by hanielyn espinosa

1. 1
Situational or Contingency
Approaches Leadership

2. 2
Chapter Objectives
 Understand how leadership is often contingent on people
and situations.
 Apply Fiedler’s contingency model to key relationships
among leader style, situational favorability, and group task
performance.
 Apply Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory of leader
style to the level of follower readiness.
 Explain the path-goal theory of leadership.
 Use the Vroom-Jago model to identify the correct amount
of follower participation in specific decision situations.
 Know how to use the power of situational variables to
substitute for or neutralize the need for leadership.
 Note all action memos in the chapter

3. Leader’s bookshelf - Wheatley
 Nurture relationships with a clear vision, statements
of values, expressions of caring, sharing of
information, and freedom from strict rules and
controls
 Focus on the whole, not on the parts in isolation
 Reduce boundaries between departments to allow
new patterns of relationships
 Become comfortable with uncertainty and recognize
that any solutions are only temporary
 Recognize that healthy growth of people and
organizations is found in disequilibrium, not in
stability

4. 4
Ex. 3.1 Comparing the Universalistic and
Contingency Approaches to Leadership
Universalistic
Approach
Contingency
Approach
Followers
Leader
Situation
Leadership
Traits/behaviors
Style
Traits
Behavior
Position
Needs
Maturity
Training
Cohesion
Task
Structure
Systems
Env.
Outcomes
(Performance, satisfaction,
etc.)
Outcomes
(Performance, satisfaction,
etc.)

5. 5
Ex. 3.2 Metacategories of Leader Behavior and
Four Leader Styles
High Task-Low
Relationship
High Task-High
Relationship
Low Task-Low
Relationship
High Relationship
-Low Task
High
Low
Low RELATIONSHIP BEHAVIOR High
TASK
BEHAVIOR

6. 6
Contingency Approaches
Contingency approaches:
approaches that seek to delineate the
characteristics of situations and
followers and examine the leadership
styles that can be used effectively
Fiedler’s contingency model: a
model designed to diagnose whether a
leader is task-oriented or relationship-oriented
and match leader style to the
situation

7. Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory - classifies the
favorableness of the leader’s situation
 Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) - the person a
leader has least preferred to work with over his or
her career
 Task Structure - degree of clarity, or ambiguity, in
the group’s work activities
 Position Power - authority associated with the
leader’s formal position in the organization
 Leader-Member Relations – quality of
interpersonal relationships among a leader and
group members

8. Leadership Effectiveness in the Contingency Theory
High LPC
relations oriented
Correlations
between leader
LPC & group
performance
1.00
.80
.60
.40
.20
0
-.20
-.40
-.60
-.80
Low LPC
task oriented
I II III IV V VI VII VIII Unfavorable
for leader
Favorable
for leader
I II III IV V VI VII VIII
Leader-member
relations
G G G G MPoor MPoor MPoor MPoor
Task structure S S U U S S U U
Leader position
power
Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak

9. 9
Fiedler’s theory
Fit between leader’s style (task or
relationship) and the situation
(favorable or unfavorable)
Both relations and task oriented
leaders can be effective in the right
situation.

10. 10
Situational Theory
Hersey and Blanchard’s extension of
the Leadership Grid focusing on the
characteristics of followers as the
important element of the situation, and
consequently, of determining effective
leader behavior

11. 11
Ex. 3.4 Hersey and Blanchard’s
Situational Theory of Leadership
Follower Characteristics Appropriate Leader Style
Low readiness level
Moderate readiness level
High readiness level
Very high readiness level
Telling (high task-low relationship)
Selling (high task-high relationship)
Participating (low task-high rel.)
Delegating (low task-low relationship)
Can be tailored to individual followers

12. Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model
Immature
Employees
Leader’s concern with task
Low High
High
Low
Mature
Employees
Willing/Able Unwilling/able Willing/unable Unwilling/unable
4 3 2 1
Leader’s
concern
with
relationship

13. 13
Hersey-Blanchard Situational
Leadership® Model
Follower Readiness
High Moderate Low
R4 R3 R2 R1
Able and
Able but
Unable but
willing or
unwilling
willing or
confident
or insecure
confident
Unable and
unwilling
or insecure
Leader
Directed
Follower
Directed

14. 14
Path-Goal Theory
A contingency approach to leadership in
which the leader’s responsibility is to
increase subordinates’ motivation by
clarifying the behaviors necessary for task
accomplishment and rewards

15. 15
Situational Contingencies
1. Personal Characteristics of group members
 Ability, skills, needs, and motivations
1. The work environment
 Degree of task structure, formal authority
system, work group itself (e.g. quality of
relationships and educational level of members)

16. Ex. 3.5 Leader Roles in the Path-Goal Model
Path Clarification Increase Rewards
Leader defines what follower
must do to attain work
outcomes
Leader clarifies follower’s
work role
Follower has increased
knowledge & confidence to
accomplish outcomes
Leader learns follower’s
needs
Leader matches follower’s
needs to rewards if work
outcomes are accomplished
Leader increases value of
work outcomes for follower
Follower displays increased effort and
motivation
Organizational work outcomes are
accomplished

17. 17
Ex. 3.6 Path-Goal Situations and Preferred Leader Behaviors
Situation Leader Behavior Impact on Follower Outcome
Supportive
Leadership
Directive
Leadership
Achievement-
Oriented
Leadership
Participative
Leadership
Followers lack
self-confidence
Ambiguous job
Lack of job
challenge
Incorrect
reward
Increases confidence
to achieve work
outcomes
Clarifies path to
reward
Set and strive for
high goals
Clarifies followers’
needs to change
rewards
Increased
effort;
improved
satisfaction
and
performance

18. 18
The Vroom-Jago Contingency Model
A contingency model that
focuses on varying degrees of
participative leadership, and how
each level of participation
influences quality and
accountability of decisions

19. 19
Ex. 3.7 Five Leader Decision Styles
Area of Influence by Leader
Area of Freedom for Group
Decide Consult
Individually
Consult
Group
Facilitate Delegate

20. 20
Substitute and Neutralizer
Substitute: a situational
variable that makes
leadership unnecessary
or redundant
Neutralizer: a situational
characteristic that
counteracts the leadership
style and prevents the
leader from displaying
certain behaviors

21. Ex. 3.10 Substitutes and Neutralizers for Leadership
Variable Task-Oriented
Leadership
People-Oriented
Leadership
Organizational
variables
Group cohesiveness
Formalization
Inflexibility
Low positional power
Physical separation
Substitutes for
Substitutes for
Neutralizes
Neutralizes
Neutralizes
Substitutes for
No effect on
No effect on
Neutralizes
Neutralizes
Task
characteristics
Highly struct. task
Automatic feedback
Intrinsic satisfaction
Substitutes for
Substitutes for
No effect on
No effect on
No effect on
Substitutes for
Follower
characteristics
Professionalism
Training/experience
Low value of rewards
Substitutes for
Substitutes for
Neutralizes
Substitutes for
No effect on
Neutralizes