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    Leadership: Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

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    Charles Chalimba
    This chapter discusses contingency theory, which proposes that leadership effectiveness depends on how well a leader's style fits the context or situation. A leader's style is measured on a task-oriented to relationship-oriented scale. Situational factors include leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. The theory models how different leader styles are most effective in different situational categories. While providing empirical support and a predictive framework, criticisms note limitations in fully explaining effectiveness and addressing leader-situation mismatches.

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    Leadership: Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

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    Charles Chalimba
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    This chapter discusses contingency theory, which proposes that leadership effectiveness depends on how well a leader's style fits the context or situation. A leader's style is measured on a task-oriented to relationship-oriented scale. Situational factors include leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. The theory models how different leader styles are most effective in different situational categories. While providing empirical support and a predictive framework, criticisms note limitations in fully explaining effectiveness and addressing leader-situation mismatches.

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    This chapter discusses contingency theory, which proposes that leadership effectiveness depends on how well a leader's style fits the context or situation. A leader's style is measured on a task-oriented to relationship-oriented scale. Situational factors include leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. The theory models how different leader styles are most effective in different situational categories. While providing empirical support and a predictive framework, criticisms note limitations in fully explaining effectiveness and addressing leader-situation mismatches.

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    45 views22 pages

    Leadership: Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Uploaded by

    Charles Chalimba
    This chapter discusses contingency theory, which proposes that leadership effectiveness depends on how well a leader's style fits the context or situation. A leader's style is measured on a task-oriented to relationship-oriented scale. Situational factors include leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. The theory models how different leader styles are most effective in different situational categories. While providing empirical support and a predictive framework, criticisms note limitations in fully explaining effectiveness and addressing leader-situation mismatches.

    Copyright:

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    of 22

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Leadership

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory


    Northouse, 4th edition

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Overview
    Contingency Theory Approach Perspective Leadership Styles Situational Variables
    Research Findings of Leader Style Effectiveness

    How Does the Contingency Theory Approach Work?

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Contingency Theory Approach Description


    Perspective

    Contingency theory is a leader-match theory (Fiedler & Chemers, 1974) Tries to match leaders to appropriate situations Leaders effectiveness depends on how well the leaders style fits the context Fiedlers generalizations about which styles of leadership are best and worst are based on empirically grounded generalizations

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Contingency Theory Approach Description


    Definition

    Effective leadership is contingent on matching a leaders style to the right setting


    Assessment based on: Leadership Styles Situational Variables

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Leadership Styles
    Leadership styles are described as: Task-motivated (Low LPCs)
    Leaders are concerned primarily with reaching a goal

    Relationship-motivated (High LPCs)


    Leaders are concerned with developing close interpersonal relationships

    Leader Style Measurement Scale (Fiedler) Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Scale
    High LPCs = Relationship-motivated Low LPCs = Task-motivated

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Situational Variables/3 Factors


    Leader-Member Relations
    - Refers to the group atmosphere and the degree of confidence, loyalty, and attraction of followers for leader Group atmosphere Good high degree of subordinate trust, liking, positive relationship Poor little or no subordinate trust, friction exists, unfriendly

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Situational Variables/3 Factors


    Task Structure
    Concerns the degree to which requirements of a task are clear and spelled out
    High Structure
    requirements/rules - are clearly stated/known path to accomplish - has few alternatives task completion - can be clearly demonstrated limited number - correct solutions exist

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Situational Variables/3 Factors


    Task Structure, contd.
    Concerns the degree to which requirements of a task are clear and spelled out
    Low Structure
    requirements/rules - not clearly stated/known path to accomplish - has many alternatives task completion - cannot be clearly demonstrated/verified unlimited number - correct solutions exist

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Situational Variables/3 Factors


    Position Power Designates the amount of authority a leader has to reward or punish followers
    Strong Power authority to hire or fire, give raises in rank or pay Weak Power no authority to hire or fire, give raises in rank or pay

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Situational Variables/3 Factors


    3 Factors - determine the favorableness of various situations in organizations Situations that are rated:
    Most Favorable good leader-follower relations, defined tasks (high structure), & strong leader position power

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Situational Variables/3 Factors


    3 Factors - determine the favorableness of various situations in organizations Situations that are rated:
    Least Favorable Poor leader-follower relations, unstructured tasks (low structure), & Weak leader position power Moderately Favorable Fall in between these extremes

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Contingency Model

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Research Findings of Leader Style Effectiveness


    Favorableness of Situation
    Very Favorable Very Unfavorable Moderately Favorable

    LPC Score Low

    Definition
    Situations going smoothly Situations out of control Situations with some degree of certainty; not completely in or out of leaders control

    High

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Research Findings of Leader Style Effectiveness Reasons for leader mismatch ineffectiveness:
    LPC style doesnt match a particular situation; stress and anxiety result Under stress, leader reverts to less mature coping style learned in earlier development Leaders less mature coping style results in poor decision making and consequently negative work outcomes

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    How Does the Contingency Theory Approach Work?


    Focus of Contingency Theory Strengths Criticisms Application

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    Contingency Theory Approach


    Focus

    By assessing the 3 situational variables, any organizational context can be placed in one of the 8 categories represented in the Contingency Theory Model
    After the nature of a situation is determined, the fit between leaders style and the situation can be evaluated Overall Scope By measuring Leaders LPC score and the 3 situational variables, it is possible to predict whether a leader will be effective in a particular setting

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    How Does Contingency Theory Work?


    Low LPCs Task-Oriented High LPCs Relationship-Oriented Effective in Categories 1, 2, 3, & 8 Effective in Categories 4, 5, 6, & 7 Effective in Categories 1, 2, & 3

    Middle LPCs

    If individuals style matches appropriate category in the model, leader will be effective If individuals style does not match appropriate category in the model, leader will not be effective

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    How Does Contingency Theory Work?


    How Does it Work? Example: Situation LeaderMember Relation Good Task Structure High Position Power High Category 1 Low LPC (Individual who is task-oriented will be effective)
    By measuring Leaders LPC score and the 3 situational variables, it is possible to predict whether a leader will be effective in a particular setting

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    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 leaders 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.

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    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.

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    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

    Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

    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

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