Robbins & Judge

Organizational Behavior
13th Edition

Basic
Basic Approaches
Approaches to
to Leadership
Leadership

Bob Stretch
Southwestern College

© 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 12-1

 Chapter
Chapter Learning
Learning Objectives
Objectives
 After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
– Define leadership and contrast leadership and management.
– Summarize the conclusions of trait theories.
– Identify the central tenets and main limitations of behavioral
theories.
– Assess contingency theories of leadership by their level of support.
– Contrast the interactive theories (path-goal and leader-member
exchange).
– Identify the situational variables in the leader-participation model.
– Show how U.S. managers might need to adjust their leadership
approaches in Brazil, France, Egypt, and China.

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 What
What IsIs Leadership?
Leadership?

 Leadership
– The ability to influence a group
toward the achievement of goals
 Management
– Use of authority inherent in
designated formal rank to obtain
compliance from organizational
members
 Both are necessary for
organizational success

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 Trait
Trait Theories
Theories of
of Leadership
Leadership
 Theories that consider personality, social, physical, or
intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from
nonleaders
 Not very useful until matched with the Big Five
Personality Framework
 Leadership Traits
– Extroversion
– Conscientiousness
– Openness
– Emotional Intelligence (Qualified)
 Traits can predict leadership, but they are better at
predicting leader emergence than effectiveness.
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 Behavioral
Behavioral Theories
Theories of
of Leadership
Leadership
 Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate
leaders from nonleaders
 Differences between theories of leadership:
– Trait theory: leadership is inherent, so we must identify the
leader based on his or her traits
– Behavioral theory: leadership is a skill set and can be taught
to anyone, so we must identify the proper behaviors to teach
potential leaders

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 Important
Important Behavioral
Behavioral Studies
Studies
 Ohio State University
– Found two key dimensions of leader behavior:
• Initiating structure – the defining and structuring of roles
• Consideration – job relationships that reflect trust and respect
• Both are important
 University of Michigan
– Also found two key dimensions of leader behavior:
• Employee-oriented – emphasizes interpersonal relationships
and is the most powerful dimension
• Production-oriented – emphasizes the technical aspects of the
job
– The dimensions of the two studies are very similar

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 Blake
Blake and
and Mouton’s
Mouton’s Managerial
Managerial Grid®
Grid®
 Draws on both studies to
assess leadership style
– “Concern for People” is
Consideration and
Employee-Orientation
– “Concern for Production”
is Initiating Structure and
Production-Orientation
 Style is determined by
position on the graph -
1,1 impoverished :1,9 country club:
9,1 Authority obedience: 5,5
Organisation Man: 9,9 Team Mgmt

E X H I B I T 12-1
E X H I B I T 12-1

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 Contingency
Contingency Theories
Theories
 While trait and behavior theories do help us
understand leadership, an important component is
missing: the environment in which the leader exists

 Contingency Theory deals with this additional aspect of

leadership effectiveness studies

 Three key theories:

– Fielder’s Model
– Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory
– Path-Goal Theory

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 Fiedler
Fiedler Model
Model
 Effective group performance depends on the proper
match between leadership style and the situation
– Assumes that leadership style (based on orientation revealed
in LPC questionnaire) is fixed
 Considers Three Situational Factors:
– Leader-member relations: degree of confidence and trust in
the leader
– Task structure: degree of structure in the jobs
– Position power: leader’s ability to hire, fire, and reward
 For effective leadership: must change to a leader who fits
the situation or change the situational variables to fit the
current leader

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 Graphic
Graphic Representation
Representation of
of Fiedler’s
Fiedler’s Model
Model

Used to
determine
which type
of leader
to use in a
given
situation

E X H I B I T 12-2
E X H I B I T 12-2

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 Assessment
Assessment of
of Fiedler’s
Fiedler’s Model
Model
 Positives:
– Considerable evidence supports the model, especially if the
original eight situations are grouped into three

 Problems:
– The logic behind the LPC
scale is not well understood
– LPC scores are not stable
– Contingency variables are
complex and hard to
determine

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 Fiedler’s
Fiedler’s Cognitive
Cognitive Resource
Resource Theory
Theory
 A refinement of Fiedler’s original model:
– Focuses on stress as the enemy of rationality and creator of
unfavorable conditions
– A leader’s intelligence and experience influence his or her
reaction to that stress

 Research is supporting the theory.

© 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 12-12

 Hersey
Hersey && Blanchard’s
Blanchard’s Situational
Situational Leadership
Leadership
 A model that focuses on follower “readiness”
– Followers can accept or reject the leader
– Effectiveness depends on the followers’ response to the
leader’s actions
– “Readiness” is the extent to which people have the ability
and willingness to accomplish a specific task
 A paternal model:
– As the child matures, the adult releases more and more
control over the situation
– As the workers become more ready, the leader becomes
more laissez-faire
 An intuitive model that does not get much support
from the research findings
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 House’s
House’s Path-Goal
Path-Goal Theory
Theory
 Builds from the Ohio State studies and the expectancy
theory of motivation
 The Theory:
– Leaders provide followers with information, support, and
resources to help them achieve their goals
– Leaders help clarify the “path” to the worker’s goals
– Leaders can display multiple leadership types
 Four types of leaders:
– Directive: focuses on the work to be done
– Supportive: focuses on the well-being of the worker
– Participative: consults with employees in decision-making
– Achievement-Oriented: sets challenging goals

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 Path-Goal
Path-Goal Model
Model
 Two classes of contingency variables:
– Environmental are outside of employee control
– Subordinate factors are internal to employee

 Mixed support in the research findings

E X H I B I T 12-4
E X H I B I T 12-4

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 Leader-Member
Leader-Member Exchange
Exchange (LMX)
(LMX) Theory
Theory
 A response to the failing of contingency theories to
account for followers and heterogeneous leadership
approaches to individual workers
 LMX Premise:
– Because of time pressures, leaders form a special
relationship with a small group of followers: the “in-group”
– This in-group is trusted and gets more time and attention
from the leader (more “exchanges”)
– All other followers are in the “out-group” and get less of the
leader’s attention and tend to have formal relationships with
the leader (fewer “exchanges”)
– Leaders pick group members early in the relationship

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 LMX
LMX Model
Model
 How groups are assigned is unclear
– Follower characteristics determine group membership
 Leaders control by keeping favorites close

 Research has been generally supportive

E X H I B I T 12-3
E X H I B I T 12-3

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 Yroom
Yroomand
andYetton’s
Yetton’sLeader-Participation
Leader-ParticipationModel
Model
 How a leader makes decisions is as important as what is
decided
 Premise:
– Leader behaviors must adjust to reflect task structure
– “Normative” model: tells leaders how participative to be in
their decision-making of a decision tree
• Five leadership styles
• Twelve contingency variables

 Research testing for both original and modified models

has not been encouraging
– Model is overly complex
E X H I B I T 12-5
E X H I B I T 12-5

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 Global
Global Implications
Implications
 These leadership theories are primarily studied in
English-speaking countries
 GLOBE does have some country-specific insights
– Brazilian teams prefer leaders who are high in consideration,
participative, and have high LPC scores
– French workers want a leader who is high on initiating
structure and task-oriented
– Egyptian employees value team-oriented, participative
leadership, while keeping a high-power distance
– Chinese workers may favor a moderately participative style
 Leaders should take culture into account

© 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 12-19

 Summary
Summary and
and Managerial
Managerial Implications
Implications
 Leadership is central to understanding group behavior
as the leader provides the direction

 Extroversion, conscientiousness, and openness all show

consistent relationships to leadership

 Behavioral approaches have narrowed leadership down

into two usable dimensions

 Need to take into account the situational variables,

especially the impact of followers

© 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 12-20

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