Chapter 6: Trait, Behaviour and Contingency Theories

Question 1

contingency theory

Answer 1

This theory is premised on the assumption that different situations or contexts necessitate different kinds of leadership.

Question 2

trait

Answer 2

refers to a variety of enduring characteristics, typically belonging to an individual, including personality tendencies that determine an individual’s behaviour.

Question 3

Human traits exhibit four core properties:

Answer 3

(1) are measurable,
(2) vary across individuals,
(3) exhibit time and situational stability, and
(4) help predict attitudes and behaviours

Question 4

Examples of traits

Answer 4

Examples include extroversion, introversion, emotional intelligence and conscientiousness

Question 5

emotional intelligence (EI)

Answer 5

has been considered a trait that may indicate effective leadership

an individual’s inherent ability to recognize their own and other people’s emotions, together with the ability to use emotions to enhance thoughts and actions

Question 6

trait activation theory (TAT)

Answer 6

which predicts that some events, situations or human interventions ‘activate’ a trait more than others.

For example, in a supportive organization culture employees are more likely to behave pro-socially. TAT suggests that individual personality and the situation affect behaviour in the workplace

Question 7

Until the mid-20th century, trait theories and research flourished in the enduring quest to discover:

Answer 7

(1) specific psychological traits and attributes which would help explain whether an individual will emerge as an informal leader in a group, and
(2) how traits and personal attributes are related to leadership effectiveness.

Question 8

____________ has stood the test of time and is strongly related to leadership outcomes

Answer 8

Cognitive ability

Question 9

The correlation coefficient

Answer 9

statistical measure that calculates the strength of the relationship between the relative movements of two variables.

Question 10

The Big Five (OCEAN)

Answer 10

openness, 
conscientiousness, 
extraversion, 
agreeableness and 
neuroticism

Question 11

Extraversion

Answer 11

refers to assertiveness, dominance and being positive

Question 12

Conscientiousness

Answer 12

whose facets include determination, being goal directed and self-discipline

Question 13

Openness

Answer 13

refers to curiosity and creativity

Question 14

Agreeableness

Answer 14

refers to sociablity, being trustful of others and empathy,

Question 15

neuroticism

Answer 15

which includes emotions such as anxiety, anger and depression

Question 16

Theoretically, effective leaders tend to have higher scores on:

Answer 16

assertiveness, conscientiousness and openness to new ideas and learning, and lower scores on neuroticism

Question 17

Critiquing the trait approach

Answer 17

1) Trait leadership research has largely neglected the context within which leaders find themselves
2) Underplays followership in the leadership process. It focuses on trait variables and optimum performance and downplays what it is like to be a human being.
3) Trait models disregard three well-known dimensions of the social world: class, gender and race.
4) Trait leadership theorizing is culturally determined. Therefore, we may assume that what could be considered a positive personal attribute will be an issue for debate between Asian and Anglo-American scholars
5) Do quantitative results actually establish a causal connection between traits and leadership effectiveness?

Question 18

behavioural theories of leadership

Answer 18

focus on behaviour and infer that people can be trained to be leaders.

Question 19

The neo-human relations school provided an analytical framework for comparing different types of leadership styles based on two main types of behaviours:

Answer 19

1) Task behaviour

2) Relationship behvaiours

Question 20

Task behaviours

Answer 20

describes the extent to which the leader emphasizes productivity targets or goal accomplishment.

These behaviours are also called ‘producton-centred’ and ‘task-orientated’ leadership styles.

Question 21

Relationship behaviours

Answer 21

describe the extent to which the leader is concerned about her or his followers as people: their needs, development and problems.

Question 22

University of Michigan studies two types of leadership behaviours:

Answer 22

1) production orientation

2) employee orientation

Question 23

Leaders classified as being production-orientated

Answer 23

Emphasize the production and technical aspects of work. Followers were viewed simply as a factor of production – as a means for getting the work done.

Question 24

Leaders classified as being employee-orientated

Answer 24

Give special attention to a subordinate’s personal needs, value their individuality, and generally approach followers with a strong ‘human relations’ emphasis.

Question 25

Ohio State studies

Answer 25

Investigating how leaders behaved when they were leading a team or an organization

Question 26

Ohio State studies found: The results suggested that there were two important underlying dimensions of leader behaviour

Answer 26

1) Initiating structure

2) Consideration.

Question 27

Initiating structure

Answer 27

leader behaviour aimed at defining and organizing work relationships and roles, as well as establishing clear patterns of communication, and ways of completing tasks

Question 28

2) Consideration.

Answer 28

Leader behaviour aimed at nurturing warm working relationships, and encouraging mutual trust and respect among the leader and followers. The effective leader attempts to increase both initiating and consideration structure and to maintain a balance between the two

Question 29

What the Michigan group labelled ‘employee orientation’ is similar to the Ohio State team’s ‘consideration’

Answer 29

Intersting

Question 30

Michigan’s ‘production orientation’ is similar to Ohio State’s ‘initiating structure’

Answer 30

However, the Ohio State approach measured both formal and informal variables

Question 31

‘four systems of management’ four general leadership styles

Answer 31

1) exploitative-authoritative
2) benevolent-authoritative
3) consultative
4) participative

Question 32

Blake and Mouton characterized the two main activities of leaders as involving

Answer 32

1) a concern for results

2) concern for people

Question 33

Blake and Mouton focused on five major leadership styles

Answer 33

1) Authority-compliance
2) Team style
3) Country club
4) Impoverished
5) Middle-of-the-road

Question 34

1) Authority-compliance

Answer 34

characterized as having great concern for results (meeting targets) and little concern for people.

This leader desires tight control in order to get tasks done efficiently and gives little consideration to human relations

Question 35

2) Team style

Answer 35

characterized as having great concern for both people and results. This leader works to motivate followers to reach their highest levels of accomplishment, is flexible, responsive to change and understands the need for change.

Question 36

3) Country club

Answer 36

great concern for people and little concern for results, attempts to avoid conflict and endeavours to be well-liked. This leader’s goal is to keep followers happy through good interpersonal relations, which are more important to him or her than the task.

Question 37

4) Impoverished

Answer 37

referred to as ‘laissez-faire’ leading. This leader has little concern for people or results, avoids taking sides and stays out of conflicts; he or she does just enough to get by.

Question 38

5) Middle-of-the-road

Answer 38

medium concern for people and results. This leader attempts to balance a concern for both followers and results without a commitment to either.

Question 39

Critiquing the behaviour approach

Answer 39

First, like the trait approach, it has been unable to identify a universal style of leadership that could be effective in the vast majority of situations.

Another criticism is that the behaviour approach suggests that the most effective leadership style is the so-called ‘high-high’ style, that is, high results and high people-oriented behaviour.

A third criticism of behavioural theories of leadership is that they have not adequately demonstrated how leaders’ behaviours are associated with performance outcomes

Question 40

internal and external contingencies

Answer 40

strategy, government regulations or organizational design – that affect managerial behaviour.

Question 41

Contingency, as it applies to organizational theory and practice,

Answer 41

means that the effectiveness of a particular competitive or HR strategy, organizational structure or leadership or managerial style depends on the presence or absence of other factors or forces.

Therefore, there is no one best behaviour or style of leadership, but, rather, situation X requires leadership behaviour or style B.

Question 42

Fiedler’s contingency theory

Answer 42

assumes that leaders are either task oriented or relationship oriented, an orientation that the leader cannot change.

Question 43

Task-oriented leaders

Answer 43

are focused on accomplishing goals, meeting set targets and getting work done.

Question 44

relationship-oriented leaders

Answer 44

focused on developing good, comfortable interpersonal relationships.

Question 45

Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) Scale

Answer 45

projective technique through which a leader is asked to think about the person with whom she or he can work least well (the least preferred co-worker, or LPC)

The leader is asked to describe this least preferred co-worker using adjectives like pleasant versus unpleasant, friendly versus unfriendly, quarrelsome versus harmonious. Leaders who describe their least preferred co-worker in positive terms, such as pleasant, cheerful or friendly, are classified as high LPC, or relationship-oriented leaders.

Question 46

The LPC scale is a controversial element in Fiedler’s theory

Answer 46

been criticized because it is a projective technique, with associated measurement biases and low measurement reliability

Question 47

The leader’s situation has three dimensions:

Answer 47

1) task structure,
2) position power
3) leader–member relations

Question 48

1) task structure,

Answer 48

refers to the number and clarity of rules, regulations and procedures for getting the work done

Question 49

2) position power

Answer 49

refers to the leader’s legitimate authority to evaluate and reward performance, punish errors and demote group members.

Question 50

3) leader–member relations

Answer 50

an indication of the positivity of the leader’s relationship with their followers

Question 51

A favourable leadership situation

Answer 51

is one in which the task is highly structured, the leader has considerable position power, and the leader–member relations are good.

Question 52

The most unfavourable leadership situation

Answer 52

is one with an unstructured task, weak position of power for the leader, and poor leader–member relations.

Question 53

House’s path–goal theory

Answer 53

Robert House (1971) developed the path–goal theory of leadership, which has its roots in the expectancy theory of motivation

Question 54

Expectancy theory

Answer 54

based on the notion that work motivation is contingent upon the perception of a link between levels of physical or mental effort and reward

Question 55

In path–goal theory

Answer 55

the main task of the leader is to facilitate the follower’s path to the goal. The leader uses the most appropriate of four leader behaviour styles – directive, supportive, participative or achievement oriented – to help followers clarify the paths that lead them to work and personal goals.

Question 56

The directive style

Answer 56

used when the leader must communicate expectations, schedule work and maintain performance standards.

Question 57

The supportive style

Answer 57

used when the leader needs to express concern for followers and create an organizational climate that demonstrates support

Question 58

The participative style

Answer 58

used when the leader wants to share decision-making authority with followers

Question 59

The achievement-oriented style

Answer 59

used when the leader must set challenging goals for followers, expect very high levels of performance and show strong confidence in the followers

Question 60

The research support for path–goal theory has several limitations

Answer 60

First, the research support for the theory is weak

Second, path–goal theory incorporates so many different aspects of leadership that interpreting the theory can be unclear.

Third, the model neglects to explain adequately the leader–behaviour–follower motivation relationship

Fourth, the leader has to provide coaching to help followers achieve their goals, which assumes that the leadership is a one-way process and fails to recognize followers’ initiative and action.

Question 61

Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory (SLT)

Answer 61

like the path–goal theory, suggests that the leader’s behaviour must be flexible to reflect the situation. It posits that effective leadership depends on choosing the right leadership style contingent on the subordinates’ ability and motivation to perform a given task

Question 62

SLT employs two dimensions of leader behaviour drawn from the Ohio State studies:

Answer 62

directive behaviour, which focuses on the task in hand (e.g. routine or nonroutine),

and supportive behaviour, which focuses on followers’ job-related development (e.g. ability, training, experience).

Question 63

Critiquing the contingency approach

Answer 63

1) All the theories incorporate multiple factors simultaneously into recommending a preferred leadership style, which is open to wide interpretation
2) A key methodological concern is that contingency theories do not explain adequately the causal effects underpinning the relationships they draw.