Leadership as Behavioral category

• One of the most extensive research studies

undertaken by the Bureau of Business Research
at Ohio State Leadership studies.
• Focus was on the effects of leadership styles on
group performance.
• Questionnaires were designed which comprised
a list of descriptive items each dealing with a
specific aspect of leadership behavior.
Early Leadership Theories (cont’d)
• Behavioral Theories (cont’d)
 Ohio State Studies
 Identified two dimensions of leader behavior
– Initiating structure: the role of the leader in defining his
or her role and the roles of group members
– Consideration: the leader’s mutual trust and respect for
group members’ ideas and feelings.
Research findings: mixed results
–High-high leaders generally, but not
always, achieved high group task
performance and satisfaction.
–Evidence indicated that situational
factors appeared to strongly
influence leadership effectiveness.
Michigan studies
• Another major research study was carried out at the
University of Michigan Institute for social Research
at the same time as the Ohio state studies.
• Effective leadership appeared to display four
common characteristics:
Delegation of authority and avoidance of close
supervision.
An interest and concern in their subordinates as
individual.
Participative problem- solving
High standards of performance.
Early Leadership Theories (cont’d)
• Behavioral Theories (cont’d) It was Likert who
has summarized the findings and used the term
employee oriented and production oriented.
 University of Michigan Studies
 Identified two dimensions of leader behavior
– Employee oriented: emphasizing personal relationships
– Production oriented: emphasizing task accomplishment

 Research findings:
– High-High Leaders who are strongly associated with high
group productivity and high job satisfaction.
The Managerial Grid ( Black and
Mouton)
• Managerial Grid
 Appraises leadership styles using two dimensions:
 Concern for people
 Concern for production
 Places managerial styles in five categories:
 Impoverished management
 Task management
 Middle-of-the-road management
 Country club management
 Team management
The
Managerial
Grid
Contingency Theories of Leadership
• The Fiedler Model (cont’d)
 Proposes that effective group performance depends
upon the proper match between the leader’s style of
interacting with followers and the degree to which the
situation allows the leader to control and influence.
 Assumptions:
A certain leadership style should be most effective
in different types of situations.
 Leaders do not readily change leadership styles.
– Matching the leader to the situation or changing the
situation to make it favorable to the leader is required.
Contingency Theories… (cont’d)
• The Fiedler Model (cont’d)
 Least-preferred co-worker (LPC) questionnaire
 Determines leadership style by measuring
responses to 18 pairs of contrasting adjectives.
– High score: a relationship-oriented leadership
style
– Low score: a task-oriented leadership style
 Situational factors in matching leader to the situation:
 Leader-member relations
 Task structure
 Position power
Findings of the Fiedler Model
Contingency Theories… (cont’d)
• Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership
Theory (SLT)
 Argues that successful leadership is achieved by
selecting the right leadership style which is contingent
on the level of the followers’ readiness.
 Acceptance: leadership effectiveness depends on
whether followers accept or reject a leader.
 Readiness: the extent to which followers have the
ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task.
 Leaders must relinquish control over and contact with
followers as they become more competent.
Contingency Theories… (cont’d)
• Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership
Theory (SLT)
 Creates four specific leadership styles incorporating
Fiedler’s two leadership dimensions:
 Telling: high task-low relationship leadership
 Selling: high task-high relationship leadership
 Participating: low task-high relationship leadership
 Delegating: low task-low relationship leadership
Contingency Theories… (cont’d)
• Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership
Theory (SLT)
 Posits four stages follower readiness:
 R1: followers are unable and unwilling
 R2: followers are unable but willing
 R3: followers are able but unwilling
 R4: followers are able and willing
Leader–Member Exchange Theory
These relationships start very soon
after a person joins a team and
follows these three stages:
• . Role-taking: The member joins the
team and the leader evaluates his or
her abilities and talents. Based on
this, the leader may offer opportunities
to demonstrate capabilities.
• 2. Role-making: In the second phase, the leader and member
take part in an unstructured and informal negotiation whereby a
role is created for the member and the unspoken promise of
benefit and power in return for dedication and loyalty takes
place. Trust-building is very important in this stage, and any
feelings of betrayal, especially by the leader, can result in the
member being moved to the out-group. This negotiation
includes relationship factors as well as pure work-related ones,
and a member who is similar to the leader in various ways is
more likely to succeed. This perhaps explains why mixed gender
relationships regularly are less successful than same gender
ones. The same effect also applies to cultural and racial
differences.
• Routinization: In this phase, a pattern of ongoing
social exchange between the leader and the
member becomes established. Being a
successful or in-group member usually includes
being similar in many ways to the leader. The
members work hard at building and sustaining
trust and respect. The members are often
empathetic, patient, reasonable, sensitive, and
are good at seeing the viewpoint of other
people, especially their leader. Aggression,
sarcasm and a self-centered view are qualities
seen in the out-group.
Limitation
• The main limitation of leader-member exchange
research is that it is not particularly helpful in
describing the specific leader behaviors that
promote high quality relationships. At best it only
implies generalities about the need for leaders to
show trust, respect, openness, autonomy and
discretion.
Leader-Member Exchange Theory
Path-Goal Theory
The Path-Goal Theory
Contingency Theories… (cont’d)
• Path-Goal Model
 States that the leader’s job is to assist his or her
followers in attaining their goals and to provide
direction or support to ensure their goals are
compatible with organizational goals.
 Leaders assume different leadership styles at different
times depending on the situation:
 Directive leader
 Supportive leader
 Participative leader
 Achievement oriented leader
Path-Goal Theory
Contingency Theories… (cont’d)
• Leader Participation Model (Vroom and Yetton)
 Posits that leader behavior must be adjusted to reflect
the task structure—whether it is routine, nonroutine,
or in between—based on a sequential set of rules
(contingencies) for determining the form and amount
of follower participation in decision making in a given
situation.
Contingency Theories… (cont’d)
• Leader Participation Model Contingencies:
 Decision significance
 Importance of commitment
 Leader expertise
 Likelihood of commitment
 Group support
 Group expertise
 Team competence