Chapter 3: What are the three important contributions of the University of

Michigan and Ohio State University studies?

From the book of leadership: Theory, application & skill development, we know the
important contributions of the University of Michigan and Ohio State University
studies include (1) There is no one best leadership style in all situations, which helped
lead researchers to the next paradigm—that of contingency leadership theory. (2)
There was a shift to place more emphasis on the human side of the organization to
increase productivity. (3) The participative leadership style that is commonly used
today came out of the studies.1

The first contribution: there is no one best leadership style in all situations. We need
to choose the appropriate leadership style according to the leader, followers, and
situation,2 different leadership styles are more effective in different situations.
Leadership is typically understood as taking place in a situation, 3 so leaders need to
change their behavior to meet the situational characteristics,4 this is contingency
leadership theories. Successful leaders know that there is no best way to manage
employees, so they try to improve their ability to lead employees to a higher level of
performance, and adjust their style to adapt to the development level of their
managers, it will help managers guide employees to their best performance every
time.

The second contribution: there was a shift to place more emphasis on the human side
of the organization to increase productivity. So leaders should have high emotional
intelligence. Emotional intelligence plays an important role in maintaining a positive
relationship with people around you and becoming a successful leader. As we all
know, successful leaders have high emotional sentiments and often have a good
relationship with team members, they typically self-aware, authentic, empathetic, and
humble. They motivate people with a shared vision of the future, they set clear goals,
and expect the best from everyone, they have good conflict-resolution skills. This
leads to high productivity and engagement.5 Therefore, communicating with people,
and assigned to different roles and ensuring their efficiency is important. If you are a
newly promoted manager, you still don't know your employees, take the time to get to
know them thoroughly. Understand their strengths and respect their abilities. Most
importantly, you should always be professional.

The third contribution: the participative leadership style that is commonly used today
came out of the studies. The participative leadership style is leaders include employee
input into decision making.6 This leadership style treats subordinates as human beings,
encourage employee participation in decision making, and show concern for the
employee's need, welfare, etc. Participatory leadership provides employees with
information and resources and creates opportunities for employees to participate in
the management of the organization. Such supportive behaviors can help employees
understand the current situation of the organization in more detail, and improve the
possibility of employees to find problems. Such leaders welcome a list of team
members to give opinions, encourage subordinates to participate in the decision-
making of the work process, and provide employees with opportunities to show their
abilities.7 These authorization behaviors enable employees to experience their own
value, gain a sense of autonomy and control and then be willing to actively express
their opinions. Participatory leadership can also improve the degree of employees'
trust in leaders.

References
Lussier, R. N. and Achua, C. F. (2016), Leadership: Theory, application, and skill development,
6th ed..Boston, MA : Cengage Learning.
M.A. Hogg, D. Van Knippenberg, and D.E. Rast. (2012). “Intergroup Leadership in Organizations:
Leading across Group and Organizational Boundaries,” Academy of ManagementReview:
232–255.
10 H.R. Greve. (2013). “Microfoundations of Management: Behavioral Strategies and Levels of
Rationality in Organizational Action,” Academy of Management Perspectives : 103–119
ITA Group. Finding Your Leadership Style: Transformational, Transactional or Laissez-Faire.
Motivation & Leadership.
From https://www.itagroup.com/insights/finding-your-leadership-style
De Poel, F.M., Stoker, J.I. & van der Zee, K.I. (2012).Climate conrol? The relationship between
leadership, climate for change, and work outcomes. International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 23, 694-713.