Topic 12Contingency Theories & Situational Leadership

The Contingency Approach

•The essence of the contingency approach to leadership is that leaders are most effective when they make their behavior contingent upon situational forces, including group member characteristics.

•Leadership effectiveness is maximized when leaders correctly make their behaviors contingent on certain situational and follower characteristics.

The Contingency Approach (cont.)•The effects of leadership vary from

situation to situation. Aspects of the situation that enhance or nullify the effects of a leader’s traits or behavior are called situational moderator variables.

The Contingency Approach (cont.)•Normative Decision Model

▫ (Vroom, Yetton / Vroom,Yetton, and Jago)

•The Situational Leadership Theory▫ (Hershey and Blanchard)

•Fiedler’s Contingency Theory

•The Path-Goal Theory▫ (House, et.al.)

Contigency Approach (cont)

• The four theories share several similarities:▫ They are theories rather than someone’s personal

opinions.▫ They implicitly assume that leaders are able to accurately

diagnose or assess key aspects of the followers and the leadership situation.

▫ With the exception of the contingency model, leaders are assumed to be able to act in a flexible manner.

▫ A correct match between situational and follower characteristics and leaders’ behavior is assumed to have a positive effect on group or organizational outcomes.

Normative Decision Model•The Normative Decision Model views

leadership as a decision-making process. It specifies what a leader ought to do in a given situation. It is solely directed at determining the amount of subordinate input in the decision-making process. Normative refers to the idea that the leader should follow certain prescriptions indicated in the model.

•Two key factors in the model are decision quality and decision acceptance.

Normative Decision Model (cont.)•Decision quality refers to the objective

aspects of a decision that affect group or individual performance. When an effective alternative is chosen, decision quality is said to be high.

•Decision quality is not important when the consequences of choosing various alternatives are about the same, or when the consequences of the decision are unimportant.

Normative Decision Model (cont.)•Decision acceptance refers to how

committed group members are to implementing a decision effectively. If group members are responsible for implementing a decision, acceptance is crucial. At times decision acceptance is not an issue because very few employees are involved in implementation.

Normative Decision Model (cont.)•The model identifies 5 levels of leader-

subordinate (follower) participation:▫AI- leader decides completely alone▫AII- leader obtains information from

subordinates, leader decides▫CI- Leader shares problem individually with

subordinates, obtains opinions, leader decides.▫CII- leader shares problem collectively with

subordinates, obtains opinions, leader decides.▫GII- leader shares problem with group, group

decides.

Normative Decision Model (cont.)•A decision tree is required to implement

the model. The leader diagnoses situational variables by considering key questions.

Normative Decision Model (cont.)•The Decision Tree- provides a branching

set of questions to be answered either “yes” or “no” which lead to a set of decision processes that will protect quality and acceptance. Time and subordinate development may be factored in if of importance AFTER ensuring quality and acceptance by using the decision tree.

The Decision Tree

Evaluation of the Model:

•Pro:▫Supported by numerous empirical studies▫Prompts leaders to ask themselves

intelligent, perceptive, focused questions▫Following step-by-step procedures

increases decision-making effectiveness

Evaluation of the Model (cont.) :•Con:

▫Decision processes are treated as a single, discrete episode that occur at one point in time

▫Being a good decision-maker is not enough to be a good leader

▫Excludes “trial-balloon” approaches to decision-making (leader floating tentative decisions)

▫More about management than about leadership, and therefore has little to do with inspiring and influencing others and bringing about important changes

Situational Leadership Theory

•The Situational Leadership Theory explains how to match leadership style with follower readiness.

•The key contingency factors are group member characteristics.

Situational Leadership Theory (cont.)•The theory has its roots in the Ohio State

Studies on Leader Behavior.•That study identified 2 distinct leader

behavior categories:▫Initiating structure (task behavior)▫Consideration (relationship behavior)

Basics of the Model

•Task behavior is the extent to which the leader spells out the duties and responsibilities of an individual or group.

•Relationship behavior is the extent to which the leader engages in two-way or multi-way communication.

The Situational Leadership Theory developed by Hershey and Blanchard, answers the following questions:

•Is there an optimum way for leaders to adjust their behavior with different followers and thereby increase their likelihood of success?

•If so, then what factors should the leader base his behavior on?

The Answer:•Answer is that leaders adapt their style or

behavior based on he maturity of their followers.

•The most effective style depends on the readiness level of group members.

•Readiness is the extent to which a follower is able and willing to accomplish a specific task.

Components of Follower Maturity•Job maturity- the amount of task-relevant

knowledge, experience, skill, and ability that the follower possesses. (i.e. ability, KSA’s)

•Psychological maturity- the follower’s self confidence, commitment, motivation, and self-respect relative to the task at hand (i.e. willingness)

Four Levels of Readiness

• Style 1- High task and low relationship. The “telling” style is directive.

• Style 2- High task and high relationship. The “selling” style is also directive, but in a more persuasive, guiding, manner.

• Style3- High relationship and low task. In the “participating” leadership style there is less direction and more collaboration between leader and group members.

• Style 4- Low relationship and low task. In the “delegating” style, the leader delegates and is kept informed of progress.

TM 13-6 SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY

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Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model

The Situational Leadership Model – Caveat•Any given follower could be low on readiness to perform one task but high on readiness to perform a different task.

Evaluation of the Theory:•Best used with new hires•Can be valuable in training and

development•Based on fundamental truth about

leadership: Competent people require the least specific direction

•Gives false impression that all situations are clear-cut

•Popular because of its commonsense approach but not a lot of empirical research to support its validity

Evaluation (cont)

•Situational Leadership is a useful way to get leaders to think about how leadership effectiveness may depend somewhat on being flexible with different subordinates, not on acting the same way toward them all.

The Contingency Model

•Fiedler’s contingency theory of leadership states that best leadership style is determined by the situation in which the leader works.

•It recognizes natural behavioral tendencies of leaders and suggests certain situations where these behaviors may be more or less effective.

•Probably the earliest and certainly the most well-known contingency theory.

• Some leaders may be generally more supportive and relationship-oriented, whereas others may be more concerned with task or goal accomplishment.

• The contingency model suggests that leader effectiveness is primarily determined by selecting the right kind of leader for a certain situation or changing the situation to fit the particular leader’s style.

• To understand the contingency theory one must look first at the critical characteristics of the leader and then at the critical aspects of the situation.

Least Preferred Coworker Scale

•To measure leadership style the theory uses an instrument called the Least-Preferred-Coworker Scale (LPC)

•LPC Handout

LPC Scale

•The scale instructs a leader to think of the single individual with whom he has had the greatest difficulty working and then to describe that individual in terms of a series of bipolar activities.

•Based on their LPC scores, leaders are categorized into two groups:▫Low-LPC leaders (primarily motivated by

task)▫High-LPC leaders (primarily motivated by

relationships)

Scale Interpretation

•One who describes the least preferred coworker in favorable terms is relationship-motivated. In contrast, a person who describes his or her least preferred coworker unfavorably tends to be task-motivated.

Motivational Hierarchies For Low- and High-LPC Leaders

Task

People

Low-LPC leader motivational hierarchy

People

Task

High-LPC leader motivational hierarchy

Situation Dimensions:• The situation is assessed to determine the

degree of situational control, or favorability, for the leader using three dimensions:▫ 1. Leader-member relations measures how well the

group and the leader get along.▫ 2. Task structure measures how clearly the

procedures, goals, and evaluation of the job are defined.

▫ 3. Position power measures how much authority the leader possesses.

• Leader-member relations contribute as much to the favorability of the leadership situation as do task structure and position power combined.

Contingency Model Octant Structure For Determining Situational Favorability

Good Poor

Structured Unstructured Structured Unstructured

High Low High Low High Low High Low

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Leader-member relations

Task structure

Position power

Octant

Overall situation favorability

High Low

Fiedler’s Contingency Model

GOOD POORGOOD POOR

HIGH LO W HIGH LOW HIGH LO W HIGH LOW

SS WW SS WW SS WW SS WW

Leader-MemberRelations

TaskStructure

PositionPower

Kinds ofLeadershipSituations

VeryFavorable

VeryUnfavorable

I II III IV V VI VII VIII1

Relationship-oriented managers most effective in IV, V, VI, VII.Task-oriented managers most effective in I, II, III or VIII.

Prescriptions of the Model•The major proposition in contingency

theory is the leader-match concept-leadership effectiveness depends on matching leaders to situations where they can exercise more control.

•Fiedler’s research suggests that low LPC leaders will perform better in either low favorability situations or in very high favorability situations. High LPC leaders will perform best in moderate favorability situations.

Path-Goal Theory•The path-goal theory of leadership

effectiveness specifies what the leader must do to achieve high productivity and morale in a given situation.

•Path-goal theory, in its most basic form, is based upon expectancy theory. The effective leader will ensure valued rewards are available to the followers (the goal) and will help them find ways of getting to these goals (the path).

The Path-Goal Theory•The underlying mechanism of the path-

goal theory deals with expectancy, a cognitive approach to understanding motivation where people calculate:▫Effort-to-performance probabilities▫Performance-to-outcome probabilities▫Assigned valences or values to outcome

•Path-goal theory uses the same basic assumptions as expectancy theory (to be discussed in topic 19—”Motivation”)

Leader Behaviors

•Leader behaviors- unlike contingency theory, path-goal theory suggests that leaders may use varying styles with different subordinates or even with the same subordinates in differing situations.

The Four Leader Behaviors of the Path-Goal Theory•Directive leadership•Supportive leadership•Participative leadership•Achievement-oriented leadership

Leaders / Path-Goal

•Directive leaders give specific directions.•Supportive leaders strive to create a

positive climate.•Participative leaders consult with

subordinates taking their suggestions into account.

•Achievement-oriented leaders push goal setting, higher standards, and show strong confidence in their followers.

The Followers• Path-goal theory contains follower variables of overall

satisfaction,locus of control,and perceived ability.

• Followers will actively support a leader as long as they view the leader’s actions as a means for increasing their own level of satisfaction.

• Followers who believe they are capable of performing a task are not as motivated by, or willing to accept, a directive leader as they would a leader with participative behavior.

Evaluation of Theory

•Path-Goal Theory is so complicated and has so many nuances – it is primarily studied by researchers and scholars in the field of leadership – it has little value or at best questionable value for practicing leaders.