COM 220 Notes - Ch. 9 - Dr. Lawrence Saunders PDF

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Dr. Lawrence Saunders...

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COM 220 Chapter 9 - Leadership • leadership: the influence that particular individuals exert on the goal achievement of others in an organizational context - has a strong effect on an organization’s strategy, success & survival - formal leadership: assigned leadership roles in which you re expected to influence others & are given specific authority to direct employees! (i.e. managers, CEO, VP, director, etc.) - informal leadership: individuals who emerge to occupy leadership roles without having any formal authority, but rather are just well liked or perceived as highly skilled • strategic leadership: involves the ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think strategically, & work with others to initiate changes that will create a vision for the future of an organization • trait theory of leadership: leadership depends on the personal qualities or traits of the leader - traits associated with leadership: intelligence, self confidence, dominance, emotional stability, desire to lead, integrity & sociability - all Big Five dimensions of personality have been found to be related to leadership emergence & success • extraversion & conscientiousness are the most consistent predictors of leadership effectiveness - there is a somewhat effective relationship between intelligence & leadership, though it is not as significant as personality - relationships between traits & leadership effectiveness is stronger for affective & relational measures of effectiveness, rather than performancerelated measures - is difficult to determine whether traits make the leader or whether the opportunity for leadership produces the traits - the trait approach fails to take into account the situation in which leadership occurs - neglects what leaders actually do to successfully influence others - traits are what a leader brings to a situation • the behaviour of leaders: what leaders do in a situation - what caused them to become leaders - is there a particular leadership style that is more effective than others - 2 categories of leadership behaviour according to Ohio State study: (1) consideration: the extent to which a leader is approachable & shows personal concern & respect for employees • seen as friendly, egalitarian, expresses appreciation & support, is protective of group welfare • more strongly related to follower satisfaction, motivation, & leader effectiveness • used when the goals & methods of performing the job are clear & certain, &/or employees are highly skilled & performing higher level jobs (2) initiating structure: the degree to which a leader concentrates on group goal attainment • clearly defines & organizes roles, stresses standard procedures, schedules the work to be done, assigns employees to particular tasks • more strongly related to leader job & group performance • used when employees are under a high deal of pressure, competitive threat, a crises, employees lack knowledge on how to perform the job, goal is unclear - the effect of consideration & initiating structure depends on the characteristics of the task, the employee & the work setting • situational theories of leadership: the effectiveness of a leadership style is contingent on the setting, including the characteristics of the employee & organization, & the nature of the task - Fielder’s contingency theory: the association between leadership orientation & group effectiveness is dependant on the extent to which the situation is favourable for the exertion of influence • leadership orientation: measured by the leader describing their least preferred co-worker (LPC): a current or past co-work with whom they had a difficult time accomplishing a task (a) relationship oriented: still describes the LPC favourably - motivated to maintain interpersonal relations - most effective in conditions of medium favourability (b) task orientated: describes the LPC unfavourably - allows for the low task competence to colour their views of personal qualities of the LPC - motivated to accomplish the task - most effective when the situation is very favourable or very unfavourable

• situational favourableness: specifies when a particular LPC orientation should contribute most to group effectiveness - factors (from most to least important) that affect situational fav: (1) leader-member relations (2) task structure (3) position power (how much formal authority the leader has been granted by the organization) - good leader-member relations + high task structure + formal position power = most favourable condition - poor leader-member relations + unstructured task + weak position power = unfavourable condition - House’s path-goal theory: concerned with the situations under which various leader behaviours are most effective • an effective leader forms a connection between employee goals & organizational goals • clarify a path to goals • leader behaviour that is perceived as immediately satisfying, or leading to future satisfaction provides high effort, job satisfaction & leader acceptance • concerned with 4 specific kinds of leader behaviour: (1) direct behaviour: initiating structure (2) supportive behaviour: consideration from the leader (3) participative behaviour: consult with employees & consider their opinion (4) achievement-orientated behaviour: encourage & express confidence in employees achieving their goals • the impact of leader behaviour on employee outcomes depends on the situational factors: (1) employee characteristics: the employee’s need or preference for a type of leadership behaviour - high need achiever employees work well under achievementorientated leadership - employees who prefer to be told what to do &/or feel feel that they have low task ability respond best to directive leadership (2) environmental factors: the particular work environment - clear, routine tasks should use participative leadership - unclear tasks should use directive leadership - challenging but ambiguous tasks should use both directive & participative leadership - frustrating, dissatisfying jobs require supportive behaviour • effective leadership should take advantage of the motivating & satisfying aspects of a job, while offsetting or compensating for the demotivate or dissatisfying aspects - participative leadership: involving employees in the making workrelated decisions • is a spectrum - the degree to which leaders involve employees varies! ↓ minimally - participation involves obtaining employee’s opinions before making the decision! ↑ maximally - allows employees to make their own decisions within agreed-upon limits • potential advantages of participative leadership: (a) increases motivation (b) produces higher-quality decisions (c) increase acceptance of decisions • potential problems of participative leadership: (a) use of time & energy (b) leader’s perceived loss of power (c) lack of receptivity or knowledge - situational model of participation: specifies when leaders should use participation & to what extent they should use it • participative strategies, from least to most participative: (1) autocratic: absolute power (i) AI: leader solves the problem of makes the decision alone, based on the info they possess at the time (ii) AII: leader obtains the necessary info from employees, then decides the solution alone (2) consultative: seek info/advice from others (i) CI: leader shares the problem with relevant employees individually, then makes the decision alone (ii) CII: leader shares problem with employees as a group, then makes decision alone (3) group: work together as a team (i) GII: leader shares problem with employees as a group & they collectively attempt to reach agreement on a solution

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• uses a “decision tree” that queries the situational factors: (a) quality requirement: does quality matter? (b) commitment required: is subordinate commitment required? (c) leader information: does the leader know enough? (d) problem structure: how clear is the path? (e) commitment probability: would there be cooperation if the leader is autocratic? (f) goal congruence: do subordinates agree with the goal? (g) subordinate conflict: do subordinates agree with each other? (h) subordinate information: do subordinates know enough to make a good decision? • the goal is to make the highest quality decision, with the greatest employee commitment, in the shortest period of time • try to be as autocratic as possible, & only as participative as needed - leader-member exchange (LMX) theory: focuses on the quality of the relationships that develops between a leader & an employee, which has an impact on the performance of the employee • each relationship will differ from one another in terms of quality • social exchange theory: the basis of LMX in which individuals who are treated favourably by others feel obligated to reciprocate by resounding positively & returning that favourable treatment • high LMX: characterized by a high degree of mutual influence, obligation, trust, loyalty, open communication & respect - employees then perform the job beyond its job description - transactional leadership: based on a straightforward exchange relationship between the leader & their followers, involving: • contingent reward behaviour: rewards are contingent on the behaviour of an employee • management by exception: the leader monitors behaviour & takes corrective action before the behaviour creates a serious problem - transformational leadership: provides followers with a new vision that instills deep, personal commitment • has 4 key dimensions: (1) intellectual stimulation: stimulates people to think about problems, issues & strategies in new ways (2) individualized consideration: emphasis 1-on-1 attempt to meet the concerns & needs of employees as distinct individuals (3) inspirational motivation: stimulate enthusiasm, optimism & provide meaning for the task at hand (4) charisma: the ability to command strong loyalty & devotion from follower, thus having the potential for strong influence among them - the most important aspect • strongly related to follower beliefs & attitudes, & performance • transformational leaders are able to develop high quality LMX relationships, identifying with one’s work unit, self-efficacy, personorganization value congruence, & enhancing employee’s perception of the 5 core job characteristics of the job characteristics model • emerging theories of leadership: - empowering leadership: implementing conditions that enable power to be shared with employees • positively related to organizational performance & creativity-relevant behaviours - ethical leadership: setting a good example to employees • key behaviours include: (a) demonstrate openness, fairness & honesty (b) promote ethical conduct (c) encourage followers to promote ethical conduct (d) reward ethical & punish unethical conduct • positively associated with employee perceptions of honesty/fairness & effectiveness • reduces counterproductive behaviours - authentic leadership: leaders acting upon their true values, beliefs & strengths, & helping others to do the same • involves 4 behaviours: (a) self-awareness - of one’s strengths & weaknesses (b) relational transparency - presents one’s true self (c) balanced processing - considers contrary views (d) internalized moral perspective - able to resist social pressure - servant leadership: going beyond one’s own self-interests & having genuine concern to serve others, & a motivation to lead • key characteristics: (a) empowering & developing other people (b) humility: seeking contributions of others & putting them first (c) providing direction: ensuring others know what is expected of them

(d) stewardship: focus on service rather than control & self-interest • gender & leadership: research has found that female leaders to be: - more participative or democratic then men - less autocratic (don’t exert dominance) - women exceed men at the aspects of leadership that are positively related to leadership effectiveness - men exceed women at those with weak & negative relations to leadership effectiveness - despite their ability to be highly effective leaders, women are significantly under-represented in leadership positions - glass ceiling: a metaphor for an invisible barrier that prevents women from advancing to senior leadership positions in organizations, including: • evidence of prejudice • resistance to women’s leadership • issues of finding an appropriate leadership style • demands of family life • underinvestment in social capital • global leadership: a set of leadership capabilities required to function effectively in different cultures - global leaders have 4 characteristics: (1) inquisitiveness: enjoy new experience (2) personal character: high integrity (3) duality: able to manage uncertainty & balance tension (4) savvy: experienced & well informed in business issues...