Organizational Behavior

Management OBM
Leadership of individuals
– Values, attitudes, motivation, learning
Leadership of groups
– Group dynamics, teams
Leadership of organizations
– Organization cultures, organization design
Leadership of OB processes
– Decision making, communication, power, politics,
conflicts, negotiations
Leadership of organizational dynamics
– Organization change, stress, innovations,
development
 The Different Views of
Leadership
Trait definition of leadership Process definition of leadership

Leader Leader

• Height
Leadership • Intelligence Leadership
• Extroversion
• Fluency
Interaction
• Other traits

Followers Followers
Functions of Management
Versus Leadership 1/2
Management produces Leadership produces
Order and Consistency Change and Movement
Planning / Budgeting Establishing Direction
– Establish agendas – Create a vision
– Set time tables – Clarify big picture
– Allocate resources – Set strategies
Organizing / Staffing Aligning People
– Provide structure – Communicate goals
– Make job placements – Seek commitment
– Establish rules and – Build teams and
procedures coalitions
Functions of Management
Versus Leadership 2/2
Management Leadership
Controlling / Motivating and
Problem Solving Inspiring
– Develop incentives – Inspire and energize
– Generate creative – Empower
solutions subordinates
– Take corrective – Satisfy unmet needs
action

John P. Kotter 1990

 Trait Approach

One of the first systematic attempts to

study leadership
Traits were studied to determine what
made certain people great leaders
“Great man” theories (Gandhi, Lincoln,
Napoleon)
Belief that people were born with these
traits and only the great people
possessed them
 Trait Approach

Specific traits that differentiated leaders from

followers
Stogdill (1948): no consistent set of traits
differentiated leaders from non-leaders
across a variety of situations
– An individual who was a leader in one situation
might not be a leader in another situation
Leadership was re-conceptualized as a
relationship between people in a social
situation
Major Leadership Traits

Intelligence
– verbal ability, perceptual ability, reasoning
– not IQ
Self-confidence
– self-esteem, self-assurance, can make a
difference
– leadership involves influencing others
Determination
– desire to get the job done
– initiative, persistence, dominance, drive
Major Leadership Traits

Integrity
– honesty, trustworthiness
– organizational trust
Sociability
– pleasant social relationships
– friendly, outgoing, courteous, tactful,
diplomatic
 Trait Approach

Focuses exclusively on the leader

Certain set of traits vs. effective
leadership
Mean of personal development
Criticisms: too much traits, situations,
too subjective determinations of the
most important traits (self-help books),
teaching traits is a difficult process
 Skills Approach
Definition: the ability to use one’s
knowledge and competencies to
accomplish a set of goals or objectives
Katz: the things, the people, the concepts
 Skills Model of Leadership

INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES LEADERSHIP

ATTRIBUTES OUTCOMES
General Cognitive Problem Solving Effective
Abilities Skills Problem Solving
Crystallized Cognitive Social Judgment and
Abilities Skills Performance
Motivation Knowledge
Personality

Career Experiences

Environmental Influences
Skills Model of Leadership

Problem solving skills

– creative ability to solve new and unusual,
ill-defined organizational problems
Social judgment skills
– capacity to understand people and social
systems
– perspective taking, social perceptiveness,
behavioral flexibility, social performance
 Skills Model of Leadership
Knowledge
– accumulation of information and the mental
structures used to organize that information
– semantic innovation
Skills Model of Leadership

General cognitive ability

– perceptual processing, information
processing, general reasoning skills,
creative and divergent thinking capacities
and memory skills
– intelligence, often linked to biology
Crystallized cognitive ability
– intellectual ability that is learned or
acquired over time
Skills Model of Leadership

Motivation
– must be willing and motivated to tackle
complex organizational problems
– must be willing to express dominance
– must be committed to the social good of
the organization
Personality
– psychological trait theory vs. identity
Skills Model of Leadership

Effective problem solving

– the originality and the quality of expressed
solutions to problem situations
Performance
– the duties to which s/he has been assigned
 Skills Model of Leadership
Career experiences
– challenging job assignments, mentoring,
appropriate training, hands-on experience in
solving new and unusual problems
Environmental influences
– the level of skill of subordinates
 Style Approach

Emphasizes the behavior of leader

Two kinds of behavior: task behaviors
(help group members to achieve their
goals) and relationship behaviors (help
subordinates feel comfortable with
themselves, with each other, and with
the situation)
Style studies since late 1940’s
Style Approach: The Leadership
grid
High Country Club Team
Management Management

Middle-of-the-Road
Concern for Management
People
Authority-
Impoverished Compliance
Low Management Management
Low High
Concern for Results
Style Approach: The Leadership
grid
Authority-Compliance
– people are tools for getting the job done
– communication is for instructions
Country Club Management
– personal and social needs of followers,
positive climate
Impoverished Management
– no commitment, apathetic
Style Approach: The Leadership
grid
Middle-of-the-Road Management
– compromisers, avoid conflicts, emphasize
moderate levels of production
Team Management
– stimulate participation, acts determined,
makes priorities clear, behaves open-
mindedly
Paternalism/Maternalism
Opportunism
 Situational Approach

Developed by Hersey & Blanchard 1969

Different situations demand different
kinds of leadership
Being an effective leader requires that
an individual adapt her/his style to the
demands of different situations
Directive and supportive dimension
Situational Leadership, Four
Styles
High
Supporting Coaching

Supportive
Behaviour
’Relationships’
Delegating Directing

Low
Low High
Directive Behaviour
’Task’
Situational Leadership, Four
Styles
Directing
– communication focused on goal
achievement, careful supervising of
instructions
Coaching
– encouragement and soliciting subordinate
input, leader makes the final decision
Situational Leadership, Four
Styles
Supporting
– brings out the the employee’s skills around
the task, subordinates control for day-to-
day decisions
– listening, praising, asking for input, giving
feedback
Delegating
– low level of involvement in planning,
control of details, goal clarification
– leaves the responsibility to subordinates
Development Level of Followers

High Moderate Low

D4 D3 D2 D1

Developed Developing
Development Level of Followers

D1:
– low competence and high commitment
D2:
– some competence but low commitment
D3:
– moderate to high competence but may lack
commitment
D4:
– high competence and high commitment
Development Level of Followers
Effective leader is able to diagnose where
the subordinates are on the developmental
continuum and adapt her/his style to it
 Situational Leadership

Strengths
– practical: easy to understand and apply
– prescriptive: tells what to do or what to do
not in various situations
– leader’s flexibility: employees and leading
styles differ from situation to situation
Criticisms
– leader’s styles and employee’s
development level do not always match,
there exist other factors too
Transformational Leadership

Since late 1970’s

Part of the ’New leadership’ paradigm
Attention to the charismatic and affective
elements of leadership
A process that changes and transforms
individuals
Emotions, values, ethics, standards, long-
term goals
Incorporates charismatic and visionary
leadership
Transformational Leadership

Burns (1978):
– transactional leadership (focus on the
exchanges that occur between leaders and
their followers)
– transformational leadership (an individual
engages with others and creates a
connection that raises the level of
motivation and morality in both the leader
and the follower)
Transformational Leadership
and Charisma
Charisma: a special personality characteristic
that gives a person superhuman or
exceptional powers and is reserved for a few,
is of divine origin, and results in the person
being treated as a leader
Being dominant, strong desire to influence
others, self-confidence, strong sense of moral
values, strong role models
 Transformational Leadership
and Charisma
Personality Behaviours Effects on
Characteristics Followers
Dominant Sets strong Trust in leader’s ideology
role model
Desire to Belief similarity between
influence Shows competence leader and follower

Confident Articulate goals Unquestioning acceptance

Strong Communicates Obedience

values high expectations
Identification with leader
Express confidence
Emotional involvement,
Arouse motives heightened goals, increased
confidence
Transformational Leadership
Factors
TRANSFORMATIONAL TRANSACTIONAL LAISSEZ-FAIRE
LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP
Factor 1 Factor 5 Factor 7
Idealized influence Contingent reward Laissez-faire
Charisma Constructive Nontransactional
transactions (absence of
Factor 2 leadership)
Inspirational Factor 6
motivation Management by
exception,
Factor 3 active and passive
Intellectual stimulation Corrective transactions

Factor 4
Individualized
consideration