model ◦ Path-goal theory Three specify that leaders should make their behaviors contingent on certain aspects of the followers or the situation. All four theories implicitly assume that leaders can accurately assess key follower and situational factors.
◦ 11 NOV – Stress and Leadership ◦ 13 NOV – Aviation Case Study ◦ 25 NOV – Group Presentation leftovers, turn in papers.