Here is a summary of problem 4, block 1.7. It has been edited after the post discussion so only relevant information is included. All sources and materials are included in the summaries. My average was a 7.5.
o Which leadership approaches/theories may explain the situations depicted?
o To what extent does effective leadership depend on personality, situation, or both?
o What is charismatic, transactional, autocratic, and laissez-faire leadership?
o How can leadership styles be measured?
o Which of these styles is the best?
Leadership
Leadership- the process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its
efforts towards goal setting and goal achievement
- The leader may be formal (manager) or informal (an experienced employee)
Leadership is often measured by surveying the performance of the group that is
being influenced by the leader
- However other factors also play a role in determining the performance of the
group and thus cannot only be attributed to the leader
Theories
Trait approach- concerned with determining the personal characteristics of good
leaders. Believe inherent traits are important for determining leadership
performance. The big 5 model had a multiple correlation of (0.48)
- High on extraversion, openness and conscientiousness
- Low on neuroticism
- Tend to be high on:
- Intelligence
- Dominance
- Self-confidence
- Energy
- Knowledge
- Balance
- Integrity
o Important concepts in assessing the trait approach:
- Leader emergence- look at traits and observe who turns out to be the leader
- Leader effectiveness- mainly look at job performance in the group being led
◊ Many inconsistent results in studies to establish a consistent profile of characteristics
of effective leaders
o Great men theory- take people from history and see what made them great leaders
◊ Not much research
Behavioural approach- concerned with finding out which leader behaviours are
effective, especially concentrated on leadership styles (behaviours that represent an
approach to dealing with subordinates) -ohio state study
- Consideration (person-orientated) – trust in subordinates, respect ideas,
consideration of feelings
, Leadership
- Initiating structure (task-orientated) – defines roles, actively direct group in
reaching goals, communicate information, criticize, scheduling and
experimenting
◊ Biased. Inconsistent results. Stereotypes, causal relationship is difficult to be
established (confounding variables) may something about the employees as well
Situational approach/ contingency theories- good leadership is a function of the
interplay of the person, his or her behaviour, and the situation
- Leaders can be person or task oriented based on how positively they rate
their least preferred co-worker (LPC scale)
- Positive = person oriented -> high LPC
- Negative = task oriented -> low LPC
- Indicates motivational structure
o Key situational aspects- factors that influence situational control:
- Leader-member relation- if subordinates trust/like the leader
- Task structure- whether tasks/goals/ performance is well defined
- Position power- whether leader controls rewards/punishment
◊ Negative - Assumption that leaders cannot change style to the situation; rather
match situation to personal leadership style- leader match. Mixed support for
validity. It isn’t clear why LPC and situational control interact, no convincing
explanation
◊ Positive- partial support in meta-analysis
Path-goal theory (house and Mitchel)- subordinate job performance and satisfaction
result from the interplay of supervisor style (subordinate characteristics) and
situational characteristics.
o There are 4 supervisor styles:
- Supportive- similar to consideration. Concern for needs and the wellbeing of
followers
- Directive- similar to initiating structure- structuring job tasks, and setting
expectations
- Participative- seeking input from subordinates and including them in the
decision process
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