Chapter 3 - Contingency and Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theories of Leadership Flashcards
Contingency theories of leadership
The theories argued that there was not one right or effective leadership style and trait but rather that different situations required different types of leadership. They also raised the question of to what extent successful leadership is solely dependent on the individual leader.
Situational variables was treated as conditions the leader cannot change in the short term and thus could not control, and will therefore influence what specific leadership behaviour will lead to leader effectiveness.
Situational leadership theory
The leader has to establish the right mix of directive and supportive leader behaviours in relation to a subordinate’s maturity and thus has to analyze each subordinate. As the maturity can change over time the leader has to adjust to match these changes.
Leadership behaviour styles
S1. Directing - provides subordinates with clarity and instructions on the task and goal that need to be achieved, often when the completion of the task is of utmost importance.
S2. Coaching - directs and supports the subordinate, whilst still guide how and what of tasks and goals, often when the task is complex.
S3. Supporting - the leader supports and encourages the subordinate to ensure they apply their skills effectively by giving feedback and consulting, often when the subordinate’s skills are needed to complete the task.
S4. Delegating - the leader shows little involvement in the daily work and therefore shows few directive or supportive behaviours.
Subordinate development levels
D1. New task, motivated.
D2. Start to acquire relevant skills, initial motivation reduced
D3. Quite competent, lack motivation.
D4. High level of confidence and commitment.
Pros and cons with situational leadership
+ requires the leader to engage in ongoing analyses of subordinates’ situations and re-evaluate their own behaviours in relation to the needs of each subordinate.
- lack of evidence
- lack of acknowledgement of different demographic characteristics of subordinates
- lack of clarity around the notions of commitment and competence in determining a subordinate’s development level
- biased
The LPC contingency model
Theory assumes that leaders cannot change their behaviour and therefore aims to match specific situations and contexts to leaders, based on their preferred leadership style.
2 types of leadership behaviour:
- Task motivated - low LPC score = critical thinking. More effective in extreme situations.
- Relationship motivated - high LPC-score = lenient rating. Effective in moderate situations.
3 types of subordinate variables:
- Leader-member relations - positive group atmosphere, trust and loyalty in the leader.
- Task structure - clear and defined tasks and certain completion of tasks.
- Position power - level of control and authority in the leader, which decided rewards and punishments.
Path-goal theory - intro
Explores how leaders can motivate followers to achieve set goals and improve their own and the organisation’s performance. Employees are more likely to perform will if they are confident that they can succeed. The leaders job is to make sure there are no obstacles along the way.
The model tries to explain the relationship between leaders behaviour, subordinate characteristics and work context.
Path-goal theory - Leadership behaviour. 4 ways.
- Directive. Providing structure for the subordinates.
- Supportive. Satisfying the subordinates needs and preferences.
- Participative. Encouraging subordinates decision-making and work unit operations - discussing opinions.
- Achievement-oriented. Encouraging performance excellence - challenging goals.
A leader can use one or several of these behaviour - they do not have to limit themselves to one behaviour.
Path-goal theory - Subordinate variables
Subordinate characteristics:
- need for affiliation
- preferences for structure
- desires for control
- self-perceived level of ability
Task characteristics:
- Nature and design of subordinate’s tasks
- Formal authority system of the organsiation
Path-goal theory - critique
- practical weakness
- empiricial evidence vague
- not exploring relationship between leadership and motivation
4 other contingency theories!
- Leadership substitutes theory.
- Normative decision model.
- Cognitive resources theory.
- Multiple-linkage model.
Strenghts with early contingency theories
- Situational variables has added to our understanding of leadership and the evaluation of effectiveness of leaders.
- appealing to practitioners and is used frequently for leadership training.
- easy and practical theories that predict effektive leadership
Weaknesses with early contingency theories
- vague and much room for interpretation
- overly simplified of the leader-follower relationship and situational variables
- focus on unidirectional actions instead of interactional.
- studies find the theoris weak and inconsistent.
and more….
Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory
Focus on the individual follower and the dyadic relationship between the leader and follower.
Vertical Dyads:
Treated the leadership process within a work group as a series of vertical dyads between a leader and every single follower. This can be divided into:
- in-group relationships: expanded enriched and individually negotiated. Tend to receive more information from the leader and have more influence.
- out-group relationships: the formal employment contract.
Leadership making - important to get many in group. 3 phases in tje high-quality: 1. stranger phase 2. acquaintance phase 3. mature partnership phase
LMX strengths and weaknesses
+ added to our conceptual understanding of leadership through the dyadic individual leader-follower relationships and reminds leaders of the importance of relationships with each subordinate.
+ theory lifts the importance of communication and has a prescriptive value in relation to leadership and its positive outcome for organisations.
- unclarity how dyadic relationships works over time
- how single dyads affect each other
- how inequality in dyadic rel. affects the overall performance and the nature of the exchange relationships.
- how these relationships change over time
and a few more…
