Week 1: Day & Antonakis (2012) Leadership: Past, Present, Future

Question 1

Day and Antonakis attempt do define leadership in what two ways?

Answer 1

Leadership can be defined in terms of

(1) an influencing process and its outcomes that occur between a leader and a follower
(2) how this influencing process is explained by the leaders attributes, characteristics and behaviours, his followers’ perceptions and the context in which the process occurs

Question 2

Day and Antonakis argue that there are 9 dominant leadership schools through time. For each one, explain briefly what researches argue:

(2) Behavioural School

Answer 2

(2) In Behavioural theories, effective leadership depends on a leaders behaviour towards work and employees

Question 3

Day and Antonakis argue that there are 9 dominant leadership schools through time. For each one, explain briefly what researches argue:

(3) Contingency School

Answer 3

(3) Contingency school suggests that leader-member relations, task structure and position power determine the effectiveness of his leadership style

Question 4

Day and Antonakis argue that there are 9 dominant leadership schools through time. For each one, explain briefly what researches argue:

(4) Contextual School

Answer 4

(4) Contextual school argues that contextual factors are seen to give rise to certain leadership behaviours
e. g. hierarchical levels, national cultures, leader-follower gender or organisational characteristics

Question 5

Day and Antonakis argue that there are 9 dominant leadership schools through time. For each one, explain briefly what researches argue:

(5) Sceptics School

Answer 5

(5) Sceptics School argues that what leaders do is largely irrelevant, but that leader outcomes (e.g. group performance) affects how leaders are rated

Question 6

Day and Antonakis argue that there are 9 dominant leadership schools through time. For each one, explain briefly what researches argue:

(6) Relational School

Answer 6

(6) Relational School concerns itself with leader effectiveness in regards to how good his nature of relationships between him and his followers is (LMX)

Question 7

Day and Antonakis argue that there are 9 dominant leadership schools through time. For each one, explain briefly what researches argue:

(7) New Leadership School

Answer 7

(7) New Leadership School is also referred to as transformational or charismatic leadership and argues that a leaders inspiration, vision and charisma are the source of his effectiveness

Question 8

Day and Antonakis argue that there are 9 dominant leadership schools through time. For each one, explain briefly what researches argue:

(8) Information Processing School

Answer 8

(8) Information Processing School focusses on understanding how and why a leader is legitimised through the process of matching his or her personal characteristics with prototypical expectations that followers have of a leader

Question 9

Day and Antonakis argue that there are 9 dominant leadership schools through time. For each one, explain briefly what researches argue:

(9) Biological and Evolutionary School

Answer 9

(9) Biological and Evolutionary School is a hard-science approach that tries to measure directly observable individual differences and also why certain variables might provide an evolutionary advantage to organisms
e. g. effects of hormones on correlates of leadership, such as dominance

Question 10

Name the 9 dominant leadership schools and when they were most predominant.

Answer 10

(1) Trait: 1920s-40s
(2) Behavioural: 1940s-60s
(3) Contingency: 1960s-80s
(4) Contextual: 1970s-80s
(5) Sceptics: 1970s-80s
(6) Relational: 1980s-90s, reemerged ~2010s
(7) New Leadership: 1980s-2010s
(8) Information Processing: 1990s-2010s
(9) Biological/Evolutionary: 2010s

Question 11

What is the main purpose of this paper?

Answer 11

To provide a historical view on leadership, an attempt to put 9 leadership schools into context of time and to explain their antecedents and consequences with some degree of certainty

Question 12

According to Day and Antonakis, the two main purposes of a leader are to

1) direct and guide _____ and ______ toward the strategic objectives of the organisation
2) to ensure that organisational functions are aligned with the _______

Answer 12

organisational and human resources

external environment

Question 13

Day and Antonakis argue that leadership happens on three levels. What are a leaders functions on a supervisory level? Name 5.

Answer 13

Supervisory level leadership:

1. complement organisational systems
2. establish and recognise group goals and values
3. recognise and integrate various individual styles and personalities in a group
4. maximise the use of all group members abilities
5. help resolve conflicts

Question 14

Day and Antonakis argue that leadership happens on three levels. What is the leaders function on a functional level?

Answer 14

Functional level leadership:

leader is a completer who does or gets done whatever is not being adequately done by the group

Question 15

Day and Antonakis argue that leadership happens on three levels. What is the leaders function on a strategic level? Name 3.

Answer 15

Strategic level leadership:

1. leader ensures coordinated functioning of the organisation as it interacts with a dynamic external environment
2. formulates strategies based on strengths and weaknesses of an organisation, environments and contexts
3. monitors outcomes so that strategic goals are met

Question 16

What are the three levels that leadership happens on, according to Day and Antonakis?

Answer 16

supervisory, functional, strategic

Question 17

Concerning the future of leadership, Day and Antonakis suggest that _____ of leadership and a leaders _____ are becoming increasingly more essential elements of leadership theory and research.

Future leadership models should consider the _____ of a leader and the degree to which leader ______ can be developed or otherwise improved.

In particular, the diversity of leaders and followers in terms of culture, ______, _____, ethnicity or _____ has been only infrequently addressed.

Answer 17

ethics, morals

ethics, moral orientation

gender, race, sexual orientation

Question 18

Why did Day and Antonakis essentially write this article?

Answer 18

Because as the game keeps changing, researchers have struggled to put together an integrated, theoretically cohesive view on the nature of leadership.