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Contigency Theory
The document discusses various leadership theories, focusing on contingency theory which emphasizes the importance of situational factors in leadership effectiveness. It outlines Fiedler's model, situational leadership theory, and path-goal theory, highlighting the need to adapt leadership styles based on followers' readiness and environmental conditions. The conclusion stresses the significance of leadership in group dynamics and the necessity for leaders to be authentic and trustworthy while investing in future leadership development.
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Contigency Theory
- 1. PRESENTATION ON: CONTIGENCY THEORY S.Liton Kumar Roy Amitav Roll# 117851 Jagannath University, Dhaka 12-0
- 2. What Is 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 12-1
- 3. Trait theory: leadershipis 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 12-2 Theories of Leadership:
- 4. Contingency Theories Whiletrait and behavior theories do help us understand leadership, an important component is missing: the environment in which the leader exists Contingency Theory adds this additional aspect to our understanding leadership effectiveness studies Three key theories: – Fiedler’s Model – Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory – Path-Goal Theory 12-3
- 5. Fiedler Model Effectivegroup performance depends on the proper match between leadership style and the degree to which the situation gives the leader control. – 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 12-4
- 6. Graphic Representation ofFiedler’s Model 12-5 E X H I B I T 12-2 Used to determine which type of leader to use in a given situation
- 7. Fiedler’s Cognitive ResourceTheory 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. 12-6 Stress Level • Low • High Intellectual Abilities • Effective • Ineffective Leader’s Experience • Ineffective • Effective
- 8. Assessment of Fiedler’sModel Positives: – Considerable evidence supports the model, especially if the original eight situations are grouped into three 12-7 Problems: – The logic behind the LPC scale is not well understood – LPC scores are not stable – Contingency variables are complex and hard to determine
- 9. Situational Leadership Theory 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 12-8 Ability to follow Willingness to Follow Leadership Behavior Unable Unwilling Give clear and specific directions Unable Willing Display high task orientation Able Unwilling Use a supportive and participatory style Able Willing Doesn’t need to do much
- 10. House’s Path-Goal 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 12-9
- 11. Vroom and Yetton’sLeader-Participation Model How a leader makes decisions is as important as what is decided Premise: Situational variables interact with leadership attributes to impact the behavior of the leader. – Leader behaviors must adjust to the way tasks are structured in the organization. – This is a normative model that tells leaders how participative to be in their decision making of a decision tree • Five leadership styles • Twelve contingency variables 12-10 E X H I B I T 12-5
- 12. Summary and ManagerialImplications • 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. • Research on charismatic and transformational leadership has made major contributions to our understanding of leadership. • Leaders must be seen as authentic and trustworthy. • Investment must be made in the future through mentoring and training leaders. 12-11
- 13.
Editor's Notes
- #3 Often researchers and practitioners do not distinguish between leadership and management. However, there are some key differences and understanding these differences can be helpful for organization improvement. Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals. A leader does not have to be someone who holds a formal position or title. They can emerge from a group and provide vision and motivation to those around them. Management deals with the complexity of the organization and works with planning, organizing, leading and controlling to bring about order and consistency in the organization. Even though the two roles have different areas of focus, both are necessary for organizational success.
- #4 In response to some disappointments with the trait theory, researchers began to look at defining leadership by how people behaved. This shifted the thinking on leadership from the belief that you could select leaders based on inborn traits to training leaders to behave in certain ways.
- #5 We can learn a lot from trait and behavior theories, but they do not tell the whole story. It is important to understand the environment that the leader is in to fully understand leadership effectiveness. The Contingency Theory takes the context in which the leader is operating into consideration and tries to isolate the conditions that allow for effective leadership. There are three key theories that enhance our understanding of leadership by explaining situational variables. They are Fiedler’s Model, Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory, and the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership.
- #6 In this theory Fiedler is trying to match the leader to the context. He proposes that leadership style is fixed. So that if the situation needs a charismatic leader and your current leader does not exhibit that style, you need to change leaders. This leadership style can be determined by taking the LPC questionnaire (least preferred coworker). After the leadership style is determined, you can match the leader to the situation. There are three dimensions to find a successful match. The first situational factor is the leader-member relationship; this ties back to our behavioral studies by looking at the degree of trust and respect the employees have for the leader. The second factor is the amount of structure that is embedded in job assignments. The last factor is the amount of influence the leader has over decisions that represent power such as hiring, firing, and rewards. In Fiedler’s model you need to find a leader to fit the situation or change the situation to fit the leader in order to achieve effective leadership for the organization.
- #7 This graph helps to visually determine the situational factors and what type of leader would succeed in this situation. There are eight possible situations in which a leader can find themselves in. By matching their LPC score with these eight different situations, a leader can see where they will be most effective. For example, categories four through six would be better suited to relationship-oriented leaders because Fiedler proposes that they perform best in moderately favorable situations.
- #8 Recently Fiedler has refined his theory. In the Cognitive Resource Theory, Fiedler looks at stress as the enemy of rationality and posits that a lot of stress damages the leader’s ability to act logically and analytically, thereby diminishing their ability to make rational decisions. The leader can use their intelligence and experience to help them deal with the stress and lessen its influence on their chosen actions. Intelligence will be the key factor in low-stress situations where leaders will draw more upon their past experiences in high-stress situations. This theory is gaining a lot of attention and research is supporting these ideas.
- #9 Fiedler’s Model is based on a great deal of evidence that has supported his assertions and he has moved us forward in our understanding of effective leadership. However, it is not without its problems. The LPC scale is a tool that is not easy to understand so it is difficult to utilize the tool in the workplace. The LPC scores have not remained stable with all participants, thereby causing one to question Fiedler’s premise that leadership traits are stable. Finally, the contingency variables used in this model are extremely complex and hard to measure, causing difficulty in applying this model to the organizational context.
- #10 Although Fiedler’s model with the LPC framework is the most researched contingency theory, it is important to look at a few other models. The Situational Leadership Theory offers a model that takes a look at the other side of the equation, the followers. The focus of this theory is on the readiness of the follower to follow. Each follower can decide for themselves whether they will accept or reject the leader. If the leader is to be effective, the followers much choose to accomplish the task the leader has given them. The situational leadership theory looks at readiness and defines it as the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task. A leader should choose one of four behaviors depending on follower readiness. If followers are unable and unwilling to do a task, the leader needs to give clear and specific directions; if they are unable and willing, the leader needs to display high-task orientation to compensate for followers’ lack of ability and high relationship orientation to get them to “buy into” the leader’s desires. If followers are able and unwilling, the leader needs to use a supportive and participative style; if they are both able and willing, the leader doesn’t need to do much.
- #11 The Path-Goal Theory builds upon previously discussed models to define the role of the leader. In this theory it is the job of the leader to provide the followers with the information, support, and other necessary resources to equip them to achieve their goals. The very name of the theory “path-goal” implies that if a leader is going to be effective, they must clarify the follower’s path to the goals of the organization and in fact make the journey easier by removing roadblocks. The Path-Goal Theory allows for many different types of leaders to be successful. However, the four main types of leaders discussed in this theory are: Directive, Supportive, Participative, and Achievement-Oriented. The Directive approach focuses on the work tasks that need to be accomplished, the Supportive approach is more about relationships and the well-being of the worker. In a Participative approach the leader works with the employees to include them in the decision-making process and in the Achievement-Oriented approach the leader sets challenging goals and encourages the workers to accomplish those goals.
- #12 Victor Vroom stated “I do not see any form of leadership as optimal for all situations. The contributions of a leader’s actions to the effectiveness of his organization cannot be determined without considering the nature of the situation in which that behavior is displayed.” The Vroom Yetton participation model is based on the fact that situational variables interact with leadership attributes and characteristics in a way that it impacts the behavior of the leader. This contingency model provides an approach for leaders to follow based on the task structure, leadership style, and various other contingency factors.
- #13 Leadership is a complex function in an organization but essential for success. Individuals, groups, and organizations all need leaders, and there are many factors that define a successful leader. Each organization must assess what they need in their leader in order to be effective.