Organizational Behavior

FINAL PERIOD REVIEWER

CHAPTER 11: Traits Approach to Leadership

LEADERSHIP AND INFLUENCE PROCESSES ➢ Assumed that a basic set of personal traits that
differentiated leaders from non-leaders could be
Leadership used to identify leaders and predict who would
➢ as a process, the use of noncoercive influence to become leaders.
shape the group’s or organization’s goals, ➢ The trait approach was unsuccessful in
motivate behavior toward the achievement of establishing empirical relationships between
those goals, and help define group or traits and persons regarded as leaders
organizational culture
➢ as a property, the set of characteristics attributed LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS
to individuals who are perceived to be leaders
1. Michigan Studies (Rensis Likert)
Leaders ➢ identified two forms of leader behaviour
➢ people who can influence the behaviors of others ➢ the two forms of leader behaviors were
without having to rely on force; those accepted by considered to be at opposite ends of the same
others as leaders continuum
✓ TWO FORMS OF LEADER BEHAVIOUR
DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN MANAGEMENT a. Job-centered behaviour
AND LEADERSHIP ➢ managers who pay close attention to
subordinates’ work, explain work
Leadership Activity Management procedures, and are keenly interested in
Establishing Creating an Planning and performance
direction and vision agenda budgeting, b. Employee-centered behaviour
for the organization allocating resources
➢ managers who focus on the development
Aligning people Developing a Organizing and
through human network staffing, structuring of cohesive work groups and employee
communications for achieving the and monitoring satisfaction
and actions that agenda implementation
provide direction
2. Ohio State Studies
Motivating and Executing plans Controlling and
inspiring by problem solving ➢ did not interpret leader behavior as being one-
satisfying needs dimensional as did the Michigan State studies
Produces useful Outcomes Produces ✓ TWO BASIC LEADERSHIP STYLES
change and new predictability and
approaches to order and attains
a. Initiating-structure behavior
challenges results ➢ the behavior of leaders who define the
leader– subordinate role so that
Power everyone knows what is expected,
➢ the ability to affect the behavior of others establish formal lines of communication,
and determine how tasks will be
FIVE KINDS OF POWER performed
(IN ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS): b. Consideration behaviour
➢ The behavior of leaders who show
a. Legitimate power concern for subordinates and attempt to
➢ power granted through the organizational establish a warm, friendly, and supportive
hierarchy climate
➢ the power defined by the organization to be ➢ Initial assumption was that the most effective
accorded to people occupying a particular leaders who exhibit high levels of both behaviors.
position Subsequent research indicated that:
b. Reward power ✓ Employees of supervisors ranked high on
➢ the power to give or withhold rewards, such as initiating structure were high performers,
salary increases, bonuses, promotions, praise, yet they expressed low levels of
recognition, and interesting job assignments satisfaction and higher absenteeism.
c. Coercive power ✓ Employees of supervisors ranked high on
➢ the power to force compliance by means of consideration had low- performance
psychological, emotional, or physical threat ratings, yet they had high levels of
d. Referent power satisfaction and less absenteeism.
➢ the personal power that accrues to someone ✓ Other situational variables make
based on identification, imitation, loyalty, or consistent leader behavior predictions
charisma difficult. There is no universal or “one
e. Expert power best way” model of leadership
➢ the personal power that accrues to someone
based on the information or expertise that they 3. The Managerial Grid
possess ➢ provides a means for evaluating leadership styles
and then training managers to move toward an
ideal style of behavior.

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a. Concern for production
➢ The part of the Managerial Grid that deals
with the job and task aspects of leader
behaviour
b. Concern for people
➢ The part of the Managerial Grid that deals
with the human aspects of leader
behavior
SITUATIONAL APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP
Situational Models of Leader Behavior
➢ Assume that:
✓ Appropriate leader behavior varies from
one situation to another.
✓ Key situational factors that are interacting
to determine appropriate leader behavior
can be identified.
1. Least-Preferred Co-worker (LPC) theory
➢ A theory of leadership that suggests that the
appropriate style of leadership varies with
situational favorableness.
➢ LPC theory, developed by Fred Fiedler, was the
first truly situational theory of leadership.
➢ LPC measure the measuring scale that asks
leaders to describe the person with whom he or
she is able to work least well (the least-preferred
coworker, or LPC)
✓ SITUATIONAL FAVORABLENESS
a. Leader-member relations
➢ the nature of the relationship between the
leader and the work group.
b. Task structure
➢ the degree to which the group’s task is
defined.
c. Position Power
➢ the power vested in the leader’s position.
2. Path-Goal Theory
➢ Associated most closely with Martin Evans and
Robert House—is a direct extension of the
expectancy theory of motivation
➢ Theory of leadership – suggesting that the
primary functions of a leader are to make valued
FINALS
or desired rewards available in the workplace and
to clarify for the subordinate the kinds of behavior
that will lead to those rewards
✓ LEADER BEHAVIORS:
a. Directive leader behaviour
➢ letting subordinates know what is expected of
them, giving guidance and direction, and
scheduling work.
b. Supportive leader behaviour
➢ being friendly and approachable, having
concern for subordinate welfare, and treating
subordinates as equals.
c. Participative leader behaviour
➢ consulting with subordinates, soliciting
suggestions, and allowing participation
indecision making.
d. Achievement
➢ oriented leader behaviour setting challenging
goals, expecting subordinates to perform at
high levels, encouraging and showing
confidence in subordinates.
3. Vroom’s Decision Tree Approach
➢ Predicts what kinds of situations call for different
degrees of group participation
➢ Basic Premises
✓ The degree to which subordinates should be
encouraged to participate in decision making
depends on the characteristics of the
situation.
✓ No one decision-making process is best for
all situations.
➢ After evaluating the different problem attributes, a
leader can choose a decision path on one of two
decision trees that determines the decision style
and specifies the amount of employee
participation.
A. Decision significance
➢ The degree to which the decision will
have an impact on the organization.
Subordinates are involved when decision
significance is high.
B. Decision Timeliness
➢ The degree of time pressure for making
a decision in a timely basis; may preclude
involving subordinates.
✓ DECISION-MAKING STYLES
a. Decide
➢ manager makes decision alone and then
announces or “sells” it to the group.
b. Consult (individually)
➢ manager presents program to group
members individually, obtains their
suggestions, then makes the decision.
c. Consult (group)
➢ manager presents problem to group at a
meeting, gets their suggestions, then makes
the decision.
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d. Facilitate
➢ manager presents the problem to the group,
defines the problem and its boundaries, and
then facilitates group member discussion as
they make the decision.
e. Delegate
➢ manager allows the group to define for itself
the exact nature and parameters of the
problem and then develop a solution.
4. The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Approach
➢ conceived by George Graen and Fred
Dansereau, stresses the importance of variable
relationships between supervisors and each of
their subordinates.
➢ Stresses that leaders have different kinds of
relationships with different subordinates
RELATED APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP
Substitutes for Leadership
➢ A concept that identifies situations in which leader
behaviors are neutralized or replaced by
characteristics of the subordinate, the task, and
the organization
Charismatic Leadership
➢ Assumes that charisma is an individual
characteristic of the leader
➢ Charisma – a form of interpersonal attraction that
inspires support and acceptance
Transformational Leadership
➢ Leadership that goes beyond ordinary
expectations by transmitting a sense of mission,
stimulating learning experiences, and inspiring
new ways of thinking
EMERGING APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP
Strategic Leadership
➢ The capability to understand the complexities of
both the organization and its environment and to
lead change in the organization to achieve and
maintain a superior alignment between the
organization and its environment
Ethical Leadership
➢ Most people have long assumed that top
managers are ethical people. But in the wake of
recent corporate scandals, faith in top managers
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has been shaken. Perhaps now more than ever,
high standards of ethical conduct are being held
up as a prerequisite for effective leadership.
POLITICAL BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS
Political Behavior
➢ The activities carried out for the specific purpose
of acquiring, developing, and using power and
other resources to obtain one’s preferred
outcomes
✓ COMMON POLITICAL BEHAVIORS
a. Inducement
➢ offering to give something to someone
else in return for that person’s support.
b. Persuasion
➢ persuading others to support a goal on
grounds that are objective and logical as
well as subjective and personal.
c. Creation of an obligation
➢ providing support for another person’s
position that obliges that person to return
the favor at a future date.
d. Coercion
➢ using force to get one’s way.
e. Impression management
➢ making a direct and intentional effort to
enhance one’s image in the eyes of
others
MANAGING POLITICAL BEHAVIOR
✓ Be aware that even if actions are not politically
motivated, others may assume that they are.
✓ Reduce the likelihood of subordinates engaging in
political behavior by providing them with autonomy,
responsibility, challenge, and feedback.
✓ Avoid using power to avoid charges of political
motivation.
✓ Get disagreements and conflicts out in the open so
that subordinates have less opportunity to engage in
political behavior.
✓ Avoid covert behaviors that give the impression of
political intent even if none exists.
CHAPTER 12:
COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS
Communication
➢ The process of transmitting information from one
person to another
Effective communication
➢ The process of sending a message in such a way
that the message received is as close in meaning
as possible to the message intended
Data
➢ Raw figures and facts reflecting a single aspect of
reality
Information
➢ Data presented in a way or form that has meaning
CHARACTERISTICS OF USEFUL INFORMATION
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a. Accurate information subordinates and may involve several

➢ Provides a valid and reliable reflection of reality different levels of the organization
b. Timely information i. Upward communication
➢ Available in time for appropriate managerial ➢ consists of messages from
action subordinates to superiors
c. Complete information ii. Downward communication
➢ Provides the manager with all the information that ➢ occurs when information flows down
he or she needs the hierarchy from superiors to
d. Relevant information subordinates
➢ Information that is useful to managers in their b. Horizontal communication
particular circumstances for their particular needs ➢ Communication that flows laterally within
the organization; involves colleagues and
STEPS IN THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS peers at the same level of the
organization and may involve individuals
✓ Deciding to transmit a fact, idea, opinion, or other from several different organizational units
information to the receiver. Formal Communication in Organization
✓ Encoding the meaning into a form appropriate to
the situation.
✓ Transmitting through the appropriate channel or
medium.
✓ Decoding the message back into a form that has
meaning to the receiver.
✓ “Noise” is anything disrupting the communication
process.

D. Digital Communication
✓ Information technology (IT)
➢ The resources used by an organization to
manage information that it needs to carry
out its mission
✓ Information Systems Advances in IT have
made it increasingly easy for managers to use
many different kinds of information systems
✓ Transaction-processing systems
(TPSs)
➢ An application of information
processing for basic day-to-day
FORMS OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATION business transactions
✓ Management information systems
A. Interpersonal Communication (MISs)
a. Oral communication ➢ An information system that
➢ Face-to-face conversation, group supports an organization’s
discussions, telephone calls, and other managers by providing daily
circumstances in which the spoken word reports, schedules, plans, and
is used to transmit meaning budgets
b. Written communication ✓ Decision support systems (DSSs)
➢ Memos, letters, reports, notes, and other ➢ An interactive system that
circumstances in which the written word locates and presents information
is used to transmit meaning needed to support the decision-
B. Communication in Networks and Work Teams making process
✓ Communication network ✓ Executive support system (ESS)
➢ The pattern through which the members ➢ A quick-reference, easy-access
of a group communicate application of information
➢ TYPES OF COMMUNICATION systems specially designed for
NETWORKS: instant access by upper-level
managers
✓ Artificial intelligence (AI)
➢ The construction of computer
systems, both hardware and
software, to imitate human
behavior— that is, to perform
C. Organizational Communication physical tasks, use thought
a. Vertical communication processes, and learn
➢ Communication that flows up and down ✓ Intranets
the organization, usually along formal ➢ A communication network similar
reporting lines; takes place between to the Internet but operating
managers and their superiors and

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within the boundaries of a single

organization MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
✓ Extranets
➢ A communication network that
allows selected outsiders limited
access to an organization’s
internal information system, or
intranet
✓ Personal Digital Technology
✓ Telecommuting
➢ is the label given to a new digital
cottage industry.
a. Individual Barriers
➢ In telecommuting, people work at
➢ Several individual barriers may disrupt effective
home on their computers and
communication.
communicate with colleagues
➢ One common problem is conflicting or
and co-workers using electronic
inconsistent signals.
media
b. Organizational Barriers
➢ Other barriers to effective communication involve
INFORMAL COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS
the organizational context in which the
Grapevine communication occurs.
➢ An informal communication network among ➢ Semantics problems arise when words have
people in an organization different meanings for different people.
➢ Words and phrases such as profit, increased
Common Grapevine Chains Found in Organizations output, and return on investment may have
positive meanings for managers but less positive
meanings for labor.

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS

Informal Communication in Organizations

➢ may or may not follow official reporting
relationships or prescribed channels.
➢ It may cross different levels and different
departments or work units, and it may or may not
have anything to do with official organizational
business.

a. Management by Wandering Around

➢ An approach to communication that involves the
manager literally wandering around and having
spontaneous conversations with others
b. Nonverbal Communication
➢ Any communication exchange that does not use
words or uses words to carry more meaning than
the strict definition of the words themselves CHAPTER 14:
i. Images BASIC ELEMENTS OF CONTROL
➢ the kinds of words people elect to use to
give emphasis and effect to what they Control
say. ➢ The regulation of organizational activities in such
ii. Settings a way as to facilitate goal attainment
➢ boundaries, familiarity, home turf (e.g., ➢ Provides organizations with indications of how
office location, size, and furnishings) are well they are performing in relation to their goals.
symbols of power and influence how ➢ Provides a mechanism for adjusting performance
people choose to communicate in to keep organizations moving in the right
organizations. direction.

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The Purpose of Control

➢ Control provides an organization with ways to
adapt to environmental change, to limit the
accumulation of error, to cope with organizational
complexity, and to minimize costs.

FOUR FUNCTIONS OF CONTROL

✓ Adapting to Environmental Change

✓ Limiting the Accumulation of Error
✓ Coping with Organizational Complexity B. Financial Control
✓ Minimizing Cost ➢ Concerned with the organization’s financial
resources
✓ Budget
➢ A plan expressed in numerical terms

AREAS OF CONTROL
✓ Control provides an organization with ways to adapt
to environmental change, to limit the accumulation of
error, to cope with organizational complexity, and to
minimize costs.
a. Control of Physical Resources
➢ includes inventory management (stocking neither
too few nor too many units in inventory)
b. Quality control
➢ maintaining appropriate levels of output quality
c. Equipment control
➢ supplying the necessary facilities and machinery.
d. Control of human resources
➢ includes selection and placement, training and
development, performance appraisal, and
compensation.
e. Control of information resources ✓ Developing Budgets in Organizations
➢ includes sales and marketing forecasting,
environmental analysis, public relations,
production scheduling, and economic forecasting
f. Control of financial resources
➢ the most important area, because financial
resources are related to the control of all the other
resources in an organization

LEVELS OF CONTROL

✓ STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF

BUDGETING
a. Strengths:
➢ Budgets facilitate effective operational
controls.
➢ Budgets facilitate and communication
A. Operations Control
between departments.
➢ Focuses on the processes that the organization
➢ Budgets established records of
uses to transform resources into products or
organizational performance, which can
services
enhance planning.
✓ FORMS OF OPERATIONS CONTROL
b. Weaknesses:

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➢ Budgets can hamper operations if
applied too rigidly
➢ Budgets can be time consuming to
develop
➢ Budgets can limit innovation and change
✓ OTHER TOOLS FOR FINANCIAL CONTROL
i. Financial Statement
➢ A profile of some aspect of an
organization’s financial circumstances
ii. Balance Sheet
➢ List of assets and liabilities of an
organization at a specific point in time
iii. Income Statement
➢ A summary of financial performance over
a period of time, usually one year
iv. Ratio Analysis
➢ The calculation of one or more financial
ratios to assess some aspect of the
organization’s financial health
v. Audits
➢ An independent appraisal of an
organization’s accounting, financial, and
operational systems
C. Structural Control
➢ Concerned with how the elements of the
organization’s structure are serving their intended
purpose
✓ Organizational Control
a. Bureaucratic Control
➢ A form of organizational control
characterized by formal and
mechanistic structural arrangements
b. Decentralized Control
➢ An approach to organizational
control based on informal and
organic structural arrangements
D. Strategic Control
➢ Focuses on how effectively the organization’s
strategies are succeeding in helping the
organization meet its goals
➢ Control aimed at ensuring that the organization is
maintaining an effective alignment with its
environment and moving toward achieving its
strategic plan.
✓ Focuses on structure, leadership, technology,
human resources, and informational and
operational systems.
✓ Focuses on the extent to which an
implemented strategy achieves the
organization’s goals
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➢ International Strategic Control
✓ Focuses on whether to manage the global
organization from a centralized or
decentralized perspective.
✓ Centralization creates more control and
coordination, whereas decentralization
fosters adaptability and innovation
Responsibilities for Control
✓ Controller
➢ A position in organizations that helps line
managers with their control activities
STEPS IN THE CONTROL PROCESS
1. Establish Standards
Control standard
➢ A target against which subsequent performance
will be compared.
✓ Control standards should be expressed in
measurable terms.
✓ Control standards should be consistent with
organizational goals.
✓ Control standards should be identifiable
indicators of performance.
2. Measure Performance
✓ Performance measurement is an ongoing
process.
✓ Performance measures must be valid indicators
(e.g., sales, costs, units produced) of
performance.
3. Compare Performance Against Standards
✓ Define what is a permissible deviation from the
performance standard.
✓ Utilize the appropriate timetable for
measurement.
4. Determine the Need for Corrective Action
✓ Maintain the status quo (do nothing).
✓ Correct the deviation to bring operations into
compliance with the standard.
✓ Change the standard if it was set too high or too
low
CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE CONTROL
a. Integration with Planning
➢ the more control is linked to planning, the more
effective the control system.
b. Flexibility
➢ the control system must be flexible enough to
accommodate change.
c. Accuracy
➢ Inaccurate information results in bad decision
making and inappropriate managerial actions
d. Timeliness
➢ A control system should provide information as
often as necessary.
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e. Objectivity
➢ A control system must be free from bias and
distortion

RESISTANCE TO CONTROL

a. Over-control
➢ Trying to control too many details becomes
problematic when control affects employee
behavior and employees perceive control
attempts as unreasonable.
b. Inappropriate Focus
➢ The control system may be too narrow or it may
focus too much on quantifiable variables and
leave no room for analysis or interpretation.
c. Rewards for Inefficiency
➢ Rewarding operational inefficiency can lead
employees to behave in ways that are not in the
best interests of the organization.
d. Too much accountability
➢ Efficient controls are resisted by poorly
performing employees

Resistance to control can be overcome by:

✓ Designing effective controls that are properly
integrated with organizational planning and
aligned with organizational goals and standards.
✓ Creating controls that are flexible, accurate,
timely, and objective.
✓ Avoiding over-control in the implementation of
controls.
✓ Guarding against creating controls that reward
inefficiencies.
✓ Encouraging employee participation in the
planning and implementing of control systems.
✓ Developing a system of checks and balances in
the control systems through the use of multiple
standards and information systems that allow the
organization to verify the accuracy of
performance indicators

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