Theories & The People Behind Them

Question 1

Trait Theory

Answer 1

Leaders are identified through certain innate characteristics that followers do not possess (and probably cannot acquire), such as physical characteristics and personality traits, e.g., “Great Man” theory.

Question 2

Blake-Mouton Behavioral Theory

Answer 2

● Two dimensions:
● Task (initiating structure)
● Employee (consideration)
● Five types of managers, one of which is termed leadership:
● Country club manager (low task, high consideration)
● Impoverished manager (low task, low consideration)
● Authoritarian manager (high task, low consideration)
● Middle-of-the-road manager (midpoint on both)
● Team leader (high task and high consideration—often seen as optimal)

Question 3

Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory

Answer 3

● Two axes: supporting behavior and directing behavior
● Four quadrants that require the leader to demonstrate different behaviors and correspond to employee development:
1. Telling (employee not yet motivated or competent)
2. Selling (becoming more competent but still needing focus and motivation)
3. Participating (motivated, engaged, and competent team members)
4. Delegating (very competent team members, but susceptible to losing focus and motivation)

Question 4

Fiedler’s Contingency Theory (Situational Leadership Theory)

Answer 4

● A leader is most effective when the leader’s skills match the needs of the situation—both task and team.
● “Situation favorableness” occurs when:
● Leader-member relationships are strong.
● Task structure and requirements are clear.
● The leader can exert the necessary power to reach the group’s goal.
● Unfavorable situations must be changed to improve group (and leader) effectiveness.

Question 5

Behavioral Theory

Answer 5

Leaders influence group members through certain behaviors.

Question 6

Situational Theories

Answer 6

Leaders can flex their behaviors to meet the needs of unique situations, employing both task (using directive behaviors) and relationship (using supportive behaviors) with employees.

Question 7

Path-Goal Theory

Answer 7

Leader performs the behavior needed to help employees stay on track toward their goal. This involves addressing different types of employee needs:
● Directive—help the employee understand the task and its goal.
● Supportive—try to fulfill employee’s relationship needs
● Achievement—motivate by setting challenging goals
● Participative—provide more control over work and leverage group expertise through participative decision making

Question 8

Emergent Theory

Answer 8

Leaders are not appointed but emerge from the group, which chooses the leader based on interactions.

Question 9

Meredith Belbin’s Solo vs Team Leader Concept

Answer 9

Solo Leader
● Gets involved (and interferes) in everything.
● Expects team members to conform to his or her standards of behavior and style.
● Collects admirers and “yes men.”
● Directs team members’ activities.
● Sets objectives.

Team Leader
● Delegates team roles to others.
● Recognizes the value of diversity in the team.
● Encourages constructive disagreement and is not threatened by team members’ special abilities.
● Develops team members’ growth.
● Creates vision on which others act.

Question 10

Jack Zenger & Joseph Folkman

Answer 10

Strong HR leaders:
● Develop and coach others.
● Build positive relationships.
● Model their values and fulfill their promises and commitments.
● Have functional expertise.

Weak HR leaders:
● Focus internally rather than externally, failing to look outside the HR function to the organization’s internal and external stakeholders.
● Lack strategic perspective, focusing on short-term objectives and daily tasks.
● Do not anticipate or react well to change.
● Resist “stretch” goals and act as a drag on the organization’s at­tempts to innovate.

Question 11

Robert Hurley

Answer 11

While honesty and predictability are necessary to build trust, they are only part of the requirements. Building trust is more likely when the person bestowing trust recognizes certain qualities in the other person:
●Common Values
●Aligned Interests
●Benevolence
●Capability or Competence
●Predictability and Integrity
●Communication

Question 12

Peter Salovey & John D. Mayer 4 Branches of Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Answer 12

●Perceiving Emotion
●Using Emotion to Facilitate Thought
●Understanding Emotion
●Regulating Emotion

Question 13

Daniel Goleman Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EIQ)

Answer 13

5 Components
●Self-Awareness
●Self-Regulation
●Motivation
●Empathy
●Social Skills

Question 14

McGregor’s Theory X/Theory Y

Answer 14

●Theory X manager believes that employees inherently do not like to work and must be strictly controlled and forced to work.
●Theory Y manager believes that employees dislike rigid controls and inherently want to accomplish something; thus, they cultivate a more participative style that empowers and motivates employees.

Question 15

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Answer 15

Five basic categories of needs that must be met in an ascending order:
● Physiological
● Safety and security
● Belonging and love
● Esteem (both self-esteem and admiration of others)
● Self-actualization

Question 16

Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

Answer 16

There are two factors affecting behavior: motivation (intrinsic) and hygiene (extrinsic). Satisfying hygiene factors will not create motivated employees, but it can remove some areas of discontent that interfere with motivation.
● Intrinsic factors: challenging work, meaningful impact of work, recognition
● Extrinsic factors: job security, pay, conditions

Question 17

McClelland’s Three Needs Theory

Answer 17

Individuals are motivated by three basic desires:
● Achievement (accomplishment)
● Affiliation (feeling part of a group)
● Power (influence over others)

Question 18

Self-Determination Theory, Edward Deci, Richard Ryan, Daniel Pink

Answer 18

Individuals are motivated by basic needs within a social and cultural context:
● Competence
● Relatedness
● Autonomy

Question 19

Expectancy Theory

Answer 19

Effort increases in relation to one’s confidence that the behavior will result in a positive outcome and reward.

Question 20

Attribution Theory

Answer 20

The way a person interprets the causes for past success or failure is related to the level of motivation. A leader can help employees accurately attribute causes and create opportunities for success.

Question 21

Needs Theory

Answer 21

Individuals are motivated by a desire to satisfy certain needs. Understanding these needs allows leaders to offer the right incentives and create the most motivational external environments. Common factors are achievement, a desire for social connection, and some degree of control.

Question 22

Victor Vroom

Answer 22

Level of effort depends on:
● Expectancy (belief in the probability of the anticipated outcome).
● Instrumentality (belief that a behavior will lead to an outcome).
● Valence (strength of desire for the outcome).

Question 23

Heider, Weiner & Others

Answer 23

● Three attribution factors:
● Stability (the degree to which a factor changes)
● Locus of control (internal or external)
● Controllability (whether a cause can be controlled or not)
● Four attributional states:
● Negative—learned helplessness and aggression
● Positive—empowerment and resilience

Question 24

Goal-Setting Theory

Answer 24

Motivation can be increased by providing employees with goals against which they can assess their achievement. Optimally, employees should be involved in designing goals and supported in achieving their goals. Characteristics of effective goals and goal-setting process:
● Specific and clear.
● Important to individual. This enables greater commitment.
● Realistic but challenging. Goals that are unrealistically high can harm motivation.
● Feedback to help employees determine effectiveness of their effort.

Question 25

Edward T. Hall—high- and low-context cultures

Answer 25

Context level affects communication and relationships:
● High-context culture—A statement’s meaning includes the verbal message and the nonverbals and social and historic content attached to the statement.
● Low-context culture—A statement’s meaning is encoded in its words only.

Question 26

Geert Hofstede—dimensions of culture

Answer 26

Six dimensions:
● Power distance—Pattern of distribution of power to culture’s members.
● Individualism/collectivism—Degree to which individuals perceive themselves as members of a group.
● Uncertainty avoidance—Level of tolerance of ambiguous, new, or changed situations.
● Masculine/feminine.
● Long-term/short-term—Long-term cultures prepare for change; short-term cultures focus on traditions and tend to resist change.
● Indulgence/restraint—Gratification of individual desires.

Question 27

Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner—cultural dilemmas

Answer 27

Seven dilemmas that illustrate points of cultural tension:
● Universal/particular—Flexibility versus rules.
● Individual/communitarian—The good that drives decisions (the individual or society as a whole).
● Neutral/affective—Expression of emotion.
● Specific/diffuse—Public and private boundaries.
● Achieved/ascribed—Source of merit (personal accomplishment or connection).
● Sequential/synchronic—Sense of time (linear and limited or cyclical and expansive).
● Internal/external—Individual control over one’s destiny.

Question 28

Michael Porter’s Five Forces

Answer 28

Threat of Substitution
Threat of Entry
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
Bargaining Power of Buyers
Rivalry Among Existing Competitors

Question 29

McKinsey 7-S Framework

Answer 29

This theory proposes that for an organization to achieve its goals, seven elements must be aligned:
● Structure, the way work is divided
● Strategy, the plan to improve its competitive position
● Systems, the procedures the organization uses to operate
● Style, the orientation of leaders and managers
● Staff, the way talent is managed and developed
● Skills, current competencies
● Superordinate goals, the organization’s values or guiding concepts

Question 30

The “Dreaded J Curve”

Answer 30

When change is introduced, there is typically a decline in performance and then a slow return to previous levels and—if the change is effective and if it is managed effectively—a more rapid growth to a new level of performance. A poorly chosen intervention or poor management of the change process can result in a more permanent flattening of the curve at a low plateau.

Question 31

Kurt Lewin Model of Change

Answer 31

UnFreezing
Moving
ReFreezing

Question 32

John Kotter - eight contributors to successful implementation of the change

Answer 32

1. Create a sense of urgency.
2. Assemble a strong guiding team.
3. Provide a clear vision.
4. Over-communicate.
5. Empower action.
6. Ensure short-term successes.
7. Sustain progress and build on achievements.
8. Institutionalize.

Question 33

Cesar Aguirre - Integrated Change Model

Answer 33

1) Current State (Unfreeze)
● Create a sense of urgency
● Assemble a strong guiding team
● Provide a clear vision
2) Transition State (Move)
● Over-communicate
● Empower Action
● Ensure short-term successes
3) New State (ReFreeze)
● Consolidate Progress
● Institutionalize

Question 34

Michael Porter’s Competitive Strategies

Answer 34

Cost Leadership - make it cheaper
Differentiation - make it “better”

-Either can be focused or broad

Question 35

Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline

Answer 35

Systems Thinking
Mental Models
Personal Mastery
Team Learning
Shared Vision