1. (Mt) – Unit Assignment
UNIT VII STUDY GUIDE Leadership in the Organizational Setting Course Learning Outcomes
for Unit VII Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 3. Explain applied
performance practices. 4. Examine effective teamwork. 5. Assess techniques to promote
effective communication. 6. Evaluate techniques used to manage conflict. 7. Evaluate the
role of leadership in achieving performance goals. 8. Recommend strategies to overcome
resistance to change. Course/Unit Learning Outcomes 3 4 5 6 7 8 Learning Activity Unit
Lesson Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings Unit VII Assignment Unit VII
Assignment Unit VII Assignment Unit VII Assignment Unit Lesson Chapter 12: Leadership in
Organizational Settings Unit VII Assignment Unit VII Assignment Reading Assignment
Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings Unit Lesson Importance of Leadership in
Achieving Performance Goals Let’s think about what leaders do. They establish a vision, a
mission statement, goals and objectives, and support, and they take on the big battles and
produce the charisma for followers. Deshpande and Hill (2015) explain that studying
leadership is important because it has such a huge impact on how employees perform and
their commitment to their jobs. Because of this important role, leaders must know effective
strategies for management and building morale. As you reflect upon the aforementioned,
you may be thinking one of two things; you may instantly agree that leaders play an
important role due to your own experiences with leadership. Maybe you had a leader who
was extremely strong or weak, and it affected your commitment and performance. You may
also be a bit overwhelmed by this implication. Leadership is not to be taken lightly as
leaders in all industries have similar power. For example, consider automotive sales,
firefighters, police officers, retail clerks, and telecommunication employees; do they not
have performance standards that are measured by leadership? Do they not have to work as
a team to meet goals and objectives in some format? Are they not influenced to work
together, have a good attitude, and comply with corporate culture? Regardless if it is a
hospital or an BBA 3451, Organizational Theory and Behavior 1 American corporation,
leadership is important for achieving performance goals. So, xleaders have a UNIT STUDY
GUIDE responsibility. They have a responsibility first to shareholders (if it is a publiclyTitle
traded company on Wall Street). Second, they have a responsibility to their employees; they
need to comprehend their roles in the organization and the value that the employees create
for the organization. A part of the employee equation is to ensure employees have the
correct training and resources to do their jobs. These factors contribute to employee
satisfaction, morale, meeting performance objectives, and displaying commitment to the
2. vision and mission (Deshpande & Hill, 2015). Finally, leaders have a responsibility to their
customers through quality governance and ethical behavior. Leadership Behaviors McShane
and Von Glinow (2018) list four leadership behaviors: directive, supportive, participative,
and achievement-oriented. These behaviors are shown through the situational leadership
model explained below. The behaviors can certainly stand on their own because they are
styles. Directive: This style is task-oriented. Here is the task, and here is the requirement.
The expectation is to complete the task in a timely manner. The expectations and
completion translate into goal accomplishment (McShane & Von Glinow, 2018). There is an
authoritarian style of behavior that clearly outlines rewards for accomplishment and
disciplinary actions for failure to meet expectations. An example is a Marine Corps drill
sergeant barking an order of climbing a pole in 15 seconds. If not accomplished, the
punishment is pushups. Supportive: This style is the touchy-feely leadership behavior as it
deals with the needs, status, and welfare of employees. It is more people-oriented and
provides emotional support for employees (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). Note: Having a
heavy favor in this area can cause shortfalls in chaos and crisis management situations as
the “soft touch” has difficulty switching to an authoritarian style behavior. Participative:
This behavior engages employees in the decision-making process. It is a powerful behavior
style as it allows individuals to become stakeholders and feel self-worth with the
organization. Achievement-oriented: This behavior encourages employees to meet their full
performance potential through goal setting (McShane & Von Glinow, 2018). For example,
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, failed to meet over 20 of his stretch goals for Tesla in a year (Sitkin,
Miller, & See, 2017). However, one might challenge Sitkin, Miller and See (2017) on their
comparison after reading the book Elon Musk: Tesla, Space X and the Quest for Fantastic
Future by Ashlee Vance (2015) due to Musk’s personality. He is a risk-taker. He pushes the
extreme on taking risks for bigger rewards. As an investor in Tesla stock, one may have
experienced the delay, but the returns he has achieved with stretch goals have developed,
and the stock has skyrocketed, so he is now a Wall Street darling. Leadership Styles and
Consequences in Contributing to Performance Objectives So, leadership does matter.
Leadership is like the fashion industry. It has many different looks and styles that appeal to
different people. There are many types of leadership styles, but for this unit lesson, the
situational leadership model developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard will be discussed
(Straker, 2016). As a leader, no two situations are alike. There will always be some factor
that is different. Since we are looking at the impact of leadership on performance factors,
the biggest factor here is employee behavior and maturity. Whether or not we realize it, we
follow this model daily through our interactions with others. Consider parents with
multiple children, for example. Parents sometimes state that disciplinary actions that work
with one child may not work with another. The children have different personalities and
maturity levels and, therefore, need individualized reward systems. These parents are
following the situational leadership model. This model can assist you in determining the
correct leadership style to implement in order to achieve quality end results with your
followers. The model addresses three major components: follower maturity, follower
motivation, and the correct leadership style to use to get the desired behavior (Straker,
2016). Looking at the diagram below, the model is divided into four quadrants (S1–S4).
3. Along the x axis is behavior, and along the y axis is supportive behavior from high to low.
Flowing through the quadrants are the leadership styles to be used, which are delegate,
participate/support, sell/coach, and direct/tell. As you can see, each action relates to
follower maturity and motivation level on the bottom in the horizontal box (R1–R4) with
corresponding maturity level (readiness level). BBA 3451, Organizational Theory and
Behavior 2 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Application example: You are a supervisor of a
publicly stock traded athletic shoe store. You notice that one of your employees is not
handling customers well, makes tasteless jokes, and has little motivation to complete his or
her work. How do you handle this individual? Someone who is not very mature and not
highly motivated would require you to engage in a more directive/tell type of leadership
style. You will engage in direct actions and then follow up to ensure they are completed
correctly. For example, you may provide detailed instructions for answering the phone,
such as a scripted greeting, and then observe the employee as he or she answers a call. As a
leader, you know this is very time-consuming, but you have responsibility to your
shareholders, employees, and customers. This example cuts across all three categories. It is
a rather basic example, and in the real world, there are more complex issues with people
and performance. This model provides the best starting point on how to adjust your
personal style (based also on your personality type) to deliver results and change behavior.
BBA 3451, Organizational Theory and Behavior 3 Where Leadership Fails and Why UNIT x
STUDY GUIDE Title We have all seen this in a Hollywood movie, on a professional team, or
at a place of work. Leadership can fail. What do you think are the major causes or areas of
failure? There are probably too many to list here, but from experience and professional
readings, leadership fails employees an
company’s funds. Failure to establish a vision or vision for change: The Swiss Watch
Company ignored the rising popularity of the quartz watch. In addition, Detroit automotive
companies in the 1970s failed to adjust to high gas prices with better miles-per-gallon
automobiles, losing market share to Toyota and Honda. Incorrect skill sets: This is an
inability to deal with people, cultures, and viewpoints. Failure to listen: An example would
be a leader who is arrogant, thinks that or he or she has all of the answers, and has an
unwillingness to listen to his or her staff and employees. Inability to motivate: An example
would be a leader who cannot inspire others. Selfishness: A leader who puts his or her own
needs above those of the employees would fall into this category. Leadership in the
organizational setting: Would you agree that leadership is powerful in the organizational
setting? Could you imagine showing up for work every day not knowing what you are
supposed to be doing, how your job impacts company viability, or who your customers are?
What if you had questions regarding where your company is going and how leadership
supports you in meeting both individual job needs and company goals? The companies that
fail today suffer from many of these circumstances. Look at the wagon wheel below. How is
it structured? Where is the failure of the wheel? Look at the wheel as an organization’s
components of people, performance, leadership, vision, and other attributes. This provides
a great schematic of what this lesson is about—leadership as the core cog to effective
organizational performance. The leadership cog affects every spoke and provides support
4. so the wheel can roll and move forward on the axel. If the center hub breaks, what happens?
The spokes cannot provide support for the organization, and the wheel would break down.
Note: One or two spokes can fail, and the mission of the wheel can still operate but must be
repaired for longer, more effective durations. Leadership wagon wheel (Momentmal, 2017)
BBA 3451, Organizational Theory and Behavior 4 References UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title
Deshpande, A., & Hill, C. (2015). Leadership styles: A case of two hospitals in the US.
Proceedings for the Northeast Region Decision Sciences Institute (NEDSI), 1–23. Retrieved
from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/lo
gin.aspx?direc t=true&db=bth&AN=116281784&site=ehost-live&scope=site McShane, S. L.,
& Von Glinow, M. A. (2018). Organizational behavior: Emerging knowledge, global reality
(8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. Momentmal. (2017). Wagon wheel
[Image]. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/wooden-wheel-wheelwagon-wheel-
2490210/ Sitkin, S. B., Miller, C. C., & See, K. E. (2017). The stretch goal paradox. Harvard
Business Review, 95(3), 18. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/lo
gin.aspx?direc t=true&db=bth&AN=122653431&site=ehost-live&scope=site Straker, D.
(2016). Hersey and Blanchard’s approach. Retrieved from
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/situational_leadership_hersey_bla
nchard.htm BBA 3451, Organizational Theory and Behavior 5
