ADM 612 - Leadership

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ADM 612 - Leadership

• Lecture 6 Contingency Theory

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Introduction

• The most widely recognized contingency theory is
  Fiedlers.
• Leader-match theory which tries to match leaders
  to appropriate situations.
• Contingency theory is concerned with styles and
  situations.

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Contingency Theory of Leader Effectiveness
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Leadership Styles

• Task motivated vs. relationship motivated.
• To measure styles, Fiedler developed the Least
  Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale. High scores are
  relationship motivate low scores are task
  motivated.

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Situational Variables

• Leader-member relations.
• Group atmosphere (good versus poor).
• Task structure.
• Requirements stated, paths have few alternatives,
  completion is clear, limited number of correct
  solutions (High structure versus low structure).
• Position power.
• Formal power to reward or punish followers
  (Strong versus weak power).

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How Does the Model Work?

• Certain styles will be effective in certain
  situations.
• Task motivated (low LPC) will be effective in
  very favorable or very unfavorable situations.
• Relationship motivated (high LPC) will be
  effective in moderately favorable situations.

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How Does the Model Work?

• Determine the nature of the situation (good or
  poor relations, high or low structure, strong or
  weak formal power).
• Calculate LPC score.
• Examine match between situation and leadership
  style.
• Make necessary adjustments.

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Strengths

• Supported by empirical research.
• Forces us to consider impact of situation on
  leaders.

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Strengths

• Predictive and prospective.
• Does not require leaders to be effective in all
  situations.
• Provides data on styles that can be used by
  organizations.

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Criticisms

• Does not explain clearly why some styles are
  effective in some situations.
• LPC scale challenged on face validity,
  correlation with other leadership scales, and
  difficulty of completion.

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Criticisms

• Cumbersome to use in real world.
• Does not provide corrective measures when there
  is a mismatch. Often difficult to change styles
  or restructure situations.

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Applications

• Can be used to determine sources of ineffective
  performance.
• Can be used to predict performance in a new
  position (situation).
• Can be used to pinpoint changes in a position to
  ensure a match between style and situation.

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The Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness

• Causal explanations of contingency effects.
• High control situations.
• High performance expectations gives great rein to
  task-oriented leader.
• Relationship-oriented leader may be bored and
  distracted and engage in irrelevant activity.

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The Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness

• Causal explanations of contingency effects.
• Moderate control situations.
• Clear task with uncooperative group may benefit
  from morale building activities of
  relationship-oriented leader.
• Task-oriented leader may rush judgment.
• Low control situations.
• Chaotic situations can be marginally improved by
  strong structures of task-oriented leaders.

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Cognitive Resource Theory

• What are the roles of intelligence and experience
  in predicting successful performance?
• No clear results in straightforward experiments.
• Fiedler (1970) concluded that the major
  moderating influence was the level of stress.

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Cognitive Resource Theory

• Intelligence
• If leaders are under a high level of stress,
  leader intelligence bears no relationship to unit
  success.
• Under low levels of stress, leader intelligence
  is positively related to unit success.
• Experience
• If leaders are under a high level of stress,
  experience is positively related to unit success.
• If leaders are under a low level of stress,
  experience has no relationship to unit success.

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Cognitive Resource Theory

• Stress and anxiety interfere with careful and
  thoughtful analysis and creativity.
• Prior training provides a fallback point for the
  experienced.

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Contingency Approach to Decision Making

• Two principles of normative decision-making
  model.
• High levels of subordinate participation in
  decision making increase commitment, but are
  costly in time and effort.
• The quality of the information that contributes
  to the decision.

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Contingency Approach to Decision Making

• Decision strategies.
• Autocratic.
• Consultative.
• Democratic.

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Contingency Approach to Decision Making

• Decision models (groups).
• Autocratic I leader makes decision alone using
  available information.
• Autocratic II leader obtains information from
  subordinates but makes decision alone.
• Consultative I leader shares the problem with
  each subordinate separately, seeking information
  and advice, but reserving decision authority.
• Consultative II same pattern, but subordinates
  are consulted as a group.
• Group II leader shares the problem with
  subordinates in a group and invites them to
  participate fully in decision making.

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Contingency Approach to Decision Making

• Decision models (individuals).
• Autocratic I leader makes decision alone using
  available information.
• Autocratic II leader obtains information from
  subordinates but makes decision alone.
• Consultative I leader shares the problem with
  each subordinate separately, seeking information
  and advice, but reserving decision authority.
• Group I participative decision making with a
  single subordinate.

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Contingency Approach to Decision Making

• Situational questions.
• Whether the leader or subordinates have the
  necessary information to make a high quality
  decision.
• Whether the subordinates are likely to be
  supportive of the decision and committed to its
  successful execution.
• Whether there is conflict among the subordinates
  about the most desirable solution.

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Contingency Approach to Decision Making

• Six base principles of decision making.
• If you do not have enough information to make a
  good decision, you must get the information from
  somewhere.
• If the information that you have is not
  sufficiently structured to facilitate a clear
  decision, you need to seek to help and advice to
  clarify and structure the problem.
• If you need the acceptance and commitment of
  followers to implement the decision and youre
  not sure that you have that acceptance, you must
  involve the followers in participative decision
  making to enlist acceptance.

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Contingency Approach to Decision Making

• Six base principles of decision making.
• If followers are not committed to the
  organizational goals embedded in the problem,
  they cannot be allowed to make the decision,
  although their advice should be sought and
  considered.
• If followers are in conflict over the most
  desirable solution, they must be brought together
  to allow them to air their opinions before a
  decision is made.
• Followers should be represented, that is,
  solicited and heard, about decisions that affect
  them.

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The Multiple Influence Model of Leadership

• Contingency model with discretionary leadership
  behavior added as a modifying factor.
• Recognition that hierarchical-level,
  environmental complexity, technological
  complexity, organizational structure constrain
  leadership behavior.
• Leaders job is to bridge the gap between
  expectations and reality. Greater complexity
  increases the gap and reduces flexibility.