MN5004: Leading Innovation and Entrepreneurship

4.2 Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid

Slide 1

Hello and welcome to the lesson on Blake and Mouton's Managerial grid.

Slide 2

By the end of the lesson, we should be able to

 Understand the concept of managerial grid

 Explore the quadrants of managerial grid

 Compare the different types of leadership styles

 Contrast the strengths and criticisms of behavioural approach

Slide 3

There is no leadership style that is perfect for all kinds of situations, but one can understand its
own natural approach and develop the missing skills. Neither ignoring tasks as well as people,
one can get better results.

The managerial grid, which has been renamed, The Leadership Grid, was designed to explain
how leaders help organization to reach their purposes through two factors: concern for
production and concern for people. Concern for production refers to how a leader is concerned
with achieving organizing tasks. It involves a wide range of activities, including attention to
policy decisions, etc. Whereas, concern for people refers to how a leader attends to the people in
the organization who are trying to achieve its goal. It includes building organizational
commitment and trust, promoting the personal worth of followers, etc.

Developed by managerial theorists Robert Blake and Jane Mouton in 1960, Managerial grid plots
a manager's or leader's degree of task-centeredness versus her person-centeredness, and identifies
five different combinations of the two and the leadership styles they produce (The Mind Tools,
2018).
Slide 4

The managerial grid joins concern for production and concern for people in a model that has two
intersecting axes. The horizontal axis represents the leader's concern for results and the vertical
axis represents the leader's concern for people. Let's look at each quadrant in detail.

 Authority-Compliance
This style of leadership places heavy emphasis on task and jobs requirements, and less
emphasis on people, except to the extent that people are tools for getting the job done.
The team's needs are always secondary to its productivity. This type of manager is often
seen as controlling and demanding, as he has strict work rules, policies and views
punishment as an effective way of motivating team members. While at first glance, this
approach may provide impressive production results, but later on, will lead on to have
severe effect on people's performance due to low motivation.

 Country-Club Management
This style of leadership represents a low concern for task accomplishment coupled with a
high concern for interpersonal relationships. Known as "accommodating" style, managers
believe as long as team member's needs and feelings are fulfilled, they will work hard.
So, the managers often provides comforting, uncontroversial and agreeable work
environment. But, later on, due to lack of direction and control, the productivity might
suffer.

 Improvised Management
This style of leadership is mostly ineffective as the manager is unconcerned with both the
task and interpersonal relationship. This style of leader does not care about providing a
system for getting the job done, nor does he care about having satisfying work
environment. The leader acts withdrawn, indifferent and apathetic.

 Middle of Road Management

 This style of leadership focuses on having right balance between the tasks and people.
Their compromising style gives some of the push for production and some of the
attention to the employee needs. The leaders prefers middle ground and are expedient.
Though this style sounds effective, but the results may not be so. If managers fail to find
the right equilibrium, he may get either low or mediocre performance with
disappointment among team members.

 Team Management
This style of leadership provides a strong emphasis on both tasks and interpersonal
relationships. So, according to the managerial grid, this is the most effective leadership
style, as the leaders themselves are passionate about work and also tries his best for the
team members. The leaders stimulates participation, acts determined, makes priorities
clear, behaves open minded and enjoys working. So, the team members' feels respected
and empowered, and is committed to achieving their goal.

Slide 5

In addition to the five leadership styles, Blake and his colleagues added two more leadership
style after the death of Mouton in 1987.

 Paternalism/Materialism
It refers to a leader who jumps both the country-club and authority-compliance style.
They are often supportive and encouraging to the team members but the purpose of goal
accomplishment. This is the "benevolent dictator" who are often described as "fatherly"
or "motherly" towards their followers, making key decisions while guarding their own
positions.

 Opportunism
It refers to a leader who basically uses any combination of main five leadership style for
fulfilling their own need. Described as ruthless or cunning leader, they adapt and shift
their leadership style according to the surrounding, while manipulating other team
members for their personal gain.
Slide 6 (strengths)

Behavioural approach provides many strengths. As research from behavioural approach

broadened to what leaders did and acted, from the personal characteristics of leader, it validates
and gives credibility to the basic tenets of the approach. It provides us with a broad conceptual
map to understand the complexities of leadership. Leaders could learn a lot about themselves and
how they can improve their leadership behaviour.

Slide 7 (Criticisms)

First of all, the research on the behavioural approach has not adequately shown how leaders'
behaviour are associated with performance outcomes. Not to forget, this leadership approach also
failed to provide the universal leadership style that can be used in every kind of situation. While
the managerial grid suggest that task management as the most effective leadership style, but it
can't be effective in all situations.

We have come to the end of the lesson.

Slide 8 (summary)

Let's quickly summarize what we have learn in this lesson:

 Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid provides manager describe their leadership
behaviours along a grid with two axes: concern for results and concern for people.
 The grid highlights how placing too much emphasis on one area at the expense of the
other leads to the poor results.
 The most effective leadership style may be when leaders puts strong emphasis on both
tasks and people.
 With several strengths and criticisms, behavioural approach provides a neatly organized
set of prescriptions for effective leadership behaviour.
That is all for today’s lesson. I hope you have understood the topic well.

References
The Mind Tools, 2018. The Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid. [Online]
Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_73.htm
[Accessed January 2021].

Northouse, P. (2010) Leadership: Theory and Practice, [5th Ed]. London