CONTINGENCY THEORY

Group Leader: Zaka Ul HassanGroup Members:

Uzair Ali Shah (051)Kazim Raza Shah (010)Salman Saeed (021)

This is a leader match theory because it tries to match leaders to suitable situations. A leader’s effectiveness depends on how well the leader’s style fits the situation.

It is important to note that contingency theory stresses that leaders are NOT successful in all situations.

There is no one best way to structure and manage organizations. Structure and management are on the nature of the environment in which the organization is situated.

Something that may happen: an event that might occur in the future, especially a problem, emergency, or expense that might arise unexpectedly and therefore must be prepared for.

Overview Contingency Theory:

Contingency:

The theory was developed by studying the

styles of leaders in situations and

whether they were effective.

(That primarily in military

organizations).

Contingency Theory

Assumptions: The leader's ability to lead is dependent upon various situational factors, including the leader's preferred style, the capabilities and behaviors of followers and various other situational factors.  Description: Contingency theories are a class of behavioral theory that challenge that there is no one best way of leading and that a leadership style that is effective in some situations may not be successful in others.

An effect of this is that leaders who are very effective at one place and time may become unsuccessful either when transplanted to another situation or when the factors around them change.

Contingency Leadership Model

Proposed by the Austrian psychologist Fred Edward Fiedler (1922).

The upper half of a figure shows situational analysis and the lower half indicates the appropriate style.In upper portion three questions are used to analyze the situation:

1). Are leaders– member relation good or poor?2). Is the task structured or not?3). Is the leader’s position power strong or weak?

In lower portion we see which style is stuiationally appropriate. For situations 1, 2, 3 and 8 task motivated leadership style is more effective. And in situations 4, 5, 6 and 7 relationship motivated leadership is more appropriate.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Different situations dictate different leadership styles. Fiedler measured leadership styles with an instrument assessing the leader’s least preferred coworker (LPC).

Fiedler considered two leadership styles:

Task motivated leadership: Places primary emphasis on completing the task and is more likely exhibited by leaders with low LPC score.

Relationship motivated leadership: Emphasize maintain good interpersonal relationships and is more likely from high LPC leaders.

The Contingency Approach

A research effort to determine which managerial practices and techniques are appropriate in specific situations.

Different situations require different managerial responses and Can deal with intercultural feelings in which custom and habits cannot be taken for granted.

Understand how leadership is often conditional on people and situations.

Apply Fiedler’s contingency model to key relationships among leader style, situational favorability, and group task performance.

Apply Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory of leader style to the level of follower readiness.

Use the Vroom model to identify the correct amount of follower participation in specific decision situations.

Know how to use the power of situational variables to substitute for or neutralize the need for leadership.

Note all action memos in the chapter.

Contingency Approaches:

Contingency theory is similar to situational theory in that there is an assumption of no simple one right way. The main difference is that situational theory tends to focus more on the behaviors that the leader should adopt, given situational factors (often about follower behavior), whereas contingency theory takes a broader view that includes contingent factors about leader capability and other variables within the situation.

Fiedler's theory conceives two classifications of leaders:

(1). Those motivated by the need to accomplish assigned tasks (task-orientated).

(2). Those motivated by close and supportive relations with members of the group (people-orientated).

Contingency Theory as a Situational Theory

Contingency Theory Factors:Some examples of such constraints (factors) include:

• The size of the organization. • How the firm adapts itself to its environment. • Differences among resources and operations activities. • Assumptions of managers about employees Strategies. • Technologies being used… etc

How Does the Contingency Theory Approach Work?

Focus of Contingency Theory Approach:• Strengths• Criticisms• Application

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.Leadership profiles. Contingency theory supplies data on leadership styles that could be useful to organizations in developing leadership profiles for human resource planning. 

Criticism: Awkward to use in real-world settings.

Fails to adequately explain what should be done about a leader/situation mismatch in the workplace. 

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 environment.

Contingency theory attempts to relate research on many management variables, for example, research on professionalism and centralized decision making or worker education and task complexity. It allows analyzing a situation and determining what variables influence the decision with which we are concerned.

Application of Contingency Theory to Human Services Management:

Purpose/ Goal

Technology

People/ Manager

Structure

Tasks

Political Forces and Institutions

Political Forces and Institutions

Economic Forces and Institutions

Socio Cultural Forces and Institutions

Environment

Policy

Plan

Achievement

Execution & Assurance

Achievement

Contingency Process

There are also contingency theories that relate to decision making. According to these models, the effectiveness of a decision procedure depends upon a number of aspects of the situation: the importance of the decision quality and acceptance; the amount of relevant information possessed by the leader and subordinates; the possibility that subordinates will accept a repressive decision or cooperate in trying to make a good decision if allowed to participate.

In the Contingency Theory of leadership, the success of the leader is a function of various factors in the form of subordinate, task, and/or group variables. The effectiveness of a given pattern of leader behavior is contingent upon the demands imposed by the situation. These theories stress using different styles of leadership appropriate to the needs created by different organizational situations.

There is no universal way or one best way to manage an organization. The design of an organization and its subsystems must 'fit' with the environment. Effective organizations not only have a proper 'fit' with the environment, but also between its subsystems. The needs of an organization are better satisfied when it is properly designed and the management style is appropriate both to the tasks undertaken and the nature of the work group.

1). Contingency Theory on the organization:

2). Contingency Theory of leadership:

3). Contingency Theory of decision making:

REFERENCES

Northouse, P.G. (2007) Leadership Theory and Practice. Sage Publications, Inc. Thousand Oaks, CA.

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Questions/Queries?