1. Situational & Contingency Perspectives

2. Stages of Leadership Theory & Research Post-charismatic & Post-transformational emerged late 1990s, distributed leadership, cooperative community-ship & spirituality Trait Approach dominant until late 1940s - assumes leaders born, not made Style Approach held sway until late 1960s - effects of leadership on those led Contingency Approach or Situational Approach popular to 1980s - situational factors are focus for understanding leadership New Leadership Approach since 1980s, leader defines organizational reality through articulation of a vision Source: Parry, K.W. & Bryman, A. (2006) Leadership in organizations, In S.R. Clegg, C. Hardy, T.B. Lawrence & W.R. Nord. Handbook of organizational studies (2nd ed), Sage.

3. Situational Leadership II (Blanchard et al. 1985) Blanchard, Zigarmi & Zigarmi (1985). Leadership and the one minute manager: Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership. New York: William Morrow

4. Situational Approach Assumes that subordinates vacillate along the developmental continuum of competence and commitment Leader effectiveness depends on - –assessing subordinate’s developmental position, and –adapting his/her leadership style to match subordinate developmental level “The Situational approach requires leaders to demonstrate a strong degree of flexibility.” Focus Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

5. How Does The Situational Approach Work? Using SLII model – In any given situation the Leader has 2 tasks: 1st Task 2nd Task Diagnose the Situation Identify the developmental level of employee Ask questions like: What is the task subordinates are being asked to perform? What is the task subordinates are being asked to perform? How complicated is it? How complicated is it? What is their skill set? What is their skill set? Do they have the desire to complete the job? Do they have the desire to complete the job? Adapt their Style To prescribed Leadership style in the SLII model Leadership style must correspond to the employee’s development level Leadership style must correspond to the employee’s development level Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

6. Development Levels The degree to which subordinates have the competence and commitment necessary to accomplish a given task or activity DefinitionDefinition Dimension Definitions D1D1 Low Competence High Commitment D2D2 Some Competence Low Commitment D3D3 Mod-High Competence Low Commitment D4D4 High Competence High Commitment D4D4 D3D2D1 DevelopedDeveloping HighModerateLow Developmental Level of Followers Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

7. How Does The Situational Approach Work? D1D1 Low Competence High Commitment S1 – Directing High Directive-Low Supportive D4D4 High Competence High Commitment S4 – Delegating Low Supportive-Low Directive D3D3 Mod-High Competence Low Commitment S3 – Supporting High Supportive-Low Directive D2D2 Some Competence Low Commitment S2 – Coaching S2 – Coaching High Directive-High Supportive High Directive-High Supportive Employee’s Developmental level Leader’s Leadership style Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

8. S1 - Directing Style Leader focuses communication on goal achievement Spends LESS time using supportive behaviors Leader focuses communication on goal achievement Spends LESS time using supportive behaviors S 1 Directing High Directive Low Supportive Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

9. S2 - Coaching Style Leader focuses communication on BOTH goal achievement and supporting subordinates’ socioemotional needs Requires leader involvement through encouragement and soliciting subordinate input Leader focuses communication on BOTH goal achievement and supporting subordinates’ socioemotional needs Requires leader involvement through encouragement and soliciting subordinate input S 2 Coaching High Directive High Supportive Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

10. S3 - Supporting Style Leader does NOT focus solely on goals; uses supportive behaviors to bring out employee skills in accomplishing the task Leader delegates day-to-day decision-making control, but is available to facilitate problem solving Leader does NOT focus solely on goals; uses supportive behaviors to bring out employee skills in accomplishing the task Leader delegates day-to-day decision-making control, but is available to facilitate problem solving S 3 Supporting High Supportive Low Directive Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

11. S4 - Delegating Style Leader offers LESS task input and social support; facilitates subordinates’ confidence and motivation in relation to the task Leader lessens involvement in planning, control of details, and goal clarification Gives subordinates control and refrains from intervention and unneeded social support Leader offers LESS task input and social support; facilitates subordinates’ confidence and motivation in relation to the task Leader lessens involvement in planning, control of details, and goal clarification Gives subordinates control and refrains from intervention and unneeded social support S 4 Delegating Low Supportive Low Directive S 4 Delegating Low Supportive Low Directive Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

12. Situational Leadership II (Blanchard et al. 2004) Blanchard, Zigarmi & Zigarmi (1985). Leadership and the one minute manager: Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership. New York: William Morrow

13. Strengths Marketplace approval. Situational leadership is perceived as providing a credible model for training employees to become effective leaders. Practicality. Situational leadership is a straightforward approach that is easily understood and applied in a variety of settings. Prescriptive value. Situational leadership clearly outlines what you should and should not do in various settings. Leader flexibility. Situational leadership stresses that effective leaders are those who can change their style based on task requirements and subordinate needs. Differential treatment. Situational leadership is based on the premise that leaders need to treat each subordinate according to his/her unique needs. Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

14. Criticisms Lack of an empirical foundation raises theoretical considerations regarding the validity of the approach. Further research is required to determine how commitment and competence are conceptualized for each developmental level. Conceptualization of commitment itself and why it varies is very unclear. Replication studies fail to support basic prescriptions of situational leadership model. Does not account for how particular demographics influence the leader- subordinate prescriptions of the model Fails to adequately address the issue of one-to-one versus group leadership in an organizational setting Questionnaires are biased in favor of situational leadership Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

15. Application Often used in consulting because it’s easy to conceptualize and apply Straightforward nature makes it practical for managers to apply Breadth of situational approach facilitates its applicability in virtually all types of organizations and levels of management in organizations Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

16. Contingency Theory (Fiedler, 1964, 1967, and Fiedler & Chemers, 1974) Most widely recognised contingency theory. Theory assumes leaders are either task or relationship oriented and cannot change their orientations. Leader’s situation has three dimensions: –Task structure (goal clarity, goal-path multiplicity, decision verifiability) –Position power (sole control over rewards, and punishments) –Leader-member relations (trust and respect of followers for leader) Clarifying these three dimensions enables leaders to clarify which situation is suited to their orientation Fiedler, F. E. (1964). A contingency model of leader effectiveness. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 1 (pp. 149–190). New York: Academic Press. Fiedler, F. (1967). A theory of leadership effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill Fiedler, F. E. and Chemers, M. M. (1974) Leadership and Effective Management, Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Co.

17. GoodPoor High StrongWeak Task-motivated Relationship-motivated Task motivated Project engineer Registered nurse (supervisory) Strong Weak High Low Poor Good Leader member relations Task structure Position power Preferred leader styles very favourable Very unfavourable Situational Characteristics I II IIIIVVVIVIIVIII Summary of Fiedler’s preferred leadership styles Office manager Gibson, J. L., Ivancevich, J. M., & Donnelly, J. M., Jr. (1994). Organizations: Behavior, structure, processes (8th ed.). Burr Ridge, IL: Richard D. Irwin

18. How Does Contingency Theory Work? Effective in Categories – 1, 2, 3, & 8 If individual’s style matches appropriate category in the model, leader will be effective If individual’s style does not match appropriate category in the model, leader will not be effective Low LPCs – Task-Oriented MiddleLPCs High LPCs – Relationship-Oriented Effective in Categories – 4, 5, 6, & 7 Effective in Categories – 1, 2, & 3 Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

19. Strengths Empirical support. Contingency theory has been tested by many researchers and found to be a valid and reliable approach to explaining how to achieve effective leadership. Broadened understanding. Contingency theory has broadened the scope of leadership understanding from a focus on a single, best type of leadership (e.g., trait approach) to emphasizing the importance of a leader’s style and the demands of different situations. Predictive. Because Contingency theory is predictive, it provides relevant information regarding the type of leadership that is most likely to be effective in particular contexts. Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

20. Strengths Not an all-or-nothing approach. Contingency theory contends that leaders should not expect to be effective in every situation; thus companies should strive to place leaders in optimal situations according to their leadership style. Leadership profiles. Contingency theory supplies data on leadership styles that could be useful to organizations in developing leadership profiles for human resource planning. Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

21. Criticisms Fails to fully explain why leaders with particular leadership styles are more effective in some situations than others Criticism of LPC scale validity as it does not correlate well with other standard leadership measures Cumbersome to use in real-world settings Fails to adequately explain what should be done about a leader/situation mismatch in the workplace Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

22. Application Useful in answering a multitude of questions about the leadership of individuals in various types of organizations Helpful tool to assist upper management in making changes to lower level positions to ensure a good fit between an existing manager and a certain work context Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

23. Path-Goal theory (House 1971) Based on expectancy theory of motivation (linkages between effort and performance and performance and valued rewards are critical to motivation). Leaders responsibility is to smooth the followers path to the goal through using most appropriate style – matching leader behaviours to follower characteristics and environmental characteristics Assumes there is no one right way of achieving a goal Every leaders is able to change their behaviour accordingly House, R. J. (1971) A path-goal theory of leadership effectiveness, Administrative Science Quarterly, 16, 321-338

24. Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.

26. Path-Goal theory Research support mixed Casts leader as the knowing person and the follower as dependent Assumed the follower acts completely rationally and appropriate methods can be deterministically selected depending on the situation Some of the relationships within the model have received support e.g. link of directive behaviours and satisfaction for low ability followers But supportive leadership was related to follower satisfaction across all situations Considered not sufficiently tested However “the four types of leader behaviour and the ideas for fitting them to situational contingencies provide a useful way for leaders to think about motivating subordinates” (Daft 2008). Daft, R.L. (2008) New Era of Management. (Mason, Ohio: South Western: Cengage

27. Situational/Contingency approach - overview Situational factors – type of task & type of work group (followers) are important No one best way to lead – different styles or behaviours can all be effective. Situational or contextual factors help determine best style or behaviour Most theories assume leaders must be flexible and able to adapt the behaviours and styles to match the situation Theories also assume the situation can be correctly diagnosed by the leader Fiedler’s least preferred co-worker model is best known contingency approach. Hersey & Blanchard's Situational Leadership Model most useful for managers Assumes people can learn to become effective leaders. Little agreement about what constitutes effectiveness.

28. Key reading and resources READING FOR SEMINAR Vroom, V.H. & Jago, A.G. (2007) The role of situation in Leadership, American Psychologist 62 (1):17-24 KEY TEXTS Northouse (2012) Chapter 5-7 OTHERS Blanchard, K., Zigarmi, P., & Zigarmi, D. (2004) Leadership & the one minute manager. Harper Collins Fiedler, F.E., & Chemers, M.M. (1984). Improving Leadership Effectiveness: The Leader Match Concept (2 nd ed.). New York: Wiley House, R. J. (1971) A path-goal theory of leadership effectiveness, Administrative Science Quarterly, 16, 321-338