Fiedler's contingency theory proposes that leadership effectiveness depends on how well a leader's style fits the situation. The theory identifies two leadership styles - task-motivated and relationship-motivated - and suggests that leadership style interacts with situational control to influence work group performance. Situational control depends on leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. The theory emphasizes that leadership style is relatively fixed and the key is matching leaders to appropriate situations. While it highlighted situational leadership, weaknesses include an inability to be sensitive to tasks and relationships simultaneously. The theory suggests nurse leaders can positively impact performance by improving staff relationships, providing training for structured tasks, and involving staff in decision making.

1. Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
K E L LY S C H M U T Z
U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E X A S AT A R L I N G T O N C O L L E G E O F
NURSING
I N PA R T I A L F U L F I L L M E N T O F T H E R E Q U I R E M E N T S O F
N 5 3 11 N U R S I N G M A N A G E M E N T I N H E A LT H C A R E
R O W E N A R . YAT E S , R N , M S N , C C R N
M AY 6 , 2 0 1 2

2. Contingency Model Theory - Background
 Developed by Fred E. Fiedler – 1964
 Two key factors of this Contingency Model
 Leadership style
 Situational control
Work Group Leadership Situational
Performance Style control

3. Contingency Model - Leadership Style
 Manager’s leadership style is either
task motivated
OR
relationship motivated

4. Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) Scale
 Rate the co-worker who you work
least well with on scale of 1-8 on
the following items:
 unfriendly or friendly
 untrustworthy or trustworthy
 hostile or supportive
 uncooperative or cooperative
Note: The LPC scale is a 16 item scale and can be
found at http://www.wiley.com/college/
man/schermerhorn371939/site/sa/page03.htm

5. Contingency Model – Situational Control
Situational Control:
3 key factors
Work Group
Performance
Leader- Task
member Structure
relationship
Leadership Position power
Situational
Style control
(Ayman, Chemers & Fiedler, 1995; Fiedler &
Mahar, 1979)

6. Strengths of the Contingency Model
 Highlighted the situational nature of
leadership.
 Created the LEADER MATCH training
program.
 Contributed to the study and
application of leadership principles
(Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, & Konopaske, 2012)

7. Weaknesses of the Contingency Model
 Leader cannot be sensitive to tasks
AND to followers at the same time.
 Model is weak when research is not
associated with Fiedler (Gibson et al., 2012)
 The meaning of the variables are
unclear

8. Perspective of the Contingency Model
 Leaders should have self-awareness of leadership
style
 Not very many current research studies
 Other Situational theories have been developed

9. Usefulness in Present Day Management
Nurse leaders:
 can positively or negatively effect work group
performance
 modify leadership actions to change situations

10. Recommendations of Use of Theory
Nurse leaders can positively effect work group
performance by:
 Improving working relationship with staff – lunch breaks,
socializing after work, special privileges
 Provide training or assistance or provide step-by-step
procedures when working on highly structured tasks
 Involve staff on planning and decision making functions to
decrease position power
(Fiedler & Mahar, 1979)

11. References
Ayman, R., Chemers, M. M., & Fiedler, F. (1995) The contingency model of
leadership effectiveness: Its levels of analysis. Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 147-
167. doi:10.1016/1048-9843(95)90032-2
Fiedler, F. E and Chemers, M. M. (1984). Improving leadership effectiveness:
The leader match concept, ed. 2 New York: John Wiley & sons. Retrieved from
http://www.wiley.com/legacy/college/cgi-bin/preferred_coworker.cgi
Fiedler, F. E., & Mahar, L. (1979). A field experiment validating contingency
model leadership training. Journal of Applied Psychology, 64(3) 247-254.
doi:10.1037/0021-9010.64.3.247
Gibson, J. L., Ivancevich, J. M., Donnelly, J. H., & Konopaske, R. (2012).
Organization: Behavior, structure and processes. 14th ed. Boston, MA: Irwin
McGraw.