ORGANIZATIONAL

PSYCHOLOGY

QUESTION REVIEWS
ETHICAL DILEMMA
CASE STUDY
 LEADERSHIP
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
1 Are leadership and management different from one another? If so, then how?

Answer: Both leadership and management are essential for organizational success. They
are often used synonymously, but they are not the same.
Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goal.
Management is the use of authority inherent in designated formal rank to obtain
compliance from organizational members.

2 What is the difference between trait and behavioral theories? Are the theories valid?

Answer: Proponents of trait theories believe that a leader is “born.” They often describe
leaders in terms of their personal characteristics, such as “charismatic” and “driven.”
Behaviorists believe leadership can be taught, or nurtured, by providing the necessary
skills to an individual to be an effective leader.
There are no universal traits that predict in all situations. Traits predict behavior more
in “weak” situations than in “strong” situations. The evidence is unclear in separating
cause from effect. Finally, traits do a better job at predicting the appearance of
leadership than in actually distinguishing between effective and ineffective leaders. These
limitations have led researchers to look in other directions.

3 What are the main limitations of behavioral theories of leadership?

Answer:

1. LEARNING STRATEGIES: One limit to behavioral theories is that people learn in different

ways. Recent scholarship suggests that human development is far more complex than

once imagined

2. COGNITIVE ABILITIES: In situations where there is a common challenge and observable

result, such as mathematics or vocabulary memorization test, a behaviorist approach will

certainly help students achieve a positive result. For example, memorizing multiplication

tables will lead to positive results on math tests and quizzes.

 3. OPEN-ENDED CHALLENGES: For some challenges, learning methods can benefit from

behavioral theories. Skills such as typing and elementary reading and writing will almost

certainly improve with repeated training to eliminate errors and develop consistent

competence. 

4. CONTINUING EDUCATION: When it comes to more nuanced challenges such as writing

and analysis, recent scholarship embraces cognitive approaches rather than behavioral

theories. 

4 What is Fiedler’s contingency model? Has it been supported in research?

Answer: After assessing leadership style, it is necessary to match the leader with the
situation. Fiedler identified three contingency variables to match the leader with the
situation:
LEADER-MEMBER RELATIONS—the degree of confidence, trust, and respect
members has in their leader
TASK STRUCTURE—the degree to which the job assignments are procedural
POSITION POWER—the degree of influence a leader has over power variables such as
hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases
Considerable evidence does support the model especially when the original eight
situations are grouped into three but the logic behind the LPC scale is not well
understood.
5 How do charismatic and transformational leadership compare and contrast? Are they valid?

Answer:

1. CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP THEORY, proposed by Robert House, followers make

attributes of heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain

behaviors (See Exhibit 12-3) General characteristics of charismatic leaders are:

they have vision, they are willing to take personal risk, they are sensitive to

followers’ needs, and they exhibit extraordinary behaviors.

2. TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS inspire followers to transcend their own self-

interests for the good of the organization. They change followers’ awareness of

issues by helping them to look at old problems in new ways; and they are able to

excite, arouse, and inspire followers to put out extra effort to achieve group goals.

Transformational leadership is built on top of transactional leadership—it

produces levels of follower effort and performance that go beyond what would

occur with a transactional approach alone.

These descriptions imply that charismatic leadership is based on a person’s behavior,

when observed by others, is defined as charismatic leadership. Transformational
leadership, on the other hand, is a concept that can be taught to people to make them
more effective leaders using concepts that have been found to contribute to leadership
relationships.

6 What is authentic leadership? Why do ethics and trust matter to leadership?

Answer: AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP is a style based on trust. Authentic leaders are ethical
people who know who they are, know what they believe in and value, and act on those values
and beliefs openly and candidly. Ethics touch on many leadership styles. As the moral leaders of
organizations, CEOs must demonstrate high ethical standards. Socialized charismatic leadership
is characterized by leaders who model ethical behaviors. Trust is the positive expectation that
another person will not act opportunistically. Trust is comprised of a blend of familiarity and
willingness to take a risk. The five key dimensions are:
 Integrity
 Competence
  Consistency
 Loyalty
 Openness.

7 How is mentoring valuable to leadership? What are the keys to effective mentoring?

Answer: Mentoring and virtual leadership are all contemporary roles for leaders. A leader needs
to be a mentor or a senior employee who sponsors and supports a less-experienced employee (a
protégé). Mentors are good teachers who present ideas clearly, listen, and empathize. Mentoring
has two functions: career that includes coaching, assisting, sponsoring and psychosocial that
involves counseling, sharing, acting as a role model. Finally, online leadership or virtual
leadership is the ability to lead people who are physically dispersed. The ability to effectively
communicate, and establish and maintain trust in a virtual environment is challenging.

Mentors may help you focus and gain clarity on issues. They may inspire you and provide
encouragement and moral support when needed. They may also facilitate access to people in
their network that might be a resource for you. A mentor may also provide candid feedback
that others may not
 Team mentoring  Becoming a more effective listener.
 Virtual mentoring  Broadening your perspective.
 Mentoring through heroes  Sharpening your storytelling abilities.

8 How can organizations select and develop effective leaders?

Answer: Organizations can help build effective organizations through their selection and training
areas.
SELECTION
1. Review specific requirements for the job
2. Use tests that identify personal traits associated with leadership, measure self-
monitoring, and assess emotional intelligence
3. Conduct personal interviews to determine candidate’s fit with the job
4. Keep a list of potential candidates
TRAINING
1. Recognize that all people are not equally trainable
2. Teach skills that are necessary for employees to become effective leaders
3. Provide behavioral training to increase the development potential of nascent charismatic
employee
9 Do you agree there are situations in which leadership is not necessary? Why or why not?

Answer: There are situations in which leadership may not always be important. One theory of
leadership suggests that in some situations, whatever the actions leaders’ exhibit, they are
irrelevant. Certain individual, job, and organizational variables can act as substitutes for
leadership or may neutralize the leader’s influence on his/her followers.
 
10 Do charismatic and transformational leadership generalize across cultures?

Answer: Some of the traits seem to be universal. Certain types of leadership behaviors work
better in some cultures than in others. Charismatic/Transformational Leadership may be a
“universal” aspect of leadership in its focus on:
1. Vision and foresight
2. Providing encouragement
3. Trustworthiness
4. Dynamic, positive, and proactive traits

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE
 WHAT IS A LEADER?

1. Working on your own, write down 12 adjectives that describe an effective business leader.

Answer:

1. Effective leaders are able to influence others to get things accomplished.

2. Help Others See the BIG Picture
3. Effective leaders always give others the benefit of the doubt and believe the best in
people.
4. Leaders have credibility with those they lead. What this means is a leader says what they
mean and does what they say.
5. Leaders are gifted teachers and master the art of coaching others in personal and
professional development.
6. Leaders develop skills in others by delegating responsibilities
7. Leaders are gifted at empowering (to enable or permit) others to take responsibility and
risks.
8. Leaders have a high level of integrity and adhere to honesty, moral and ethical principles.
9. Trust is earned. Leaders are able to gain trust and respect from others by behavior
consistency.
10. Leaders are team players and work with others to get things done.
11. Effective leaders are able to recognize success and help their team celebrate those
successes.
12. Leaders have a good understanding of their personal priorities and are able to keep
all aspects of their lives balanced.

Group Activities

2. Break into groups of four or five. Appoint a notetaker and spokesperson. Compare your lists
of adjectives, making a new list of those common across two or more persons’ lists. (Count
synonyms—steadfast and unwavering, for example—as the same.)

3. Each spokesperson should present the group’s list to the class.

4. Are there many similarities among the lists? What does this tell you about the nature of
leadership?

ETHICAL DILEMMA (UNDERCOVER LEADERS)

1. Do you think it is ethical for a leader to go undercover in his or her organization? Why or
why not?

Answer: The student’s answer to this question will depend on his or her ethical view. In general,
students may see the “hidden CEO” as a potential negative to the concepts of trust. When they
find the CEO was watching without revealing his or her position, then the employee is placed in
a position of concern about things he or she said that might be viewed as negative.

2. Do you think leaders who work undercover are really changed as a result of their
experiences?

Answer: This answer also depends on students’ beliefs about the characteristics of the CEOs
leadership style. They may suggest that a transformational leader would approach the
experience as a learning experience and would find the information to assist them in better
fulfilling his or her role as a leader.

3. Would you support a government program that gave companies incentives to send leaders
undercover?

Answer: This answer will depend on a student’s political view. A liberal student will see a
government program to force such programs as a good option for government to influence the
relationships between employees and upper managers. Conservatives will see a government
program like this to be an intrusion on the economic basis of this country.

CASE INCIDENT 1
 (LEADERSHIP METTLE FORGED IN BATTLE)
1. Do you think leaders in military contexts exhibit the same qualities as organizational leaders?
Why or why not?

Answer: Yes, I do. I think they exhibit the best qualities to be an organizational leader. They
have been broken down and rebuilt to be able to take orders and deliver an exceptional
performance. They have the ability to handle stressful situations and stay focused on the task
that is at hand, which can help lead businesses to be successful. When focusing on deadlines and
important projects they would be able to assign tasks to individual employees, and being able to
give specific instructions, they would be able to get things done quickly.

2. In what ways not mentioned in the case would military leadership lessons not apply in the
private sector? What might military leaders have to re-learn to work in business?

Answer: They would have to learn that failure is not always the intended outcome, but it
happens sometimes and that it is okay. They would have to learn to have compassion and that
not everyone is built to have a tough skin, so when reprimanding coworkers they might need to
learn how to go about doing so in an understanding standard.
Coming from the military to a workplace setting, I think they would have to understand that
not everyone is going to be structured the way that they have been designed to function. Not all
their co-workers are going to have the same thought processes they have, or behave in the
same mannerisms. Learning how to communicate without offending anyone would be a process
that they would have to get used to.

3. Are specific types of work or situations more likely to benefit from the presence of “battle-
tested” leaders? List a few examples.

Answer: I think that high stress jobs would probably benefit from having military leadership,
jobs that require more attention than a normal 8-5 job. Jobs such as:
 Stocks or trades, they are a high stress job that would require attention to detail and
competent employees.
 Corporations, they need someone to lead them to be successful, not only to generate
profits for their company, but to look out for the best interest of their people.
 Hospitals, they would be able to develop a schedule, which is important to run a smooth
operation.

CASE INCIDENT 2 (LEADERSHIP FACTORIES)

1. Management consulting firms did very well on a per-employee basis, partly because
they are mostly made up of managers (as opposed to blue-collar or entry-level
workers). How big a factor do you think composition of the workforce is in likelihood of
producing a CEO?

Answer: The management consulting firms mostly comprised of managers, this is very
favorable for producing a CEO. Managers generally with corresponding authority and

responsibility, have certain management ability is engaged in the real management activity of

the person or people.

Managers and management skills in the organization management activities play a decisive role.

Compare with leaders, managers are mainly deal with complexity, while leaders just respond to

change. A large number of excellent managers will be able to make specific plans for the

company, build efficient organization structure, and supervise the daily operation of the

organization. It is also as a guarantee that Leaders can continue to challenge the conventional,

vision of the future is put forward, and motivate members to implement the vision.

2. Do you think so-called leadership factories are also better places for non-leaders to work?

Why or why not?

Answer: I think so-called leadership factories are also better places for non-leaders to work.
Whatever charismatic leaders or transformational leaders, they will have an impact on non-

leaders. Charismatic leaders will through the personal charm, make subordinate show higher job

performance, job adaptation and adaptability to leadership and group. In addition,

transformational leaders will more creative, and encourage their subordinates also become more

creative.

Therefore, the non-leaders will get more knowledge and ability about how to become a leader.

3. Assume you had job offers from two companies that differed only in how often they
produced CEOs. Would this difference affect your decision?

Answer: This difference would affect my decision. The fact that a company can produce so

many CEOs, it illustrates the effectiveness of the leadership and management of the company.

Effective managers mean having good faith, and built up a very strong relationship of trust

with his subordinates.

Compare with the charismatic leadership and transformational leadership, trust mainly refers

to the spirit level of the leaders. Trust can encourage employees to take risks help information

sharing. What’s more, groups with trust relationships may be more effective. To a great extent,

it will promote production efficiency. As an employee, the employee satisfaction will be higher.

4. Do these data support the value of leader selection and leader development? Why or why
not?

Answer: These data give credence to the value of leader selection and leader development. It is
because leaders don’t just happen to appear in the organization. They must be discovery and
development. When looking for leaders, it is important to the understanding of the
characteristics and style of leadership will best match with your organization, and find a way
to identify those attributes with leaders. Once you have a known about leadership or leadership
potential, it is necessary to train and develop your leaders to efficient development within the
context of your followers.