FIEDLER’S

CONTINGENCY THEORY
OF LEADERSHIP
SAYANI SEN
M.COM 1ST YEAR
ROLL NO - 10
 Background of Contingency Theories

Contingency theory in general states that there is no singular best way to

structure an organization or to lead a team.
The best way to do that varies or in other words is contingent based on the
situations.
So contingent theories shows that the best leadership style is contingent on
the situation.
 How Fiedler’s Contingency Theory Differs
From Other Contingency Theories

This contingency model was given by business and management psychologist Fred
Feidler which is concerned about the effectiveness of a leader in an organization.
Just like other contingency theories this theory also states that the best way to lead a
team depends on a particular situation. However, this theory states that the leadership
style of a leader remains fixed and the organization have to put the leader in those
situations which matches his style.
 Factors of Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
There are two important factors in Fiedler’s Contingency Theory:
• leadership style
• situational favorableness
 Leadership Style

The first step in using the model is to determine the leader’s natural leadership
style, i.e. whether he is task oriented or relationship oriented. To do this,
Fiedler developed a scale called the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC).
 Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) Scale
According to this scale, the more favorably a leader rates the person he/she least
prefers to work with the more relationship oriented he/she is. The less favorably the
leader rates the person he/she least like working with the more task-oriented he/she
is. So, overall we can say that:
High LPC = Relationship-oriented leader.
Low LPC = Task-oriented leader.
Task-oriented leaders tend to be good at organizing teams and projects and getting
things done.
Relationship-oriented leaders tend to be good at building good relationships and
managing conflict to get things done.
 Situational Favorableness

The next step is to understand the favorableness of the situation a leader face. This
is determined by how much situational control one has over the situation as a leader.
Determining situational favorableness is done by examining the following three
factors:
• Leader-Member Relations
• Task Structure
• Position Power
• Leader-Member Relations
This factor measures how much a team trusts their leader. Greater trust
increases the favorableness of the situation and less trust reduces it.
• Task Structure
This factor measures the tasks that need to be performed, whether the task is
clear and precise or vague
Vague tasks decrease the favorableness of the situation and concrete and clear
tasks increase it.
• Position Power
This is determined by the authority, meaning the power a leader has to reward or
punish his or her subordinates. Having more power increases the situational
favorableness.
Steps of Feidler’s Contingency Model
 Conclusion of the Theory

According to Fiedler, task-oriented leaders get the best results when faced
with strongly favorable or strongly unfavorable situations. In situations of
mixed favorableness the relationship-oriented leaders get the best results.
 Advantages

• It provides a simple rule of thumb for identifying which leaders are best for
which situations.
• Unlike many other leadership theories, it takes the situation into account in
determining the effectiveness of a leader.
• Both the LPC and the situational factors are easy to measure.
 Limitations
• The theory is not flexible in nature. If the leadership style doesn’t match the
situation then, there is nothing that one can do to change the situation.
• The LPC scale is subjective and so it may assess the leadership style
incorrectly.
• If anyone falls exactly in the middle of the LPC scale then there is no
guidance as to which kind of leader he/she might be.
• The assessment of the situation is subjective. One may incorrectly assess
the situation and as a result will incorrectly determine the kind of leader the
situation require.