The document is structured in the different weeks of the course, such that a summary of the lecture slides, together with the key findings of the articles for that respective week are presented.
Lectures
Organizational behavior (OB) = understanding how people and groups in organizations behave
Human recourse management (HRM) = manager’s activities to attract and keep employees and
ensure that they perform at a high level and in line with organizational goals.
Leaders are important because we usually see them as responsible for really negative/positive
impacts. Leadership is social in nature, involves a leader and follower and cause/outcome. It is a
process of social influence whereby a leader steers group members towards a goal (Bryman, 2000). It
is a process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of others in
the accomplishment of a task (Chemers, 2000).
Power is the means that leaders have to potentially influence others: referent (people can identify
with you), expertise (people see you as an expert), coercive (you can punish or reward people).
Leadership is mostly purpose-driven (motivating/inspiring), management is mostly objective driven
(coordinating, organizing, burocracy) → some people say good leaders have both. There are several
theories in leadership theory thus far:
Trait school of leadership: who is the leader? (1940’s)
this school suggests that leaders are born (i.e. selection is important). In other words: certain
characteristics separate leaders from non-leaders: they consider how personality, social, physical
and/or intellectual traits may be different for leaders than for non-leaders:
- Personality has not been found to be very predictive, but in terms of the big 5 personality
framework: extraversion is found to be the most important factor of the big 5* (more
important for leader emergence than effectiveness). Sociable/assertive people are more
likely to take the lead in groups. Conscientiousness, openness to experience, intelligence also
show strong and consistent relationships to leadership.
- Physical traits like height: taller people are more likely to be leaders. Overweight executives
tend to get lower leadership ratings (possible evolutionary explanation).
While traits can predict leadership, they are better at predicting leader emergence than
effectiveness. While they help us to predict leadership, they don’t help us to explain leadership.
There is always an indirect effect between trait and outcome of leadership. That’s why the other
theories suggest that leaders are made (training is important).
Behavioral (styles) school of leadership: what does a leader do? (1940-1960)
Behavior is observable which makes it easier to study and it also has a direct effect with leadership
effectiveness. Key assumption here is that there are universally effective leadership behaviors.
Approach to research is to identify differences in behavior between effective vs. ineffective leaders.
The Ohio state University research identified two overarching leadership factors:
- Initiating structure (IS): how much a leader emphasizes meeting work goals and
accomplishing tasks. Leaders high on this engage in many task-related behaviors: assigning
deadlines, establishing performance standards, monitoring performance levels.
, - Consideration (C): how friendly and supportive a leader is towards followers. Leaders high on
this engage in many behaviors that show supportiveness and concern: speaking up for
subordinate’s interests, caring about their personal situation, showing appreciation for their
work.
University of Michigan research tried to identify leader behaviors that contributed to effective group
performance. They identified 4 categories:
1. Goal emphasis (job centered so IS)
2. Work facilitation (job centered so IS)
3. Leader support (employee-centered so C)
4. Interaction facilitation (employee-centered so C)
→ University of Michigan researchers considered job-centered and employee-centered leadership to
be at opposite ends of a single continuum, so you are either one or the other. Ohio state researchers
believed that consideration and initiating structure dimensions were independent continuums, so
leaders could score high on both dimensions. They checked if leaders that scored high on both
dimensions were more effective than those that scored only high on one.
→ The most effective leadership style appears to depend on the criteria used to judge effectiveness.
Consideration is especially important for follower satisfaction, motivation and leader effectiveness.
Initiating structure is especially important for performance. Leadership effectiveness may also
depend on the context which is what the contingency approach talks about.
Contingency school of leadership: it depends…
this school suggests that the relationship between outcomes and leader behaviors is moderated by
situational factors (it’s contingent). These factors can be task, follower, environmental and leader
characteristics. So, if the leader is effective depends on the leader, the follower and the situation.
Within this school, the path-gal theory (House & Dressler) and the Contingency model (Fiedler) are
discussed.
Path-goal Theory: effective leaders ensure valued rewards (goals) and help followers (with
information, support, and other recourses) (=path) to attain these goals. This theory seeks to find the
leadership style that best fits the employee and the environment. A process in which leaders select
specific behaviors that are best suited to the employees’ needs and their working environment so
that they may best guide the employees through their path in the obtainment of their daily work
activities (goals).
It is based on the premise that factors moderate and mediate the effect of Consideration and
Initiating Structure on outcomes. It goes effort → performance→ reward. 4 types of leaders were
identified:
- Directive: focus on the work to be done. Is more strongly related to follower satisfaction
when tasks are ambiguous or stressful than when they are well laid out.
- Supportive: focus on the well-being of the worker. Is more effective when tasks are
structured.
- Participative: consult with employees in decision-making. Results in high employee
performance and satisfaction when followers have an internal locus of control (attributing
what happens to you on yourself/the environment).
- Achievement oriented: set challenging goals, expect followers to perform at highest level. Is
more suitable for followers with a high belief in their own ability (self-efficacy).
, The effectiveness of those leadership styles as mentioned above were based on 2 classes of
contingency variables that were identified:
- Situational/environmental factors: are outside employee control.
- Follower/subordinate factors: are internal to the employee.
→ This theory is quite hard to test, there has been only some support. Strengths: application of
motivation theory + highlights the importance of contingency factors as moderators. It trains the
leader in her behavior and in assessing the situation. Weakness: limited scope, leadership
effectiveness is not only determined by the ability to increase follower’s motivation. It highlights the
mismatch between researchers and practitioners (many practitioners see this theory as too hard to
apply).
Contingency model
Fiedler argued that the key factor in leadership success is the basic leadership style. Premise: leaders
are not that flexible in terms of their behavior = leadership style is fixed (either task or relationship-
oriented) so you have to craft the situation towards tour style in order to succeed. Therefore, he
created the Last Preferred Co-worker Scale (LPC) which tries to measure whether a person is task- or
relationship oriented.
The test asks you to describe the person you work least well with on a scale with adjectives
(unpleasant-pleasant). By doing this, it determines your motivational hierarchy:
- Low LPC: task oriented, effective at completing tasks, quick to organize groups to get projects
done, relationship-building is not a priority.
- High LPC: relationship oriented, focus on personal connections, good at avoiding and
managing conflicts, task accomplishment is secondary.
In combination with the motivational hierarchy, leader effectiveness also depends on 3 situational
factors:
- Leader- member relationships: degree of confidence, trust, and respect that members have
for their leader: of goed (eerste 4) of slecht (laatste 4).
- Task structure: degree to which job assignments are well-ordered.
- Position power: the degree of influence a leader has over power variables such as hiring,
firing, discipline, promotions etc.
→ the more control a leader has, the more favorable the situation.
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